Okay, so I’m gonna go ahead and assume that of the one or two people actually reading this blog, most of you are already Doctor Who fans and know about The Missing Episodes saga. If not, long story short, there are episodes of Doctor Who that are missing. The reasons are many but most involve some sort of dumb-assery by the BBC and short-sightedness as to the fact that, sometime in the future, people might just want to watch again what they had already shown. Perhaps they’d seen Part 6 of The Daleks and figured the rest of it was going nowhere… Happily, many of these missing episodes have been recovered over the years. Less happily we’re still a total of 106 episodes short of the full canon. All of those come from the Hartnell and Troughton eras.
Thankfully, however, there exist various formats of reconstructions. Some animated, some just use stills with the soundtrack overlaid and subtitles explaining what’s going on. I’m determined to cover off all the Doctor Who stories properly so as I get to episodes that are missing I’ll see what I can find.
Marco Polo is once such episode. Hence the mini-lecture above.. I am given to understand there is a condensed version of it on the Lost in Time DVD (a compilation of odd episodes that exist apart from their chums) but I have been supplied (that makes it sound very shady) with a full reconstruction. I have already claimed to like historical stories so I should probably give it a proper go…
The story is obviously driven by a desire to push the educational aspect of the show forward again but it’s done in quite a nice way. Marco Polo’s diary as he plots his route and as he explains his life to the travellers. I’ve lived 35 years and have never really known anything about Marco Polo (other than he had a Doctor Who story named after him) but I’m learning quite a lot.
The story revolves around plots (and soon, counter-plots) to steal the TARDIS and it develops at quite a pleasing pace. As a story structure it reminds me of parts of Game of Thrones – one massive long trek across a country punctuated with incidents. That doesn’t sound like a plot concept that could make it over 7 episodes but it somehow never feels dragged out. Each episode is almost a story in itself as the party share the fortunes of Marco Polo and his group. It would be hard to describe the story as such without describing 7 separate episodes of the trek and it is that which is this story’s great strength.
When our party eventually arrives at the Palace of the Kublai Khan it’s enjoyable seeing the Doctor and the Khan bicker amiably about their respective aches and pains. This is another story where Ian is the action hero but The Doctor is showing real glimpses of being the loveable old time-traveller we all know.
The ending does come fairly swiftly but does so without feeling too rushed. The travellers are afforded an opportunity to get the TARDIS back and they jump at it and scarper
It is a very great shame this story is missing in its entirety. It would have been lovely to see some of the sets that apparently took so much time and effort to construct.
More importantly, this story is a great demonstration of how a historical story can be done in Doctor Who. There is no science fiction in this other than the basic concept of the show and the fact Polo is trying to nick the Doctor’s “caravan that flies” (IE, The TARDIS). It’s a brilliant demonstration of how nuWho could work and makes me wonder how we could have treated Dickens, Shakespeare, van Gogh and others so much better if the producers had just had the courage to see this story as how a proper historical story can be done.
And lastly, it’s proof that watching the reconstructions is perfectly survivable. They are obviously a poor substitute for the real thing but after being a fan of this show for about 25 years it’s great to find a story I have never seen before and be able to enjoy it in this way.
Next up is The Keys of Marinus. 6 episodes long and I actually get to watch a DVD. Should be a doddle...
Thankfully, however, there exist various formats of reconstructions. Some animated, some just use stills with the soundtrack overlaid and subtitles explaining what’s going on. I’m determined to cover off all the Doctor Who stories properly so as I get to episodes that are missing I’ll see what I can find.
Marco Polo is once such episode. Hence the mini-lecture above.. I am given to understand there is a condensed version of it on the Lost in Time DVD (a compilation of odd episodes that exist apart from their chums) but I have been supplied (that makes it sound very shady) with a full reconstruction. I have already claimed to like historical stories so I should probably give it a proper go…
The story is obviously driven by a desire to push the educational aspect of the show forward again but it’s done in quite a nice way. Marco Polo’s diary as he plots his route and as he explains his life to the travellers. I’ve lived 35 years and have never really known anything about Marco Polo (other than he had a Doctor Who story named after him) but I’m learning quite a lot.
The story revolves around plots (and soon, counter-plots) to steal the TARDIS and it develops at quite a pleasing pace. As a story structure it reminds me of parts of Game of Thrones – one massive long trek across a country punctuated with incidents. That doesn’t sound like a plot concept that could make it over 7 episodes but it somehow never feels dragged out. Each episode is almost a story in itself as the party share the fortunes of Marco Polo and his group. It would be hard to describe the story as such without describing 7 separate episodes of the trek and it is that which is this story’s great strength.
When our party eventually arrives at the Palace of the Kublai Khan it’s enjoyable seeing the Doctor and the Khan bicker amiably about their respective aches and pains. This is another story where Ian is the action hero but The Doctor is showing real glimpses of being the loveable old time-traveller we all know.
The ending does come fairly swiftly but does so without feeling too rushed. The travellers are afforded an opportunity to get the TARDIS back and they jump at it and scarper
It is a very great shame this story is missing in its entirety. It would have been lovely to see some of the sets that apparently took so much time and effort to construct.
More importantly, this story is a great demonstration of how a historical story can be done in Doctor Who. There is no science fiction in this other than the basic concept of the show and the fact Polo is trying to nick the Doctor’s “caravan that flies” (IE, The TARDIS). It’s a brilliant demonstration of how nuWho could work and makes me wonder how we could have treated Dickens, Shakespeare, van Gogh and others so much better if the producers had just had the courage to see this story as how a proper historical story can be done.
And lastly, it’s proof that watching the reconstructions is perfectly survivable. They are obviously a poor substitute for the real thing but after being a fan of this show for about 25 years it’s great to find a story I have never seen before and be able to enjoy it in this way.
Next up is The Keys of Marinus. 6 episodes long and I actually get to watch a DVD. Should be a doddle...