The Warlords (The Crusade Episode 4)

The one where Barbara goes into hiding in a harem...

"I'm not afraid of you," retorts Barbara to the malignant El Akir. "Fear is nothing to do with contempt. Or disgust." Good old Babs, never letting her side down and always standing up to the bullies, like the best school teachers should. David Whitaker has always written Barbara well, and although the early episodes of The Crusade seemed to consist of her getting kidnapped and escaping, he makes up for it in the story's second half (even though Barbara escapes yet again here!).

However, the pinnacle Whitaker reached with episode 3 is not maintained here, because it feels to me quite rushed, as if he started out planning for a six-parter, but realised he only had four so just wrote an ending really quickly. It's not done too badly, but to me it's quite obvious that all of the delicate world-building, characterisation and subplots just collapse like a house of cards here.

There are threads left blowing in the wind, not least the complete disappearance of key characters Joanna and Saladin. Jean Marsh's Joanna was a force to be reckoned with in episode 3, a woman who knew her own mind and would not be silenced or used like a "sack of flour to be given in exchange". So it is disappointing that she is totally absent from episode 4, as if King Richard has swept her under the carpet (or gagged her!) and her protestations no longer mean anything. Granted, Richard's mind is changed about the proposed marriage, but he only gets one brief scene before he too disappears from the story.

Then there's Saladin. He hasn't exactly been a forthright presence in the story anyway (and Bernard Kay's performance has distinctly underwhelmed me), but the fact he is seen as Richard's equal in opposition means he should at least be afforded some closure as a character, but no - he does not feature in episode 4 either (his brother Saphadin is credited but I am unsure where exactly he features) and the whole Saracen side of the story melts away.

El Akir is dispatched rather too quickly and cleanly. He is the story's main baddie (played well by Walter Randall) but he is killed by Haroun almost too easily and conveniently. Convenient storytelling also rears its head in Ian's rather dull story strand, in that his captor Ibrahim (played with great enthusiasm by Tutte Lemkow) soon turns into his ally when Ian needs help the most. Ibrahim goes from sadistic robber to compliant toadie in a matter of minutes, and I just don't buy it.

The Doctor and Vicki - and by the way, Maureen O'Brien gives a blistering performance at the start of the episode when arguing with Leicester - are sent off by Richard to Acre, affording them their chance to run back to the TARDIS. That's all well and good for them, but what about Ian and Barbara? They have no idea that the teachers have been reunited elsewhere and are also on their way back to the Ship, so why aren't they more bothered about them? Which reminds me, Ian finding Barbara in El Akir's harem is also highly convenient. It just feels like Whitaker knew how to start his story, and he knew the middle bit, but struggled to find a satisfactory ending, so just thought: "Blow it, I'll just kill the baddie, get everyone back together, and ignore everybody else." None of it feels natural or organic.

Moments I do like:

• The Earl of Leicester's verbose departure - "I'll turn them from a rabble into victors once again, and we shall set a noise of sharpening and polishing 'til the ground fare trembles with sound of axe and sword against the whetstone, and the sun shall find a glittering home in every visor" - being undercut by Richard's flat: "Yes. Do it."
• Fatima betraying Barbara to El Akir by telling him where she's hiding. Fatima really wants that ruby ring, and the self-satisfied look on Viviane Sorrel's face in the accompanying telesnap is 100% bitch.
• The confrontation between the Earl of Leicester and the Doctor in the forest, and Ian coming to the rescue, masquerading as a Knight of Jaffa and the Doctor's would-be executioner ("What about that performance?" the Doctor chuckles about their play-acting afterwards).

The TARDIS leaves 12th century Palestine in a vworp of witchcraft, but it's literally seconds until something new and catastrophic happens. The telesnaps show the TARDIS in darkness, with the Doctor's face lit only by the flickering controls. I really hope that's reprised in the next, extant episode...

The Crusade has a reputation for being perhaps the best historical story, but I really don't rate it that highly. Episode 3, The Wheel of Fortune, is admittedly a corker, one of the very best 25 minutes in the series' history, but the other three do not live up to that quality. The story develops then fizzles, and Whitaker's ambition is undercut and undermined by a rushed ending and lazy deus ex machina resolutions (Richard sending the Doctor and Vicki away, allowing their escape to the TARDIS; Ian reuniting with Barbara oh-so-conveniently; Barbara meeting Maimuna, and then Haroun being at the harem at just the right moment; the whole Joanna/ Saphadin marriage plot dropped like a stone).

It's good, but it could - and should - have been so much better.

First broadcast: April 17th, 1965

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: I think Julian Glover's "Yes. Do it" is delivered brilliantly. It's a tiny moment, but my favourite!
The Bad: David Whitaker's rushed contrivances spoil an intricate set-up.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ (story average: 6.5 out of 10)

NEXT TIME: The Space Museum...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: The Lion (episode 1); The Knight of Jaffa (episode 2); The Wheel of Fortune (episode 3)

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/the-crusade.html

The Crusade's surviving episodes are available on the Lost in Time DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Lost-Time-DVD/dp/B0002XOZW4