7 episodes
Aired between 22nd February 1964 and 4th April 1964
Written by John Lucarotti
Produced by Verity Lambert
Directed by Waris Hussein and John Crockett
NB: You can watch the story here (and in colour):
Synopsis
The TARDIS blows a circuit following all the messing about it did in the previous story, so the Doctor and Susan stay behind to look at what they can do whilst Barbara and Ian take a look around the snowy, mountainous landscape.
It isn't long before Barbara see's a man in furs and thinks it's an abominable snowman. They go back and tell the other two, who reveal that the TARDIS is without water, light or heating and it will take days to repair.
They see the furry man again, and give chase, only to be confronted by some raging mongols who believe the group to be evil spirits. Before they can kill the spirits however, a strange European man arrives among them and forbids their deaths in the name of Kublai Khan.
The man takes them back to his tent where he reveals himself as Marco Polo. With him is the lady Ping-Cho, the betrothed concubine of Kublai Khan, and the Warlord: Tegana who comes from a warring faction of mongols that are suing for peace with the Khan. The trio, along with a party of Mongol soldiers are headed to Shang Tu in the heart of imperial Cathay (that's China to you and me).
The group are helped by Marco and his men to haul the TARDIS down from the mountain and stow it with their caravan. The men still believe that the fateful companions are evil spirits, but are harmless so long as they don't go inside their "flying caravan". So the Doctor promises that none of the group will enter the TARDIS until they reach the destination, which seems good enough.
Whilst they are travelling over the Himalaya's however, Marco comes up with a plan to win his release from the Khan's service (he asked before but was refused).
The group arrive at a way station called Lop, on the edge of the Gobi Desert. Here, Marco announces his plans to present the flying caravan as a gift and thus secure his freedom. Naturally the Doctor is incensed by this, and Marco does have sympathy, but is still going to carry out his plan anyway.
Meanwhile, in a shady back alley, Tegana trades for some poison, intent on spoiling all but one barrel of the water supplies. He plans on killing all in the caravan and taking the flying cabinet for himself.
The next morning, the intrepid band set off over the Gobi Desert. The progress is slow but steady. As soon as camp is established at twilight, the Doctor goes off to his tent and sulks, refusing to eat any dinner. Barbara reckons it's just because he feels helpless and she encourages Susan with the thought that they will get the TARDIS working soon enough.
Ian plays Marco at a game of Chess, whilst Susan chats with Ping-Cho in their tent. The girls decide to sneak out once everyone's in bed so they can see the stars. As they do, they see Tegana speaking quietly to a guard before leaving the camp. They decide to follow him. Once out in the wilderness, they can clearly see the stars, which captivate Susan.
Back at the camp, the horses become restless, waking Ian and Marco. They discover Tegana is missing and are investigating when they hear the approach of a sand storm. Out in the middle of it, Susan and Ping-Cho begin to panic, becoming quickly pinned down behind a dune whilst the wind chatters above them like a mad hyena.
Barabara awakens and finds out that Susan and Ping-Cho are gone and begins to fear the worst. Within minutes however, the girls turn up back at camp, thanks to Tegana who found them and lead them to safety. Marco tells them all off for leaving the camp without informing him and says that he will make sure the guards tell him the minute anyone leaves from now on.
The following day, the group get halfway across the desert and camp once more. Now penned in the camp, Tegana (presumably) decides to abandon the poison plot and chooses the cut the water gourds instead, leaving just one alone.
The next day, Marco and Ian discover the sabotage and Marco says it's the work of bandits. He says it's standard practice for the bandits and they are expecting an attack if they turn back to Lop once they are exhausted and thirsty.
Ian convinces Marco to instead carry on the journey, aiming for a small oasis, despite the protests of Tegana. The group do carry on, and with each step they get weaker and weaker until the water is gone. Indeed, it's not long before the Doctor collapses and is forced to be put inside the TARDIS out of the sun. Marco, fearing that they will not make it, agrees for Tegana to ride ahead to the oasis and gather more water for them.
Tegana sets off, reaching the oasis, where he takes a drink and then pours the rest away, mocking Marco Polo's foolishness.
Facing certain death, the companions of Polo are saved only by the fact that the Doctor figures out he can collect condensation from the inside of the TARDIS. Marco goes spare, thinking that they tricked him until he's made to see the truth.
When they get to the oasis, Tegana makes up a story that there were bandits there last night, and he had to wait until they had gone. Barbara doesn't believe him as there's no sign of campfire remains or anything.
