Doctor Who, season 2 continued …

The third episode of The Crusades returns to visual as well as audio, giving us a much clearer understanding of what the cliffhanger was all about.

Barbara is kept hidden by a hated enemy of El Akir, who himself is shortly captured.  In trying to protect her saviour’s daughter, Barbara is again captured.

Ian barely appears in this episode, but he’s allowed to search for Barbara (which leads to his only scene in which he’s apparently having a kip in the desert and is soon captured).

Vicki inadvertently lets the King’s sister know that she is a girl, and Joanne offers Vicki her protection in the hope that the Doctor will learn of her part in her brother’s plan.  The Doctor does learn this, but chooses to keep the King’s confidence.  When Joanne finds out about being married off to their enemy, she argues with her brother and refuses to participate – threatening to involve Rome.  King Richard believes that the Doctor broke his confidence and exiles him and Vicki.

Barbara is brought to El Akir who tells her that she’ll wish for death by the time he’s finished with her.

The episode hangs on the performances of Jean Marsh and Julian Glover, in particular their argument.  Actors in other shows should watch this to see how an argument should be handled without going OTT and shouting at everything.  It’s a masterclass.

There’s a similar, just as excellent, argument between the Doctor and the Earl of Leicester in the King’s court with William Hartnell on particularly wonderful form and giving a commanding performance.  Not to be missed.

Presumably William Russell was absent this week, with just a piece of filming inserted into the episode to see him being captured while having a kip.

Next time … The Warlords