For centuries, England has gloried in the epic legend of Richard the Lionheart and his struggle to save Christendom's holiest city, Jerusalem, from the clutches of its Muslim conqueror Saladin. Now, this feature-length documentary reveals a very different version of events, shedding new light on the Third Crusade. It is an important moment in history and one that is still relevant to the Middle East today.

In 1187, a Muslim army battered down the gates of Jerusalem and seized the city from its Christian rulers. The fight that followed created two of history's greatest warriors, Richard the Lionheart, King of England, and Saladin, leader of the Arab world. Over the next eighteen months, Richard and Saladin competed for the right to worship in Jerusalem.

Using the original Muslim and Christian sources, the latest research and interviews with experts from both East and West, this dramatised documentary challenges the popular view of both Richard and Saladin, re-assessing their relationship and re-evaluating their war. Richard the Lionheart emerges as a man who earned the name 'Lionheart' for his murderous brutality as much as his chivalry. He fought heroically among his own foot soldiers but also committed one of the worst atrocities in medieval warfare, ordering the killing of 3000 unarmed Muslim prisoners after the Siege of Acre. In a valuable lesson for the Middle East today, he also understood the value of peaceful negotiation, offering to share Jerusalem under a marital alliance between his sister and Saladin's brother.

Saladin also emerges as a very different character from the popular legend. Today, Osama Bin Laden drapes himself in Saladin's mantle, seeking to emulate his struggle against the Christian West. However, there is another side to Saladin. Professor Carole Hillenbrand explains the emergence of Saladin, as he became leader of Egypt and Syria, eventually uniting most of the Muslim world under his rule. When Saladin's armies swept across the Holy Land and captured Jerusalem, fear of an impending apocalypse spread through Christian Europe and Richard the Lionheart answered the call for the Third Crusade. The atmosphere of panic in the Christian world has led many to believe that Saladin was demonised by his European enemies.

However, Professor Suhail Zakkar reveals that in the aftermath of the Third Crusade, Saladin was hailed as a model of chivalry in Europe. He had refused to massacre the Christians he captured when he sacked Jerusalem and such was his regard for Richard that he sent him fruit when he was sick and a horse when he was dismounted in battle. Saladin was not the barbarian infidel that Richard had expected, but an educated man from a far more sophisticated culture than Richard's. Saladin may have launched a 'Jihad' against Christians but his respect for Richard and his faith ensured that he gained a reputation in the West as high as any Muslim has ever achieved.