Well, we've come to the end of our first reconstructed story, which, thanks to an apparent error on the part of the dubber, led to a bit of the bending of the rules here at the TARDIS project. Yes, we have officially missed an episode, but I assure you that, if I get my hands on a copy of the recon for "Mighty Kublai Khan," we will watch it, write up a special post and I'll link back to here. I'm hopeful that this will happen before the end of the Project!
"Marco Polo" (aka--incorrectly--"A Journey to Cathay") was the first full-fledged Historical in the series. As such, it served as a testing ground for a good deal of the "educational" portion of the show's remit. But it was much more than that; the story is huge and sweeping, covering a longer (continuous) period of time than just about any other story in the show's history, a period of weeks, if not a month or two. Every episode is jam-packed with events, conversations, intrigue and (quite often) real excitement as well as educational mini-lessons in history and basic science. A careful reader might have gotten the idea by now that I pretty much loved this story. True, we were watching a reconstruction so, no matter how good the recon was (and it was pretty darn good, more about that below), we probably only felt about half to two thirds of the effect the original story might have had, but I think the entire crew enjoyed themselves thoroughly. John Lucarotti's writing is fantastic, every one of the actors, from the regulars to the main guest cast all the way down to the bandits Tegana hires, give it their all, the sets and costumes are lavish and just beautiful.
Which is as good a place as any to segue to mentioning the Loose Canon reconstruction, which was great. As I think I might have mentioned, LC made this recon before the telesnaps for six of the episodes resurfaced (thanks, actually, to a member of the LC team), and they made the decision to take the existing colour photos as well as hand-colouring b&w photos, composites, etc. to make a full colour reconstruction, taking advantage of the beautiful sets and costumes (which have been the stuff of Doctor Who legend). The "Making of Marco Polo" feature on the LC site is interesting in and of itself and I'd recommend taking a look, especially for my fellow Project members! And for everyone else, I'd highly recommend ordering the recon for yourself. It's a lot of fun, Doctor Who you've never seen and will only costs two videotapes and postage there and back. We had a lot of fun watching and I think you will too.
If you're interested in the production of the story itself (as opposed to the recon) and want to continue to follow the story of the production of the series, here's the "Brief History of Time (Travel)" page. And the official BBC guide to the episode is here. Enjoy!
Finally, to make things easier if you want to read all our episode posts one after another, here are the links!
"The Roof of the World"
"The Singing Sands"
"Five Hundred Eyes"
"The Wall of Lies"
"Rider From Shang-Tu"
"Mighty Kublai Khan" Not So Mighty (Included for the episode summary)
"Assassin at Peking"
And there we have it! Next, we return to a more science fictiony vein, to black and white and to moving images! Yes, it's "The Keys of Marinus" time, starting this weekend! Until then, I remain
THE HISTORIAN
Showing posts with label Marco Polo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marco Polo. Show all posts
Monday, April 13, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
"Assassin at Peking"
And here we are at the end of "Marco Polo!" The Historian here, along with Ketina, Ronelyn and Schmallturm. Let's get to it!
Episode summary: First aired on 4 April, 1964. Ian has located the runaway Ping Cho, and together they have found the bandit Kuiju and the TARDIS! Before they can do anything, Tegana steps out of the woods, grabs the girl and a standoff begins! Tegana admits he cares nothing for Kublai and wishes to see his lord Noghi conquer all--with the TARDIS! Thankfully for Ian, guards of the Khan, led by Ling-Tau (the messenger from a few episodes ago) arrives and takes them all into custody, but not before one of the guards kills Kuiju. Meanwhile in Peking, the Doctor and Kublai Khan play backgammon--the Doctor is winning game after game. He makes a final wager: if Kublai wins, the debt from previous games is cleared, but if the Doctor wins, Marco's gift of the flying caravan will go to him! Marco is a bit upset by this, but bows to the Khan's will. Unfortunately, the Doctor loses. Tegana, Ian and Ping Cho arrive in Peking, the latter two under guard, as Tegana has claimed that he caught them trying to steal the TARDIS. Ping Cho is excused, thanks to the entreaties of her ancient husband-to-be, but Ian must stand trial. His prospects do not look good; even Marco no longer believes that Tegana was the real thief! Tegana, meanwhile, sows the seeds of doubt in the Khan's mind by telling him that the travellers had attempted to steal the Khan's gift before, yet Marco had not punished them by the Khan's law. Kublai confronts Marco with this and he does not deny it, saying that he now feels that what he had done, to take the ship from the crew, was wrong. Kublai Khan is displeased. That night, Marco and Ping Cho arrive at the pre-nuptial banquet, only to discover that Ping Cho's fiance has died after taking a potency potion. The Khan offers her a choice, return to Samarkand, or stay in Peking for a while? She chooses Peking, as she is free of the hated marriage. Meanwhile, the TARDIS crew, held in a room under guard, discusses Tegana's motivations. Noghai has moved his army closer to Peking and the Doctor realizes what the master stroke would be--Tegana is going to assassinate the Khan! They overpower the guard and run into the hall, running into Marco, who attempts to convince them to return to their rooms until they tell him of their fears. And Tegana is in audience with the Khan at that very moment! Sure enough, Tegana draws his sword and attacks Kublai, but the Vizier jumps into the way and is killed. Marco bursts into the room and the two men fight a vicious battle (we assume), at the end of which Marco disarms Tegana, who is taken by the guards, but grabs a sword and kills himself. In the confusion, Marco, in gratitude and guilt, gives the Doctor the key and hurries them all into the TARDIS. Susan and Ping Cho exchange a quick goodbye and the TARDIS takes off. Kublai Khan is mystified, but not upset--he says the Doctor would have eventually won it back anyway! Marco wonders, will the travellers journey to tomorrow or yesterday? He will never know.... Episode transcription
This evening, after discovering our technical problem, began with a reading of a summary of episode six. Surprisingly, that didn't hurt our enjoyment of this episode one bit. We really enjoyed old Kublai Khan, especially his early interactions with the Doctor. They are two old men, being old men together and it was kind of delightful. All in all, it was a great ending; everything got wrapped up and nothing felt rushed or wrong, which is nothing short of miraculous considering how huge the buildup was. I'm going to try to hold off assessing the story as a whole until the wrapup post (coming this week!).
