Doctor Who and the Crusaders

Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #12

by David Whitaker

Arriving in the Holy Land in the middle of the Third Crusade, the Doctor and his companions run straight into trouble. The Doctor and Vicki befriend Richard the Lionheart, but must survive the cut-throat politics of the English court. Even with the king on their side, they find they have made powerful enemies.

Looking for Barbara, Ian is ambushed - staked out in the sand and daubed with honey so that the ants will eat him. With Ian unable to help, Barbara is captured by the cruel warlord El Akir. Even if Ian escapes and rescues her, will they ever see the Doctor, Vicki and the TARDIS again?

This novel is based on a Doctor Who story which was originally broadcast from 27 March-17 April 1965.

Featuring the First Doctor as played by William Hartnell, and his companions Ian, Barbara, and Vicki

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Time Travel, Media Tie In

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 17, 1966

About the author

David Whitaker was an English screenwriter and novelist best known for his work in the early days of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He served as the series' first story editor working on the programme's first fifty one episodes in this capacity.

Reviews

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first doctor and his companions arrive in 12th century Palestine during the Third Crusade. They immediately find themselves in the middle of a conflict between Saracens and crusaders. The Saracens try to capture king Richard the Lionheart. But they end up taking someone else instead. And unfortunately for the doctor and his companions, the Saracens also take Barbara. Ian is quick to go on a rescue mission but the doctor tries to stop him, as has a better plan. He wants to become friends with the king and his sister, to ask for their help. Meanwhile, Barbara comes face to face with Saladin, the Sultan of the Saracens. And that’s just the start of her troubles.


We start with a really strong prologue that tries to describe some of the essence of what makes a historical Doctor Who adventure so fun and enjoyable. This makes for a cool introduction to quite an interesting story. The story itself reminds me a lot of Game of Thrones. Just without the dragons, nudity or a budget to speak of. It’s got a fascinating medieval world to explore, elevated by some cool fight scenes. The writing is engaging and doesn’t obviously try to dumb anything down for us, the audience. It’s got well fleshed out and interesting characters. And it’s very nuanced. Like, the war between the Saracens and the crusaders could have easily been portrayed as very black and white at the time, but it’s not. It’s not that one side is good and the other is bad. That’s not how it works and that’s not how the writer of this story describes it either. Both sides are simply filled with people that have their own motivation to partake in this war. Plus, the ending in particular is quite interesting and educational.


The only downsides to this story for me are the plot, and the fact that it’s got some very subtle hints of racism in terms of some outdated language. The latter is unfortunately a sign of the times this was written in. But this is properly addressed after the actual story. And the plot is definitely solid and interesting, but just generally not very entertaining.


It’s a shame half the episodes of this serial have been lost in time, as the BBC decided to wipe the episodes. But this novelization does a really good job of bringing this partially lost story back to life. It’s unfortunately not the most exciting historical Doctor Who adventure and it is a bit dated, but it’s not a bad read.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Crusades is one of the few First Doctor historical’s that just doesn’t seem to click with me.

As this is the third and final novelisation from the 1960’s it’s quite telling that this was written before the main Target range was launched.
Whittaker is allowed to tell he’s story without the restricted page count. Even though I’m not a big fan of the story, this does lead to some wonderful descriptive prose.

