Marco Polo
Previous: The Edge of Destruction
Marco Polo
Ah, so this is one of those Loose Cannon reconstructions I read about on Wikipedia!
They've even got an introduction by the guy who played Marco Polo!
AND THEY EVEN RE-RECORDED THE FIRST SCENE (unless they did this special for the reconstruction).
Yeah, that looks like a specially included scene, because now we've got the title sequence (IN COLOR!)
Grumpy One is REALLY grumpy. Then again, having an almost COMPLETELY faulty TARDIS would probably do that to you.
Animal-like creatures and large footprints in the snow? Are these pre-Yetis I sense?
"I command you, in the name of Kublai Khan!" I used to know that whole poem a couples years back, now I just remember bits and pieces.
History and Science time with Barbara and Ian!
"I am going there to be married."
"What? How old are you?"
"I am in my 16th year."
"Well so am I!"
And Culture time with Ping-Cho and Susan!
So I think I'm beginning to understand the general local-character set-up of the Hartnell historicals:
There are two opposing high-rankers: one who's open-minded and helps the TARDIS crew, and one who's closed-minded and works against them.
That's what they did in The Aztecs, The Massacre, An Unearthly Child (to an extent), and now they're doing it here. Nice narrative device!
Slightly amused by the image of Ian and Barbara in modern clothes with Southeast Asian straw hats.
Marco wants to give the TARDIS to Khan as a gift to let him go? No, dude, the Doctor can't just "make another one," as you say.
Wait, is One...actually crying?
Oh wait, he was laughing hysterically. HOW is it that reactions to two COMPLETELY opposite emotions can sound almost EXACTLY the same?
POISON! THEFT! BETRAYAL! MURDER! TAKEOVER! JESUS, HOW MUCH VILLAINOUS ACTIVITY CAN YOU FORSHADOW IN ONE SENTENCE?
"Crazy?"
"It means 'I dig it!'"
Susan. You = not in the 1960s right now.
Uh oh, SANDSTORM. RUUUUN.
This episode is called "The Singing Sands," but it seems to be more like "The Maniacal Laughing Sands."
Now that was interesting, Tegana's trying to poison everyone, and yet he still rescued Susan and Ping-Cho from the sandstorm.
All this talk of caravans is making me wonder whether or not they ever made a Silk Road edition of The Oregon Trail.
Abduction by cavemen, radiation poisoning, cranial lacerations, and now heatstroke. Even ONE was abused by the universe on serial-ly basis.
Apparently the TARDIS is sweating on the inside. Or something. And apparently it's drinkable.
MORE SCIENCE TIMES WITH IAN! Explaining condensation to Marco Polo so he doesn't accuse One of hoarding water.
"That used to be to the North on the Great Steps!"
"It still is, Barbara."
This is another interesting thing about Classic Who: they actually had the time to let characters tell and perform long intricate stories.
And I don't mean in terms of episode length, I mean like stories-within-stories.
Woah. Hello, Random Cave Dude With Blue Hair.
So that promo shot of Hartnell in front of the TARDIS that I see ALL THE TIME was actually from this episode. And now I know.
Jesus, are there any minor side-characters who AREN'T spies for the villain in this story?
Susan, I can only assume that you just said something important, but since you SCREAMED IT, I have only half an idea what it might've been.
Barbara rescued thanks to BADASS-MARCO.
So the TARDIS is almost fixed but we're still only about half-way though the serial. Long slog is long.
"Believe me, it will take much more than this to shake my confidence in Tegana!" Ooohhhhhhh crap.
"And the old magician? How will you kill him?"
"With a stake through the heart."
Yes, but which one?
TARDIS keys stolen, crew labeled as prisoners, what do they plan to do? Hold MARCO-FREAKING-POLO HOSTAGE.
One has just been handed a sword. I know he probably isn't going to use it, but it would be nonetheless awesome.
So Ian, would you care to share with us your sciencey knowledge of how fire can make BAMBOO EXPLODE?
AFKLDAHSFKLDHASKLFHDSALFHASLFHSADL NO. RECONSTRUCTION PREVENTS ME FROM PROPERLY VIEWING ONE ENGAGING IN A SWORD FIGHT. WHYYYYY.
And apparently he has his iconic cane now. BUT I DIDN'T GET TO SEE HIM SWORDFIGHT.
What is up with the way station manager's VOICE.
Wow. This guy's not just sleazy, he has an EYEPATCH. And some mysterious small animal on his shoulder.
TARDIS KEYS GET.
So they're making their way back to the TARDIS, but we've still got 2 episodes left, which means something MAJOR needs to go wrong...
I approve of fake-drunk!Ian.
Major Thing That Goes Wrong identified: Susan gets captured.
"I don't think we'll get him on another horse as long as he lives!" Oh I quite beg to differ...
Sleezy Eye-Patch Man is back, and I think that's a monkey on his shoulder.
I should start keeping count of how many times in the Classic series the TARDIS gets stolen and/or moved by suspicious parties.
Ah, kowtowing. I cannot POSSIBLY count the number of times that came up in my Women in Chinese Literature class. One refuses to to it.
"(The Doctor cannot bend his back down enough to Kowtow.)" If it wasn't for the whole impending-Khan thing, this might be hilarious.
Ah, the glorious comradeship of Two Creaky Old Men...
I wonder how many times Ian gets to hold a knife at a robber's throat and threaten to kill him. Why aren't all science teachers that badass?
Wow. I didn't know they had backgammon back then. And the Doctor can beat Kublai Khan at it. Because he's that awesome.
"You're not gambling, are you? You know how it affects your gout." AND Kublai Khan has someone resembling a henpecking wife in the Empress.
"We owe half of Asia to our friend at backgammon."
So I can't help wondering if Ping-Cho's husband-to-be, this old "very important man," is really Kublai Khan himself.
I guess not...
Well, at least Marco finally admitted that it was wrong of him to take the TARDIS in the first place. But it looks like his plan backfired.
Ping-Cho's husband-to-be died after drinking "an elixir of quicksilver and sulfur"? Isn't "quicksilver" mercury? Sounds like suicide to me.
Then again, they probably didn't know that back then.
Great. Another sword fight that we won't get to actually WATCH. Marco Polo vs. Tegana. WHO SHALL WIN? (Like that's even a question...)
And not only did Marco beat him, but Tegana saved everyone else the task of killing him. Not Marco, Tegana.
And OFF GOES THE TARDIS! Full length sound effect and everything!
"They would not believe HALF the things I've seen in Cathay. But what is the truth? I wonder where they are now? The past, or the future?"
I really hope that that was the longest COMPLETE reconstruction. As good as that story was, it was still quite a slog. *checks Wikipedia*
Okay, Power of the Daleks and Fury From the Deep come close at 6 episodes each, but they both have surviving clips, unlike this.
Now all I have to see is Mission to the Unknown and I'll have seen all 3 serials with no remaining footage whatsoever. That'll be a relief.
Oh wait, special filmed epilogue time!
"Travelers who journey through today into tomorrow." Well, technically, EVERYbody's like that ALL THE TIME.
"If only they knew...I didn't tell half of what I saw...because no one would've believed me." *closes journal* The End.
Next: The Keys of Marinus