Doctor Who, season 2 continued …

Due to the “missing” nature of some early Doctor Who adventures, The Knight of Jaffa is reviewed here as the audio version.

It’s difficult to get a true understanding of the episode without the visuals and, indeed, the last few minutes prior to and including the cliffhanger consists almost entirely of incidental music making it impossible to tell what’s going on or what the cliffhanger is.

That said, there’s some excellent wordplay trickery going on as the Doctor (with help) convinces the King to help in their rescue of his knight and Barbara.

The majority of the episode is ably told by the “older” Ian Chesterton in the 90s linking footage from the original BBC video release (included on the DVD set).  There’s no mention of the Doctor’s little ruse regarding the stolen clothes being foiled, though, and we do miss out on meeting the King’s sister, and the way the Doctor gets the King to change his mind regarding the rescue.  Also, we don’t get a true understanding of why/how Barbara gets kidnapped without the audio.

But, really, watching the linking footage is enough if you just want to follow the story because the episode isn’t as fast-paced or action-packed as the first episode.

Next time … The Wheel of Fortune