4. Marco Polo

The greatest tragedy that ever occurred in Doctor Who wasn't the Daleks killing millions of innocent people, or the Cybermen converting whole civilizations, it's that not every episode of Doctor Who exists today. At some point in the late 60's/ early 70's, the BBC randomly destroyed tapes in their library to make room for more tapes. To date, there are 106 episode of Doctor Who missing from existence. Many episodes were found over the years, across the world, and there is always hope that more will be found in time. But we now arrive at the first victim of this senseless extermination.

Marco Polo was a 7 episode story from early 1964 and none of it exists in video. It was the first "celebrity historical" with the title character taking our TARDIS crew across Cathay (a/k/a China) to Peking (a/k/a Beijing) to see Kublai Khan. There still exists telesnaps from the production and the audio soundtrack with linking narration. So despite the lack of video, we can still experience this wonderful story.

A special feature of The Edge of Destruction DVD is a 30-minute telesnap reconstruction set to the original's television soundtrack. While this condensed version can't fully show the depth and breath of the full 7 episodes, it does provide a lovely morsel to enjoy. It portrays Marco Polo as a very thoughtful leader, with many layers and a myriad of motivations. The program continues to show the history as a treacherous place, filled with peril and danger. Our time team is once again held captive, with Marco holding on to the TARDIS as a gift for Khan. Only by the keen intellect of the Doctor does he win the TARDIS back.

I have listened to the television soundtrack many times over the years and have grown to appreciate the story. The audio version does allow ones imagination to create the vistas and landscapes this story took our crew through. I am sure the full television episodes were a treat, to show far off locations, exotic peoples, and a great adventure.

The new series has made the "celebrity historical" a staple of every season with the likes of Charles Dickens, Queen Victoria, Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, and VanGough. These episodes are some of the most popular and highly acclaimed of nuWho. But in this year of celebration, these episodes owe their existence to this story.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo_(Doctor_Who)

Next episode- The Keys of Marinus!