It’s just a shame that they didn’t novelise more around this time, as I would have loved to have read more from Whittaker.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novelization of the sixth serial from the second season of Doctor Who, which was broadcast way back in March and April of 1965. David Whitaker wrote the original teleplay, which he adapted for this prose book version. It features The Doctor in his original incarnation, along with original companions Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, the pair of teachers of his "granddaughter" Susan he'd kidnapped at the start of the first season, and Vicki, a 25th-century orphan who replaced Susan on the TARDIS. (Poor Vicki was never given a last name.) This is the third of the three very early, pre-Target, novelizations intended for a juvenile audience; it appeared in 1966. Set in 12th century Palestine during the Third Crusade, the story is one of the early educational historicals in which they meet Richard the Lion-Heart and Saladin and the reader is intended to learn about the time in between Ian and Barbara's adventures. (The Doctor and Vicki, curiously, aren't as involved in this story.) Whitaker expanded his script here to include a bit of religious philosophy and a much more developed romance for Ian and Barbara. My paperback copy includes the fine Henry Fox illustrations from the initial printing.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the early development of the world's longest running Sci-fi tv series the producers set out to educate as well as entertain. So every so often the monsters and alien planets made way for a purely Terran historic story that usually involved the Doctor and crew getting separated from the Tardis early on, followed by a tricky entanglement in established history. The BBC excelled at this sort of thing. Unfortunately most kids preferred the weird worlds, ray guns and Daleks to Marco Polo, The Aztecs and massacred Huguenots. Schooling was for weekdays. Saturdays were for dreaming. I'll admit that I didn't see the original broadcast of The Crusade but I did have problems as an 8 or 9 year old with David Whitaker's novelisation of his own script. I made several attempts to start this one before abandoning it, but eventually I persevered, got into it and indeed enjoyed it. Perhaps it was the weighty prologue that balked me... I don't know. More likely is that it was just slightly ahead of my years. Even today the long conversation the Doctor has,(not present in the original script) trying to get to grips with the immutability of time is still pretty hard going and not a little confusing with its rock climbing analogies accompanied by Clive of India, Rasputin, Kennedy, Lincoln, Hitler and Napoleon. I'm still confused how it all ties in with how certain Earth history can't be changed due to what is right and wrong, and how it all ties in with wondering what would happen in a situation where two historic figures opposed each other, both for their own right reasons.
As a whole though I can look at the book today as something quite brilliant. In the entire Target range I don't think there is another title that expands the script so much. Whitaker does a great job of bringing Richard the Lionheart, Saladin and a host of supporting characters to life, with enough tangled scheming, adventure, richness of description and sparky dialogue to keep any student of history with a yearning for adventure happy. Perhaps there are a scene or two which are a little too protracted but I think it just underlines how much Whitaker was enjoying the chance to explore the subject matter. Half of the episode are still lost, episode one having been found in 1999, so reading this is a great way of filling that season 2 gap.
This new edition includes an introduction by Charlie Higson, original artwork, a feature on author David Whitaker and between the lines article about the script to novelisation process.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another wonderful historical for the team of the first Doctor, Ian and Barbara. After reading the "modern" novelisation of the first Doctor it was so much better to go back and read one of his actual adventures. To be fair though this was really an Ian and Barbara adventure rather than a Doctor who adventure. The Doctor and Vicki had very minor roles and mostly it was Ian and Barbara (who were in LOVE!) who had most of the action and adventures. What was great about this was that they portrayed the Arab characters as equally just (if not more so) than the English ones. They were quick to point out all the vaults of the English kinds, and the way both groups treated their women. It felt like it was going out of it's way to be a balanced historical, which was very impressive. Definitely one I'd recommend.

[Noah Guerin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Doctor Who book that I've read and a book that has been sitting on my shelf unread for too long because I definitely enjoyed the quick and easy read that this book provided. Just like a Doctor Who episode, it provided an escape through space and time that was quite easily digestible at only about 150 pages which is helping me catch up to the 25 book goal I set for this year while currently being stuck on a longer, more difficult book.

I was actually surprised by how little the Doctor is in this novel. It definitely focuses on his followers and the historical characters. This is definitely one of the more history-focused rather than science fiction-focused Doctor Who episodes.

Overall it was quite enjoyable, besides some let's call outdated language that they address in the afterword there is really nothing super special or exciting about the story, it's just a read that someone with more time and a faster reading speed could probably hammer out in an afternoon. I will look forward to reading more of these small Doctor Who books in the future.

[Pam]

I was hoping to read about one of the lost Doctor Who stories by reading this book. I love Hartnell and I love when Doctor Who goes back in time so I was excited to start it.

I hadn't gotten very far into the book when I got very sick with bacterial meningitis and ended up in a coma in the hospital. My aunt came to stay with me and found this book on my bedside table at home, so she brought it to the hospital to read to me.

