aka A Journey Through Cathay Production Code D
First Transmitted:
CAST
Plot Outline from Wikipedia The TARDIS crew arrives in the snowy wastes of the Gobi Desert, and the ship is damaged and unable to produce lights, heat or water. The First Doctor, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright and Susan Foreman face the prospect of freezing to death as night approaches and the temperatures plummet. Fortunately they spot a caravan in the distance. It is managed by Marco Polo, Italian trader and, like his father and uncle before him, an Italian in China as an emissary of Kublai Khan. He welcomes them to his company and introduces some of his fellow travellers including the Mongol warlord Tegana, who is emissary of peace from the Khan Noghai, who has been at war with Kublai Khan; and a young Chinese woman named Ping-Cho, who is travelling to meet her 75-year old groom in her arranged marriage, and who forms a strong attachment to Susan. Marco Polo is fascinated by the TARDIS, which is taken as a prize within the caravan, and tells the Doctor he is requisitioning the “magic caravan” as a prize for the Emperor to attempt to buy his way out of his service. Indeed, Marco takes the TARDIS key from the Doctor to make sure of his prize. It is 1289 and the caravan is heading to the imperial capital of Shang-Tu in Cathay (as China was then known) where the Emperor Kublai Khan is expecting to see Marco Polo once more. It is a journey of many weeks and at the next stop at the way station in Lop the lord Tegana reveals his true colours when he purchases a poison to use to despoil the caravan’s water supply as it ventures on into the Gobi. However, a vicious sandstorm, during which Ping-Cho and Susan are briefly lost, prevents him implementing his plan. Instead he slices open the gourds during the night and ensures the bandits are blamed. Marco Polo insists the caravan presses on to the next stop, but the water rations get fewer and fewer as the days pass by and eventually Tegana – the wrong choice – is dispatched to find a fabled oasis. The Mongol finds the oasis easily, but does not return with water to the caravan as promised and the situation becomes ever more desperate. Indeed, the travellers only survive the arid conditions when the TARDIS forms moisture during the night, and they drink the water to live. The caravan moves on to the next way-station at Tun-Huang where stocks are replenished and they meet an incredulous Tegana, who rejoins their caravan. Ping-Cho makes their stay pleasant with the tale of Ala-eddin (Aladdin) and the Hashshashin (or assassins). Tegana slips away during the performance and makes his way to the Cave of Five Hundred Eyes, where he is told by the Mongol agents Malik and Acomat that Noghai is assembling an army and marching toward Karakorum. Tegana tells Acomat, a bandit, to attack the caravan soon and kill Marco Polo and the others. Their plans, however, have been partially overheard by Barbara, who followed Tegana to the cave, though she does not realise the extent of Tegana's involvement. She is found and then kept prisoner by Malik while Tegana returns to the caravan, feigning surprise when her disappearance is discovered. The Doctor works out she may be at the cave and heads there accompanied by Susan and Ping-Cho, followed soon after by Marco, Ian and Tegana. Anxious that his plans will be exposed, when the search party find Barbara and Malik, Tegana kills his ally to cover his tracks. When the party returns to the caravan Tegana tries another tactic and tries to force suspicion into Marco’s mind by telling him Susan has an unhealthy hold over his charge, Ping-Cho, and that the Doctor has somehow made a second key to gain entry to the TARDIS. Other suspicions are aroused when Barbara admits how she ended up at the Cave, but Tegana flatly denies ever having been there. Marco stamps his authority on the caravan by separating Ping-Cho and Susan, making both of them ever more suspicious of Tegana. At the next way station Tegana’s plans are further bolstered when he proves to Marco the Doctor has a second key to the TARDIS, forcing the old man to hand it over, and driving ever deepening enmity into the travelling party. The caravan now catches sight of the Great Wall of China and the journey heads South to Lan-Chow along the banks of the Yellow River. At the next town of Sinju Tegana meets with the evil Acomat and tells him to attack the caravan two nights later as they journey through the bamboo forest. The guards on the caravan are killed and Acomat waits in the jungle, looking for Tegana’s signal, but badly times their attack so that they assume the explosions of bamboo are gunfire from the caravan. Acomat is slain – again by Tegana to protect the truth – while the other bandits flee in fear. In thanks for their help defeating the bandit attack, Marco Polo allows Susan and Ping-Cho to share company once more. The Doctor and his companions have meanwhile worked out that Tegana is the source of many of the journey’s troubles, but cannot make Marco Polo realise how dangerous he is. A new traveller now arrives at the caravan, a message rider named Ling-Tau, who has travelled from Shang-Tu (300 miles away) in just 24-hours. He bears a message commanding the caravan to speed up, and so Marco Polo commands that once they reach the city of Cheng-Ting that the travellers should all take to horseback to speed up their journey while the TARDIS and the other belongings are brought on later. As ever, Tegana has another plot at the next way station. He meets an ally called Kuiju and bribes him to try and steal the TARDIS when the convoy is split up, and take it to Karkorum, where Noghai's troops are massing. Ping-Cho knows where Marco has