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Product Description
Product Description
The Doctor and his companions encounter King Richard the Lionheart in this classic remastered soundtrack adventure with linking narration by William Russell. The TARDIS materialises in the middle of a holy war between King Richard the Lionheart and the Saracen leader, Saladin, in 12th Century Palestine. As the Doctor, Vicki, Ian and Barbara explore their surroundings, they are suddenly caught up in a Saracen ambush and Barbara is kidnapped. For the time travellers, intrigue and espionage ensue as they once again become involved in living history. A newly-knighted Sir Ian of Jaffa makes haste to find and rescue Barbara, whilst the Doctor finds it difficult to stay out of trouble in the court of the King...This classic adventure, only two episodes of which survive in the BBC film archive, stars William Hartnell as the Doctor, William Russell as Ian, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara, and Maureen O Brien as Vicki. Amongst the guest cast are Julian Glover as Richard, with Jean Marsh as his sister Joanna. This CD release also features William Russell re-living his memories of recording the television serial.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
David Whitaker's "The Crusade" is unusually brief in these early days of Hartnell stories, preceded by lengthy historical tales such as "Marco Polo" and "The Reign of Terror". As such there is an immediate reduction in the opportunity for lengthy character-driven scenes, and more time ends up being spent on general escapade to move the plot along. And without the laid-back pace of its predecessors, The Crusade loses something: its educational value.
I never thought I'd be complaining about a Who story being less than educational, but half the charm of "Marco Polo", "The Reign of Terror" and "The Aztecs" (also a four parter, but with a much simpler plot) was the opportunity to wallow for a while in a particular period of history and learn about the characters, some of whom are real historical figures. In The Crusade, meanwhile, we learn that Richard the Lionheart is the King, and that he is at war with the Saracen leader Saladin, but we learn very little about his motivations or, indeed, the Crusade generally. Maybe the Crusades were too grim a topic, and the Who production shied away from it...
However, as a simple adventure, The Crusade is an enjoyable instalment of Who with good performances from its leads and notable guest stars Julian Glover as Richard the Lionheart and Jean Marsh his sister Joanna. There's a good evocation of the era and location with strong costume design on display in the two surviving episodes, well-dressed sets, and quirky or otherwise interesting supporting characters such as the family torn apart by the Emir El Akir's greed. Vicki is a companion with a lot more conviction than her predecessor, Susan, despite still falling into the "naive young girl" stereotype. Why there are quite so many white Muslims running around ancient Palestine is a puzzle, but at least they're reasonably well performed.
Not the most remarkable Who story ever created and certainly nowhere near the dizzying heights of Marco Polo. It has its problems - the Joanna story arc disappears almost completely in episode four, as does Richard the Lionheart himself; the Crusade arc is underdeveloped and there's no dramatic payoff in the form of a pitched battle or series of deaths - but The Crusade at least remains an enjoyable enough saga in which everybody has something to do.
I never thought I'd be complaining about a Who story being less than educational, but half the charm of "Marco Polo", "The Reign of Terror" and "The Aztecs" (also a four parter, but with a much simpler plot) was the opportunity to wallow for a while in a particular period of history and learn about the characters, some of whom are real historical figures. In The Crusade, meanwhile, we learn that Richard the Lionheart is the King, and that he is at war with the Saracen leader Saladin, but we learn very little about his motivations or, indeed, the Crusade generally. Maybe the Crusades were too grim a topic, and the Who production shied away from it...
However, as a simple adventure, The Crusade is an enjoyable instalment of Who with good performances from its leads and notable guest stars Julian Glover as Richard the Lionheart and Jean Marsh his sister Joanna. There's a good evocation of the era and location with strong costume design on display in the two surviving episodes, well-dressed sets, and quirky or otherwise interesting supporting characters such as the family torn apart by the Emir El Akir's greed. Vicki is a companion with a lot more conviction than her predecessor, Susan, despite still falling into the "naive young girl" stereotype. Why there are quite so many white Muslims running around ancient Palestine is a puzzle, but at least they're reasonably well performed.
Not the most remarkable Who story ever created and certainly nowhere near the dizzying heights of Marco Polo. It has its problems - the Joanna story arc disappears almost completely in episode four, as does Richard the Lionheart himself; the Crusade arc is underdeveloped and there's no dramatic payoff in the form of a pitched battle or series of deaths - but The Crusade at least remains an enjoyable enough saga in which everybody has something to do.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
Starts out great, but then disappoints.