I can remember her reading sections of the book to me after I woke up from a coma, but I was still struggling to get fully back to reality. She would read it while holding my hand, and I would lie there with my eyes closed trying to focus on Doctor Who and my breathing.

Needless to say, I don't remember much of the plot, and I can't bring myself to try to read it again. I just take heart that the Doctor and my aunt were with me in the hospital, during probably the worst time of my life.

[Johnny · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Doctor Who and the Crusaders, this was not the “doctor” I enjoyed the most—older, academic, detached, and less emotionally invested than others, at least in my perception. In another review, I stated that Terence Dicks wrote the novelizations from the series which I enjoy the most and David Whitaker didn’t change my mind with this 1973 novelization. Unlike many of the Doctor Who novelizations, Doctor Who and the Crusaders (the Target Book edition published originally in England) offers a significant number of illustrations. The black and white, pen and ink illustrations aren’t as detailed as the late 19th century and early 20th century illustrations by artists like John Tenniel in books like Wind in the Willows for children or deluxe editions of Charles Dickens novels. On the other hand, they aren’t as simplistic as some line drawings. They are akin to pulp magazine illustrations, somewhere between “concept art” used in game design and those classic illustrations mentioned earlier.

The story for Doctor Who and the Crusaders (sounds like a bad rock band, doesn’t it?) centers around a 12th century encounter with King Richard (Coeur d’Lion) and Saladin (with his brother Saphadin) on the Islamic side. Add in political intrigue revolving around Joanna, Richard’s sister, the Doctor’s pacifist instinct, an angry emir seeking revenge, and an impetuous, seeming hopeless rescue attempt by the Doctor’s companion, Ian, and there is plenty of potential for this story. Yet, the novelization is so spread out that it is difficult imagining the television script on which this would presumably been based. Whitaker strings out the action and offers more serendipitous interventions than the average pulp novel.

For me, the story was also marred by a naïve sociological/theological understanding of religion. The sentiment described below sounds wonderful at first glance with its universalist, syncretistic campfire-singing of “Kum-Ba-Yah,” but it conveniently overlooks the reality that individuals and culture experience the transcendent in different ways because of different needs and different environments. Although this could be a foundation for peace in some ways, I simply can’t agree when Whitaker puts these words in Ian’s mouth: “Call it Brahma, Allah or God – only the name changes. The little Negro child will still say his prayers and imagine his God to be in his colour. The French child hopes his prayers will be answered – in French. We are all children in this matter still, and always will be—until colours, languages, custom, rule and fashion find a meeting ground.” (p. 121) Now, I have nothing against finding a meeting ground, but I vehemently disagree that the expressions of deity don’t matter (like the points on Whose Line Is It Anyway?).

I won’t be going out of my way to find any novelizations, even of a fan favorite like Doctor Who, by this author. If you’re a diehard fan of the series, though, be my guest. You probably bought it when it was first published.

[Scott Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as David Whitaker's other Doctor Who novelisation from the mid-1960s, the Daleks, this book suffers from a mediocre TV script - also written by Whitaker. Although the book diverges from the TV story, and arguably improves on it, it still largely reads like an adventure story for children dating from the 1950s, with some action for the boys and some romance for the girls. Perhaps because it takes on a historical subject, it seems more old-fashioned than the Daleks. Although it portrays Saladin in a positive light, and provides some depth to Richard's character too, it is full of stereotypes, particularly of the Muslim characters. Even popular history has moved on since this was written, making it seem more than a couple of generations out of date.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The whole subject of the crusades is problematic and none of the participants come out squeaky clean least of all King Richard, and with the backdrop of religious intolerance fueling the whole shebang i thought this might be a more interesting read than it was.

While well written, for me it suffers from being a children's show and not being able to pull some punches from the subject matter the second is the pacing, goodness me its slow.

Not my favourite, maybe it could have been better if the restraints had been off

[Michael Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cod Shakespearean intrigue of this particular story has never gripped me in any form, although Whitaker's fantastic prose make this better than most.

