Doctor Who: Marco Polo (TV Soundtrack) cover art

Doctor Who: Marco Polo (TV Soundtrack)

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About this listen

 When the TARDIS breaks down on the Roof of the World, Central Asia, in 1289, its occupants are met by the explorer Marco Polo. His mammoth undertaking is to cross the desert to Peking, and before long he has set his mind on presenting the TARDIS to the explorer Kublai Khan as a gift on his arrival. Unless they can persuade Polo otherwise, the Doctor and his companions will lose their only means to escape this moment in history. However, Polo isn’t the only one with designs on the TARDIS. The warlord Tegana will go to any lengths to steal the magical blue box - lengths which endanger the lives of the whole travelling party as they are beset by droughts, bandits and the merciless desert. And when the Doctor finally meets Kublai Khan himself, the precious Ship is his only collateral in a high-stakes game of backgammon - and the Khan is a master of the game... William Russell, who plays Ian in the story, narrates the soundtrack to this classic adventure which, long missing from the television archives, has itself gained legendary status as an example of Doctor Who at its finest. Hailing from the programme's first season (1963-4), it also stars Jacqueline Hill, Carole Ann Ford and Mark Eden as Marco Polo.©2003 BBC Worldwide Ltd; (P)2003 BBC Worldwide Ltd Drama & Plays Entertainment & Performing Arts European Science Fiction World Literature
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Like many early stories, this is a little slow paced, but it's a great historical adventure. I was worried I wouldn't enjoy what is essentially an audio copy of the original TV show, but there is enough added narration to keep the story easy to follow. I really enjoyed this, and it has left me eager to buy more 'lost episode' audio books.

Great story!

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Would have been nice to see visually if it still existed, but the soundtrack tells the story well enough.

Loved it.

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What a pity this story is lost thanks to the BBCs reckless actions as it sounds amazing

Great Messer Marco

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Out of all the 'lost episodes' of Doctor Who that are allowed to continue to exist thanks to surviving audio clips, this is the best I've heard so far. Not only that, its easily one of the best of Doctor Who's 'Historicals', with high stakes throughout and whole lot of intrigue. Unfortunately there is a few detours that overstay their welcome but for the most part the pacing sits well, even to the ears of a modern Whovian!

I think its unwise not to mention that the writer Lucarotti has created stories around Marco Polo before and his understanding of the character comes through clearly. I think his knowledge of the time period and the character is easily one of the reasons Marco Polo stands out as one of the better Historicals during the First Doctors run. Having Marco feeling like a main member of the cast over just a guest appearance is vital in giving this storyline the gravitas that other journeys into the past lacked during this era.

If you've watched all the classic episodes starring the original TARDIS crew and looking for more, this is a perfect place to start!

A solid Hartnell Tale!

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