Doctor Who: Marco Polo

.

Marco Polo is the fourth serial of the original Doctor Who series. It was first broadcast on BBC TV in seven weekly parts from 22 February to 4 April 1964. It was written by John Lucarotti and directed by Waris Hussein and John Crockett. It stars William Hartnell as the Doctor, Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman, William Russell as Ian Chesterton, and Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright.

This serial is the program’s first full historical, placing the travellers among real people and events in the 13th century. It is also famous because all seven episodes are missing from the BBC archive, known today through audio recordings, photographs, and documentation.

The production set out to tell an epic caravan journey across Central Asia with courts, deserts, and intrigue rather than monsters. It introduced the pattern of a “celebrity historical,” with the famous Venetian traveller Marco Polo at its heart, and used the TARDIS itself as a bargaining chip within the plot.

Episode 1: The Roof of the World

On a frozen plateau known as the Roof of the World, the TARDIS lands in biting cold. The Doctor is weak from the last journey, and the ship is damaged, leaving the travellers without heat or power.

A caravan appears out of the snow. Its leader introduces himself as Marco Polo of Venice. With him are the young Ping-Cho and the stern warrior Tegana. Marco offers shelter and guides the strangers to his camp, curious about their “magic caravan” that is bigger inside than out.

The Doctor says the TARDIS needs time and proper tools before it can move again. Marco, who longs to return home, decides he will take the box to Kublai Khan in Cathay as a gift, hoping to win the Khan’s favour and secure passage back to Venice. He promises to keep the travellers safe if they come with him across Asia.

Barbara senses danger in Tegana’s hard eyes, and Susan quickly befriends Ping-Cho. As the caravan prepares to leave the mountains for the long road to the desert, Tegana slips away to whisper with scouts and plan secret trouble. The travellers look back at the snow-bound TARDIS as night falls, and the long journey begins.

Episode 2: The Singing Sands

Marco Polo’s caravan continues across the Gobi Desert with the Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara travelling under guard because Marco has taken the TARDIS to present to Kublai Khan. The heat is cruel, the water is rationed, and the Doctor is weak and angry about losing his ship.

At night the desert “sings” as wind moves over the dunes. Susan wakes, wanders into the dark, and is frightened by the eerie sound before Ian and Barbara bring her safely back. The mood in camp is tense; everyone feels the desert pressing in.

Tegana, the Tartar warrior travelling with them, slips away from camp and secretly plots against the caravan. During the night, water skins are cut. By morning the supply has dropped dangerously, and Marco fears they will die before reaching the next oasis. Ian begins to suspect foul play, but he has no proof.

A violent sandstorm hits, and the travellers struggle to secure tents and protect the camels while the dunes howl around them. When the storm passes, Tegana volunteers to ride out “for water,” but he is really arranging an ambush ahead. The caravan survives the desert for now and moves on, trusting Tegana, while he prepares the next step in his plan.

Episode 3: Five Hundred Eyes

The caravan crosses the desert with little water, and Tegana is missing. Marco blames the Doctor, but the travellers save everyone by showing how condensation has collected inside the TARDIS, giving them enough to drink. Tension eases, yet the Doctor and his friends still do not trust Tegana.

They reach the Tun-Huang way station, near a place called the Cave of Five Hundred Eyes. Ping-Cho tells a tale of old assassins and Mongol wars, and the cave’s painted faces seem to watch from the walls. The mood is uneasy; the travellers feel that danger is close.

That night, Tegana slips away to the cave for a secret meeting with bandits. He arranges an attack on the caravan and plans to seize the TARDIS. Barbara follows, hears the plot, and is discovered. She is captured and hidden in the cave while Tegana returns with a calm story to cover his actions.

The others begin to suspect him, but they do not yet know Barbara is missing or that the bandits are ready to strike. The episode ends with the faces on the cave walls staring in the torchlight as Barbara waits in fear, and the caravan moves closer to a deadly trap.

Episode 4: The Wall of Lies

Barbara has been seized by bandits at the Cave of Five Hundred Eyes. Ian, the Doctor and Susan organise a swift rescue and bring her back shaken but safe. Barbara insists she saw Tegana conspiring with the raiders.

Tegana coolly denies everything and turns suspicion back onto the travellers, claiming they sow discord and bring bad luck. Marco, torn between gratitude and duty, chooses caution: he will keep hold of the TARDIS until he can present it to Kublai Khan as a gift to win passage home.

While the caravan rests, the Doctor completes a crucial repair to the TARDIS and plans a quiet escape. He needs the key that Marco keeps close. Susan slips out to see her friend Ping-Cho, and their secret meeting after curfew gives Tegana fresh leverage, making the travellers look untrustworthy.

Caught trying to edge closer to the ship, the Doctor and Ian face Marco’s anger. Guards are posted around the TARDIS; trust collapses further. As the caravan moves on toward Shang-Tu, Tegana rides ahead to prepare another ambush, and the travellers realise their only path now runs through Marco’s doubts and Tegana’s lies.

