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Marco Polo Format Reviewed: CD Review Marco Polo marks a number of firsts in Doctor Who. It is the first historical adventure, taking place at a fascinating period of history in the reign of Kublai Khan. It is the first 'lost' story in that none of the original footage is known to still exist, and bizarrely it is the first Doctor Who story to feature live animals. The regular cast for Marco Polo is that which featured throughout season 1, Hartnell as the Doctor, Carole Ann Ford as Susan, Jaqueline Hill as Barbera and William Russell as Ian Chesterton. The story is told in seven parts, so there is plenty of scope to involve all the main characters, but Barbera seems to have less of a role here. Hartnell is typically brusque and aggressive, and delivers a strong performance in character as the mood changing Time Lord. Russell is strong, and proves himself as one of the real assets of this era of the shows history. What really stands out for me though is the performance of Carole Ann Ford as Susan. For me, this is arguably her strongest performance, and she carries off everything with aplomb. William Russel has also provided linking narration when required throughout the story for its release on CD. The guest cast is good here too, with Ziena Merton as Ping Cho and Derren Nesbitt as Tegana putting in good performances throughout. The guest cast member that really stands out here though is Mark Eden who plays Marco Polo. Given the situation that Polo wants to return home to Venice, his weary portrayal is entirely fitting and a delight throughout. The interactions between Tegana, Polo and the Doctor and Ian are of particular strength here and a lot of credit must go to John Lucarotti who wrote the adventure. The story essentially focusses on the Tardis having landed in mountains and requires repairs. The crew stumble accross Marco Polo on his trek to see the Kublai Khan, and join them for the journey. Along the way, Tegana throws spanners into the works as he is along for the ride but very much has his own agenda. Marco Polo moves along at a reasonable pace for a story of this era, and is largely laid back but quickens up when things are happening. Ping Cho, a young Chinese girl, is also part of the party as she is being taken Shang-Tu for an arranged marriage with a 75 year old noble man. She forms a strong bond with Susan, and is very prevalent throughout the story. As the video footage has been lost though, I must rely solely on the audio track as presented on the CD for this review. This is not neccessarily a bad thing though on some occasions, as words often convey more than the pictures could, and an epic story on this scale might not translate as well given the budget of the show at the time. From this perspective, this story works wonderfully well apart from the sword fight towards the end of the last episode. It is a fact that television production at the time was largely based on expertise gained from radio and stage work on both the acting and production side of things. It is because of this I think that several lost stories will translate well to audio. Overall, Marco Polo is really the first Doctor Who story that can be described as an epic in its own right. As an audio production, it stands up on todays standards as a great story and one that should be revisited by Doctor Who fans on a regular basis. It is a real shame that this story is one of the lost episodes, and doesn't form part of the BBC's video archives but nevertheless, the audio track is one that should please all fans of the show. Rating:  |