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Who : The Crusaders (1966) by David Whitaker is the novelisation of the sixth serial of the second season of Doctor Who. The Doctor travels with Ian, Barbara and Vicki to Palestine during the Third Crusade. David Whitaker also wrote the script as well as writing the novelisation.

There, they meet Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. Barbara is kidnapped and then rescued and them kidnapped. El Akir is the dastardly evil doer of the series. It’s a Doctor Who from the time when they still trying to make historial episodes.

The Crusaders is a reasonable read.

[F.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

You wouldn’t get away with writing a ‘Great Men of History’ book about Richard the Lionheart today. He is now too problematic a figure. I think when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s, that sentiment of greatness was still clinging on, but even then you could tell it was fading. It makes this book feel utterly anachronistic.

[Hiram Lester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doctor Who and the Crusaders is the novelization of the Hartnell story, The Crusade, a story which is partially missing. This is the last of the original three pre-Target novelizations which also included Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks (later renamed to Doctor Who and the Daleks) and Doctor Who and the Zarbi .

I fairly recently watched the serial The Crusade, so I was able to compare it somewhat with this novelization, which was written by David Whitaker who also wrote the novelization Doctor Who and the Daleks and they share many similarities. Both were intended to be standalone novels before it was decided to do a whole series of novelizations. Both novelizations also had a romantic interest between Ian and Barbara. While Doctor Who and the Daleks is completely standalone and even offers another origin story for how Ian and Barbara started travelling with the Doctor, Doctor Who and the Crusaders at least acknowledges the rest of the series and mentions several other televised adventures both in the prologue and also when Barbara is talking to Saladin (as she does in the serial). Interestingly enough, this serial takes place immediately after The Web Planet, and the novelizations were released in the same order as the serials, which is rare for the Doctor Who novelizations.

Compared to the serial on which it was based, the story is essentially the same, but many of the events are rearranged: for instance, Ian doesn't get staked out in the sand until much later in the story. There are also a number of events which occur differently in the book and in the serial: for instance, Ian never meets Saladin in the serial. The book is also much more philosophical: there is a whole discussion in the prologue about how the Doctor can change history on some planets, but not on Earth (they're really referring to our version of recorded history). Ian also has a discussion with Saladin about Christianity versus Islam versus Buddhism, etc. Some of the events in the book are probably more graphic than what would have been allowed on TV: Barbara actually gets whipped (to the point of needing salve on her wounds) in the book while she's in El Akir's harem.

This book is one of several that have been reprinted recently by BBC Books. In these, they add a celebrity introduction and a section called "Between the Lines" which compares and contrasts the serial with the book. These make interesting reading as well, although the celebrity introduction in this one was not as good as the one in Doctor Who and the Daleks: the author admits he's never read any of the novelizations.

In all, an enjoyable book. These three pre-Target novelizations were reprinted as the first of Target's line of novelizations in 1973, after which they started producing new novelizations in 1974 which continued until 1994 and they novelized almost all of the original stories. A dozen of these have been reprinted by BBC Books recently (6 last year and 6 this year), and I believe they have plans to reprint more. I certainly hope so as I'm enjoying them and buying them all as ebooks.

[Paul Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

After my last DW book review of the Romans (which I hated), I’ve written this review to balance things. This was a much more pleasurable read, superbly written by David Whitaker.

This book is the last of the three DW books written in the 1960s and subsequently reissued under the Target brand in the 1970s. The other two are the Daleks (also by Whitaker) and the Zarbi (by Bill Strutton).

Originally transmitted from 23/3/1965 to 17/4/1965 in four parts, it tells the story of the Doctor and his three companions Ian, Barbara and Vicki in 12th Century Palestine during the Third Crusade. Director Douglas Camfield considered this story the best DW script he ever worked on. Sadly, only two of the four episodes exist in the BBC archives, episodes 1 and 3. The third episode was originally released in June 1991 as part of the Hartnell Years VHS. After the discovery in New Zealand of episode one (The Lion), the two episodes were released in a special video box-set alongside The Space Museum in July 1999 and included a CD of the soundtrack with linking narration by William Russell, four postcards and a keyring! They were later released as part of the Lost in Time DVD set in November 2004, featuring Russell’s intros from the video and the soundtracks of the missing episodes. There is also audio commentary on episode three with Julian Glover (King Richard) and Russell.

