4 out of 5

Directed by: Douglas Camfield

It’s a bit hard to piece together with the two reconstructed eps (episodes 2 and 4), but ‘The Crusade’ is one of the most elegant and competent Whos produced up to this point, with the team’s wending into historical events given equal consideration to portraying a piece of history with some accuracy.  The balance of danger and comedy is also handled much more professionally than in the ‘Romans,’ with Babs and Ian once again facing rigors of the era while Doc and Vicki get to titter away and crack wise amongst the royals.  As is often the case with the historical serials, ‘The Crusade’ is a bit lacking in sci-fi beyond the premise of outlanders brought to a past age, but it makes up a lot of ground by having compelling characters.

The difference is apparent right from the beginning, when the crew drops into what we’ll find out is the 12th Century, more specifically during the 3rd Crusade.  Prior to their materializing, we get some prologuey setup between King Richard’s crew and some dastardly Saracens (which I just looked up because I’m dumb and was a medieval terms for Muslim womp womp so I’m using that now).  While Marco Polo had a sense of weight behind its setup and principle characters, it nonetheless felt somewhat isolated (though it’s fully reconstructed and so that’s a piss poor judgment…); The Romans had fuller production design, but couldn’t avoid feeling (excepting the slave ship) like – as Who often does – a play.  But Bruce Wightman’s William de Tornebu (King Rich’s pal) brings a comfortable but stalwart acting style to the screen, legitimately delivering his lines but not dolling it up so much… something most of the Who crew is good at (Hartnell being the exception, but it fits his character), but serial stars seemed either to forget or be directed to do otherwise.  The direction is also notable during the ensuing scuffle between these two sides – of course Ian and Babs and etc. get wrapped up in the battle – and the fight sequences are instantly sobering – on screen deaths – with some convincing and exciting choreography and pretty innovative camera moves that we haven’t seen since the first Daleks serial.  While the mechanism by which our team must get involved isn’t original – Barbara is kidnapped by Saracens, the rest saving de Tornebu’s life and agreeing to bring him back to his respective court – because of how natural things have felt up to this point, the separation feels more organic and not just a smash-cut to get things going.

Thereafter exists an interestingly scripted twiddling with moralistic greys – Barbara, presented to the Saracens Saphadin and his brother Saladin, is certainly kept prisoner, but her intelligence seems to intrigue Saladin, and respect tipples into his words, though they often must be followed by a threat.  Oppositely, reaching King Richard, the dude turns out to be somewhat whiny and doesn’t show Doc and all much respect, until the Doc proposes a plan that satisfies all their needs – Ian going to rescue Barbara, offering the hand of Richard’s sister in marriage for the purpose of peace.  The next few episodes are hills and valleys for Barbara and Ian, as they each continually stumble into obstacles on their way toward one another, all believable and grounded and thus effectively exciting.  None of this feels like cheated scripting.  While the crew does eventually just make a break for the TARDIS, it’s only once they’ve achieved their goal of being reunited – something they each had to take direct action to cause.

Doc and Vicki’s relationship is also great.  This has been the case since Vicki started, but it has more room to grow here (post the bumpy ‘Web Planet’) – there’s just so much more respect for Vicki, which I’m realizing the writers tried to justify by having her planet be seemingly more advanced with its education, but it might just be because we can’t buy Vick as a dunderhead.  While she’s still a ‘child’ to Hartnell, he converses with her on a more equal plane: she is always in on – and an integral part of – his plans.  This might’ve been the idea for Susan (considering her ‘Unearthly Child’ classroom abilities), but it wouldn’t have fit that actress.  Womp.  There are some good comedy bits with Hartnell and Vicki, trying to insinuate themselves into the royal court, but I also like the balance they’ve struck of making the Doc a curious man, but in charge of the situation when it demands.  This did pop up over the past few episodes, it just felt very successful in this serial’s formula – no one crew member felt like they were working directly against the other.

There are still some dry parts, of course: though the political intrigue is handled and explained well, I did have to refer to wiki to keep some parts straight.  For those of us who hate history, some of this stuff will just never stick.  And though I truly didn’t mind the “run away!” style ending, comparing it with the pacing of the serial, it is a bit jumbled – like they couldn’t compress it down to three eps but didn’t have enough for five.

Overall, ‘The Crusade’ is a really well-balanced and good looking period piece, none of it screaming stage play and the external characters all believable in their roles.  By using the history as a springboard for some social good vs. evil explorations – not a housing for a comedy, or a soap-box for a history lesson – David Whitaker’s script manages to turn something that could’ve been a droll, sci-fi-less romp into a solid four-parter.