The Wheel of Fortune (The Crusade Episode 3)

The one where Barbara is asked to murder a young girl in order to save her from marauders...

Wow. I really don't think there's been an episode of Doctor Who this good since Season 1, and even then I'd probably vote for this as the very best so far. Thank goodness we have the luxury of being able to sit and watch it because if this was just audio-only I don't think we'd be able to fully appreciate just how great it is.

Central to the entire episode is a guest actor called George Little, who plays Haroun. Little gives one of the most moving performances ever given to Doctor Who, enhanced by David Whitaker's sensitive writing and Dudley Simpson's beautiful music. Haroun is the man who grabs Barbara at the end of episode 2, but he is not the enemy (far from it). He is a sworn enemy of El Akir, but he's not your usual run-of-the-mill vengeful plot device. Haroun has a reason - several reasons - to want El Akir dead. In a beautiful monologue to camera, Jacqueline Hill looking sympathetically on, Haroun tells us that El Akir destroyed his happy home life by murdering his wife and son, and abducting his daughter Maimuna, then burning his house to the ground.

All he has left is his other daughter, Safiya, and his quest for revenge on El Akir. So when the Emir's Saracen soldiers come looking for Barbara, door to door, it is heartbreaking to see Haroun entrust Barbara with his dagger and promise to kill Safiya if they are found by El Akir's men. He does not want his other daughter to become El Akir's plaything, and would rather she were dead than his slave (let's face it, Safiya would probably be raped multiple times by the Emir and his men). Haroun's humanity is breathtaking, and Barbara is left with perhaps the biggest moral dilemma of her life so far when she is handed the dagger. How could she possibly bring herself to kill an innocent teenage girl if the "need" arose?

The startlingly adult themes sewn into this episode by Whitaker are done with care and delicacy, but neither does he shy away from depicting the reality of life in 12th century Palestine. This is how people live, in fear of the evil Emir, and the feeling of danger and foreboding that is conjured through performance, scripts and Douglas Camfield's focused direction is palpable. You really feel for Barbara, and you feel for Haroun, who you've only known for five minutes.

It's touching that Barbara feels she is bringing only more danger to Haroun's door by hiding there, and insists she should leave, but Haroun is a good man and maintains that any enemy of El Akir's is a friend of his. He goes out into the streets and is ultimately assaulted by Saracens, while Safiya and Barbara hide in a secret cavity in the walls. But when Barbara realises it will only be a matter of time until they are discovered, she sacrifices her own safety to protect Safiya, and tip-toes out into the house, where she is captured by El Akir's men. But her aim to keep Safiya safe is achieved, and Barbara is dragged to the Emir's domain, where she is chillingly told: "The only pleasure left for you is death. And death is very far away."

So all that is one reason why The Wheel of Fortune is up there among the very best episodes of Doctor Who ever, thanks to a confluence of talent in the form of Little, Hill, Simpson, Whitaker and Camfield. But elsewhere, our cup of talent runneth over, because we've also got the mighty acting chops of Julian Glover and Jean Marsh to marvel at.

In what has to be one of Doctor Who's most ferocious, hard-hitting and utterly convincing arguments ever, Joanna discovers her brother Richard's plan to marry her off to Saphadin in an effort to make peace with the "heathens" and make her joint ruler of Jerusalem. But Joanna is having none of this and lays into her brother like, well... like a woman scorned! She venomously puts him in his place, insisting that she will not be a pawn in his war games, and threatens to go above his head to the Pope himself. It's a stunning scene in which Marsh knocks it out of the park, spitting words like "INfidel!" and "I will not have it!" as she sweeps from room to room with the King in her wake. Glover gives as good as he gets too (his incredulous "CAN-not?!" is a show-stopper) and helps to make this sibling spat a truly impressive moment.

And circling all of this guest talent is William Hartnell, who has rarely been as bang on form as he is here, whether it's playing the comedy in a delightful scene with Vicki and Ben Daheer, or fending off the Earl of Leicester's dismissals while advising King Richard. The Earl is adamant that marrying Joanna to Saphadin will not broker any peace, and urges the King to move in on Saladin's army, but the Doctor advises that the more peaceful method of betrothal is better ("You stupid butcher!").

I have to say I'm on the Earl's side. How could a Christian princess ever marry a Muslim sultan and stay true to her faith? Of course, this incontrovertible problem is what unravels Richard's plan ultimately, but I'm surprised the Doctor - with his advantage of historical foreknowledge - goes along with this too. The Doctor is torn off a strip in a searing final attack by Leicester (played solidly by John Bay): "You're a man for talk, I can see that. You like a table and a ring of men. A parley here, arrangements there, but when you men of eloquence have stunned each other with your words, we, the soldiers, have to face it out. On some half-started morning while you speakers lie abed, armies settle everything, giving sweat, sinewed bodies - aye, and life itself!"

In the end, Leicester gets his revenge on the Doctor by telling Joanna about Richard's plan, and the King assumes it is the Doctor who has told her. This episode is all very Shakespearean, and I really wish the first two episodes had been this strong. It's packed with beautifully honed lines (Joanna's description of the Doctor: "There's something new in you, yet something older than the sky") and subplots to make your heart weep (Haroun's tragedy hits home hard).

Our heroes are left with quite a predicament: Ian has been assaulted in the desert, Barbara is to suffer at the hands of El Akir, and the Doctor and Vicki are personae non gratae as far as King Richard is concerned.

First broadcast: April 10th, 1965

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Every entrancing second of it, but special mentions have to go to George Little and Jean Marsh for two scintillating performances.
The Bad: I'm still not a fan of Bernard Kay's stilted, muted performance as Saladin. If he's trying to portray a man whose stillness and calm is something to be feared in him, then I'm not buying it. It just feels like he's magnificently uninterested. The real Saladin was 53 in 1190, so it's not old age he's depicting. Just wake up, Bernie!
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★★

NEXT TIME: The Warlords...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: The Lion (episode 1); The Knight of Jaffa (episode 2); The Warlords (episode 4)

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