Mighty Kublai Khan (Marco Polo Episode 6)

The one where the Doctor's backache earns him an ally...

The telesnap showing Tegana holding Susan at knifepoint is pretty graphic stuff for 5.30pm on a Saturday teatime (I can't imagine they'd contemplate it nowadays!), but it's indicative of just how much Tegana has grown to hate the TARDIS travellers, as he also lunges at the Doctor at one point. What's most intriguing to me though, is something that might only be solved if this episode is ever recovered: when Ian leaves the TARDIS to try and rescue Susan, the familiar hum of the Ship's interior can be heard outside in the courtyard. I guess this means the TARDIS door remains open (the hum stops when the Doctor and Barbara leave the Ship), but it's odd that the production team never use the audible hum whenever the Ship's door is open in other stories.

Although the characters cross a lot of land in Mighty Kublai Khan, it feels a little like writer John Lucarotti is treading water again. The fact Ping-Cho runs away to Cheng-Ting neatly coincides with Ian's quest to recover the stolen TARDIS, while Marco's caravan forges on to Shang-Tu to rendezvous with the Khan.

Our return to Cheng-Ting at least allows us to meet the wonderful Wang-lo once more, played with increasing excitement by Gabor Baraker, while Ian gets to rescue Ping-Cho and recover her money from the treacherous Kuiju (and his little monkey). They're two colourful characters who defy the earnestness of the rest of Lucarotti's creations. I wonder whether it was director Waris Hussein's idea to inject a little height into their performances, or if the colour is in the writing?

There's also plenty of fun to be had once the mighty Kublai Khan himself is finally revealed. Hailed by the Grand Vizier as a "warlord of warlords... mighty and fearful in strength" and "master of the world", it's amusing that what we get is a frail old man performed by Martin Miller like a 13th century Dot Cotton! Miller obviously has some aged-up (and yellowface) make-up here, as the actor was only 64 years old, playing a man who was actually 74 in 1289. The real-life Kublai Khan had just five more years to live, as did Martin Miller, who died of a heart attack at the age of 69 in August 1969.

The bond formed between the Doctor, whose back is allegedly "broken" after five days on horseback, and the elderly Khan is another amusing turn, even if on audio it sounds a bit hammy and difficult to follow. I'm sure it's better to watch than hear, but unless somebody finds a dusty old film canister somewhere in far-flung Asia, this is all we have to go on.

There are quieter, more contemplative scenes too, as we've come to expect from Lucarotti. Tegana argues with Marco about allowing him to retrieve Ian, and almost meets his match in a targeted tirade from an angry Susan (Carole Ann Ford is great when she spits: "Even you couldn't be so cruel as to want her to marry a man four times her age!"). Earlier, Ian and Marco have another of their bromance moments, in which Ian tries to convince the Venetian that the TARDIS is a time machine. However, Marco can accept many things - including coal, it seems - but he cannot accept that the TARDIS allows its crew to "move from today into tomorrow, today into yesterday". Beautifully and authentically written.

The episode ends with Ian facing off against a vengeful Tegana. Thanks to Lucarotti's rich writing and Derren Nesbitt's smooth, calculated performance, we know that Ian is in real danger here. Tegana is a bloodthirsty, trained and experienced warlord. Ian is not, and despite his apparent willingness to murder Kuiju, as the credits roll, we can feel a real sense of concern for Mr Chesterton's survival...

First broadcast: March 28th, 1964

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The scene between William Russell and Mark Eden is very well played, as two friends frustrated by not seeing eye to eye, and not being able to reconcile their differences. The mutual respect that must have existed between the actors comes through so well in the fiction.
The Bad: All this to-ing and fro-ing between Shang-Tu and Cheng-Ting feels unnecessary, and although well-written, is obviously padding in order to get to the end of the story.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

NEXT TIME: Assassin at Peking...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: The Roof of the World (episode 1); The Singing Sands (episode 2); Five Hundred Eyes (episode 3); The Wall of Lies (episode 4); Rider from Shang-Tu (episode 5); Assassin at Peking (episode 7)

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/marco-polo.html

Marco Polo is available as a soundtrack CD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Original-Television-Soundtrack/dp/0563535083