Finally having access to water, the caravan finishes it's journey to the next way station of Tun-Huang. Whilst there, Marco tells them not to wander off, as it can be dangerous around here at night, especially with the cave of 500 eyes not far away. Ping-Cho performs a story about the Hashashin's (assassins) and how they were somehow cursed. The cave is said to contain their evil spirits and carries the graffiti of 250 assassin warriors on its walls.
During the performance, Tegana sneaks away to the cave and meets up with some henchmen of his mongol lord: Noghai. They tell him that Noghai has raised an army and is marching towards karakorum and explain that Tegana is meant to still pretend that he's making peace with the Khan so as to keep them off their guard. Tegana tells the henchmen to prepare to attack the group when they leave the way station.
Back at the camp, the Doctor reveals a plan of his own. Whilst he was sulking, he was also secretly making another TARDIS key. He agrees to sneak out that night and use it to enter the ship and finish the repair work.
Unknown to Tegana, Barbara sneaked after him and partially overheard the plan (but doesn't know the full extent of Tegana's treachery), but unfortunately she manages to get captured before she can tell anyone. Tegana heads back to camp before he is missed.
That night, the Doctor sneaks to the TARDIS but is found by Ping-Cho and Susan who are worried that Barbara is missing. The Doctor abandons his plan and merrily goes ahead to find Barbara instead.
The group make their way to the cave of 500 eyes, where Susan almost has a heart attack at the fact that the eyes on the paintings move.
Back at the camp, Marco's guards wake him and tell him that the Doctor, Susan and Ping-Cho have gone to look for Barbara. Marco, informs Ian and Tegana who feigns surprise, and the three go after them.
They begin searching the cave (to which Tegana doesn't agree. He says there's evil spirits here). Soon enough, the group find a secret door in the wall, and are attacked by Mongols. They are soon killed and Barbara is rescued. She tries to tell Marco about Tegana sneaking up here, but he's too pissed at her wandering off, and chooses not to believe it.
When they all get back to camp, Tegana whispers in Marco's ear that the group are working against the caravan, especially Susan who's turned Ping-Cho against him. Marco believes it all and makes Susan move bedrooms.
The group continue their journey and the next night, the Doctor tries to enter the TARDIS again, this time succeeding, but not without Tegana finding out. He goes and tells Marco that the Doctor has a second key, and despite Ian's bluffing, they are found out. In light of all this treachery, Marco effectively declares them as prisoners now, takes the remaining TARDIS key, and forces the caravan onward's to follow the great wall of Cathay until it reaches the town of Sinju.
His efforts spoiled so far, Tegana makes a further plan to silence the caravan guard and allow Noghai's henchmen to come into the camp at night and kill them all.
Whilst imprisoned in the camp. Ian manages to get free and intends to knock out the guards so they can rush Marco Polo and get the TARDIS key off him to escape. However, when Ian tries strangling one of the guards, he finds that the guard is already dead! He sneaks past Tegana who is stoking the campfire and wakes up Marco warning him of an impending bandit attack.
Marco gathers the Doctor, Tegana and Ian together and resolves to fight off the bandits. Tegana huffs that the group are obviously making a cover story. Regardless, the group prepare for an ambush, supplementing their crap weapons by cutting down fresh bamboo from a nearby forest and throwing it on a fire.
The Bandits eventually attack and the group fight them, forcing Tegana to take Marco's side and kill his own men. The attack is successfully driven off, in part by the burning bamboo expanding and exploding, making the bandits think they are being assaulted by devils. This success regains some of the trust of Marco Polo, but he still keeps the companions prisoner.
The next day, the group are met by a rider from Shang-Tu who informs them that Kublai Khan wants to see Marco right away. Wanting no more delays, Marco orders that they will all go on by horseback, and the caravan will follow behind. The Doctor is incensed, but has little option.
The group soon arrive at the next way station, and a very camp man named Wang-Lo (not one word), the landlord of a local inn, greets them all and offers them lodging, putting the TARDIS in his stables when it arrives.
Tegana makes a shady deal with Wang-Lo, who agrees to help him for some gold.
The group are still determined to escape but have no means to, that is until Ping-Cho takes it upon herself to deceive Marco Polo and steal one of the TARDIS keys from his journal, giving it to Susan. Ian manages to disable their guard and they all sneak out to the stables, except Susan who briefly pops upstairs to say goodbye to Ping-Cho.
