The Doctor and his companions encounter King Richard the Lionheart in this classic remastered soundtrack adventure with linking narration by William Russell.

"History must take its course..."
The TARDIS materializes in the middle of a holy war between King Richard the Lionheart and the Saracen leader, Saladin, in 12thCentury Palestine.  As the Doctor, Vicki, Ian and Barbara explore their surroundings, they are suddenly caught up in a Saracen ambush - and Barbara is kidnapped.

For the time travelers, intrigue and espionage ensue as they once again become involved in living history.  A newly-knighted "Sir Ian of Jaffa" makes hast to find and rescue Barbara, whilst the Doctor finds it difficult to stay out of trouble in the court of the King...

This classic adventure, only two episodes of which survive in the BBC film archive, stars William Hartenll as the Doctor, William Russell as Ian, Jaqueline Hill as Barbara, and Maureen O'Brien as Vicki.  Amongst the guest cast are Julian Glover as Richard, with Jean Marsh as his sister Joanna.

This CD release also features William Russell re-living his memories of recording the television serial.

• The Crusade has faired better than most 1960's Doctor Who stories.  Episodes 1 and 3 exist in the BBC's library.

• Episode 1 was recovered in early 1999 by a film collector from New Zealand.  The two existing episodes were released on video shortly after that.
   
• This story is an example of "historical Who" at its finest.  The writing (done by David Whitaker) is top notch as is the performances given by both the regular cast as well as the guest stars (such as the great Jean Marsh, Julian Glover, and Bernard Kay).

• The audio recordings of the two missing episodes (2 and 4) are included on the DVD release Lost In Time.  There was no linking narration provided for the two episodes.  These two episodes are also available as a bonus CD that was packaged along with the VHS version.

• The audio recording of this story was done separately by David Holman and Richard Landen using home audio equipment.
   

• A bonus 19 minute interview with William Russell is also included at the end of the second disc.  The interview gives some great details on Russell's time with the program and of the making of this particular story.
   

• Mark Ayres, of the Doctor Who Restoration Team, did extensive work on this audio release by digitally remastering these recordings.