January 14: "The Temple of Evil" / "The Warriors of Death"

(The Aztecs episodes 1 & 2)

Standard and special edition DVDs

"But you can't rewrite history!" the Doctor exclaims to Barbara, halfway through "The Temple of Evil".  "Not one line!" It's at the heart of this story: can Barbara change the course of history and save the Aztec civilization from the conquistadors?

Let's back up a bit.  We've just left Marinus (as the opening moments helpfully remind us) and have now arrived in late 15th/early 16th century Mexico, in the heart of Aztec lands.  When Barbara is mistaken as the reincarnation of a high priest, she is revered as a god, and thus is a position of power to change history, to turn the Aztecs from their custom of human sacrifice.  She's determined to try, despite the Doctor's protests, and this is what drives things.

It's interesting: the main motivation of the others is to simply gain access to the TARDIS, which is locked inside Yetaxa's tomb.  If the travellers could gain access, they'd leave immediately, but they're forced to interact with Aztec society while they figure out a way in.  This has been happening before, mind; so far they've been denied access to the Ship by way of capture, a missing component/key, and a forcefield.  But this feels like the least contrived and thus most frustrating barrier yet: a stone door that they can't open.  So while they try to break in, Barbara is going to make the most of her situation, and try and change things.

In both of these episodes, we see Barbara try to prevent or change some aspect of Aztec culture (not just the sacrifice, but also smaller things, such as Susan's removal to a seminary or Ian's fight with Ixta), and each time it almost seems like she makes things worse: Tlotoxl, High Priest of Sacrifice, loses faith in her, and then Susan is separated from the others.  But still she refuses to give in.

Ian defeats Ixta with his thumb. ("The Warriors of
Death") ©BBC

Of course Barbara's not the only one with the good role: Ian ably acquits himself as he vies with Ixta for leadership of the Aztec armies.  The bit with the thumb is really lovely, and the unarmed fight that concludes "The Warriors of Death" is quite well done, especially for a studio session (the initial fight with Ixta and an Aztec warrior, in "The Temple of Evil", is also in studio and decidedly less impressive, since they have to be careful not to hurt anyone).  It's also interesting to see how Ian maintains the upper hand in the fight, doing quite well even after he's been scratched by Ixta.

The Doctor too gets some nice moments: his interactions with Cameca are especially noteworthy, being rather more flirtatious than one might expect.  "You're an old rogue," Barbara says after he mentions Cameca to her, and the Doctor doesn't deny it.  And I haven't even mentioned the guest cast yet, who all perform excellent work -- John Ringham is often singled out for his Richard III-like performance as Tlotoxl, but actors like Ian Cullen as Ixta and Keith Pyott as Autloc also deserve high praise for playing things with sincerity and conviction, making things very believable.  In their hands, and those of writer John Lucarotti, the Aztec world of Mexico is just as dangerous as Skaro or Marinus.

January 13: "Sentence of Death" / "The Keys of Marinus"

(The Keys of Marinus episodes 5 & 6)

Well, this is more like it!  Maybe I'm just a sucker for mysteries, but the parts of this story that take place in Millennius are far more engaging than in the last three locations.  There's a sense of drive through "Sentence of Death", as the Doctor must prove Ian's innocence, lest Ian be executed for murder.  The fact that we go out and explore a bit as the Doctor and his team search for exonerating evidence and such means that Millennius feels more fleshed out than, say, Morphoton from "The Velvet Web".  We start to get a sense of how these people actually live, with hints dropped casually in dialogue and sets showing us apartments and such.

Of course, it's still a mystery that they have to get through in an episode and a half, which means that villains repeatedly start to utter self-incriminating statements before they stop themselves just to move things along.  Although I do enjoy Aidan's death as he starts to reveal his co-conspirators -- it feels an awful lot like Jack Ruby killing Lee Harvey Oswald.  I'm not sure if it's an intentional reference or not, but either way it does add to the air of mystery.

Yartek, leader of the alien Voord. ("The Keys of
Marinus") ©BBC

Sadly, it does start to sag a bit in the second half of "The Keys of Marinus", once the real killer has been caught and they return to the island with the Conscience of Marinus.  Yartek, the leader of the Voord (remember them from "The Sea of Death"?) has taken over and is trying to disguise himself as Arbitan.  It's been noted before how Ian and Susan seem suspicious of him because of what he said, not because his head appears to have grown several inches under his hood, but to be fair it's not like Terry Nation knew what those headpieces were going to be like.  But even so, Ian tricks not-Arbitan by giving him the fake key from "The Screaming Jungle" -- except Ian wasn't convinced not-Arbitan was an imposter, so he potentially gave the real Arbitan the fake key.  Of course, he didn't know it would blow up the whole building when inserted, so we can probably excuse him.