Polo and Tegana were both wonderful; their stories came to a completely understandable, if not inevitable end. My absolute favorite moment was when they met after Tegana poisons the Khan's mind against Marco. Polo finally sees the warlord for what he is. "I underestimated you, Tegana." "No," the warlord replies. "You overestimated yourself." Just beautiful and encapsulates their relationship perfectly. Though I still think Marco's fatal flaw is his belief in honor and that men (and women, obviously) should be honorable. Again, perhaps more on that in the next post. And Marco finally just saying, "Go, just go, you should take it back" works wonderfully. Even Ping Cho's resolution, with the sudden death of her old husband-to-be, felt less convenient and more...well, it made sense.
Basically, I think we all enjoyed the heck out of this episode, and this story. Although, I think we will all agree we'll enjoy getting back to moving pictures for a while next week. Until next time, I remain
THE HISTORIAN
---
Ketina here, with my view of the episode.
The good: I loved the part with The Doctor and the Khan playing backgammon. I fully expected The Doctor to win the TARDIS back, so I was quite surprised to discover he lost. We had a little discussion after the show wondering if the Khan had somehow sharked him with the game, although there was no evidence of this in the reconstruction.
The silly: The Khan's empress had quite an amusing, if short, part to play. During her grand entrance the horns played an fanfare rather reminiscent of the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey (forgive me, I can't spell the actual name of the music). [HISTORIAN: "Also Sprach Zarathustra," Ketina.] She was also in hysterics when Ping Cho's would be husband was discovered dead. And I did not get his random death. Suicide? Murder? Completely unresolved. A good way to wrap up the Ping Cho plot, but otherwise fairly random.
The less than best: I'm sure the fight scene was good, and there were more pictures this time, but I just don't appreciate fight scenes with pictures and vague audio. And once more, either Susan or Barbara (not clear which) screamed upon Tegana's suicide. Personally, I think it sounded like a Barbara scream this time. Slightly less shrill.
Well, that's all for me this week. Next week motion is back, but we lose the colour. You can have colour or you can have movement, but apparently not both.
NEXT WEEK: "THE SEA OF DEATH"
Episode summary: First aired on 4 April, 1964. Ian has located the runaway Ping Cho, and together they have found the bandit Kuiju and the TARDIS! Before they can do anything, Tegana steps out of the woods, grabs the girl and a standoff begins! Tegana admits he cares nothing for Kublai and wishes to see his lord Noghi conquer all--with the TARDIS! Thankfully for Ian, guards of the Khan, led by Ling-Tau (the messenger from a few episodes ago) arrives and takes them all into custody, but not before one of the guards kills Kuiju. Meanwhile in Peking, the Doctor and Kublai Khan play backgammon--the Doctor is winning game after game. He makes a final wager: if Kublai wins, the debt from previous games is cleared, but if the Doctor wins, Marco's gift of the flying caravan will go to him! Marco is a bit upset by this, but bows to the Khan's will. Unfortunately, the Doctor loses. Tegana, Ian and Ping Cho arrive in Peking, the latter two under guard, as Tegana has claimed that he caught them trying to steal the TARDIS. Ping Cho is excused, thanks to the entreaties of her ancient husband-to-be, but Ian must stand trial. His prospects do not look good; even Marco no longer believes that Tegana was the real thief! Tegana, meanwhile, sows the seeds of doubt in the Khan's mind by telling him that the travellers had attempted to steal the Khan's gift before, yet Marco had not punished them by the Khan's law. Kublai confronts Marco with this and he does not deny it, saying that he now feels that what he had done, to take the ship from the crew, was wrong. Kublai Khan is displeased. That night, Marco and Ping Cho arrive at the pre-nuptial banquet, only to discover that Ping Cho's fiance has died after taking a potency potion. The Khan offers her a choice, return to Samarkand, or stay in Peking for a while? She chooses Peking, as she is free of the hated marriage. Meanwhile, the TARDIS crew, held in a room under guard, discusses Tegana's motivations. Noghai has moved his army closer to Peking and the Doctor realizes what the master stroke would be--Tegana is going to assassinate the Khan! They overpower the guard and run into the hall, running into Marco, who attempts to convince them to return to their rooms until they tell him of their fears. And Tegana is in audience with the Khan at that very moment! Sure enough, Tegana draws his sword and attacks Kublai, but the Vizier jumps into the way and is killed. Marco bursts into the room and the two men fight a vicious battle (we assume), at the end of which Marco disarms Tegana, who is taken by the guards, but grabs a sword and kills himself. In the confusion, Marco, in gratitude and guilt, gives the Doctor the key and hurries them all into the TARDIS. Susan and Ping Cho exchange a quick goodbye and the TARDIS takes off. Kublai Khan is mystified, but not upset--he says the Doctor would have eventually won it back anyway! Marco wonders, will the travellers journey to tomorrow or yesterday? He will never know.... Episode transcription
This evening, after discovering our technical problem, began with a reading of a summary of episode six. Surprisingly, that didn't hurt our enjoyment of this episode one bit. We really enjoyed old Kublai Khan, especially his early interactions with the Doctor. They are two old men, being old men together and it was kind of delightful. All in all, it was a great ending; everything got wrapped up and nothing felt rushed or wrong, which is nothing short of miraculous considering how huge the buildup was. I'm going to try to hold off assessing the story as a whole until the wrapup post (coming this week!).
