Doctor Who - 4 - Marco Polo (BBC Original Television Soundtrack) by John Lucarotti

by John Lucarotti

When the TARDIS breaks down on the Roof of the World, Central Asia, in 1289, its occupants are met by the explorer Marco Polo. His mammoth undertaking is to cross the desert to Peking, and before long he has set his mind on presenting the TARDIS to the explorer Kublai Khan as a gift on his arrival. Unless they can persuade Polo otherwise, the Doctor and his companions will lose their only means to escape this moment in history. However, Polo isn’t the only one with designs on the TARDIS. The warlord Tegana will go to any lengths to steal the magical blue box - lengths which endanger the lives of the whole travelling party as they are beset by droughts, bandits and the merciless desert. And when the Doctor finally meets Kublai Khan himself, the precious Ship is his only collateral in a high-stakes game of backgammon - and the Khan is a master of the game... William Russell, who plays Ian in the story, narrates the soundtrack to this classic adventure which, long missing from the television archives, has itself gained legendary status as an example of Doctor Who at its finest. Hailing from the programme's first season (1963-4), it also stars Jacqueline Hill, Carole Ann Ford and Mark Eden as Marco Polo.3 CDs. 2 hrs 55 mins.

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction

Audible Audio

First published April 4, 1964

About the author

John Vincent Lucarotti was a British-Canadian screenwriter and author who worked on The Avengers, The Troubleshooters and Doctor Who in the 1960s.

Reviews

[Tom Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a shame this fantastic Doctor Who story is lost from the archives and we only have the audios for the lost episodes. Odd to considering many 16mm Telerecording prints were done compared to other 60s episodes.

Not a review of the Target Book but the Lost TV Episode soundtrack.
One of my favourite 60s episodes and of Doctor Who. Performances, acting, characters and the story is great with plenty of tension, story/character building, animosity and bleakness.

It's seven parts long and some complain about pacing issues and well that's very understandable because we have no footage. I personally have no issues of Marco Polo. I very rarely rate stories a perfect 10/10 but I don't have any issues with it besides only the odd nitpick which is unfair for it to affect the rating.

One day, I will have to do a YouTube In-depth review of this great story.
10/10

[Min · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the lost footage episodes. Portions of the audio do survive. The BBC used the surviving audio, and spliced in a narrator to explain the physical action. Again, it is William Russell, who played Ian Chesterton.
Being an historically based stories, there is no science fiction elements to it, other than how they arrive. I really do enjoy those tales. One gets them most often in the radio plays. The television series did rather few of them.
Like all history-for-entertainment, I wouldn't say this is historically accurate, yet, it is entertaining with plot of political intrigue in the court of Kublai Khan, as Marco Polo's caravan travels to him.

[David Layton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Judging by the ranking this story has, most people seem to think very highly of it. In general, I like John Lucarotti's stories, especially "The Aztecs." This one, however, lacks some of the depth of those other stories. The problems here are two: a cardboard villain, and repetitiveness. "Marco Polo" probably would have been very good at 4 episodes. At 7 episodes, we get just too much of the Doctor demanding his TARDIS and Marco denying it, too much of the TARDIS crew getting in his graces, only to lose them again. It happens just too often. The real problem for me, though, is Derren Nesbitt as Tegana. The war lord is so obviously a villain, and so heavily played, that one can only suppose that Marco Polo is just plain stupid for not being able to see it. Even keeping in mind that the producers thought of "Doctor Who" as a children's program in the 1960s, and thus subtle villains were probably not encouraged, still one could do more with a villain than is done here. I refer back to the aforementioned "The Aztecs," where the obvious villain Tlotoxl has a strong motivation for his dislike of the time travellers, that they threaten both his power and his way of life. The contest of wills between Barbara and Tlotoxl is fascinating. Here, on the other hand, we just get a cheap melodrama baddy.

This is not to say that "Marco Polo" does not have its rewards. Lucarotti is often best as a writer in dealing with character pairs. Thus, the relationship between Susan and Ping-Cho works very well, as does the humorous interplay between the Doctor and Kublai Khan. We get the first real evidence of Ian's resourcefulness and intelligence in this story, as well. The basic story is interesting in its episodic fashion, and, as I said, would have been very effective if shortened. Lucarotti also does a good job of avoiding some of the nastier and stupider cliches involving Chinese culture.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've held off a long time before listening to this. I watched the 30-minute version on The Edge of Destruction DVD in maybe 2007, which fascinated me, and I'd always intended to come back to the proper thing one day. I'm glad I waited; my appreciation of this era over the years has really helped my enjoyment of this really lovely story.