The main problem with The Keys of Marinus as a whole is that it's too ambitious; it wants to be a globe-trotting epic, but there's not enough time or money to fully flesh out all the locations, so the production team has to spend a lot of time hinting at things.  To their credit, they do really quite an excellent job with what they've got, but that can't hide the fact that Terry Nation has to spend time establishing each new exotic location and not developing the ones we've already gotten.  It's not terrible by any means, but given what we've gotten from Doctor Who so far, its flaws become rather more apparent.

January 12: "The Screaming Jungle" / "The Snows of Terror"

(The Keys of Marinus episodes 3 & 4)

So last episode they had a fairly lengthy discussion of how the Doctor was going to go two jumps ahead and look for the fourth key; in other words, William Hartnell's on vacation for these episodes (the first time a regular's been given time off this way), which means it's up to Ian, Barbara, and Susan to carry the day.  Unfortunately, Terry Nation seems to think that Susan's only there to scream and act generally hysterical -- realistic, perhaps, but not terribly pleasant viewing.  So that leaves Ian and Barbara.

Really, though, "The Screaming Jungle" feels like pure pulp.  There's what seems to be an abandoned building in the middle of a thick jungle, and it's simply full of traps.  And they're not very exciting traps either.  Ian getting nearly cleaved in two is probably the best; his getting trapped behind bars isn't very exciting, while Barbara being trapped under a net as a spiked ceiling descends might have been better had it not been shot quite so undramatically from the side, showing a shaky board with obviously not-at-all sharp blades juddering down.  (I do have to say, though, that I quite like the idol with the obviously human arms that grab people.)  Then there's some guff about nature's "tempo of destruction" having been accelerated; this seems to mean that plants crawl around and smash windows and things.  Like I said, pure pulp.

The ice soldiers awaken. ("The Snows of Terror") ©BBC

Things get better in "The Snows of Terror", but that might be because the actors have someone to react to, rather than just some vines wrapped around a pole.  Francis de Wolff turns in a memorably creepy performance as Vasor the trapper.  He's thoroughly nasty, even at the beginning when he's ostensibly helping Ian and Barbara, but there's a nice turn of cowardice from him when fortune shifts against him.

Other than that, though, this is simply the next place on the quest list: we had a jungle, so the opposite is clearly a snow-blasted mountain range.  That said, there's clearly effort being put into the design side of things: the jungle set last episode was quite nice, and the ice caves here are really good.  It's just a shame that the script doesn't have the same degree of care.  To be fair, this was a serial written in a great hurry after another script fell through⁵; it's just a bit of a pity that you can tell.







⁵ This was apparently The Hidden Planet by Malcolm Hulke; we'll hear more about him starting at the end of Patrick Troughton's run.

January 11: "The Sea of Death" / "The Velvet Web"

(The Keys of Marinus episodes 1 & 2)

The TARDIS has arrived on Marinus -- and Barbara and Susan have changed their outfits since the end of "Assassin at Peking" (so Missing Adventure authors take note -- Christopher Bulis has already taken advantage of this potential gap).  It's an odd episode, to be sure; there are some nice ideas from Terry Nation, like the acid sea which leads to a glass beach, but it's somewhat thwarted by the direction.  "The Sea of Death" feels rather loose because of this: there are an unusually high number of moments where characters are required not to see things that should be plainly visible to them until the plot needs them to: no one sees the first Voord on the beach, the Doctor suddenly sees submarines that have clearly been in front of him for some time, Ian somehow misses the whacking great building dominating the skyline for the first half of the episode...it's almost theatrical in this approach, but it requires a larger-than-normal amount of good faith to see things through.  Which would be fine if it weren't for the obvious errors and bizarre choices that are also plentiful: Hartnell's having a bit of bother with his lines while he's on the beach; a stagehand is visible through the first swinging door; a Voord is stabbed in the back despite being up against a solid wall -- this is just after George Coulouris as Arbitan appears to wander on set, look at Susan, and then wander off for no obvious reason; there's even a script left open and visible on the Conscience set!

This probably would be less of an issue if the script were up to it, but it's essentially marking time until it's time to send the travellers off on a quest.  So we have a number of Voord who lurking menacingly before they get killed, some exploration on a beach, and a plot dump by Arbitan explaining what's going to be happening.  It's functional writing rather than evocative.  Still, as I said before, there are some nice ideas: the trouble is that there aren't enough of them to paper over the other problems.  Even the TARDIS crew's agreement to look for the missing keys feels perfunctory.