Polo and Tegana were both wonderful; their stories came to a completely understandable, if not inevitable end. My absolute favorite moment was when they met after Tegana poisons the Khan's mind against Marco. Polo finally sees the warlord for what he is. "I underestimated you, Tegana." "No," the warlord replies. "You overestimated yourself." Just beautiful and encapsulates their relationship perfectly. Though I still think Marco's fatal flaw is his belief in honor and that men (and women, obviously) should be honorable. Again, perhaps more on that in the next post. And Marco finally just saying, "Go, just go, you should take it back" works wonderfully. Even Ping Cho's resolution, with the sudden death of her old husband-to-be, felt less convenient and more...well, it made sense.
Basically, I think we all enjoyed the heck out of this episode, and this story. Although, I think we will all agree we'll enjoy getting back to moving pictures for a while next week. Until next time, I remain
THE HISTORIAN
---
Ketina here, with my view of the episode.
The good: I loved the part with The Doctor and the Khan playing backgammon. I fully expected The Doctor to win the TARDIS back, so I was quite surprised to discover he lost. We had a little discussion after the show wondering if the Khan had somehow sharked him with the game, although there was no evidence of this in the reconstruction.
The silly: The Khan's empress had quite an amusing, if short, part to play. During her grand entrance the horns played an fanfare rather reminiscent of the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey (forgive me, I can't spell the actual name of the music). [HISTORIAN: "Also Sprach Zarathustra," Ketina.] She was also in hysterics when Ping Cho's would be husband was discovered dead. And I did not get his random death. Suicide? Murder? Completely unresolved. A good way to wrap up the Ping Cho plot, but otherwise fairly random.
The less than best: I'm sure the fight scene was good, and there were more pictures this time, but I just don't appreciate fight scenes with pictures and vague audio. And once more, either Susan or Barbara (not clear which) screamed upon Tegana's suicide. Personally, I think it sounded like a Barbara scream this time. Slightly less shrill.
Well, that's all for me this week. Next week motion is back, but we lose the colour. You can have colour or you can have movement, but apparently not both.
NEXT WEEK: "THE SEA OF DEATH"
"Mighty Kublai Khan" not so Mighty
Hello, the Historian here, bringing you bad news. It seems the person who dubbed our Loose Cannon reconstruction of "Marco Polo" (an official dubber, I hasten to add) accidently left episode six off! The first tape ends with five, the second begins with seven. There is a summary of the episode's events on this page (scroll down), and the transcription (which I will certainly be reading!) is here. For completeness sake, I should add that the episode was aired on 28 March, 1964.
Obviously, this is a serious disappointment to the TARDIS Project team. We did continue on with the next episode, which I'll get to in a moment, but I just thought I should apologize to our readers...whoever you are.
In a moment, "Assassin at Peking." And I remain
THE HISTORIAN
Obviously, this is a serious disappointment to the TARDIS Project team. We did continue on with the next episode, which I'll get to in a moment, but I just thought I should apologize to our readers...whoever you are.
In a moment, "Assassin at Peking." And I remain
THE HISTORIAN
Saturday, April 4, 2009
"Rider From Shang-Tu"
Hello there, the Historian here and, yes, we are a day earlier than expected. Apparently, things alligned rightly to bring myself, Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm and Kroroboros together to watch this week's episode today! Let's get to it!
