From a 2022 rewatch of the Missing Episodes only.....
Episode 2: "The Knight of Jaffa"
(Using Loose Cannon Recon on Dailymotion)First off, the title. I don't know if Jaffa Cakes were around at the time of transmission, but I suspect that that is what the word would have meant to me back then, if they had been around and I had been a kid watching back then.
A quick google shows that they were....
Oh yes, Jaffa oranges, of course.
But I think I would have been thinking more of the cakes than the oranges.
But onto the episode itself - and this is one of those awkward missing episode tales where the last episode is missing. 1 and 3 of 4 surviving is very unhelpful. Same goes for "The Underwater Menace" with 1 and 4 missing. And "Tenth Planet" of course.
At least "The Moonbase" has 2 and 4 to watch. Ditto "The Wheel in Space" with 3 and 6.And "The Celestial Toymaker" at least had the decency to return Episode 4. So at least you get the wrap up to watch. Just feels that bit nearer completion somehow than these awkward absences/gaps?
So anyway, the episode starts with a surviving clip, recycled from the week before and the question right off the bat is - is Richard a splinter of the Scaroth of Jagaroth? I know it's a fan invention, but it just happens to potentially fit the facts. What better guise to take in the past than the most powerful man in the land? There's also a ruthless edge to Richard, befitting both a King - but also a stranded, determined alien. On the other hand it could be argued that this theory is a load of daft fan rubbish. But I quietly like assuming it to be true.
That's a very fake looking beard on Richard's mate at 56 seconds in imo.
RIchard's easily manipulated with all that talk of "there is a jest here - albeit a grim one". He was immovable barely a minute ago, but now he's done a complete flip round.
3:15 and we get the daft idea that Vicki is a "young man" whose "voice has not yet broken". As totally unconvincing as (will be) with Polly in "The Smugglers", yet the guest cast all fall for it as usual.
Richard droning on to his sister now about Saladin - blah, blah, blah. I wouldn't have enjoyed this bit as a kid. Also suspect that it's being played with that undercurrent of incest that reportedly got William Hartnell hot and bothered?
5:35 - and a scene with El Akir to do with some ring or other.
This is playing out like a stage play at Stratford Upon Avon so far. A lot of chat about things I am not really gripped by.
Intrigue and power games/chess moves. I think I prefer "The Space Museum" to this.
I know that we are supposed to consider it nothing short of criminal that the historicals ground to a halt, but to be honest I can see why. They're just not all that gripping. They are, in my opinion, lacking the added frisson that knowing a stranded alien lurking nearby with a horrible plot can bring?
El Akir is a nasty piece of work.
7:35 and a quick look at the career of the actress playing Sheyrah, Sheyrah (1912-2014)
Zohra Sehgal(1912-2014)When Barbara is trying to think of stories she remembers at 8:50, such as Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet, it's a pity she didn't mention Troilus and Cressida. That would have been a nice unintentional foreshadowing of the future.
More IMDB trivia. Walter Randall, who played El Akir, also had appeared in a British TV show called "Richard the Lionheart" as both Sailor / Second Thief in two out of the 39 episodes in 1962...
"Richard the Lionheart" (1962-1963)Barbara grabbed by El Akir at 10:00.
Lightly played scene of Ian getting his chainmail on followed by a scene of Richard dictating a letter to someone. This episode is a bit of an endurance trial to be honest.
I want Terry Scott to walk in, a la "Carry On Henry" - just to liven things up.
13:50 and Ian gets knighted.
More chat as Saladin and Saphadin realise that Barbara has been taken.
17:00 and Ian is waiting for his taxi to go and find Barbara.
Immediately followed by the most lively scene of the episode so far where the Doctor is confronted and accused of stealing the clothes.
I love Bill calling someone a "blockhead" at 18:00.
More Barbara escaping stuff, mixed with Ian talking to someone about where she might be. Barbara hiding in shadows. On and on.
And this missing episode suddenly springs back into existent life at 22:37, meaning we actually have two clips from it. So easy to forget we have clips like this.
I didn't hate it, but I really wouldn't care if something else turned up from another story rather than this episode. If it were to be found I would be pleased at the return of the scene at 17:25 where the Doctor is confronted and accused of theft. Bill is clearly really enjoying himself in that scene and it would be lovely to see on screen. But as for the rest of it, yeah, just a bit dull and I can see why they ended the historicals imo.
Maybe episode 4 will be better?