Marco Polo
| “ | I said at one point, "Just lock the doors, and we'll do Marco Polo, come on!" | ” |
| Marco Polo | |
|---|---|
| |
| Season: 1 | |
| Episode: 4 | |
Vital statistics
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| Air date | 22 February - 4 April 1964 |
| Written by | John Lucarotti |
| Directed by | Waris Hussein |
Episode guide
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| Previous | Next |
| The Edge of Destruction | The Keys of Marinus |
Marcelo Polo is the fourth story of Season 1 and the holy grail of lost episodes, though by all accounts it's not very interesting sounding.
Story
Really long, lotta walking. The Doctor and his companions basically get dragged from one end of China to another.
From the telesnaps, it's pretty clear that Susan is in a lesbian relationship with Ping-Cho, making it the first interracial relationship on British TV that wasn't just two white English people one of whom was in blackface or yellowface, so that's something. It's true that when you listen to the reconstruction, it seems more like maybe Susan's just befriending a poor young girl who's sad because she's been arranged to marry a shriveled up old man, but what are you going to believe, the reconstructed soundtrack, or a couple of photos?
Trivia
Ian Levine currently has the entire serial saved in a safe deposit box somewhere in London. However, due to his stroke, he has forgotten where it is, and it will eventually be disposed of by the bank without actually looking at it. This is probably a tragedy.