David Whitaker (1928-1980) was the first story editor of the series (until Dalek Invasion of Earth in 1964) and also contributed some major stories both during his time as story editor and particularly afterwards, (Edge of Destruction, The Rescue, The Crusades, Power of the Daleks, Evil of the Daleks, Enemy of the World, The Wheel in Space and the Ambassadors of Death). He also wrote the weekly Daleks comic strip in TV21 and the stage play The Curse of the Daleks (in 1965). Sadly, the Daleks and the Crusade are the only two novelizations he wrote. He moved to Australia in the 1970s and passed away aged 51 from cancer in 1980, while working on the novelization of the Enemy of the World. He is, I feel, one of the true unsung heroes of Doctor Who, trusted to write both the first story of the second doctor (Power of the Daleks) and what was expected at the time to be the last story in Doctor Who to feature the Daleks (Evil of the Daleks). It is easy to forget in these days of multiple Doctors and Dalek stories how important it was to get Patrick Troughton’s introduction as a well loved character right. Getting it wrong would have meant cancellation. Also, as Terry Nation was looking to create a Dalek serial in America, Evil was intended as the big send off. Whitaker did a great job on both of these stories.

Back to the Crusades… The novel adds an extensive prologue and more action compared to the TV serial and depicts two historical events: King Richard's attempt at peace by offering his sister in marriage to Saladin's brother Saphadin in October 1191, and the ambush of King Richard near Jaffa in November 1191, although the timing of both was rearranged for dramatic purposes. Here is some information on the Third Crusade - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_C....

Characterisation-wise, love is a major motivator for Ian’s actions as a Knight. His (reciprocated) love for Barbara is explicitly stated in a way it never was on TV or other Target novels written later by different authors. Compare this to the approach of Donald Cotton in the Romans, where I noted that it felt as if the characters hardly knew each other. The Doctor is written as seen on TV, crotchety but intelligent, affectionate and loyal to his friends. Vicki doesn’t do much, rather like Susan before her. Ian and Barbara are recognisable as their TV characters with the addition of the much more explicitly-stated love interest between them.

Both leaders of the adversaries are treated with respect as civilised men in an uncivilised time. The Islamic religion is respected in a way that I suspect it may not be if written now. Here is an essay on how Western attitudes to Islam has changed - https://theconversation.com/friday-es.... The character of El Akir is the villain of the piece, a misogynist and thief, only tolerated by Saladin because of his army. On the Christian side, Leicester disrupts the King’s plan to marry his sister Joanna (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of...) to Saladin’s brother Saphadin, causing problems for the Doctor, possibly because of his (Leicester’s) own love for her.

The writers of the Discontinuity Guide (1995) note that the story manages to avoid racism but not misogyny. I’m not so sure I agree with this. It doesn’t feel misogynistic to me all that much, although I appreciate that some female characters are abused. The definition of misogyny is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that keeps women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. In the historical context of the story, the plan to marry Joanna to Saphadin was the the kind of political manoeuvring using both sexes in marriage that went on for centuries as part of keeping the peace. The mistreatment of Barbara by El Akir was read by me as part of his cowardice and insecurity. He mistreated her to make himself feel more powerful and therefore he became more despicable. When he got what was coming to him we as readers are glad because he was irredeemable.

This was quite a deep dive through the eyes of a 54 year old male adult of what is, at the end of the day, a novel aimed at children. The fact that I’ve even considered the wider implications of the subject matter shows how well written the novel is. I recommend you read it and form your own opinions.

[Warren Fournier · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the first of the Doctor Who novels...