Episode summary: First aired 21 March, 1964. Ian goes to knock out the guard only to discover he is already dead! Elsewhere in the forest, Tegana's henchman, Acomat, readies his men to fall on Marco's caravan at the warlord's signal. After going back to tell his friends about the dead guard, Ian and company go to warn Marco that bandits must be about. They see Tegana apparently tending the fire, but Ian sneaks past him into Marco's tent. Marco rouses everyone and gets them ready to fight, although Tegana keeps telling him the TARDIS crew must be lying, there are no bandits! Acomat, waiting for Tegana's signal, decides to attack anyway, while Ian gets the very sciency idea to throw bamboo on the fire where it will expand, make a big boom and scare the bandits away! Acoyat and men attack, there's a confused fight, Tegana kills Acomat (so he cannot identify his leader), the bamboo explodes, the bandits run! Later, Marco asks the crew if they will give their words of honor not to attempt escape again; the crew is silent. Marco sighs and restores their privileges (Susan and Ping Cho can be together again, for example), but they and the TARDIS remain his prisoners. Later, the crew discusses their increasing certainty about Tegana's perfidy; Barbara even remembers Acoyat from her captivity in the cave. A rider arrives from Kublai Khan's summer palace in Shang-Tu, carrying a message "requesting" Marco come to him as soon as possible. The caravan presses on to an inn in the city of Cheng-Ting, where they will take horses. The baggage (including the TARDIS, which is being stored in the inn's stables) will follow in the next commercial caravan. Ping Cho walks in on Marco as he writes in his journal, seeing him hide the ship's keys in it. He makes Ping Cho give her word of honor she will not tell anyone where the keys are. Meanwhile, Tegana makes a deal with a corrupt stablehand to buy the TARDIS; the first installment of the payment will be made that night in the courtyard. Susan and Ping Cho have an amusing discussion about fish and their respective homes (Susan is vague), and Ping Cho is distraught that she cannot tell her friend where the keys are. Susan says, "No one will ask you." Later, Ping Cho takes the keys and gives them to Susan, saying she kept her word--she hasn't told where she got them from! That night, the crew make another attempt to reenter the TARDIS. Ian, Barbara and the Doctor make it, but Susan stays to say goodbye to Ping Cho. Before she can leave, though, she sees Tegana about to leave (presumably to make his first payment). She tries to sneak by her, but he grabs her and Susan screams.... Episode transcription
This was a bit of a difficult episode in some ways. The audio, especially in the beginning, was of a lesser quality than the other episodes thus far, though there's nothing that can be done about that. The episode also had a number of sequences containing action and/or important movement. I, personally, thought that the stills and captions in the recon contained all the information a viewer needed, though I know some of us didn't feel that way. There's no question, though, that we've lost some of the excitement the episode had, especially during the fight at the beginning. Until a miracle happens and the episodes turn up, though, this is a heck of a lot better than nothing!
We did get to see more evidence of the "education remit" in this one. This time, though, Ian's science lesson, in contrast to the condensation a couple of episodes ago, felt a bit forced. Yeah, all right, bamboo will expand and (I guess) explode in heat, thanks to the water content, but...well, it felt more tacked on. On the other hand, the history lesson, from the eponymous Rider, felt much more integrated than Ping Cho's tale of the Hashishans. I felt it was integrated nicely, taking just enough time to be interesting, but not enough to feel like an imposition.
As for the characters, we all agree that Marco is starting to feel more and more gullible in his reactions to accusations against Tegana. I chalk that up to his nobility, though some of the others of us are a bit less charitable. Quite simply, Marco's a man of honor and cannot conceive that others might not be. Note how he appeals to the honor of both the crew (not to escape, which they reject) and to Ping Cho (who finds a loophole). Tegana, having far fewer scruples than our friends, exploits this more than anyone, though he really might be overdoing it--note that Marco believes Ian about the bandits, no matter how many times Tegana (who is assuming his men won't attack without his signal) tries to tell him Ian is lying. Tegana himself, though still a decent villain, is now becoming a bit more....not laughable, but a bit less menacing. Although he always seems to just happen to be in the right place to catch the heroes, all of his plans go very badly wrong, don't they? After a while, it becomes less coincidence and more not taking things into account doesn't it? As for Ping Cho, she was simply marvelous here. Her scenes with Susan are simply wonderful and her loophole, which makes perfect sense, is simple and effective. The regulars are all quite good, especially Susan. (To be fair, Barbara and the Doctor aren't given very much to do here and some of Ian's effectiveness in the fight is lost without moving images.) In all, it was a good episode. Perhaps not as good as some of the earlier ones in this serial, but still a lot of fun. We're still looking forward to next week, certainly!
And that's all from me for this week. Until next time, I remain
THE HISTORIAN
---
Ketina here!
Wow, a lot happened in this episode. So to dive right in:
The good: I liked the scene when Susan and Ping Cho were looking at Koi fish and picking out fish that reminded them of each person in their group. It was a nice way to restablish their friendship after their forced separation by Marco Polo.
The disappointing: I wasn't thrilled with the representation of the fight scene at the beginning of the story. The audio was quite bad, and I didn't think the stills did a good job at representing the events. There was a lot of running around before the bandits attacked, and then during the attack itself things were quite confusing. Apparently The Doctor had a sword, but it was never clear if he used it. I know the gist of the scene was that Tegana killed the leader of the bandits before he could give Tegana away, but any other details of the fight were entirely lost to me.
The silly: I found the rather fey inn keeper pretty amusing. At least, that was the impression I got. At the end of the scene they showed a still of Ian and Barbara with amused expressions on their faces. I couldn't tell if it was due to their reaction to the overeager inn keeper, or The Doctor's reaction that the TARDIS was being stored in the stables. A little of both perhaps.
I also was very amused by the corrupt stable hand - based on the stills he looked almost exactly like the assassin with the monkey from the film Raiders and the Lost Arc; eyepatch, monkey, and all.
Anyway, those were my highlights.
