"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

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