Stories Television Doctor Who Season 1 Classic Who S1 Serial: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Marco Polo 1 image Overview Episodes Characters How to Watch Reviews 12 Statistics Related Stories Quotes 1 Transcript Overview First aired Saturday, February 22, 1964 Production Code D Written by John Lucarotti Directed by John Crockett, Waris Hussein Runtime 175 minutes Time Travel Past Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) Pure Historical, Celebrity Historical, TARDIS is damaged, Travelling Serial Location (Potential Spoilers!) Asia, China, Gobi Desert Synopsis Arriving in Central Asia in 1289, the Doctor and his companions join the caravan of the famous Venetian explorer Marco Polo as it makes its way from the snowy heights of the Pamir Plateau, across the treacherous Gobi Desert and through the heart of imperial Cathay. Watch Watched Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Edit date completed Custom Date Release Date Archive (no date) Save 7 Episodes The Roof of the World Missing First aired Saturday, February 22, 1964 Runtime 25 minutes Written by John Lucarotti Directed by Waris Hussein UK Viewers 9.4 million Appreciation Index 63 Synopsis The TARDIS experiences a total power failure and is stranded in the Himalayas in the 13th century. The travellers are forced to join the caravan of the famous explorer, Marco Polo, in order to survive -- but Polo, fascinated by their claims that the TARDIS can fly through the air, seizes it on behalf of Kublai Khan in the hope that presenting the Khan with such a fabulous gift will convince him to let Polo return home to Venice. The travellers are forced to accompany Polo on his long trek across Asia to the Khan's court, but their many attempts to reclaim their property are foiled -- not just by Polo, but by the war lord Tegana, who is apparently on a mission of peace but has entirely different plans for dealing with Kublai Khan... The Singing Sands Missing First aired Saturday, February 29, 1964 Runtime 25 minutes Written by John Lucarotti Directed by Waris Hussein UK Viewers 9.4 million Appreciation Index 62 Synopsis Tegana sabotages the party's water bags, leaving them in dire need of fresh supplies. Five Hundred Eyes Missing First aired Saturday, March 7, 1964 Runtime 25 minutes Written by John Lucarotti Directed by Waris Hussein UK Viewers 9.4 million Appreciation Index 62 Synopsis The Doctor and Susan are able to supply Marco with condensation that has formed inside the TARDIS, saving the group from dying of thirst. When the group are reunited with Tegana, the travellers begin to suspect he is up to something. The Wall of Lies Missing First aired Saturday, March 14, 1964 Runtime 25 minutes Written by John Lucarotti Directed by John Crockett UK Viewers 9.9 million Appreciation Index 60 Synopsis The Doctor's group manage to rescue Barbara from the Mongols but once more Marco remains unaware of Tegana's involvement. Rider from Shang-Tu Missing First aired Saturday, March 21, 1964 Runtime 25 minutes Written by John Lucarotti Directed by Waris Hussein UK Viewers 9.4 million Appreciation Index 59 Synopsis The Doctor and his friends elect to warn Marco of Acomat's attack even though it means losing their chance to gain access to the TARDIS. Mighty Kublai Khan Missing First aired Saturday, March 28, 1964 Runtime 25 minutes Written by John Lucarotti Directed by Waris Hussein UK Viewers 8.4 million Appreciation Index 59 Synopsis The Doctor, Ian and Barbara are forced to surrender to Tegana and Marco, leaving both of them the opportunity to gain possession of the TARDIS. Assassin at Peking Missing First aired Saturday, April 4, 1964 Runtime 25 minutes Written by John Lucarotti Directed by Waris Hussein UK Viewers 10.4 million Appreciation Index 59 Synopsis Tegana finally makes his move to assassinate the Khan, giving the Doctor and his friends an opportunity to thwart his plans and regain the TARDIS. Show All Episodes Characters First Doctor William Hartnell Susan Carole Ann Ford Barbara Wright Jacqueline Hill Ian Chesterton William Russell Marco Polo First Appearance Tegana First Appearance Kublai Khan First Appearance Ping-Cho Show All Characters (8) How to watch Marco Polo: DVD The Beginning – An Unearthly Child / The Daleks / The Edge of Destruction Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Date (Newest First) Date (Oldest First) Likes (High-Low) Likes (Low-High) Rating (High-Low) Rating (Low-High) Word count (High-Low) Word count (Low-High) Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 12 reviews 10 January 2025 · 155 words Review by Pandhawk Well, well, well. You know my opinion on The DALEKS (The Daleks): Good but too long. However, with Marco POLO, in front of whom I was almost never bored, it was really good, while both had 7 parts! Concretely, the idea of making an episode