Doctor Who continued …

Marco Polo is one of the many early Doctor Who adventures that no longer exists in the BBC archives.  This telesnap version was presented on a BBC release.

It’s difficult to understand why Marco Polo was a 7-part story as, in this abridged version, Marco Polo’s caravan and the TARDIS crew seemingly do little more than cross the desert.  In a 30 minute story, it’s not so noticeable but I’d imagine it would have felt quite padded when watched in seven weekly parts.

The abridged version misses a number of key points (like how Marco Polo discovered that the TARDIS was a “flying caravan”), but otherwise the plot is fairly simple.  Marco Polo wants his freedom from Kublai Khan, and he believes the “magic caravan” would given the Khan supreme power over his enemies, and would be the right kind of inducement.  Someone else in Polo’s train, Tegana, then decides that he wants the TARDIS for himself, which lends itself to a sub-plot of espionage and duplicity.

Once they’ve arrived at Kublai Khan, the Doctor attempts to “win” his TARDIS back by playing backgammon with the Khan.  There’s a fight between Polo and Tegana, during which time Polo tells the Doctor to take his TARDIS and sneak away.  And that’s about it, really.

Perfectly adequate story, but not one I’d want to watch over seven weeks, I fear.

Next time … The Sea of Death