hidden the two keys to the TARDIS and gives one to Susan to help the time travellers escape, but things go wrong and they are prevented from fleeing, with Ian taking the blame on himself for stealing the key. As the journey enters its final phases the travellers attempt to ingratiate themselves with Marco Polo once more by telling him the truth about the TARDIS. Marco deduces Ian did not steal the key and so determines it was Ping-Cho after all and, fearing detection, she flees the caravan. Ian finds her back at Cheng-Ting, having ridden there alone, which is just as well as while there he uncovers the fact that Kuiji has stolen the TARDIS from the second convoy. When Ian and Ping-Cho find the bandit on the road to Karkorum, they force him to admit the truth, but then Tegana arrives. The warlord had broken away from the main party in the pretence of finding Ping-Cho, but in reality he is once more scheming. The situation is solved when Ling Tau and a band of soldiers arrive. They kill Kuiju, but once more Tegana talks his way out of a tight situation and the entire party agrees to ride on to the imperial palace in Peking, The main convoy has meanwhile finally reached the summer palace of Shangh-Tu. Kublai Khan presides over a rich and beautiful city. When the travellers are brought before the great Khan, the Doctor is so bruised after his horse ride he is unable to kow-tow properly. Ironically, the aged Khan sees the aches of age as a point of friendship with the Doctor. He decrees they will all leave the following day for Peking, and the Doctor will travel with him in his own carriage. But he is concerned Tegana has not presented himself, being worried that Khan Noghai has now moved his armies from Samarkand to Karkorum. When the imperial party reaches the capital city, the Khan engages the Doctor in a game of backgammon. The Doctor wins 35 elephants, 4000 white stallions, 25 tigers, the sacred tooth of the Buddha and the entire commerce of Burma for a year - but loses the key to the TARDIS. The Khan presses Marco for the history of the "magic caravan" and the emissary admits he was wrong to try and obtain the vehicle, but only did it to try and buy his freedom. The Khan is not impressed, and warns Marco that if he does not regain his trust somehow then he will be banished from court. Nevertheless, events take a turn for the better for another. Ping-Cho is spared a loveless marriage when the elderly man she was due to marry passes away after drinking a love potion. She is content to make eyes at Ling Tau, with whom she has formed an attachment. When Ling Tau's party arrives at the palace, Marco Polo begins to have serious doubts about the actions and motivations of Tegana. He confides in the Doctor and his friends and together they work to unmask Tegana before it is too late, as they now deduce Tegana has come to Peking to kill the Khan. Tegana slays the Khan's guards and is moving in for the kill when the Doctor and his allies arrive and is prevented in his actions. His mission failed, Tegana takes his own life. In the ensuing melee, Marco Polo gives the Doctor and his party the key to the TARDIS and bids them escape. The "magic caravan" fades away before the eyes of the Khan and his courtiers. As a final act, the Khan forgives Marco Polo and agrees he can return to Venice.
Analysis by Cuisle Over seven episodes, the relatively simple thriller plot of foiling Tegana gets a little stretched, but the plot is secondary in this case to the object of teaching, without appearing to teach, about Marco Polo and his achievements, which it seems to have done quite well for its time. The costumes and sets made this into a visual spectacle even though it was made in black and white for black and white TV. By the standards of the BBC in general, and Doctor. Who’s laughably small budgets in general, it was a lavish production and what remains of it to be seen today looks pretty good. Having to stick to the educational aspect, after gaining critical and popular approval for the pure sci-fi Dalek story, must have been a bit of a gamble for the producers. Would viewers put up with seven weeks of costume drama when what they really wanted was futuristic cities and metal monsters? In fact, the viewers seemed to be fine with this swing back and forward between pure sci fi and historical fare. The faith of the executives who let the show go ahead seemed rewarded. This is, in fact, one of the missing episodes. But it is one which has been reconstructed reasonably well. A condensed version of it is available on the Beginnings DVD Box Set, and it is possible to get a good idea of what it was like. Marco Polo, played by Mark Eden is very well cast. He is something of the villain of the piece, capturing the TARDIS and holding The Doctor and his friends virtually prisoners on his caravan. He is portrayed as a rather desperate man, trapped by his own success as an adventurer and having to do the bidding of Kublai Khan. The Chinese characters are all a bit stereotyped, especially the pretty little maiden, Ping-Cho. But that is almost to be expected. Classic Doctor Who has always been rather patronising to ethnic groups. They fare a little better than the Arabs in The Crusade or even the Welsh in Green Death. The Doctor playing Backgammon to win back the TARDIS
is a strange idea from modern standards. Would we really show a role model
gambling nowadays? In these early episodes gambling, drinking and smoking
were all indulged by the central adult characters at some point. These
would never be a feature of modern Doctor Who. This episode is very much
a social document of the time when it was made, as are many of the Doctor
Who episodes.
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