where the historical problems are not monsters from space, it's really good (Madame de POMPADOUR, we see you). Whereas here, although it drags because the Doc could have left with the key without Tegana delaying their escape, which by the way allowed in my opinion to conclude the Tegana arc in a really good way, well frankly the intrigues are well put together. Let's say that we don't have this "olala the liquid driver from the beginning I liked it wellwiareinzechit" which ruins the whole arc. In conclusion, well it's a good 3/5 for this episode! Why 3? Because even though the storyline is very good, I still have trouble with the recons. Pandhawk View profile Like Liked 0 20 December 2024 · 206 words Review by RandomJoke Spoilers 1 This review contains spoilers! Unlike any other televised Story, this is the one I read before I listened and “watched” the Telesnaps Recon. I must say as a huge pure historical enjoyer, this one just works. It definitely helped to have read the Target to know the Storybeats. There is a lot to love here, going by the Pictures, we still have from it, the Costumes were just excellent. I liked the Friendship Susan had, and she certainly gets a lot more to do than she had in the previous two Serials. Unlike a Serial like the Massacre, I think this one would benefit from some nice Visuals, be it a recovery from the Episodes itself (Please.) or just a wonderful Animation (which is unlikely as of now, but you can dream). Admittedly at times some Story can be quite frustrating, like the whole stubborn Marco Bit, where he refuses to give the Doctor his Key again, while fun for a while, it gets a bit tiring. Same with the Fact that most of the Crew doesn’t show any mistrust about Tegana. Overall, a splendid proper outing for a full pure historical serial. One of my favorites of Season 1. (I also slightly prefer the Target instead of the Recon) RandomJoke View profile Like Liked 1 10 November 2024 · 133 words Review by Dogtor 1 “A caravan that flies !” Il n’en reste que quelques fragments d’images perdues et figées et pourtant c’est toujours plein de vie. Lucarotti raconte ici la douleur de l’exil et le partage, et Marco Polo est donc avant tout un puissant récit d’émancipation. Mais en plus c’est cette lutte pour l’émancipation qui unit chaque personnage. Ils viennent en effet des confins d’Asie, d’Angleterre, de Venise, ou même du fin fond de l’espace. Pourtant ils sont tous prisonniers de systèmes complexes, et ils se battent et vivent pour s’en libérer ! Alors en attendant, ils partagent quelques instants au coin d’un feu et rêvent des étoiles. Mais bientôt ils devront tous reprendre la route. Dogtor View profile Like Liked 1 10 October 2024 · 7 words Review by EBP (I watched the second Loose Cannon reconstruction.) EBP View profile Like Liked 0 13 September 2024 · 80 words Review by greenLetterT 1 There are two major things dragging Marco Polo down and that's the racism and the fact that it really didn't need to be seven parts long. The events of this serial happen over a fairly long time period, making each episode almost its own separate little story on the same theme, but unfortunately that theme is ""Let's get to the TARDIS and get out of here!", "Oh no! Marco Polo isn't letting us get to the TARDIS!"" repeated multiple times greenLetterT View profile Like Liked 1 Show All Reviews (12) Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating383 members 3.55 / 5 Trakt.tv AVG. Rating843 votes 3.45 / 5 The Time Scales AVG. Rating181 votes 4.20 / 5 Member Statistics Watched 675 Favourited 55 Reviewed 12 Saved 1 Skipped 2 Owned 10 Related Stories Other adaptations of this story: We define an adaptation as a recreation of a similar story but on a different medium or with different characters. Target Collection Doctor Who: Marco Polo Rating: 3.60 Story Skipped Book Reviews(3) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Target Collection Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Link to Quote Favourite POLO [OC]: Success. My plan has worked. The strangers and their unusual caravan accompany me to Lop. Our route takes us across the Roof of the World, down to the Kashgar Valley and southeast to Tarkand. Here we join the Old Silk Road, along which the commerce and culture of a thousand years has travelled to and from Cathay. I wonder what the strangers' reaction will be when I tell them what I propose to do? — , Marco Polo Transcript Needs checking (Transcriber's note - this story only exists now as an audio recording) Episode One - The Roof Of The World [Snowfield] (There's a large footprint in the snow) SUSAN: Must've been made by a giant. What do you make of this?IAN: Well, it could be a perfectly ordinary footprint, Susan, and the sun's melted the edges and made it look a bit bigger.SUSAN: Oh. Show Full Transcript Open in new window
