Marco Polo (Doctor Who)

004 – Marco Polo
Doctor Who serial
Marco Polo, Susan, the Doctor, and Ian
Cast
Others
Production
Directed by
Written byJohn Lucarotti
Script editorDavid Whitaker
Produced byVerity Lambert
Music byTristram Cary
Production codeD
SeriesSeason 1
Running time7 episodes, 25 minutes each
Episode(s) missingAll 7 episodes
First broadcast22 February 1964 (1964-02-22)
Last broadcast4 April 1964 (1964-04-04)
Chronology
← Preceded by
The Edge of Destruction
Followed by →
The Keys of Marinus
List of episodes (1963–1989)

Marco Polo is the fourth serial of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC TV in seven weekly parts from 22 February to 4 April 1964. It was written by John Lucarotti and directed largely by Waris Hussein; John Crockett directed the fourth episode. The story is set in Yuan-era China in the year 1289, where the Doctor (William Hartnell), his granddaughter Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford), and her teachers Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) meet the Italian merchant-explorer Marco Polo (Mark Eden) and Mongolian Emperor Kublai Khan (Martin Miller).

Lucarotti—who had previously written works based on Marco Polo's adventures—was suggested to producers by Doctor Who creator Sydney Newman when the show was early in development. Throughout production, the script was rewritten to make the story more personal to Polo. Barry Newbery, the serial's designer, used several historical books for research of the old designs, taking inspiration from 1900 Korean architecture. The serial premiered with nine million viewers, and maintained audience figures throughout its seven-week run. It received generally positive responses from critics and was sold widely overseas, but was erased by the BBC in 1967; the entire serial is missing as a result. The serial received later print adaptations, and soundtrack releases using the surviving audio.