In an effort to find something quick that can be written as part of Daily Doctor Who, we are continuing with Say Something Nice, where I look back at each of the Doctor Who stories and pull out one or two cool things about it.
(Daily Doctor Who #98)
Read the previous entry here. Today, we continue with the second season’s sixth story…
The Crusade
Featuring the same cast as last time: William Hartnell as the Doctor, William Russell as Ian Chesterton, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright, and Maureen O’Brien as Vicki. Written by David Whitaker and directed by Douglas Camfield. Notable guest stars for the story include Julian Glover as Richard and Jean Marsh as Joanna.
Individual episodes are called The Lion, The Knight of Jaffa, The Wheel of Fortune and The Warlords.
Say Something Nice…
(Named for Missy–aka the Master–and her catchphrase from her first full appearance in Dark Water).
I’ve only seen one episode of The Crusade, which at the time was the only one known to exist (now there are two episodes in the archives). But the story is well-regarded for its balanced portrayal of the two warring leaders, King Richard and Saladin, who each have what are clearly both positive and negative qualities–something that is pretty impressive for the 1960’s television.
But because we’re equal-opportunity fans here, we’re not going to only be sycophantically complimentary.
You craven-hearted spineless poltroon!
(Another cry from the Master, but not exactly a catch-phrase, this time from The Deadly Assassin)
Reading through a plot summary for the story, one is struck by how much time Barbara spends captured in the story, with her various escape attempts all pretty much ending in failure. It feels like that would have gotten kind of annoying.
Catch you next time!
Blue Towel Productions 
A triumph for Jean Marsh!