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TARDIS Guide

Overview

First aired

Saturday, March 27, 1965

Production Code

P

Written by

David Whitaker

Directed by

Douglas Camfield

Runtime

100 minutes

Time Travel

Past

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Earth, Palestine

Synopsis

The TARDIS arrives in 12th century Palestine where a holy war is in progress between the forces of King Richard the Lionheart and the Saracen ruler Saladin. Barbara is abducted in a Saracen ambush and the Doctor, Ian and Vicki make their way to King Richard's palace in the city of Jaffa.

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4 Episodes

The Lion

First aired

Saturday, March 27, 1965

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

David Whitaker

Directed by

Douglas Camfield

UK Viewers

10.5 million

Appreciation Index

51

Synopsis

The TARDIS lands in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade and the crew help save Richard the Lionheart from an ambush, but Barbara is captured and brought before Saladin.


The Knight of Jaffa  Missing

First aired

Saturday, April 3, 1965

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

David Whitaker

Directed by

Douglas Camfield

UK Viewers

8.5 million

Appreciation Index

50

Synopsis

While the Doctor, Ian, and Vicki are drawn into the intrigues of King Richard's court, Barbara has to cope with an impatient Saladin and the vengeful El Akir.


The Wheel of Fortune

First aired

Saturday, April 10, 1965

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

David Whitaker

Directed by

Douglas Camfield

UK Viewers

9 million

Appreciation Index

49

Synopsis

Barbara allies herself with a man whose were murdered by El Akir as the Doctor and Vicki are caught up in Richard's plan to offer his sister's hand in marriage to Saladin's brother.


The Warlords  Missing

First aired

Saturday, April 17, 1965

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

David Whitaker

Directed by

Douglas Camfield

UK Viewers

9.5 million

Appreciation Index

48

Synopsis

Ian sets out with a reluctant accomplice to rescue Barbara from El Akir's palace as the Doctor and Vicki try to evade the suspicions of the Earl of Leicester.



Characters

How to watch The Crusade:

Reviews

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14 reviews

I have very little to say about this story other than that it’s really, really good. I hold the First Doctor’s era in high esteem and The Crusade is one of the best stories in season two. It’s a shame half of it is missing.

For those wondering, two of the episodes are considered lost to time, so in order to watch the whole story I watched the Loose Canon reconstructions of the missing episodes.

The pacing here is superb with plenty of action and intrigue. The dialogue sparkles and the character work is sound.

Refreshingly both sides of the conflict are shown as heroic and flawed in kind with no clear good guy/bad guy except for two antagonists who are on opposite sides of the war.

If I have any complaint, and it’s very minor, I wish it was told to King Richard at some point that if he wants to end the war so badly that he could just pick up and leave. He’s the invader here after all.


bethhigdon

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racist but not as racist as it could have been. very visually interesting but paper thin plot making it probably the weakest historical serial of season two. not as fun as say the romans with episode one being the absolute highlight of the serial. overall the crusade shines with the brutality shown despite feeling significantly more detached then previous serials.


kawaii2234

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Mostly missing which hinders my enjoyment. Cool to see Julian Glover as Richard Lionheart.


Scottybguud

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A relatively one-sided depiction of the Crusades. :/


goblinikov

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Love this one. Kinda a shame back then we didn’t get this animated, because really with two episodes missing, it would have been lovely if we got an animation back then, when they did a few around 2013/2014.
Back to the story, it’s writing is stellar. The Acting both from our Guest stars such as Marsh and Glover is superb, the same could be said about our regulars, Hartnell and O’Briens Dynamic is just superb. Many already talked and describe some of its aspects incredibly well (such as the big elephant with this Story, which I won’t get much into, since I doubt I could say it better than somebody than others.)

Overall I am impressed what they were able to pull off with this one, dare I say this might be the second darkest pure historical on TV (only beaten by the atmosphere of the Massacre, but that’s a story for another time)


RandomJoke

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Statistics

AVG. Rating432 members
3.07 / 5

Trakt.tv

AVG. Rating373 votes
3.30 / 5

Member Statistics

Watched

796

Favourited

34

Reviewed

14

Saved

7

Skipped

6

Quotes

Add Quote

CHAMBERLAIN: I don't understand!

VICKI: It's perfectly simple. I'm a girl.

CHAMBERLAIN: A girl? Dressed as a boy? Is nothing understandable these days? The dresses, silk, satins. Where's the money to come from?

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Transcript Needs checking

(Transcribers note - episodes 2 and 4 only exist as audio recordings)

Episode One - The Lion

[Wood]

(Two men with swords are walking carefully. When they have passed, two Saracens come out of hiding.)

EL AKIR: No, not yet. One of them may be the King. Follow them and listen to them.


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