Barbara is hauled before the vengeful El Akir. |
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He stares down at her with contempt. |
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'The only pleasure left for you is death,' he says with sadistic relish. |
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'And death,' says El Akir, 'is very far away.' |
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'Such a prize as you is worth rewarding these men for your recapture,' says El Akir, as Barbara looks up at her guards. 'Would you not agree?' |
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'I have spent time and trouble on you,' he says, counting some coins into the palm of his hand. 'Now you cost me gold as well.'
'I'm not afraid of you,' says Barbara. |
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'No?' sneers El Akir. 'Yet, you run away. Is that not fear?'
'Fear has nothing to do with contempt or disgust,' says brave Barbara.
'You are not here to like or dislike me. Such liberties are over for you,' says El Akir. 'These coins are going to change your laughter into tears, your joy to misery.' |
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Barbara knocks the coins from El Akir's hand and they scatter across the floor. As the guards scrabble to retrieve them she makes a dash for freedom. 'Leave that!' El Akir bellows at the guards. 'After her, you fools!' |
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The guards burst into El Akir's seraglio, searching for Barbara. Maimuna, the other daughter of Haroun, defies them. 'What do you want in here?' she demands. 'Are you both drunk? Or mad?' |
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'I'll have your hands and feet for this!' says El Akir when he follows the guards in. 'No man steps into this room but me. Now you find her, or your death will be slow.' He throws the guards out of the room. |
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'No one has stepped in here, my lord,' Maimuna tells El Akir. 'No man would dare... except your guards just now.' |
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'The prisoner is a woman, and I want her found!' says El Akir.
'We have seen no one,' insists Maimuna. |
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'Look,' says El Akir, holding up a ruby ring. 'For anyone who should see her, and report it to me.'
When El Akir leaves, Barbara rises to her feet. 'We will hide you here,' Maimuna reassures her. 'We all hate him.' |
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'You will be safe,' adds Maimuna. 'No one here will betray you.'
Fatima, one of the other girls, remains silent, however. |
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Taken prisoner by an unseen assailant, the unconscious Ian is staked out under the blazing sun. |
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'You want a little drink of water?' says his captor, Ibrahim, in mocking tones.
'Take me to Lydda,' croaks Ian. 'I will give you money.' |
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'It is a predicament,' ponders Ibrahim. 'You are a rich lord, I can see from the things you wear. But you will not share your wealth with poor, poor Ibrahim.' |
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Ibrahim reaches for a pot of honey made from pounded dates. He pours some of the honey on Ian's wrists and chest, and lays a trail of the sweet honey across the sand, towards a nearby ants' nest. |
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'I will sit in the shade of the trees and dream of all the treasures I will get when the ants discover you,' says Ibrahim with unbridled glee. |
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'If you crane your neck around, my lord, you will soon see what you take to be a black line along the honey,' says Ibrahim, squealing with delight. 'Why, you will be able to see it getting closer and closer!' |
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In Richard's palace, the Earl of Leicester questions Vicki about her background and motives. 'You came here in disguise - first a boy and now you are a girl!' he says.
'Where is the Princess?' says the exasperated Vicki. 'She knew all about this!' |
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'You call yourself a nobleman, sir?' says the Doctor, interceding. 'Yet it appears you enjoy bullying young girls, hmm?' |
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'I have the right to civility from you,' says Leicester. 'What are you, knave or commoner? Or are you perhaps a traitor?'
'You!' exclaims Vicki, realising who betrayed her and the Doctor. 'It was you who told the Princess!' |
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'I'll have no more of this!' says the clearly agitated Leicester.
'No more will we,' says the King.
'Your majesty,' says Leicester, turning to face Richard. 'I didn't realise you were there, sire.' |
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'Go to your men,' says the King, 'find out their quarrels and complaints, and mend them with the best words at your command.'
'They understand a fight, my lord,' says Leicester.
'Then warn them one approaches,' says Richard. Leicester leaves to rally his troops. |
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'We know now that it was not you who told our sister,' Richard tells the Doctor and Vicki. 'It's no use. Joanna is right: we cannot fight Rome as well. In any other land I could command the end and force my purpose. Not here... not with Saphadin and Joanna. No. Once again we shall have to fight.' |
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The Doctor asks Richard why he didn't reprimand Leicester for revealing his plan to Joanna.