Published when William Hartnell was still in his third season playing the Doctor on television, fighting the Monoids in "The Ark," this was the third ever Doctor Who novel. It is written by the original screenwriter of the half-missing serial "The Crusade," and contains illustrations by Henry Fox. It is one of the weaker stories from the Hartnell era in my opinion, and the book is therefore mediocre, though I feel it is superior to the original broadcast.

First, let's talk about the positives. The Doctor is still very much an underdeveloped and mysterious character in this story, earning the title of Doctor "Who." For decades, the secrets of the Doctor were largely held sacred by the various writers and showrunners until the rather unpopular recent attempts to experiment with the character and his origins. This sentiment is reflected in the following line from this novel:

"‘The less said about the Doctor, the better,’ Barbara had once said to Ian in the ship, after a particularly dangerous adventure. ‘It’s his constant air of mystery that makes him what he is.’"

Some reviews of this story comment that the Doctor does very little here, which is true, but one must understand that in the early years the Doctor was more of what Rod Serling was to "Twilight Zone," a literal deus ex machina that sets events in motion and serves as a kind of active chorus or commentator throughout the narrative. Fan sympathies were meant to lie with the companions, and in this story the focus is largely on Ian's attempts to rescue Barbara who was kidnapped by a sadistic Emir. It wasn't until Hartnell's third season that the Doctor would more regularly take center stage and play more of the hero role. In some ways, I liked it better when the Doctor was not the most important figure in the universe, but instead was just a madman wandering the universe. Savor the following line:

He would land abruptly in a new world as a stranger and yet, all at once, become a part of that world; reaching out with curiosity and friendly interest to such a great degree that people assumed him to be no more than an ordinary visitor from across a range of mountains, or from over a small sea."

That's some good Doctor Who right there!

Another positive is that Whitaker takes a balanced stance between the English crusaders and the Muslim forces of "Saladin." There are villains and friends on both sides. Whitaker did not give in to temptation to paint King Richard as saintly legend, but as a man who had a bad temper, could be thoughtless, selfish, and narcissistic, and who got in way over his head with his Holy War. I felt this was very well done. Conversely, characters you at first despise, like Ibrahim the Thief, become more likeable and even heroic. Very few characters are purely written digitally.

On the negative side, this is one of the least engaging stories of the first four seasons, and the book itself gets very tedious in places despite being just under 150 pages. Fortunately, it does expand a little on the fates of some characters who simply disappear from the narrative of the broadcast version. Where the TV serial feels extremely rushed, choppy, and unsatisfying, the book fills in some loose ends and is more complete. But overall, nothing much happens here. Barbara is a damsel in distress and schoolteacher Ian suddenly gets knighted and kicks ass with a sword. That makes no sense, I know, but that's about it.

A lot doesn't make sense in this story. The Doctor keeps insisting they should not interfere with history, yet keeps pushing King Richard to marry off his favorite sister Joanna to Saladin's brother. Though this was a proposed scheme in real history, the marriage never took place. So why would the Doctor try to bring it about?

So in conclusion, there are many better examples of Doctor Who stories in television, audio, and literary media. I recommend this one for die-hard fans or for Whovians with kids, as the writing here feels more like a typical 60s young adult novella.

[Jacob Licklider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doctor Who and the Crusaders is an interesting approach to a novelization as while it does go over the key events of the televised story. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki land during the time of the Third Crusade, Barbara is captured, Ian goes to rescue her while the Doctor and Vicki mess around in King Richard’s court. The difference in this novel is that David Whitaker instead of just taking the events of the televised story and adapting them, he is no longer hampered by William Russell’s week long vacation for “The Wheel of Fortune”. The novel focuses much more on Ian’s journey to meet with Saladin and how he ends up rescuing Barbara from El Akir. It’s an adaptation that relishes in the fact that it can actually make some changes to the source material, especially since The Crusade as a story has a very flat ending without any real sense of accomplishment. Doctor Who and the Crusaders however does create a sense of a complete story as we get an actual arc with how Ian feels towards Barbara. Now nothing was ever really stated on television if Ian and Barbara were in a relationship, but Whitaker’s insight into the thoughts of Ian show just how much he has begun to realize that yes he does have feelings for her. He is very subtle in creating the characterization but as the original script editor for the program he gets the job done rather well. Whitaker also devotes more time to showing what effect the time travelling has had on Barbara which is much more of a mental change for her. Her eyes were opened to the differences and the vastness in the universe. This has created an appreciation in Barbara for just how good everything can be and an almost steel like resistance to the evil as always the good out ways the bad. The bad in the novel is worse than in the televised story as although it is still the 1960s, the book gets away from the restrictions and has it very clear how awful El Akir actually is.





