The Wheel of Fortune

Episode 3 (Review for all 4 parts):

The Crusade is a four part pure historical adventure starting with The Lion. It is set in 12th Century Palestine, involving King Richard I ('The Lionheart) on crusade and would stand alongside any top BBC period drama of the 60s or 70s such as "I, Claudius". It is pure class with a super cast including Julian Glover (later of Bond villain and Game of Thrones fame) and Jean Marsh that would grace any Shakespearean stage production. The writer David Whitaker is one of Doctor Who's very best and here the script is beautifully written, intelligent and poetic. The director Douglas Camfield is also one of the series best and he is on top form here as are the regular cast.

The story reaches a peak at Episode 3 which must be one of the finest episodes of the first Doctor's era. The other episodes are also top drawer historical drama with exceptional scripts for the era. The second and fourth episodes can only be seen as reconstructions with still photographs as the videos were stupidly wiped. Part 4 is not quite as strong plot-wise but maintains top standards in other respects. Other than that the only criticism I can see is that it doesn't have the scifi interest or excitement of stories with aliens and space adventures.

For me this is sheer class and an unmissable story because time travel is as much of a key part of Doctor Who as alien threats and space travel.

My ratings: Episodes 1 & 2 - 9.5/10, Episode 3 - 10/10, Episode 4 - 9/10.

Overall average rating: 9.5/10.

Barbara is lucky enough to find an ally, someone with a real grudge against one that means her harm, El Akir. Vicki is taken under the wing of the real Joanna, after the little deception is discovered.

It's a good solid episode, the story continues to be very strong, and the acting first rate, it has plenty of positives. I am really glad this episode is one that exists, I think I would have struggled here if only the audio existed, its main strengths are its visuals.

The scene about Vicki's real identity is an amusing moment, you do perhaps need to stretch your imagination to believe in her as a boy. The best scene coming where a concealed Barbara and Safiya hide from The Guards, she is forced to make a tough decision, it's a great scene.

The best element here, as with the previous episode is definitely Hartnell, THE ORIGINAL, THE FIRST Doctor, his performance is commanding.

Lots of lovely sets and costumes throughout, it looks very smart, a great job by the designers.

Enjoyed that, 8/10.

After the dull madness of the Web Planet, it was nice to find the story back on Earth again and with a decent story to boot. We find ourselves in the middle of the Crusades and in the time honored fashion, the group are split across the warring parties and encountering different kinds of danger. This serial starts well, with good characters with meaty Shakespearean delivery and a rather serious air that helps sells the sense of danger that the show does need to have at times. It is a real shame then that the second and fourth parts of this 4-part serial are forever lost, leaving the story fragmented and without an ending.

What there is still engages but only serves to annoy because it feels pretty good. The delivery is solid (certainly a lot better than the last serial) with good performances, good costumes (forgive the greasepaint) and sets with a bit of atmosphere to them. I liked that the two sides in the story each had their plus and minus points, so there wasn't a clear villain – but as usual it did seem to assume you had a bit of historical knowledge coming into the story. Overall though, what remains is solid and worth a look even if the other half doesn't exist anymore.