-Ketina
NEXT WEEK: "MIGHTY KUBLAI KHAN"
Episode summary: First aired 21 March, 1964. Ian goes to knock out the guard only to discover he is already dead! Elsewhere in the forest, Tegana's henchman, Acomat, readies his men to fall on Marco's caravan at the warlord's signal. After going back to tell his friends about the dead guard, Ian and company go to warn Marco that bandits must be about. They see Tegana apparently tending the fire, but Ian sneaks past him into Marco's tent. Marco rouses everyone and gets them ready to fight, although Tegana keeps telling him the TARDIS crew must be lying, there are no bandits! Acomat, waiting for Tegana's signal, decides to attack anyway, while Ian gets the very sciency idea to throw bamboo on the fire where it will expand, make a big boom and scare the bandits away! Acoyat and men attack, there's a confused fight, Tegana kills Acomat (so he cannot identify his leader), the bamboo explodes, the bandits run! Later, Marco asks the crew if they will give their words of honor not to attempt escape again; the crew is silent. Marco sighs and restores their privileges (Susan and Ping Cho can be together again, for example), but they and the TARDIS remain his prisoners. Later, the crew discusses their increasing certainty about Tegana's perfidy; Barbara even remembers Acoyat from her captivity in the cave. A rider arrives from Kublai Khan's summer palace in Shang-Tu, carrying a message "requesting" Marco come to him as soon as possible. The caravan presses on to an inn in the city of Cheng-Ting, where they will take horses. The baggage (including the TARDIS, which is being stored in the inn's stables) will follow in the next commercial caravan. Ping Cho walks in on Marco as he writes in his journal, seeing him hide the ship's keys in it. He makes Ping Cho give her word of honor she will not tell anyone where the keys are. Meanwhile, Tegana makes a deal with a corrupt stablehand to buy the TARDIS; the first installment of the payment will be made that night in the courtyard. Susan and Ping Cho have an amusing discussion about fish and their respective homes (Susan is vague), and Ping Cho is distraught that she cannot tell her friend where the keys are. Susan says, "No one will ask you." Later, Ping Cho takes the keys and gives them to Susan, saying she kept her word--she hasn't told where she got them from! That night, the crew make another attempt to reenter the TARDIS. Ian, Barbara and the Doctor make it, but Susan stays to say goodbye to Ping Cho. Before she can leave, though, she sees Tegana about to leave (presumably to make his first payment). She tries to sneak by her, but he grabs her and Susan screams.... Episode transcription
This was a bit of a difficult episode in some ways. The audio, especially in the beginning, was of a lesser quality than the other episodes thus far, though there's nothing that can be done about that. The episode also had a number of sequences containing action and/or important movement. I, personally, thought that the stills and captions in the recon contained all the information a viewer needed, though I know some of us didn't feel that way. There's no question, though, that we've lost some of the excitement the episode had, especially during the fight at the beginning. Until a miracle happens and the episodes turn up, though, this is a heck of a lot better than nothing!
We did get to see more evidence of the "education remit" in this one. This time, though, Ian's science lesson, in contrast to the condensation a couple of episodes ago, felt a bit forced. Yeah, all right, bamboo will expand and (I guess) explode in heat, thanks to the water content, but...well, it felt more tacked on. On the other hand, the history lesson, from the eponymous Rider, felt much more integrated than Ping Cho's tale of the Hashishans. I felt it was integrated nicely, taking just enough time to be interesting, but not enough to feel like an imposition.
As for the characters, we all agree that Marco is starting to feel more and more gullible in his reactions to accusations against Tegana. I chalk that up to his nobility, though some of the others of us are a bit less charitable. Quite simply, Marco's a man of honor and cannot conceive that others might not be. Note how he appeals to the honor of both the crew (not to escape, which they reject) and to Ping Cho (who finds a loophole). Tegana, having far fewer scruples than our friends, exploits this more than anyone, though he really might be overdoing it--note that Marco believes Ian about the bandits, no matter how many times Tegana (who is assuming his men won't attack without his signal) tries to tell him Ian is lying. Tegana himself, though still a decent villain, is now becoming a bit more....not laughable, but a bit less menacing. Although he always seems to just happen to be in the right place to catch the heroes, all of his plans go very badly wrong, don't they? After a while, it becomes less coincidence and more not taking things into account doesn't it? As for Ping Cho, she was simply marvelous here. Her scenes with Susan are simply wonderful and her loophole, which makes perfect sense, is simple and effective. The regulars are all quite good, especially Susan. (To be fair, Barbara and the Doctor aren't given very much to do here and some of Ian's effectiveness in the fight is lost without moving images.) In all, it was a good episode. Perhaps not as good as some of the earlier ones in this serial, but still a lot of fun. We're still looking forward to next week, certainly!
And that's all from me for this week. Until next time, I remain
THE HISTORIAN
---
Ketina here!
Wow, a lot happened in this episode. So to dive right in:
The good: I liked the scene when Susan and Ping Cho were looking at Koi fish and picking out fish that reminded them of each person in their group. It was a nice way to restablish their friendship after their forced separation by Marco Polo.
The disappointing: I wasn't thrilled with the representation of the fight scene at the beginning of the story. The audio was quite bad, and I didn't think the stills did a good job at representing the events. There was a lot of running around before the bandits attacked, and then during the attack itself things were quite confusing. Apparently The Doctor had a sword, but it was never clear if he used it. I know the gist of the scene was that Tegana killed the leader of the bandits before he could give Tegana away, but any other details of the fight were entirely lost to me.