To summarize, Doctor Who and the Crusaders takes what was already a great television story and amplifies it by adding in a lot of character depth. It fixes the flaws of “The Warlords” by telling both sides of the story, focusing on Ian’s journey to rescue Barbara and just what happened to Barbara. This all happens without really leaving anything out in the adaptation process and Whitaker really did a good job of keeping everyone as in depth as they were on screen. 10/10.

[Stephen Romney · Rating 4 out of 5]

As one of the few ways to experience The Crusaders, I found this to be a nice, fun, albeit dated read.

Even if your familiarity with the Hartnell era is limited, the book does a decent enough job of getting you up to speed on who the central characters are, with the opening prologue giving a vignette on The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki.

What also surprised me is that despite the age of the story, it has a surprisingly nuanced depiction of both Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. In lieu of reducing them to propagandistic caricatures, the story instead depicts them both as rulers navigating the complexity of war, and each trying to end it in their own way.

Furthermore, it uses this nuance as a way to explain why The Doctor doesn't just go around rewriting history, something foreshadowed with an exchange between him and Ian during the prologue, and later bookended at the end of the story as The Doctor explains to Vicki why Richard never took Jerusalem.

That said, there are still some elements that have not aged well, particularly a few instances of orientalism, namely saved for outright villains like El Akir and morally-grey characters like Ibrahim.

It's also worth noting that there are some discrepancies between the novelization, and the original serial that aired on the BBC, something the book's "Between the Lines" section at the end outlines.

Overall, I enjoyed it as nice, fun, surprisingly nuanced Doctor Who adventure.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another nice historical here, set in the time of Richard Lionheart and Saladin. Following on it seems from Whitaker's Daleks novelisation, a bit of a concentration on romance between Barbara and Ian here, which wasn't in the TV story (there is enough in the TV stories to suggest they could be heading that way, and I like to think they did as confirmed as such in the Sarah Jane Adventures and other media, but not clear cut like in the novel).
I liked the portrayal of both sides, showing good people and bad people on both sides of the conflict, and plenty of honour and chivalry to be had. I did feel sorry for the Doctor, as I felt he was a bit hard done by by those around him.
Nice amount covering Ian and Barbara though, which I always find good given they are two of my favourites.
While not all the TV footage is existing unfortunately, so hard to determine exactly what differs, I think some stuff in the novel, like Barbara being whipped, would never have made the TV, though it did surprise me that Ian with the ants did - quite strong for a children's show as such :) All round though a good novel, with a bit of humour for the ending.

[Michel Siskoid Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early Who script editor David Whitaker starts Doctor Who and the Crusaders - his adaptation of his own serial now known as "The Crusade" - with a sort of mission statement about the sacrosanct quality of history in the Whoniverse in a fun insert scene, and this book, the third and final 1960s adaptation later included in the Target range, might be worth a read just for that. But good news! It's also quite an action-packed story, probably more so than the televised version, of which we are missing the two most action-oriented episodes anyway. Whitaker's lush descriptions make the book feel longer than most, and he pushes the violence further (King Richard and Saladin almost disappear from the back of the book in favor of all swords converging on the villainous El Akhir), and full warning, threats of sexual assault are involved. This story will always shine thanks to its Shakespearean dialog, but the unlimited-budget action sequences make the book the best version of the story. Nice art plates from Henry Fox, too.

