s01 e04 Marco Polo

In which the Doctor, his companions, and Marco Polo spend weeks trudging through the Gobi dessert.....

Review:
...and just enough people are brutally murdered to make the whole thing pretty damn interesting.

Firsts:

• First pure historical
• First "lost" (and reconstructed) episode
• First "One off" companion (a young girl named Ping Cho who Susan befriends) 

Musings:

• This is one of the "missing" episodes of Doctor Who, when the BBC somehow decided it was a good idea to burn old tapes to free up space in their warehouse.  Not a single frame survives (one of only two episodes for which this is true).  It's hard to fathom an episode of a TV show just being LOST forever.  Thanks to the internet, this is unlikely to happen ever again.
• Fortunately, some enterprising souls have "reconstructed" the lost episodes using still photos, the audio tracks (which all survive), and a bit of scrolling text describing action that isn't apparent on screen.
• Marco Polo was the most photographed episode of Doctor Who in the classic series, so the reconstruction is actually pretty damn good.
• Also, in this particular case someone has gone to the trouble to colorize all the pictures used.  This is actually pretty cool, and for once, lines about the TARDIS being blue aren't kind of awkward.
• The sets and the costumes in this episode are LAVISH.  I can't even imagine how much higher the budget was for this episode than it was for many others.  In light of this, it's especially a shame that all the footage was lost (read "burned by an idiot") 
• At least we get to see everything in color, which is pretty nice given the high production value.
• On the downside, they added psychedelic rainbow colors to the lava-lamp opening.  I've never appreciated black-and-white more.
• This is the first "historical" episode, meaning that there are no sci-fi elements other than the presence of the Doctor and his companions.   These happened every second episode for several years, going with the show's original goal of being "educational" (read: "boring").
• And yet, this one is pretty damn good.  Lots of Mongolians stabbing lots of other Mongolians.  I'm okay with that.
• The main reason I dislike these early historicals is that it gives Barbara an excuse to yammer on about history for hours on end.  I can understand why the Doctor never travels with a history teacher ever again.
• The colder it gets, the dumber Susan looks.
• Have I mentioned that Ian and Barbara really need to bone? Just look at that tension.
• Honestly, the whole premise of Marco Polo yoinking the TARDIS and trying to gift it to Kublai Khan is pretty damn awesome.
• Ping Cho asks Susan where she comes from.  It's the first time the question is really pressed. "That's a difficult question to answer. I've had many homes," says Susan "many different homes"
• Susan says here that she is 16 years old, and given that she's a little too dumb to lie. That makes her a toddler among Time Lords, which, given her behavior, makes sense. 
• Marco Polo (or, Mr. Marco, as he is called here) takes the idea that the TARDIS flies through the air in stride, though he's not so convinced about the time travel.
• After Marco Polo steals his TARDIS and suggests that the Doctor "just make a new one," the Doctor breaks down laughing like an utter lunatic for several minutes.
• This episode uses the (now common) practice of representing the progress of a journey using a growing line on a map.  I've found some evidence to suggest that this is one of the first times, if not the first time, that this was done in any show.
• Tegana is probably the first great Doctor Who villain.  Cool, crafty, and with motivations that extedn beyond really wanted to say "BWAH HA HAH!" a lot.
• Ping-Cho relates a fairytale that is unashamedly about reefer.
• After they run out of water, the Doctor finds some condensation, which causes Marco Polo to FLIP THE FUCK OUT and accuse the Doctor of hiding a personal water stash. 
• Unfortunately this prompts a long-winded explanation from Ian about how condensation works. I'm not surprised the Doctor never traveled with a science teacher again, either.  At least it convinces Mr. Marco not to murder them all on the spot.
• Incidentally, don't mess with the Doctor's grandaughter.
• It takes nearly an hour for one of the Doctor's companions to get separated this time.
• The Doctor spends a lot of time sulking in his tent.  This is due to Hartnell's already deteriorating health, and it becomes more common as the series goes on.
• One of the inter-segment cliffhangers involves Susan FREAKING out as a creepy cave painting suddenly comes to life.
• This cliffhanger is resolved when it is revealed the Susan has an over-active imagination.
• Does bamboo actually explode in real life?  Is that a thing?
• Oh.  Go figure.
• Kublai Khan looks pretty baddass
• The Doctor spends much of this episode not being pleased.
• I consider this next bit to be a truly "great" Doctor moment. This is basically how it goes down: 
• The Doctor and his companions come face to face with the mighty Kublai Khan, master of the known world, who is both really badass and really old.
• Kublai Khan's spokesperson orders the Doctor to bow to him.  
• The Doctor refuses on account of having back pain
• The Doctor is told, aggressively, that all who do not bow before Khan are put to death.
• The Doctor tries to bow, but can't
• A guard approaches the Doctor to cut off his head
• Kublai Khan orders the guard to stop and then asks probing questions about the Doctor's aches and pains
• Kublai Khan rises and totters down the stairs, groaning in pain himself
• Kublai Khan reveals far to much about his gout
• "What a trial, old age is" says Khan
• "it must be borne with dignity" says the Doctor
• Khan finds this hilarious.  He and the Doctor complain about "whippersnappers" who "don't understand"
• In moments, The Doctor and Kublai Khan, Master of the World, are doddering around, ARM IN ARM, and cackling to each other like senile old men.
• Thus, a great friendship is born, and a thousand Mongols look on in utter confusion.
• Later they play backgammon.  
• And that, my friends, is Doctor who at its finest.
• Later, there is a climactic swordfight which sadly loses a lot of its oomf given that all we have are stillframes and the sounds of grunting. 
• Tegana commits suicide WITH A GREATSWORD.  I'm sorry, but that's just cool.
• Ultimately, the Doctor wins back the TARDIS from Kublai Khan in a game of backgammon.  He is also offered the Isle of Sumatra, which he briefly considers.   The two of them cackle the whole time like old buddies.