13 Mar 2009
Like "The Moonbase", I do not have the audio CD of this story, but I do have the scripts of all the episodes as well as the complete "Lost in Time" Collection on DVD which includes the two surviving episodes as well as the audio of the two missing episodes.
This is a very well produced serial with great sets, great acting and directing, but the story fails to keep you interested after the first episode. The first episode is great with a lot of action in it and even just a little bit of comedy when the Doctor is looking for 12th century clothes to wear. Barbara is kidnapped by the Saracens and the Doctor, Ian, and Vicki must join forces with Richard the Lionheart in order to get her back. The first episode leads you to believe that this will be an epic historical adventure, but then the thing starts to fall apart in Episode 2. With very little action in it what so ever and mostly becomes a drama with very little happening until the final moments of Episode 4 when Ian rescues Barbara, and the Doctor and his companions have to sneak back to the TARDIS. I am glad that Episode 1 was found considering that it is the best episode in the lot, but the other surviving episode, Episode 3, has to be the worst. If another episode were to survive, I would rather it be the fourth one. Even the second one would have been better than the third. At least that one was a little better. In all, I would not recommend this one unless you are planning to buy the "Lost in Time" Collection on DVD or the VHS release of "The Space Museum" which includes this story on it. Otherwise, stay away from it.
This is a very well produced serial with great sets, great acting and directing, but the story fails to keep you interested after the first episode. The first episode is great with a lot of action in it and even just a little bit of comedy when the Doctor is looking for 12th century clothes to wear. Barbara is kidnapped by the Saracens and the Doctor, Ian, and Vicki must join forces with Richard the Lionheart in order to get her back. The first episode leads you to believe that this will be an epic historical adventure, but then the thing starts to fall apart in Episode 2. With very little action in it what so ever and mostly becomes a drama with very little happening until the final moments of Episode 4 when Ian rescues Barbara, and the Doctor and his companions have to sneak back to the TARDIS. I am glad that Episode 1 was found considering that it is the best episode in the lot, but the other surviving episode, Episode 3, has to be the worst. If another episode were to survive, I would rather it be the fourth one. Even the second one would have been better than the third. At least that one was a little better. In all, I would not recommend this one unless you are planning to buy the "Lost in Time" Collection on DVD or the VHS release of "The Space Museum" which includes this story on it. Otherwise, stay away from it.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Not bad! Well-rehearsed! Glad to hear it all! :)
22 Aug 2005
I listened to the cd's that accompanied the video cassette. Not bad for a half-missing story! I normally wouldn't listen to audio because Doctor Who for me is only a visual experience, but on this occasion I decided to listen because it was only 2/4 episodes...
I heard the actors in the missing video footage episodes instead and you can tell it was well-rehearsed. I had a fairly good idea of what was going on and I enjoyed it.
There's is an emotionally charged story where the doctor are caught in the middle of the war between King Richard the Lionheart and Saracen rule Saladin, 12th century Palestine.
The link-up with the next story is pretty good -- on the video. :) It was really neat the way they did it back in the 1960's Doctor Who.
Probably a lot of people would not buy this CD because they can just watch 2/4 episodes. But with that video you get to enjoy both experiences... and you still enjoy it both ways! :) But thanks to the New Zealand man who found the first episode! God bless him! :)
Well done on the creators of the story and the people who recorded in that era too! Cheers! :)
I heard the actors in the missing video footage episodes instead and you can tell it was well-rehearsed. I had a fairly good idea of what was going on and I enjoyed it.
There's is an emotionally charged story where the doctor are caught in the middle of the war between King Richard the Lionheart and Saracen rule Saladin, 12th century Palestine.
The link-up with the next story is pretty good -- on the video. :) It was really neat the way they did it back in the 1960's Doctor Who.
Probably a lot of people would not buy this CD because they can just watch 2/4 episodes. But with that video you get to enjoy both experiences... and you still enjoy it both ways! :) But thanks to the New Zealand man who found the first episode! God bless him! :)
Well done on the creators of the story and the people who recorded in that era too! Cheers! :)
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