As the group enter the TARDIS, Tegana comes sneaking out of the corner of the stables and captures Susan just before she gets to the ship.
Luckily for the group, Marco turns up and Tegana explains how they were trying to escape again., so he has them all summarily executed to stop them making any more attempts to steal the great Khan's prize... only kidding, he locks them up again.
The next day, they set off again on horseback, and have arrangements in place for the TARDIS to come along behind them. What they don't count on though is Wang-Lo's intent to steal it on behalf of Tegana. At the last waystation, Ping-Cho decides she doesn't want to marry the old codger she's been betrothed to after all, so she runs away in the night. The following morning, Marco finds out and Ian offers to go back and get her whilst everyone else completes the journey. Marco is suspicious of Ian's intent, but agrees to it.
When the group reach the city, they meet the mighty Kublai Khan who turns out to be a doddering old man. The Doctor complains about bowing down because he's saddle sore and his backs broken from all the riding. It almost gets to the point where he will be executed if he does not. The Khan however seems to take a shine to the Doctor, despite his impertinent ways, and they both go off together to bath in hot springs to cure their aches and pains.
Tegana whispers sweet nothings into Marco Polo's ear once more and convinces him that Ian is going to use Ping-Cho to his advantage, and he gets approval to go back and retrieve them both.
Meanwhile, Ping-Cho has travelled back to Wang-Lo's inn, just as he's making preparations to transport the TARDIS with Noghai's henchman: Kuiju. She speaks with Kuiju about buying passage with the Caravan, and he agrees, but steals her money.
Ian catches up to Ping-Cho, just as she's being smarmed all over by Wang-Lo (again, not one word). At the same time, the real couriers turn up to take the TARDIS to Shang-Tu, and Ian realises that the TARDIS has been stolen. Both he and Ping-Cho track the evil Kuiju down and after a bit of a fight, Ian gets Kuiju to admit that he stole the TARDIS for Tegana.
Tegana turns up and draws his sword, giving a very come and have a go if you think you're hard enough gesture to Ian. It's a main event fight that never happens however, as the Khan's messenger: Ling Tau arrives along with a band of soldiers. The soldiers kill Kuiji who tries to escape and Tegana fast talks his way out of trouble again.
The Khan has received word of Noghai's army, and is told that it's now moving towards Peking, so Kublai Khan and his new guests all travel back there to the imperial palace, where they are allowed to attend court. Whilst at the court, the Doctor and Kublai Khan play backgammon, resulting in the Doctor winning 35 elephants, 4,000 white stallions, 25 tigers, the sacred tooth of the Buddha, and an entire years worth of commerce from Burma. The Doctor cleverly uses his winnings to convince the Khan to play one more game for the TARDIS... and loses.
Tegana returns and tries to lay blame on Marco for not being smart enough to kill the group after all the trouble they've shown. The Khan summons Marco and they discuss the decisions he made on the journey. Marco explains that perhaps he was wrong to have taken the TARDIS from the group, as he did it for selfish reasons (to get back to Venice). The Khan is disappointed in him and tells him that he is considering banishing him from his court.
As for Tegana's prisoners, Ian is locked up along with the Doctor, Barbara, and Susan, pending a trial for their lives, and Ping-Cho is admonished of all guilt. She gets another bit of good news too, when she finds out that the old codger she was meant to marry suddenly kicks the bucket. She is offered the chance to go back to Sammarkand, but chooses to stay at the court instead.
The Khan is pleased, especially now that the TARDIS has arrived at the court.
In prison, the Doctor figures out that Tegana is going to assassinate the Khan in order to make Noghai's invasion easier when the imperial army descends into disarray.
Using the oldest trick in the book (which is quite new for 1289), they manage to tackle the guard and break free. On their way, they meet Marco Polo who is sulking. They tell him what they think Tegana is up to. and he finally believes them. Taking it upon himself to deal with the warlord, he setts off to the throne room where Tegana is currently discussing the peace treaty between the Khan and Noghai.
By the time Marco enters the room, Tegana has killed the guards and the grand Vizier, and is about to off the Khan himself. The two soldiers engage in a daring sword fight whilst the companions and the imperial court gather to watch. Eventually, Marco wins and the guards capture Tegana, but before anything can be done, he grabs hold of one of their spears and kills himself.
Marco, now finally believing the Doctor and his companions, hands them one of the TARDIS keys and tells them to run to the ship as fast as they can. They do and the Imperial court watches on as the blue box fades away.
