Marco Polo (1964)

About this serial

This was a seven-part serial, first broadcast between 22nd February - 4th April 1964. The serial was written by John Lucarotti, produced by Verity Lambert and directed by Waris Hussein and John Crockett. The script editor was David Whitaker.

What I've seen:

A 30-minute reconstruction, using still images and sections of the soundtrack. This version is included on the 'The edge of destruction' DVD in the 'The beginning' boxed set. The entire story has been lost, though I understand the soundtrack for all seven episodes still exists.

Plot summary

The Doctor and his companions find themselves travelling with Marco Polo to the court of Kubla Khan. What they don't know is that Marco intends to give the Tardis to the Khan as a gift, in exchange for permission to go home, to Venice. What they also don't know is that there's a traitor in their midst.

Review

The good bits:

• The reconstruction is very well done, convincingly using still images to give us an impression of what the serial must have looked like.
• The story, as presented here, is compelling, and what we see of the sets and costumes looks great.

The not so good bits:

• From the reviews that I've read of this serial (which appear to be based on the sound tracks that have been published by the BBC and / or an earlier reconstruction by Loose Cannon) the story is relatively low on action and high on character development and interaction. Inevitably, a great deal of that is lost in a 30-minute condensed version.
• For someone who isn't familiar with the story, it's occasionally unclear what, exactly, is going on. For instance, I found it confusing to see Tegana, the villain of the piece, poison Marco's water supplies in one scene and pouring them out into the sands of the Gobi desert in the next, as the two actions seem to cancel each other out.

The bottom line

As a reconstruction, this is great. However, the target audience for this kind of reconstruction is bound to be limited to Doctor Who fans with an interest in the programme's history.

Related reviews

• Interesting
• The first doctor
• Time travel
• Original version of this review