"Doctor Who"
The Roof of the World (1964)

Director:

Waris Hussein

Writer:

John Lucarotti (writer)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (1963)

Original Air Date:

22 February 1964 (Season 1, Episode 14)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The TARDIS arrives on Earth in the 13th century, where it is claimed by famed explorer Marco Polo as a gift for his employer...

Plot Keywords:

Stubborn Old Man | Eccentric Senior Citizen | 13th Century | Marco Polo | Lost Film

Cast

William Hartnell	...	Dr. Who
William Russell	...	Ian Chesterton
Jacqueline Hill	...	Barbara Wright
Carole Ann Ford	...	Susan Foreman
Mark Eden	...	Marco Polo
Derren Nesbitt	...	Tegana
Zienia Merton	...	Ping-Cho
Leslie Bates	...	Man at Lop
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bill Brandon	...	Mongol Warrior (uncredited)
Clou Choy	...	Mongol Warrior (uncredited)
O. Ikeda	...	Yeng (uncredited)
Violet Leon	...	Chinese Lady (uncredited)
Zohra Sehgal	...	Attendant to Ping-Cho (uncredited)
Suk Hee Shng	...	Attendant (uncredited)
John Woodcock	...	Marco Polo's Hand (uncredited)

Directed by
Waris Hussein

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John Lucarotti		writer

Produced by
Verity Lambert	....	producer
Mervyn Pinfield	....	associate producer

Production Design by
Barry Newbery

Makeup Department
Ann Ferriggi	....	key makeup artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Jack Brummitt	....	studio lighting

Music Department
Tristram Cary	....	composer: incidental music
Ron Grainer	....	composer: title music

Other crew
David Whitaker	....	script editor

Writing credits
Sydney Newman		(creator) uncredited

Produced by
Peter Bryant	....	associate producer (1966)

Film Editing by
John Dunstan
Glenn Hyde
Ian McKendrick
Dan Rae
Sheila S. Tomlinson

Production Design by
John Asbridge
Jeremy Bear
David Buckingham
Roger Cann
Roger Cheveley
Bob Cove		(1970s)
Nigel Curzon
Don Giles
Victor Meredith
Geoff Powell
Anne Ridley
Stephen Scott
Rochelle Selwyn
Michael Trevor

Costume Design by
James Acheson		(1973-1976)
Nicholas Bullen
Richard Croft
Anushia Nieradzik
Dee Robson

Makeup Department
Dorka Nieradzik	....	makeup designer (1982, 1984-1988)

Art Department
Peter Brachaki	....	production designer: TARDIS interior

Sound Department
John Tellick	....	sound

Special Effects by
Mat Irvine	....	special effects (1970s-1980s)
Ian Scoones	....	special effects (1960s-1980s)
Ron Thornton	....	special effects (1980s)
Bernard Wilkie	....	special effects (1960s-1970s)

Visual Effects by
Mitch Mitchell	....	special video effects (1960's-1970's) (as A. J. Mitchell)
Oliver Elmes	....	title sequence designer (1987-1989) (uncredited)
Bernard Lodge	....	title sequence designer (1963-1979) (uncredited 1963-1969)
Sid Sutton	....	title sequence designer (1980-1986) (uncredited)

Stunts
Alan Chuntz	....	stunts (1960's-1970's)
Peter Diamond	....	stunts (1960s)
Max Faulkner	....	stunts (1960's-1970's)
Stuart Fell	....	stunts (1970s-1980s)
Alf Joint	....	stunts (1960s-1980s)
Derek Martin	....	stunts (1960s-1970s)
Roy Scammell	....	stunts (1960s-1980s)
Lee Sheward	....	stunt coordinator
Terry Walsh	....	stunts (1960s-1970s)
Derek Ware	....	stunts (1960s-1970s)

Camera and Electrical Department
Stewart A. Farnell	....	camera operator (1 episode)
Peter Hamilton	....	camera operator (12 episodes)
Alan Jonas	....	camera operator (6 episodes)
Reg Poulter	....	senior camera operator
Robert Sleigh	....	camera operator (pilot episode)
Ken Westbury	....	camera operator (4 episodes)

Music Department
Mark Ayres	....	composer: incidental music (1988-1989)
Carey Blyton	....	composer: incidental music (1970-1973)
Paddy Kingsland	....	composer: incidental music (1980-1985)
Keff McCulloch	....	composer: incidental music (1987-1989)
Humphrey Searle	....	composer: incidental music (1965)
Dudley Simpson	....	composer: incidental music (1964-1980)

Other crew
Christopher Baker	....	production assistant
Ali Bongo	....	magic advisor
Terry Brett	....	technical manager
Kenneth J. Bussanmas	....	creative consultant (1979-1985)
Patricia Greenland	....	production assistant
Jeremy Hare	....	assistant floor manager (three episodes)

Other Companies

• BBC Radiophonic Workshop, The  title music

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Lime Grove Studios, Lime Grove, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Trivia:

The master videotape was wiped by the BBC in 1967. No footage is known to survive. However, director Waris Hussein passed a complete set of telesnaps to the BBC archives in 2004.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In early episodes, William Hartnell can often be heard flubbing his lines. Due to budget constraints (among other reasons), there was rarely the chance to do retakes.

Quotes:

Marco Polo: A caravan that flies!... Do you imagine what this will mean to the Khan? It will make him the most powerful ruler the world has ever known; stronger than Hannibal... mightier than Alexander the Great!

Marco Polo (Loose Cannon reconstruction)

Prior to watching the Loose Cannon reconstruction of "Marco Polo" I had only read scriptwriter John Lucarotti's Target novelization of his own story. One thing is clear after seeing this reconstruction and that is that the novelization is a criminal treatment of this gorgeously detailed, lush epic of a historical story. Where the televised story features wonderful characterization, entertaining dialogue, and richly detailed settings the novelization basically cuts it down to the plot alone, which is frankly quite unremarkable and ordinary.

What makes Marco Polo such a special story is the exemplary performances from just about everyone involved, the wonderful script and especially, as the Loose Cannon reconstruction thankfully captures in colourful photographs, the extraordinary detail that went into the wonderful sets and costumes. If ever discovered at any point "Marco Polo" may very well be the best-looking Doctor Who story of the 60's, and it is my current pick even though it is lost currently. The story was directed by the wonderful Warris Hussein so it would have undoubtedly been quite excellent on a visual level. What a shame. This is probably the missing story most deserving of being found. Even though I like some of the missing Troughton adventures a little better than this one, one doesn't feel that as much is lost with those straightforward adventures as with this one.

Loose Cannon have really done a superb job with the reconstruction, using either color or colorized photographs which emphasize the excellence of the production. The acting from the guest stars, particularly Mark Eden, is as good as the acting from the regulars.

"Marco Polo" is a wonderful historical story which may not even be the best historical of the first season with "The Aztecs", by the same writer, strongly challenging for first place, but it remains excellent all the way through and just exemplary in spots.

Episode 1: 9/10, Episode 2: 8/10, Episode 3: 8/10, Episode 4: 8/10, Episode 5: 8/10, Episode 6: 9/10, Episode 7: 9/10.

Average: 8.43/10