The silly: I found the rather fey inn keeper pretty amusing. At least, that was the impression I got. At the end of the scene they showed a still of Ian and Barbara with amused expressions on their faces. I couldn't tell if it was due to their reaction to the overeager inn keeper, or The Doctor's reaction that the TARDIS was being stored in the stables. A little of both perhaps.
I also was very amused by the corrupt stable hand - based on the stills he looked almost exactly like the assassin with the monkey from the film Raiders and the Lost Arc; eyepatch, monkey, and all.
Anyway, those were my highlights.
-Ketina
NEXT WEEK: "MIGHTY KUBLAI KHAN"
Friday, March 27, 2009
"The Wall of Lies"
The Historian here, along with Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm and Kroroboros, who seem to have become our regular crew! A lot happened in this episode, so let's get to it!
Episode summary: First aired 14 March, 1964. The Doctor, Susan and Ping Cho have gone to the Cave of 500 Eyes in search of Barbara, and they have found her kerchief in a passageway. Susan sees a pair of the eyes move and screams... Tegana enters the cave, asking why they are there and warns them of evil spirits. Marco, furious that the three had left, takes Ian and goes to find them, after which Tegana leaves. Ian, believing Susan, looks at the wall and discovers a door set into it. He and Marco open it and overpower the guard who is about to kill Barbara! Back at the camp, Tegana takes Marco aside and warns him not to trust the strange travelers--they will discredit anyone to get back their caravan. Thus, when Barbara reveals that she had followed Tegana to the cave and he claims never to have been there before coming upon the Doctor and company while looking for Barbara, she seems to have played right into Tegana's hands. Suspicious, Marco orders Ping Cho and Susan seperated. The journey continues, and the Doctor uses his key to secretly enter the TARDIS each night to complete the circuit. Finally, the caravan arrives at a small town. Tegana goes to a local tea shop and meets his confederate, to whom he reveals his plans: the caravan will soon enter the Bamboo Jungle. On the second night, Tegana will kill the guard and he tells his underling to take his men, swoop down on the caravan and kill everyone! Meanwhile, the Doctor tells his friends that the circuit is almost finished, but he worries that Ping Cho knows he has a key to the TARDIS. Shortly thereafter, Ping Cho tells Susan she knows they will be leaving soon and makes Susan promise to say goodbye before she goes. Tegana overhears the girls mention the key. That night, the Doctor goes to finish the circuit as Barbara watches. She sees Tegana enter the courtyard and goes to get Ian and Susan. Ian decides to delay Marco while the women get the Doctor out of the ship. Ian attempts to defend the crew against Tegana's accusations to no avail, when the man himself enters and swears he has seen the Doctor enter his caravan! Ian, who believes that the women have gotten the Doctor out safely, agrees to go with the two and see proof...but Tegana has had Barbara and Susan detained somehow (we think; it's not totally clear) and the Doctor is caught leaving the ship! Marco is now convinced of their perfidy and confines them to one tent as the group moves into the jungle. On the second night, the Doctor is desperate; the ship is fixed and they just need to get the key! Ian suggests simply taking Marco hostage, as there's only one guard to overpower. He cuts a hole in the back of their tent and slips out to deal with the guard. But when he goes to knock the guard out, he finds that the poor man has already been killed....! Episode transcription
The clear highlight of this episode for me, and, I think, most of the others, was Tegana. His plan to divide and conquer by sowing distrust between the TARDIS crew and Marco is note perfect. It is, of course, dependant on his status as an honorable ambassador, as Marco points out to Ian, versus the others' non-status as strangers. We, of course, know he's not honorable at all, but he still maintains a perfect front for Polo. (Still, even Ping Cho suspects him by now; hopefully Marco will wake up soon.) It is Tegana who is the prime weaver of the "Wall of Lies" of the title, though the crew is also practising deception; they fully and joyfully plan to give Marco the slip. Well, Susan isn't joyful; this was an episode where I really did believe in her friendship with Ping Cho. The actresses really sold it well. Honestly, everyone was excellent throughout (and Barbara's scream made sense, given she was about to get her throat cut when Marco burst in!); I only wish we could have seen their acting, rather than simply heard it, with stills, of course. I was also interested to see Hartnell's Doctor regressing slightly; recently, he's been warm, human, but here we had two instances of his, well, alienness, both born of his understandable dislike of Polo. (Who has, after all, stolen his ship!) We'll see less and less of this side of the character from now on, but it's worth noting that his ire is reserved for Marco, whereas Ian and Barbara have his every confidence. They've won him over completely, and vice versa; I really think this is the first story where we have a truly solidified team.
Undoubtedly, there's more to say, but I'm at a bit of a loss, so I'll turn things over to Ketina. Until next week, I remain
THE HISTORIAN
----
Ketina here,
I don't have too much to say this week. Let's see...
The silly - less the episode than the viewers, but there were several "Marco!" "Polo!" jokes going around as we watched people shouting in the caves looking for each other. It couldn't be helped, really. :)
Also the town looked exactly the same as the previous town, but we couldn't tell if it really did, or if the reconstructionist just didn't have that many pictures, so reuse them.
