Old Skool Tour: The Crusade
Sep. 7th, 2008 07:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rangersylThe Crusade
"There is something new in you yet something older than the sky itself. I sense that I can trust you."
As a historical -- this is more like it. It takes itself seriously, and yet not too seriously. It dishes up a nice adventure steeped in the atmosphere of King Richard's crusade and there are even a few surprises along the way.
The first things that stand out are the commanding performances by Julian Glover and Jean Marsh. They're simmering, tense, and passionate and play it to the hilt. It's as if someone forgot to tell them they're on a tea-time 'kid's' show instead of a straight BBC historical. Those scenes would have played well inserted into even more modern historical treatments like The Tudors or the various recent portrayals of Elizabeth I. Wrong era, I know, but the energy is similar.
I'm going to miss them. No, wait -- they'll be back!
Not to be outdone, Bernard Kay was a majestic yet reasonable Saladin. This script and the production in general made a conscious decision to give a pretty balanced comparison between King Richard's court and Saladin's. There were traitors and fools in both camps, and the main hero or the piece was the Arab 'Everyman', Haroun who wound up rescuing Barbara and delivering justice to El Akir. This could have been embarrassingly racist, and yet was not.
How does the TARDIS crew fare in all this? Pretty well, for the most part, though how I tire of Barbara in peril.
There's a distinct pattern developing: the historicals are a lot more misogynistic than the futuristic stories. Of course this is probably because there was an honest attempt at keeping things in period. And since prevailing wisdom of the time says that the most serious danger a woman could be in was kidnapping and rape, Barbara ended up kidnapped and threatened with rape time and time again.
As in many historicals, the Doctor and Company get thrown into a situation where rather than making an impression on events, they simply must survive, find one another, and find the TARDIS. This doesn't leave a whole lot of room for great character development, but we do see some nice scenes of action hero Ian, Clever and scrappy Barbara, and just plain cute Doctor and Vicki.
It is a shame that two episodes are lost, but the Loose Canon reconstruction is well done and captures the essence nicely.
Bottom line: Theatrical and fun. Astonishingly even-handed when dealing with both the positive and the negative of King Richard's Crusade and Saladin's court. Has aged surprisingly well and would be a good 'lost story' to show new fans.
"There is something new in you yet something older than the sky itself. I sense that I can trust you."
As a historical -- this is more like it. It takes itself seriously, and yet not too seriously. It dishes up a nice adventure steeped in the atmosphere of King Richard's crusade and there are even a few surprises along the way.
The first things that stand out are the commanding performances by Julian Glover and Jean Marsh. They're simmering, tense, and passionate and play it to the hilt. It's as if someone forgot to tell them they're on a tea-time 'kid's' show instead of a straight BBC historical. Those scenes would have played well inserted into even more modern historical treatments like The Tudors or the various recent portrayals of Elizabeth I. Wrong era, I know, but the energy is similar.
I'm going to miss them. No, wait -- they'll be back!
Not to be outdone, Bernard Kay was a majestic yet reasonable Saladin. This script and the production in general made a conscious decision to give a pretty balanced comparison between King Richard's court and Saladin's. There were traitors and fools in both camps, and the main hero or the piece was the Arab 'Everyman', Haroun who wound up rescuing Barbara and delivering justice to El Akir. This could have been embarrassingly racist, and yet was not.
How does the TARDIS crew fare in all this? Pretty well, for the most part, though how I tire of Barbara in peril.
There's a distinct pattern developing: the historicals are a lot more misogynistic than the futuristic stories. Of course this is probably because there was an honest attempt at keeping things in period. And since prevailing wisdom of the time says that the most serious danger a woman could be in was kidnapping and rape, Barbara ended up kidnapped and threatened with rape time and time again.
As in many historicals, the Doctor and Company get thrown into a situation where rather than making an impression on events, they simply must survive, find one another, and find the TARDIS. This doesn't leave a whole lot of room for great character development, but we do see some nice scenes of action hero Ian, Clever and scrappy Barbara, and just plain cute Doctor and Vicki.
It is a shame that two episodes are lost, but the Loose Canon reconstruction is well done and captures the essence nicely.
Bottom line: Theatrical and fun. Astonishingly even-handed when dealing with both the positive and the negative of King Richard's Crusade and Saladin's court. Has aged surprisingly well and would be a good 'lost story' to show new fans.
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-09 12:28 am (UTC)When do the TARDIS crew start affecting things on a regular basis? IE, when did it become the /stated goal/? I remember we had a bit of discussion on this.
Fifth of nothing--it amuses me how much the Doctor affects things. And he does so with a song in his heart. :) Yes, there is a bit of back and forth about 'not affecting the timestream' and such, but just as often, he'll roll right over that. ::snort::
As far as Babs being kidnapped/threatened--boo. But your points are valid. And really, can we expect better treatment of women from something made 40 years ago, when, IMHO, media still struggles with that today?
Like you, I'll give it a pass, especially because I think that Who does make an effort to show Barbara's inherent awesomeness. :)
no subject
Date: 2008-09-10 03:05 am (UTC)Barbara is so awesome, they almost always get a pass from me!
no subject
Date: 2008-09-09 05:34 am (UTC)I was also happy to see that neither King Richard nor Saladin was vilified or characturized; keeping the story ballanced and showing the war in a more realistic light was very refreshing and a great lesson in openmindedness.
Action hero Ian, of course, is always a great plus. And let's not forget on this occasion the Doctor as a bit of an action hero in his own right - he takes up a fallen sword as well to protect himself and potentially also his companions.
Another of my favorite scenes in part 1 was the Doctor "borrowing" clothes for himself, Vicki, and Ian.
Julian Glover, Jean Marsh, and Bernard Kay were amazing... the casting couldn't have been better, and the fact that they had an outstading script and a director who wove the historical characters and the Tardis crew together perfectly just goes to show what a truly great historical this was - even if two parts were missing.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-10 03:06 am (UTC)And yes - sword-wielding Doctor is always a plus :)