Barbara destroys the brains ruling Morphoton.
("The Velvet Web") ©BBC

Fortunately, the next episode goes some way toward redressing the balance.  There's a lot tighter direction this time around, with the scenes from Barbara's point of view showing the city of Morphoton the way it really is worthy of particular praise. It's also interesting how the episode begins with Ian being the most suspicious of their hosts' generosity, yet ultimately it's Barbara who fails to be affected by the hypnosis.  And can we take a moment to acknowledge how gorgeous Katharine Schofield (Sabetha) is?

Really, if anything lets this episode down it's the nature of the overall story.  Because Terry Nation has crafted a quest epic, it means that we're only just starting to know a place when it's on to the next.  This just means that a) everything tends to be painted in broad strokes, with little subtlety; and b) the resolution of the problem is rather abrupt; it's great seeing Barbara smash up the brains, but it does feel a little sudden and therefore unsatisfying -- especially since they also need to spend time setting up the next episode, in a completely different location.

January 10: "Mighty Kublai Khan" / "Assassin at Peking"

(Marco Polo episodes 6 & 7)

And they were so close!  Yet interestingly, Marco doesn't put the travellers under guard as he did in "The Wall of Lies" -- he must believe that without the TARDIS nearby, they won't be a problem.  There's a nice bit where Ian tells Marco the truth: that they're from a different time, not just a different place.  Marco won't believe him though, pointing out that Ian has lied before, and that provides enough doubt to deny them the TARDIS.

But really, the star of this episode is the titular character: Mighty Kublai Khan indeed!  When Polo's entourage arrives at Shang-Tu (which the map accompanying the CD helpfully notes is also known as Xanadu and thus (sort of) the subject of Coleridge's poem), we're treated to a marvelous performance, as Martin Miller provides an aging, human ruler.  It also gives William Hartnell the chance to indulge in a bit of comedy, as his pain from horseback riding leads him to uttering groans and aches almost in time with Kublai Khan.  "Do you mock our afflictions?" the Khan demands.  But it's not just comedy: their shared anguish allows the Doctor to become friendly with Kublai Khan and insinuate himself into his good graces.  It's a good move from writer John Lucarotti.

But if "Mighty Kublai Khan" was good, "Assassin at Peking" is even better.  Tegana admits his fealty to Noghai and his intent to help him take down Kublai Khan to both Ian and Ping-Cho, and they still can't get Marco Polo to believe it.  Tegana has been good before, but here he really enters the realm of "villain you love to hate", as his silver tongue also starts to convince the Khan that Marco isn't worthy of trust (using a little old-fashioned racism to boot).  It's really wonderful -- kudos to Derren Nesbitt's performance.

But this episode also has some more comedy, showing Kublai Khan as being somewhat henpecked by his wife the Empress -- yet still retaining a sense of authority when, say, dealing with Marco Polo and his perceived disloyalty.  Plus there's that great backgammon game between the Khan and the Doctor, and the fate of Ping-Cho's would-be husband.

The Target book (from
the TARDIS Data Core wiki
article Marco Polo
(novelisation))

Yet although the Doctor and his companions work out Tegana's plan (and it's nice to see that they answer the question I asked last time about when Tegana developed said plan), this episode ultimately belongs to Marco and Tegana, as they duel in the throne room in Peking⁴. It sounds like a good fight, and the telesnaps offer some tantalizing glimpses.  It's also interesting how Tegana throws himself on a sword to avoid capture, rather than having Marco (who's really our hero for this tale) kill him.  (Nor is he shot with an arrow by Ling-Tau, as the Target novelization told me.  But sidenote to say that I adore this book as, although my family had a small handful of Target books, Marco Polo was, along with The War Machines, the first Target book I bought myself.)  In some ways, given what's happened before, the TARDIS crew's final departure is very abrupt: no thanks or well-wishes, just a quick dash out before someone changes their mind.  But it works.  And interestingly, there's no cliffhanger into the next episode; it's almost as if these twenty episodes comprised the first story for the Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian.

It's a really lovely tale, Marco Polo, and I've enjoyed it immensely.  I would absolutely love the chance to see this story on video (fun fact: Marco Polo was sent to more countries than any other missing serials), but even with just the soundtrack and telesnaps it's still easy enough to enjoy.  But next time it's back to video with "The Sea of Death" -- hey, our first "of Death" title!  This should be good.

(Final count for uses of 'TARDIS' as a bare noun (aka no accompanying 'the'): 4)







⁴ The enclosed map also informs me (although it's not the first to do so) that the use of Peking is anachronistic: the capital at that time was known as Khanbaliq.