I was amused by The Doctor's "savage!" reaction to Marco Polo when the group was officially captured and put under guard, but it was pretty over the top.
The good - yes, Tegana does continue to be quite the villian. I agree with The Historian that is manipulation of Marco Polo is quite clever, although it is amusing to see plan after plan foiled by The Doctor and crew, either intentionally or not.
So, I wouldn't describe this particular episode as outstanding, but it was still pretty good. Certainly entertaining and the story flows quite well.
Until next time,
-Ketina
NEXT WEEK: "RIDER FROM SHANG-TU"
Episode summary: First aired 14 March, 1964. The Doctor, Susan and Ping Cho have gone to the Cave of 500 Eyes in search of Barbara, and they have found her kerchief in a passageway. Susan sees a pair of the eyes move and screams... Tegana enters the cave, asking why they are there and warns them of evil spirits. Marco, furious that the three had left, takes Ian and goes to find them, after which Tegana leaves. Ian, believing Susan, looks at the wall and discovers a door set into it. He and Marco open it and overpower the guard who is about to kill Barbara! Back at the camp, Tegana takes Marco aside and warns him not to trust the strange travelers--they will discredit anyone to get back their caravan. Thus, when Barbara reveals that she had followed Tegana to the cave and he claims never to have been there before coming upon the Doctor and company while looking for Barbara, she seems to have played right into Tegana's hands. Suspicious, Marco orders Ping Cho and Susan seperated. The journey continues, and the Doctor uses his key to secretly enter the TARDIS each night to complete the circuit. Finally, the caravan arrives at a small town. Tegana goes to a local tea shop and meets his confederate, to whom he reveals his plans: the caravan will soon enter the Bamboo Jungle. On the second night, Tegana will kill the guard and he tells his underling to take his men, swoop down on the caravan and kill everyone! Meanwhile, the Doctor tells his friends that the circuit is almost finished, but he worries that Ping Cho knows he has a key to the TARDIS. Shortly thereafter, Ping Cho tells Susan she knows they will be leaving soon and makes Susan promise to say goodbye before she goes. Tegana overhears the girls mention the key. That night, the Doctor goes to finish the circuit as Barbara watches. She sees Tegana enter the courtyard and goes to get Ian and Susan. Ian decides to delay Marco while the women get the Doctor out of the ship. Ian attempts to defend the crew against Tegana's accusations to no avail, when the man himself enters and swears he has seen the Doctor enter his caravan! Ian, who believes that the women have gotten the Doctor out safely, agrees to go with the two and see proof...but Tegana has had Barbara and Susan detained somehow (we think; it's not totally clear) and the Doctor is caught leaving the ship! Marco is now convinced of their perfidy and confines them to one tent as the group moves into the jungle. On the second night, the Doctor is desperate; the ship is fixed and they just need to get the key! Ian suggests simply taking Marco hostage, as there's only one guard to overpower. He cuts a hole in the back of their tent and slips out to deal with the guard. But when he goes to knock the guard out, he finds that the poor man has already been killed....! Episode transcription
The clear highlight of this episode for me, and, I think, most of the others, was Tegana. His plan to divide and conquer by sowing distrust between the TARDIS crew and Marco is note perfect. It is, of course, dependant on his status as an honorable ambassador, as Marco points out to Ian, versus the others' non-status as strangers. We, of course, know he's not honorable at all, but he still maintains a perfect front for Polo. (Still, even Ping Cho suspects him by now; hopefully Marco will wake up soon.) It is Tegana who is the prime weaver of the "Wall of Lies" of the title, though the crew is also practising deception; they fully and joyfully plan to give Marco the slip. Well, Susan isn't joyful; this was an episode where I really did believe in her friendship with Ping Cho. The actresses really sold it well. Honestly, everyone was excellent throughout (and Barbara's scream made sense, given she was about to get her throat cut when Marco burst in!); I only wish we could have seen their acting, rather than simply heard it, with stills, of course. I was also interested to see Hartnell's Doctor regressing slightly; recently, he's been warm, human, but here we had two instances of his, well, alienness, both born of his understandable dislike of Polo. (Who has, after all, stolen his ship!) We'll see less and less of this side of the character from now on, but it's worth noting that his ire is reserved for Marco, whereas Ian and Barbara have his every confidence. They've won him over completely, and vice versa; I really think this is the first story where we have a truly solidified team.
Undoubtedly, there's more to say, but I'm at a bit of a loss, so I'll turn things over to Ketina. Until next week, I remain
THE HISTORIAN
----
Ketina here,
I don't have too much to say this week. Let's see...
The silly - less the episode than the viewers, but there were several "Marco!" "Polo!" jokes going around as we watched people shouting in the caves looking for each other. It couldn't be helped, really. :)
Also the town looked exactly the same as the previous town, but we couldn't tell if it really did, or if the reconstructionist just didn't have that many pictures, so reuse them.
I was amused by The Doctor's "savage!" reaction to Marco Polo when the group was officially captured and put under guard, but it was pretty over the top.
The good - yes, Tegana does continue to be quite the villian. I agree with The Historian that is manipulation of Marco Polo is quite clever, although it is amusing to see plan after plan foiled by The Doctor and crew, either intentionally or not.