'We accept the impeachment,' says Richard humbly. 'You see, my Lord of Leicester is a hardy fighter... when we meet the Saracen again, we shall need him at our elbow. But do not be discouraged. You have our favour.' |
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'But I have made an enemy of him, sire,' says the Doctor.
'I fear you have,' says Richard. 'Go to Acre. Rest there. Wait until we call again upon your wisdom and your counsel.' |
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The Doctor assures the King he will indeed see Jerusalem, before conferring with Vicki. 'Are we going back to the Ship?' she whispers.
'As fast as our legs can carry us, my dear,' replies the Doctor quietly. |
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'Doctor, will he really see Jerusalem?' asks Vicki.
'Only from afar,' replies the Doctor. 'He won't be able to capture it. His armies are marching on a campaign that he can never win.'
'Can't we tell him?' asks Vicki.
'I'm afraid not,' says the Doctor.
'History must take its course.' |
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The Doctor and Vicki depart, leaving Richard clasping a cross. 'Help me, Holy Sepulchre,' he mutters. |
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'Help me...' The anguished monarch is lost in thought. |
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The dazed Ian is powerless to resist Ibrahim's torture. |
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'You see, my master?' he taunts. 'The line of black is getting nearer and nearer. Date honey is a great delicacy for our little friends. And I will return to the shade and leave you to your little friends. You have only to call!' |
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As the wind howls and the ants march closer, Ian struggles against his bonds. But he is unable to break free. |
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Barbara tells Maimuna not to be upset. 'My tears are tears of joy,' she says. 'All this time I believed that my father and sister were dead. El Akir had swore that they were.' |
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'Now I know why...' says Maimuna. 'By keeping me here, he brought shame upon my family... I tried to kill myself to spare my father's honour. But I did not even have the will to die.'
Barbara tells Maimuna that her father hates El Akir. 'He wants to kill him and take you home.' |
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Leicester orders a soldier to follow the Doctor and Vicki, warning the man that the Doctor may be in league with Saladin and that Vicki may be a witch.
Meanwhile, in the desert, Ibrahim gazes up at the circling vultures. 'You see, my lord,' he says, laughing. 'They know when death is approaching.' |
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The ants reach Ian's hand and he concedes defeat. He tells Ibrahim there is gold hidden in his boot. Ibrahim cuts Ian's legs free, but finds no gold. |
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Ian uses his legs to kick Ibrahim off his feet. Ibrahim drops his dagger, and Ian pulls out the pegs pinning his wrists to the ground. The two men scuffle in the sand. |
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Ian gains the upper hand, twisting Ibrahim's arm behind his back. 'Where is Lydda?' he says angrily. 'How far is it? Because you're going to take me there!' The terrified Ibrahim confesses that his treacherous brother, his accomplice in Ian's capture, stole his horse. He pleads for mercy and starts to cry. |
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Hafsa, one of the seraglio girls, listens at the door but tells Maimuna that the coast is clear. Maimuna tells Barbara that the corridor outside leads to a balcony which overlooks a garden. There is a tree within reach of the balcony, but guards patrol beneath it. |
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Fatima takes Hafsa's place, listening at the door.
'How far are the entrance gates from the tree?' Barbara asks Maimuna.
'Not far,' she replies. 'But there is no escape that way. The guards watch it constantly. I'll show you from the window.' |
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While Maimuna takes Barbara to the window, Fatima quietly slips out. |
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Outside the gates of El Akir's palace, Haroun crouches behind a bush. He watches a patrolling guard carefully, and reaches for his knife.
Inside the palace, Fatima approaches El Akir and claims the ruby ring as the reward for telling her master where Barbara is. |
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Ian discovers the body of the sentry guard as he and Ibrahim approach the palace. Taking the dead man's sword, Ian says he is going inside to rescue his friend.
Ibrahim is more than happy to help defeat El Akir. 'He has made the rich people so poor there is no one left to steal from. If you rid the world of him, you will be remembered as a saviour...' |
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'Do you think you could manage to steal some horses...?' says Ian.
