019 Marco Polo Part 6: Mighty Kublai Khan

EPISODE: Marco Polo Part 6: Mighty Kublai Khan
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 019
STORY NUMBER: 004
TRANSMITTED: 28 March 1964
WRITER: John Lucarotti
DIRECTOR: Waris Hussein
SCRIPT EDITOR: David Whitaker
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: CD Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes Collection: (1964-1965)

Tegana forces the crew from the TARDIS by threatening Susan then attacks the Doctor. They all then ride ahead of the Tardis and the baggage to Cathay. Ian tells Marco Polo the truth about the TARDIS and their origins in an attempt to get the Tardis back but Marco doesn't believe him. Marco Polo deduces Ping Cho stole the key and she sneaks away. Ian volunteers to go back and find her while Marco Polo pushes on to the Khan. Ping Cho has returned Cheng-Ting (so we get the camp innkeeper back) but is conned out of her money. When Ian arrives they discover the TARDIS has been stolen. There is argument amongst the travellers about whether Ping Cho should be made to marry someone old enough to be her Grandfather so Marco Polo dispatches Tegana to find Ian & Ping Cho. They are pursuing the TARDIS along a disused road. The travellers arrive at Shang-Tu and meet the great Kublai Khan, who elects that they will travel to Peking. The Doctor befriends the Khan on the mutual grounds of their advanced years. Ian & ping Cho find the TARDIS with the man that robbed Ping Cho and discover that he was paid by Tegana who then arrives and squares up to Ian.

Not a bad episode this one.

Missing Episodes 6) Reconstructions

Of course if you have sound and pictures you can try to put them together. Several fan groups exist who have attempted this unofficially. The BBC have had a go themselves a few times: Tenth Planet 4 has been completely reconstructed for the Video release of that story. An abridged reconstruction of The Ice Warriors 2 & 3 is found on the VHS of that story. A complete reconstruction of all six episodes of The Power of the Daleks is found on a CD Rom while an 30 minute abridged version of Marco Polo is found on the Doctor Who: The Beginning DVD Boxset.

The Invasion has had to take an alternative route. Episodes 1 & 4 of this eight part story no longer exist and no telesnaps were taken for this story. When the story was released on DVD these episodes were animated to add visuals to the existing soundtracks.