The Roof of the World

Prior to watching the Loose Cannon reconstruction of "Marco Polo" I had only read scriptwriter John Lucarotti's Target novelization of his own story. One thing is clear after seeing this reconstruction and that is that the novelization is a criminal treatment of this gorgeously detailed, lush epic of a historical story. Where the televised story features wonderful characterization, entertaining dialogue, and richly detailed settings the novelization basically cuts it down to the plot alone, which is frankly quite unremarkable and ordinary.

What makes Marco Polo such a special story is the exemplary performances from just about everyone involved, the wonderful script and especially, as the Loose Cannon reconstruction thankfully captures in colourful photographs, the extraordinary detail that went into the wonderful sets and costumes. If ever discovered at any point "Marco Polo" may very well be the best-looking Doctor Who story of the 60's, and it is my current pick even though it is lost currently. The story was directed by the wonderful Warris Hussein so it would have undoubtedly been quite excellent on a visual level. What a shame. This is probably the missing story most deserving of being found. Even though I like some of the missing Troughton adventures a little better than this one, one doesn't feel that as much is lost with those straightforward adventures as with this one.

Loose Cannon have really done a superb job with the reconstruction, using either color or colorized photographs which emphasize the excellence of the production. The acting from the guest stars, particularly Mark Eden, is as good as the acting from the regulars.

"Marco Polo" is a wonderful historical story and remains excellent all the way through and just exemplary in spots.

Episode 1: 9/10, Episode 2: 8/10, Episode 3: 8/10, Episode 4: 8/10, Episode 5: 8/10, Episode 6: 9/10, Episode 7: 9/10.

Average: 8.43/10