January 9: "The Wall of Lies" / "Rider from Shang-Tu"

(Marco Polo episodes 4 & 5)

"The Wall of Lies" was directed by John Crockett instead of Waris Hussein.  Why does this matter?  Because as a result Waris Hussein had no reason to have the telesnaps for this episode: thus this is the earliest episode for which no visual record exists (unless that rumored recovery announcement of the entire story for its 50th anniversary next month is true; the words "yeah" and "right" spring to mind...).  But as noted before, we still have an off-air audio recording to enjoy.

The Radio Times cover for "The Roof of the
World" (from Partners in Time: 50 years of Doctor
Who Radio Times covers ©Immediate Media
Company Limited)

This seems to be a turning point for this particular story: before the travellers were free to accompany Marco Polo, and only his possession of the TARDIS prevented them from leaving.  But now Tegana has managed to turn Polo against them.  It's dramatic, yet still with the same relaxed confidence that permeates this serial.  The central problem has evolved from simply "how to get the TARDIS back" to "how to convince Marco that Tegana is plotting against him and Kublai Khan".

(Incidentally, do you suppose Tegana always intended to betray Kublai Khan, or that it was when he saw the TARDIS that the possibility of claiming it for Noghai came to mind, and that's when he set his plan into motion?)

In any event, "The Wall of Lies" sees the TARDIS crew at their lowest.  It's particularly interesting how, when they decide to kidnap Marco and force him to give the TARDIS key back, how black the Doctor's intentions seem: "I think by the time I've finished with that gentleman, he'll only be too glad to let us go."  It's a surprisingly dark comment, especially as it's about a man that the story has so far encouraged us to view in sympathetic light.

Fortunately for Marco, "Rider from Shang-Tu" (hooray! the telesnaps are back!) opens with a far different situation that results in a change of plans, as the caravan is attacked by bandits.  Continuing the educational theme, here we learn that bamboo explodes when thrown on a fire.  It's difficult to tell from the telesnaps how well the bamboo forest was realized, but the battle itself sounds exciting.  It also leads to an improvement in Polo's estimation of the travellers: he's not as trusting as he was initially, but he's relented somewhat from the treatment given last episode.

Other than the initial fight, this episode is more about treading water than advancing the plot much: there's no new treachery from Tegana and the titular rider only appears for maybe five minutes.  This episode then is actually set up to look like an escape for the Doctor and company, a chance to finally get to the TARDIS.  (Or just "TARDIS", as it's referred to again this episode -- I wonder if this happens in any other story?)  But like the last time they did this ("The Ambush", episode 4 of The Daleks), there's a sense of unfinished business -- Marco Polo hasn't arrived in Peking yet, and Tegana has yet to be unmasked.  Which is why it's not a total surprise when, just as it looks like they're all about to escape (with a scene inside the TARDIS, even!), Susan is grabbed by Tegana, just in time for the end of the episode.

January 8: "The Singing Sands" / "Five Hundred Eyes"

(Marco Polo episodes 2 & 3)

An Unearthly Child is in a bit of an odd position: in some ways it's a journey back in time, but it's to a place that virtually nothing is known about, and the people we encounter there seem more alien than like us.  This means that Marco Polo is the series' first real journey into history.  And so far it's a very entertaining tale: although "The Roof of the World" played with expectations a bit, "The Singing Sands" is filled with suspense, first with the sandstorm whirling through the camp (memorably brought alive, even on audio), and then with the sabotage of the caravan's water supply.  Meanwhile, the characterization of Susan is interesting, as she seems resolutely in teenage-girl-of-the-60s mode, with slang like "fab" and "dig it", yet the script has her reminiscing about metal seas on Venus and describing her language as how people talk "on Earth", as if she's used to being somewhere else. The chess game that Ian and Marco play is also good fun, with what seems to be foreshadowing from Tegana: "Marco, can you save your king?"  Oh! and an occurrence of the word "TARDIS" as a bare noun, when Barbara talks about how "TARDIS is the only home we have".  And it ends on a good cliffhanger, with Tegana taunting Marco Polo from the oasis.

"Five Hundred Eyes" is a curious episode: there's always been a remit for the show to be educational along the way, and this feels like the first real flexing of those muscles.  We learn about condensation, the Hashashins from the point-of-view of the Mongols (with a brief etymological detour about the word "assassin"), and even a little bit about quartz.  That part about the Hashashins is told by Ping-Cho, who spends a sizable portion of the episode in the telling, yet it remains engaging the whole way -- one can only imagine how it would be with the pictures intact.  It's interesting: there's a relaxed pace about the way John Lucarotti allows his tale to unfold, yet it never feels slow or dull.  Even when there's danger afoot, as with Barbara in the cave, it still seems quite content.  It's a sign of the confidence the production team has in the script, without a need to spice things up unduly.  The word is "self-assured".