There are some wonderful moments between the core TARDIS group throughout, but especially in the early few parts. I love the slow-burning nature of the story - for quite some time it feels like very little is going wrong! - and the pure historical element is fascinating. So is the interest in the TARDIS, which becomes a real centre piece, and it's so exciting to hear the series slowly working out its own rules.

The sandstorm is terrifying - and works especially well only on audio - and the building of the connections between everyone over this story is lovely to hear. This is particularly true of Susan and Ping-Cho. Susan is written better here than anywhere else. She's a proper 60s teenager, teaching Ping-Cho what 'fab' means, and their friendship is so developed. Carole Ann Ford is able to give her best performance, and the script adds some reality to the character that never quite gets picked up anywhere else.

The Doctor is proper grumpy for some of it, which is a bit of a shame, considering I don't really ever find his character to be that close to this version of him, which is the one often spoken about. He does get some really unexpected comedy when he meets Kublai Khan, though, and their bet over backgammon is a strangely fun addition. Marco is so well-performed, but does get increasingly annoying as the story goes on, especially as he continues to believe Tegana over everyone else. Overall, though, these are minor frustrations. I can't wait to listen to this story again one day, and have it become a new favourite.

[David Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first lost Doctor Who episode deserves an animated version. I listened to the audio recording of this missing first Doctor adventure (Season 1 Episodes 14-20) from the BBC Audio The Lost TV Episodes (1964-1965) collection. From my love of China and Doctor Who I always thought this was a historical period missing from the show. The first Doctor's fourth adventure titled Marco Polo is slow and long compared to the modern or streaming Doctor Who episode structures, but that is to be expected along with other first doctor adventures. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of Marco Polo and his plot to steal the T.A.R.D.I.S. as the driving story of the adventure. I can appreciate the theme of the episodes since I have spent a considerable amount of my life living in China and have even walked in Marco Polo's footsteps to the real life 上都。If this were to be realized as an animated episode from the audio recordings I would love to see Shanghai Animation Group produce distinctly Chinese stylized animation for local cultural adaptation.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out of all the 'lost episodes' of Doctor Who that are allowed to continue to exist thanks to surviving audio clips, this is the best I've heard so far. Not only that, its easily one of the best of Doctor Who's 'Historicals', with high stakes throughout and whole lot of intrigue. Unfortunately there is a few detours that overstay their welcome but for the most part the pacing sits well, even to the ears of a modern Whovian!

I think its unwise not to mention that the writer Lucarotti has created stories around Marco Polo before and his understanding of the character comes through clearly. I think his knowledge of the time period and the character is easily one of the reasons Marco Polo stands out as one of the better Historicals during the First Doctors run. Having Marco feeling like a main member of the cast over just a guest appearance is vital in giving this storyline the gravitas that other journeys into the past lacked during this era.

If you've watched all the classic episodes starring the original TARDIS crew and looking for more, this is a perfect place to start!

[Charles Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

wonderful classic. this is the completely missing 7 part 4th serial of the first season. it is the first historical story as well as the first seven parter, this 1964 story featured the original TARDIS crew of the first doctor (William Hartnell), his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford), and her teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright (William Russell and Jacqueline Hill) as they wind up in China in 1289 only to stumble into the camp of Marco Polo (Mark Eden) who claims the TARDIS, which he mistakes as a caravan, as a gift for Mongol emperor Kublai Khan (Mark Eden) to win his freedom from the warlord and return to his family in Venice after 19 years in Central Asia. several troubles beset the group as they travel to the aging Khan. will the doctor be able to get the TARDIS back and free his companions...

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A most enjoyable presentation of the lost Doctor Who story 'Marco Polo'. Using a mixture of recording of the episodes soundtrack and linking narration by William Russell, this programme effectively brings to life a story not seen since the 1960s. There were some genuinely unsettling moments as I've come to expect from early 60s Who, but with just the audio these moments felt even more unsettling. This helped set the atmosphere for me, and I really enjoyed it. The historical side of it really appealed to me as a historian and the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan combination is one of my time favourite TARDIS teams.

A highly enjoyable experience of hearing one of the lost serials, would heartily recommend to other Who fans, whether or not you are acquainted with this era of the show.

[Rachel Ewing · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love old Doctor Who and how they meet famous people through history who capture them/ their TARDIS. It does have some problematic racist moments though...

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Doctor, Ian, Susan and Barbara meet Marco Polo and join his caravan to the Kubla Khan.