Marco Polo (TV story)

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Summary

The TARDIS lands in Central Asia in 1289, where the First Doctor and his companions fall in with Marco Polo as his caravan makes its way along the fabled Silk Road from the Pamir Plateau, across the treacherous Gobi Desert and over the Himalayas to end up in Peking at the height of its imperial power.

Along the way they face many dangers, from natural hazards to assassination attempts from a Mongol warlord. The Doctor strikes up a friendship with Kublai Khan in his summer palace, before eventually departing again in the TARDIS, which has been carried with them across thousands of miles.


Cast & Characters


Crew


Notes

  • The first true Doctor Who Historical
  • The first story to feature live animals (the mongol horses)
  • The first and only television story to feature a narrative and a map tracking the journey of the main characters
  • Many colour and black and white photographs of this story remain. Along with the soundtrack these were used by Loose Cannon Productions to make a reconstruction of this story. (see external links)
  • The working title for this story was A Journey to Cathay
  • Episode 3 was made under the working title The Cave of Five Hundred Eyes and this name even appeared at the end of Episode 2
  • No footage of this story now exists having been lost in the purges of the 1970's
  • The original audio soundtrack of this episode remains and was released on CD as Marco Polo as part of the BBC Radio Collection in November 2003. This was narrated by William Russell
  • Although originally planned to be the third story in the series it was delayed by The Edge of Destruction
  • Although Telesnaps of this story were made all of these were lost. However in 2004 telesnaps of episodes 1,2,3,5,6 and 7 were found by Derek Handley in the private collection of Waris Hussein who directed these episodes. These telesnaps were reproduced in Doctor Who Magazine
  • Kuiju the mercenary bandit is never named in the story and is only included in closing credits


Influences

  • The real life of Marco Polo
  • John Lucarotti's Canadian TV series about Marco Polo


Ratings

  • The Roof of the World - 9.4m viewers
  • The Singing Sands - 9.4m viewers
  • Five Hundred Eyes - 9.4m viewers
  • The Wall of Lies - 9.9m viewers
  • Rider From Shang-Tu - 9.4m viewers
  • Mighty Kublai Khan - 8.4m viewers
  • Assassin at Peking - 10.4m viewers


Myths


Location Filming

The story was filmed at both Ealing and Lime Grove Studio D


Continuity

  • The Doctor aquires a walking stick from Kublai Kahn which he then uses in several subsequent stories.
  • It is later revealed in Birthright that after the Doctor departed, the court of Kublai Kahn was visited by Jared Khan who wished to acquire the TARDIS for the Charrl
  • The TARDIS contains a circuit that if damaged can deactive the lights, water supplies, and heating. Without this circuit the external temperature can affect the inside of the TARDIS allowing condensation to form on the walls.
  • Barbara is interested in Buddhist history
  • Ian can ride a horse and is an experienced sword fighter
  • Susan has travelled to the Metal seas of Venus


Discontinuity

  • At the end of episode 2 the caption claimed that episode 3 would be called The Cave of Five Hundred Eyes
  • In episode 7 Kublai Kahn refers to backgammon as a card game
  • No explanation is provided for why Niccolo and Maffeo Polo (Marco's Father and Uncle) are not present during this journey
  • The name Peking is an anachronism and the city should properly have been referred to as Khan-balik
  • William Hartnell appears to have a strange fit of laughter in episode 1 laughing for a full minute about the trouble that the travellers have found themselves in
  • The TARDIS contains a circuit that if damaged can deactive the lights, water supplies, and heating. Without this circuit the external temperature can affect the inside of the TARDIS allowing condensation to form on the walls. (why would a ship such as the TARDIS have one circuit which could cause this much damage if it became defective)


Quotes

Maro Polo - "On my travels to Cathay, Ian, I have come to believe many things I'd previously doubted. For instance, when I was a boy in Venice they told me that in Cathay there was a stone that burned. I did not believe, but there is such a stone - I have seen it... And if stone burns, why not a caravan that flies? Birds fly; I have even seen fish that fly. You are asking me to believe that your caravan can defy the passage of the sun? Move not merely from one place to another, but from today into tomorrow, today to yesterday? No Ian, that I cannot believe."

Susan Foreman - "One day, we'll know all the secrets of the skies, and we'll stop our wanderings"

Kublai Kahn [speaking to Ping-Cho] - "Your beloved husband to be, so anxious to be worthy of your love, drank a potion of quicksilver and sulphur, the elixir of life and eternal youth. And expired."


Story Arcs


Similar stories


References

To be added


More Info


Public Releases

  • DVD Release - This story has not yet been released on DVD
  • Video Release - This story has not yet been released on video by the BBC
  • Fan produced photo video reconstructions have been made of this story by A Change of Identity and Loose Cannon Productions
The reconstruction of this story by Loose Cannon Production includes the following features
A Celebrity introduction by Mark Eden
An interview with Mark Eden
A historical documentary detailing the real Marco Polo narrated by Mark Eden
A documentary about the making of Marco Polo
Further information about this project can be found at Story Reconstruction


External Links


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