[mabuse cast · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first time reading one of these target book novelizations of a classic doctor who TV story, I sought this one out as my first because its one of the partially missing classic TV stories, and honestly this was a very good read overall!

For a 1960s doctor who book using the middle east during the times of the crusades/the middle ages as its setting its handled with way more tact and lines of moral grayness from both sides of said conflict then one might think!

Sure you could argue that a lot of the stuff the doctor's companion Barbara goes through in this book can come off as a bit sexist or of its time in how she is written but other then that I found it could have been much worse given the possible pit falls this could have given the time period it is set in!

I for sure will read more of these target books novelizations in the near future!

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Whitaker's novelisation of his Doctor Who adventure originally broadcast as four episodes between 27 March and 17 April. One of the best books in the range, bringing the period to life in a manner reminisent of the many historical romps that graced the cinema at the time.

Whitaker captures the four leads with an expertise that reflects his previous role as script editor for the television series and builds upon the characterisations he began in Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks. He enhances scenes to build both drama and scale, straying from the original plot where necessary to enhance the adventure.

A real winner of a book, which deserves a place on any bookshelf. A delight to read on a rainy afternoon.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story quite a bit. The setting of the Crusades was a great one. The book had some dated terms for certain races/peoples, but it was not overall too dated or racist when dealing with both sides of the Crusades. I think this is because it is a Doctor Who story and is hopeful about humanity similar to Star Trek's general outlook.
The Crusading Christians and Defending Muslims both had strong good characters and bad, evil characters. Just like any normal sample of random people.
The characters were built well enough and felt like they had depth even without pages of exposition.
It was a good read overall!

[Ben Goodridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those Doctor Who books written in the 1960s before the Target series took off. These books tend to be written in a different style that's more "boy's adventure series" than "science fiction serial," and tend to do things like refer to the Doctor as "Doctor Who" and extensively re-introduce the characters and premise.

"Pure historicals" can be a little difficult to engage with - lovers of science fiction will find precious little here - but David Whitaker has a good sense of setting and period, and the reader has no trouble empathizing. I can't say it all holds up fifty years later, but it does help one tick a box.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Dr Who novel, this does the job well enough and is an entertaining read, it is a sad reminder that we're unlikely to ever see all four of the original episodes, the story doesn't appear to hold back on some of the horrors of battle and torture and the implications of the fate awaiting the women in the harem. As a novel itself, it's probably just average, it's entertaining enough but some bits are never really covered, the Dr and Vicki's story just seems to disappear for most of the second half of the book, along with King Richard and Joanna.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's another novelasation of TV story that got lost. I really enjoy the history-episodes and so I'm glad that I could learn about it this way.
I listened to the audiobook brilliantly performed by William Russel (Ian Chesterton) - And talking about Ian: He and Barbara are clearly the heroes of this story. The Doctor is just there and steals clothes ;-) It seems to be a habit.
I enjoyed it! And I hope they find the TV-material oneday.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another 1st Doctor story and I think I have to say I like it better then the previous. I thought the story was interesting and well written. I really enjoyed the fact that Ian and Barbara's romantic relationship was more obvious then it ever was on the show. The only real problem was some of the middle eastern characters felt more like caricatures then real people.

[John Peel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Doctor and his friends end up caught between the two warring sides during the Crusades. Barbara is kidnapped, and Ian has to risk a perilous rescue attempt. Whitaker was the show's first script editor, and nobody knew better how to write a Doctor Who story. Thrilling and at times funny, this is a delightful novel.

[Ian Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not a huge fan of the historicals but Whittaker’s prose is a joy to read, even when dealing with an obvious moustache-twirler like El Akir. The supporting characters are well-portrayed and the thin storyline is catered to very well by the page length, although a nod to some kind of conclusion to Joanna’s story would have been nice.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, but overall mixed feelings. Whittaker is a good writer and does a good job here, but the plot is one of the less compelling ones. On a good note, Ian and Barbara are the real stars of the story, and their part shines. On my Dr Who 60th anniversary read-through, I am glad to have revisited this story. Next up, The Space Museum.