Once they're gone, Marco apologises to the Khan, and the Khan forgives him, allowing him to finally return home to Venice.
Trivia
- William Hartnell went off on holiday during this story, which is why the Doctor spends most of Episode 2 sulking in a tent. This is the first of many times that the crew members will be delayed, imprisoned and left off screen so they can come back with a bit of a tan.
- This story is much closer to Sydney Newman's original idea for Doctor Who than any of the other stories so far. He wanted them to be rooted in history, where the audience would learn stuff. We will see a lot of this in William Hartnell's run, but once he regenerates, the idea pretty much goes with him.
What worked
- The use of superstition and explanation of the Mongol's beliefs is quite good. It adds a realm of mysticism to the story, even though we know it's not true.
- Even though the hint that Marco Polo has alternative plans for the group is short lived before they're revealed, the way in which we're teased is good. It gives you something exciting to anticipate and even when revealed, leaves you wondering how they're going to get out of it.
- It's nice to see Susan having someone her own age to bounce off. Her character is given a good chance to develop in this story.
- I liked it how again, Marco isn't just the nice explorer dude. Lucaroti makes him a complication, an obstacle made all the more formidable because the group really don't mean him harm and apart from the Doctor who hates him, they all consider him a friend
- The sets for the palace look beautiful.
- Ian and Barbara are very trusting of the Doctor and Susan. Hot off the heels of the possibility that the Doctor would throw them off the ship and strand them wherever they happened to be, the pair cheerily leave the Doctor and Susan at the TARDIS whilst they go off and explore the freezing Himalayan mountainside. It's a good job that the Doctor wasn't just feigning his niceness and that the TARDIS really was broken, otherwise they would have been in for a cold night!
- Why did Tegana not use the poison? Or better yet, why not just kill them all in their sleep before they even set off?
- Really good lady, do you have to scream so loud? I mean, so what, the eyes moved. You are in a cave of assassins, it's not that unexpected.
- It's hard to believe that Marco Polo would let all the ambushing antics go on for so long, and still refuse to believe that Tegana is a bad guy when...hello!.... his clan's only just stopped fighting your Khan!
Overall feelings
This is a great story for 1964. Nowadays this story wouldn't work because it's based on Sydney Newman's premise of educating the audience and letting them explore places and meeting characters that were simply beyond the means of any working class person of the time. In 2014, it's rare to find any child over the age of 6 without access to the internet in some form, and all the information is there before them with the addition of it likely being interactive too.
Indeed today's audience are spoiled from the decades of subsequent historical stories with an alien twist. So much so that anything that's straight history would be seen as a school lesson, rather than anything wondrous. And that's a shame, because Marco Polo does this so well.
I liken this story to things you would see in the Famous Five. The elements of the plot are mundane, but the excitement comes from the possibilities that arise. From this point on, the audience are growing wary of the fact that no matter how bad things get, the Doctor, Ian, Susan and Barbara will always come out on top, but it doesn't matter. We know that the Doctor and his companions are not sorcerers, and that the cave of five hundred eyes doesn't contain evil spirits, but the use of it is magical, more so when the inhabitants of this world believe that it is. In many ways, this story is as alluring as anything from the Arabian Nights. On top of that, we are also given the excitement that comes with being in 1289 and seeing legendary heroes such as Marco Polo at the height of his adventures.
Having said all that, the only thing to be wary of with this story, is that from about episode 3, it starts getting silly with ambush after ambush and Tegana making plan after plan that goes wrong. The way it's structured invariably leaves Marco to look a fool when he sides time and again with Tegana. I didn't think it was bad enough to stop "watching", but the second half of the story does take a bit of a dip until they get to escape Kublai Khan's court.
Rating
9 out of 10
Alas, even though we haven't got the pictures, this story is a cracker. It's epic from start to finish and at 7 episodes long, it does a good job of taking you along for the ride. The music is good, the sets (with the exception of the cave of 500 eyes) are amazing, and to top it off, yes the actors aren't authentically Chinese, but at least they don't insult us by doing bad Charlie Chan impersonations.
Rewatchability Factor
7 out of 10
For all of the reasons stated above, this is one of the best Hartnell stories, but it does dip slightly for a couple of episodes and due to it's length, there are probably others I would watch ahead of it.
Watch this if you liked...
Consulting the Matrix
"What historical period do you think should have been covered that never was?"
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