'Now you are truly, truly my brother,' says Ibrahim, laughing. 'While you keep El Akir occupied, I will steal the horses from his stables.' |
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Maimuna tells Barbara that Fatima has betrayed them, just as El Akir bursts in. He raises his sword to Maimuna. 'I shall show you how I deal with those who do not obey me!'
He is about to strike her when Haroun throws his knife. It hits El Akir in the back. El Akir lets out a dying gasp and falls to the ground. |
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Haroun tells Barbara that Sophia told him of her selfless gesture when the guards were searching their home. 'I came here to give my life for you, my lady.'
Ian arrives, and helps Haroun deal with the remaining guards. Ian, Barbara, Haroun and Maimuna - all newly reunited - run outside, leaving the distraught Fatima at the mercy of the other girls. |
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Ian pays Ibrahim for the horses with some gold he 'acquired' from the palace.
'Now you are my truly, truly brother,' says Ibrahim, delighted that Ian has become a fellow thief. |
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Barbara urges Ian to head back to the TARDIS with her. Ian says farewell to Ibrahim, and Barbara says goodbye to Haroun and Maimuna. 'Ride well, my brother,' Haroun tells Ian. 'May Allah go with you.' |
| 
Vicki and the Doctor return to the small wood outside Jaffa, but find soldiers on guard outside the TARDIS. |
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'Can we go round?' asks Vicki.
'No, there's too many of them,' says the Doctor.
The Earl of Leicester arrives, and the Doctor tells Vicki that he now realises why they were followed. |
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'Your messenger arrived,' Leicester tells one of the soldiers. 'So they are traitors and making toward Saladin's encampment.'
'So it seemed to me, my lord,' the soldier replies. He tells Leicester that the wood is encircled. |
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The Doctor tries to edge nearer the TARDIS but one of the soldiers grabs him. Vicki gets away, and is reunited with Ian and Barbara.
'Vicki, it's all right,' says Barbara. 'We'll get him away.'
'But how?' asks Vicki. 'What can we do?' |
| 
'What is the meaning of this, sir?' the Doctor asks Leicester. 'The King gave me leave to go.'
'To Saladin?' asks Leicester.
'You are right, my lord,' says Ian, entering the clearing. 'His treachery is well paid by Saladin. He is a Saracen spy.' |
| 
Ian introduces himself as Sir Ian, Knight of Jaffa, and claims he is there to execute the Doctor. 'Some friends of mind were ambushed here,' he says. 'De Marun, de Tornebu. He's to blame. My lord, I beg of you, let me finish him.'
'Dispatch him then, and quickly,' says Leicester. |
| 
The Doctor asks Leicester if he may be granted one final wish - to see the city of Jaffa before he dies. An irritated Leicester grants the Doctor his request. Ian accompanies the Doctor to the door of the TARDIS. The Doctor produces the key and quickly opens the door. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki run inside. |
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'Have we been tricked?' asks Leicester. The TARDIS vanishes in front of the astonished soldiers, who drop their knees making the sign of the cross. |
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'We will not speak of this,' Leicester tells his men. 'Let this story die here in this wood or we'll be branded idiots... or liars. Poor Sir Ian, brave fellow. Spirited away by fiends. What dreadful anguish and despair he must be suffering now.' |
| 
'...Any more cracks about knighthood, and I'll carry out that execution!' threatens Ian as the Doctor surveys the instruments. |
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'Well, my dear boy,' says the Doctor chuckling. 'I must say I think you've earned a good knight's sleep!'
Barbara and Vicki laugh at the joke as Ian rises from his chair in mock indignation.
'Now,' says the Doctor, 'I suppose the TARDIS will materialise when it's ready.' |
| 
'Yes, and where it likes,' says Barbara, teasing the Doctor.
'Oh my dear young woman, why don't you go have a cup of tea or something,' says the Doctor tetchily.
Suddenly the control room falls dark, with only the light from the instruments to illuminate the faces of the Doctor and his companions. |
| 
'What's happening?' asks Ian.
'I don't know,' says the Doctor, staring straight ahead.
As silence descends, it is as if the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki are frozen in time... |
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