Episode 5: Rider from Shang-Tu

The caravan nears Kublai Khan’s summer palace while tensions inside the group rise. The Doctor is still locked out of the TARDIS and weak from the journey; Marco keeps the key, determined to present the strange “caravan” to the Khan as his gift. A courier arrives from Shang-Tu with urgent orders to make haste.

Tegana plays the loyal escort in front of Marco, but secretly rides off to meet bandits and arrange an attack that will let him seize the TARDIS for his warlord. Ian follows, hiding among rocks and bamboo, and overhears the plan: a night ambush at a narrow pass. Discovered and chased, he escapes back to warn the others.

Marco prepares a defence while still doubting the teachers’ claims about Tegana. Barbara and Susan steady Ping-Cho, whose worries about her arranged marriage grow as they approach the court. At dusk, shadows move in the bamboo and the bandits strike.

With Ian’s warning, the travellers and Thieves of the caravan beat back the assault; Tegana pretends surprise and blames the raiders. The attack fails, but suspicion and danger remain. With the road to Shang-Tu now open, Marco urges everyone onward: and Tegana plans his next move.

Episode 6: Mighty Kublai Khan

The travellers and Marco Polo reach the summer palace at Shang-Tu. Marco presents the “magic caravan” (the TARDIS) to Kublai Khan as a gift to win the ruler’s favour. The Doctor meets the Khan; the two old men trade complaints about age and quickly gain respect for one another.

At court the Doctor is drawn into a game of backgammon with the Khan, using wit and charm to bargain for the right to keep or regain the TARDIS. The game buys the travellers time, but nothing is settled yet.

Meanwhile, Tegana advances his secret plot for the warlord Noghai. He meets agents, scouts weak points in the palace, and spreads suspicion about the strangers. Ian follows him and begins to suspect treachery, while Barbara and Susan look out for Ping-Cho, who fears the life planned for her and thinks about escape.

Marco is caught between duty to the Khan and growing sympathy for his new friends; he needs proof before he can act. As night falls, Tegana prepares to strike, aiming to open the way for raiders and seize advantage amid the confusion. The episode ends with danger gathering at the palace and the road to Peking looming, where the throne, the plot, and the fate of the TARDIS will collide.

Episode 7: Assassin at Peking

In Peking, the Doctor and friends are at Kublai Khan’s palace with Marco Polo’s caravan. The Doctor relaxes with the Emperor over backgammon, and, to everyone’s shock, loses the TARDIS key to the Khan during the game.

While the court prepares for ceremonies, Ian and Barbara finally convince Marco that the warlord Tegana has been plotting all along, hoping to spark war between Noghai and the Khan. Ping-Cho’s story is resolved when word arrives that her elderly betrothed has died after drinking a supposed “elixir of life,” and the Khan pardons her, freeing her from the marriage.

Tegana makes his move inside the palace, rushing the throne to kill Kublai Khan. Marco and the guards intervene; Tegana is defeated and, facing capture and disgrace, takes his own life. With the plot exposed, Marco restores his honour and returns the TARDIS to the Doctor. The Khan accepts the travellers as friends, and the court celebrates the end of the conspiracy.

The Doctor’s team thanks Marco and Ping-Cho for their kindness, then hurry back to the blue box before fresh trouble can start. As the TARDIS dematerialises from Peking, the travellers leave a peaceful court behind and set a new course into the unknown.

Themes

As television drama, Marco Polo is a grand caravan tale told at a measured pace. Viewers praise its scope, character focus, and sumptuous design, while also noting that seven parts stretch the plot a little too far.

It threads the series’ past and future. Coming right after the tense bottle drama of The Edge of Destruction, it uses history to test trust within the team and to show the Doctor’s growing respect for human courage and compassion.

Its closing beat leads straight into The Keys of Marinus, and its “celebrity historical” format points toward later triumphs such as The Aztecs and beyond: stories where the TARDIS crew wrestle with duty, culture, and the limits of interference before the wheeze-groan sends them on again

.

This is a chapter from Craig Hill’s book “Doctor Who – The First Doctor”, chronicling every episode featuring the First Doctor. It is available on Amazon.

.

To view the list of other Doctor Who serials, please click this link

Doctor Who Episode Guides for Sale on Amazon

Step aboard the TARDIS and journey across the universe with every incarnation of The Doctor in this series of unofficial Doctor Who episode companions.

This collection of twelve books explores every televised adventure of the Time Lord’s lives.

Each volume in the series delves into a different Doctor’s era, offering detailed episode guides, behind-the-scenes insights, character profiles, and story synopses.

Once you have clicked the link, choose which book you want, and then whether you want to buy the Kindle (eBook) or Paperback versions.

Previews are available before you buy.

Tomorrow: Doctor Who (The Keys of Marinus)

Visit the Australian Business and Leadership School

www.abls.com.au