El Jefe of Jaffa
The Crusade* (4 X 25mins B&W)
Written by David Whitaker
Doctor Who Series two Serial six
The Lion transmitted BBC1 27 March 1965
The Knight of Jaffa transmitted BBC1 3 April 1965 (episode missing)
The Wheel of Fortune transmitted BBC1 10 April 1965
The Warlords transmitted BBC1 17 April 1965 (episode missing)
* Note: until 1966 Doctor Who serials had no overall title, instead each episode had its own title.
Synopsis
The TARDIS materialises in 12th century Palestine, during the time of the Third Crusade. When the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki emerge, they find themselves in the middle of a Saracen ambush. In the confusion, Barbara is seized by a Saracen, while the rest of the TARDIS crew stop the attackers from killing William de Tornebu and King Richard.
Barbara and des Preaux are presented to Saladin's brother Saphadin by El Akir, who mistakenly believes them to be King Richard and his sister Lady Joanna. When des Preaux reveals their true identity, El Akir is furious but, before he can act, Saladin emerges and is intrigued by Barbara, enough to invite her to entertain him with her stories at supper. Meanwhile, King Richard, tired of this war of attrition, and fearful of his brother John at home, offers his sister Joanna in marriage to Saphadin.
Review
Only episodes 1 and 3 still survive, so I've based my review on these plus the audio tracks for the remaining two. However, since they're half the serial, it gives a good sample of what the story is, how it's told, the pace and tone, plus the acting and production.
Episode one is not too bad, the fight scenes in the woods outside Jaffa is quite acceptable, though its clear Ian's separate fight is a pre-filmed insert (another schoolteacher going on holiday!). There's some amusing scenes when the Doctor surreptitiously steals some clothing from a native trader, throwing them out the door to a waiting Vicki, who for three episodes now masquerades as a boy (shades of Shakespeare!). After that it gets bogged down with dialogue, either cod-Shakespearian history plays from King Richard and his court, or shades of Othello with the Saracens.
Episode three sees the first of two escape attempts by Barbara from the clutches of Saphadin. Again, as with so many earlier serials, the plot is so thin it has to be padded out with doubling of plot elements. Since there are to be no large battle scenes, and the plot is to take place over the course of a few days, there's clearly little scope for epic action, so we have to content ourselves with long scenes of dialogue.
Fortunately, we have the Doctor and Vicki, whom I notice have been paired in all their adventures, Ian and Barbara having separate adventures. They really gel together, with Maureen's impish smile seeming to bring out the rascally funny side of the Doctor. Their scenes together are good.
Both Julian Glover and Jean Marsh, two very fine actors, give excellent performances in their respective roles of King and sister, managing to deliver their occasionally clunky lines with authority. Jean is particularly good when she is angry with her brother when she first hears of his proposed betrothal of her to Saladin's brother. Jacqueline sadly has another suffering victim of libidinous desire role, whilst Russell is simply asked to repeat his Sir Lancelot role. The other outstanding role is another excellent Who performance from Bernard Kay (first seen in Dalek Invasion) as Saladin. The rest of the two respective courts range from indifferent to average.
The costume design stands out here, but then it has to do so much as most of the time the show is just people standing around endlessly reciting dialogue (nobody actually talks in this, apart from the Doctor and Vicki when alone). Speaking of talking, this is their fifth adventure back in historical time and still nobody has explained how the TARDIS crew understand the languages and dialects of the people they meet, or how their 20th Century English is understood by others! I've been waiting for an explanation, I would have thought the Doctor might have mentioned it in passing, but one isn't forthcoming (maybe it was mentioned in the wholly missing Marco Polo, though the plot breakdown doesn't mention it?).
In the end, half a serial seems a blessing, as I think four episodes of people talking (with Ian providing the only action), and poor old Barbara being put upon and having little to do, is enough for anyone. I think the main problem is that everyone approached the whole venture with a certain po-faced solemnity that isn't always in the best interest of the show. A perfect example is when Haroun starts to recount his family's misfortunes, a violin strikes up in the background and it's unintentionally funny (yes, you can picture the the world smallest violin hand gesture), a surprising and odd lapse of judgement by the normally excellent Dudley Simpson. Based on these two episodes and the audio tracks, this is less of a magical mystery tour than a mundane history bore. Only the main actors are of interest.
TARDIS rating: 2/5
Credits
Dr. Who .................................................................................... WILLIAM HARTNELL
Ian Chesterton .......................................................................... WILLIAM RUSSELL
Barbara Wright ......................................................................... JACQUELINE HILL
Vicki ......................................................................................... MAUREEN O'BRIEN
Richard Lionheart ..................................................................... JULIAN GLOVER
Princess Joanna ...................................................................... JEAN MARSH
William des Preaux .................................................................. JOHN FLINT
El Akir ....................................................................................... WALTER RANDALL
William de Tornebu .................................................................. BRUCE WIGHTMAN
Reynier de Marun .................................................................... DAVID ANDERSON
Ben Daheer .............................................................................. REG PRITCHARD
Saladin ..................................................................................... BERNARD KAY
Saphadin .................................................................................. ROGER AVON
Chamberlain ............................................................................. ROBERT LANKESHEER
Earl of Leicester ........................................................................ JOHN BAY
Haroun ....................................................................................... GEORGE LITTLE
Title Music ........................... by RON GRAINER with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Fight Arranger .......................................................................... DEREK WARE
Incidental Music composed and conducted ............................. by DUDLEY SIMPSON
Film Cameraman ..................................................................... PETER HAMILTON
Film Editor ............................................................................... PAM BOSWORTH
Story Editor .............................................................................. DENNIS SPOONER
Designer .................................................................................. BARRY NEWBERY
Costumes Supervised .............................................................. by DAPHNE DARE
Make-up Supervised ............................................................... by SONIA MARKHAM
Lighting .................................................................................... RALPH WALTON
Sound ...................................................................................... RAY ANGEL
Producer ................................................................................. VERITY LAMBERT
Directed .................................................................................. by DOUGLAS CAMFIELD
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