So, I wouldn't describe this particular episode as outstanding, but it was still pretty good. Certainly entertaining and the story flows quite well.
Until next time,
-Ketina
NEXT WEEK: "RIDER FROM SHANG-TU"
Saturday, March 21, 2009
"Five Hundred Eyes"
Hello everyone and welcome back. The Historian here, along with Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm and Kroroboros for this third episode of the reconstructed "Marco Polo." Let's get to the summary!
Episode summary: First aired 7 March, 1964. Tegana laughs as he pours water from the oasis onto the sands! Meanwhile, Marco and the caravan languish in the desert. There is no water and they will die soon without it! The Doctor and Susan, inside the still non-functional TARDIS, are awakened by drops on their faces. Thanks to the cold night and the hot morning, condensation has created water, running down the ship's walls! They gather as much of it as they can and take it to the rest of the caravan. Marco, angered that they might have been concealing water from him, grudgingly accepts the scientific explanation, having seen it before. The caravan makes it to the oasis where Tegana tells them bandits kept him there over night...but Barbara sees no signs of any bandits. After reaching the city of Tun-Huang, Barbara confides her suspicion of Tegana to Ian, who brushes her off. The Doctor then confides to Ian that he gave Marco a fake key to the TARDIS and still retains the real thing! Marco tells the crew of the Cave of Five Hundred Eyes, an old hideout of the Hashishans, who had been cleared out ages ago when their headquarters in Persia was destroyed by the Mongol warlord Hulagu. After a short time, Ping Cho gives a public recital of the story of the Hashishans. After this, Tegana slips away and Barbara follows. He goes to the Cave of Five Hundred Eyes, meeting a servant who takes him to a secret chamber. Here he meets an agent of his khan, who tells him all is ready for their army's march--they mean to break their treaty with Kublai. Tegana tells them of the "flying caravan," as the servant discovers Barbara outside and captures her! Later, Ian and Marco go out to search for her with Tegana "assisting." Marco tells the rest to stay put. The Doctor slips out to enter the TARDIS and work on the broken circuit when Susan and Ping Cho appear (thus revealing the fact the Doctor has a key to Ping Cho) and say they believe Barbara might have gone to the famous cave. They interrogate a servant about how to get there and set off. Meanwhile, Barbara's Mongol captors dice to see who will get the honor of killing her! The servant goes to Tegana, revealing that the Doctor and friends have set off for the cave. They arrive, looking around and making noise. The hidden Mongols hear Susan and Ping Cho calling for Barbara and look out through peepholes...which happen to be located in a pair of eyes in one of the carvings. Susan looks up just in time to notice that the eyes of the carving are moving and she screams.... Episode transcription
The overall reaction to this episode was favorable with some caveats, most due to the quality of the sound recording, which...is what it is. There are also a number of sequences (like Ping Cho's recital) that felt like they would be better seen as moving images, rather than stills, but there's nothing anyone can do about that, alas. Everyone agreed that the condensation and accompanying scientific explanation worked really well--obviously part of the "educational" content for this week--and Marco's judgement of character after Tegana asked him how he could believe the crew's story ("I know it to be true") was a really good example of his strength of character (and the actor's ability, because we completely bought it). Tegana continues to be a fantastic villain--we're three episodes in and, although Marco obviously doesn't entirely trust him, only Barbara has any inkling he might be a baddie. The acting in general is very strong; this was Ping Cho's episode to shine, finally, although some members of our crew found the recital of the full story of the Hashishans--obviously the rest of the educational bits for this week--to be kind of distracting and a bit beside the point, tie in to the Cave or not. The regulars are in great form, with Ian using his science teacher personna to explain condensation to Marco (and the kids out there), Barbara following on from the last story to continue to establish herself as an observant and thoughtful person (yay, social sciences!) and Susan...being Susan, I suppose. Some of us continue to be a bit...less than enamoured of her occasional hysterics, but I think it generally worked here. The pace of the story continues to work well. It's not hurtling along, but not meandering aimlessly (like that episode of "The Daleks") either. Events seem to be unfolding at a steady pace. The sets, from what we can tell, look pretty fantastic, especially for the time. Sure, it's "TV studio China," but it looks pretty darn good.
I'm sure there's more we discussed, but hopefully Ketina will cover some of it below. I know I keep saying this, but I'm enjoying this reconstruction so much, I can't wait until next week! But, until then, I remain
THE HISTORIAN
----
Ketina here,
I personally found this episode rather disappointing. Likely this is likely mostly due to poor audio quality and viewing stills, but I can't entirely be sure due to the poor audio quality and lack of moving visuals. :)
The story presented by Ping Cho took up a significant chunk of the story and was difficult for me to follow. And most of the remaining plot seemed to involve running around between creepy caves and searching for people, I think. I required an explanation from The Historian after we finished watching it to explain to me about a third of what had happened.
So, the good - from what little I could tell the costumes and most of the sets looked pretty good. The scene where Ping Cho tells her story reminded me the China pavillion in Walt Disney World's Epcot (c). I kept waiting for Mulan and Mushu to show up, or someone to try and sell me a hat or something at the end. (Coming from me this is a good, really). I also liked in the images where they showed Susan curled up in front of her grandfather while listening to Ping Cho's story. Very cute.
The less good - Can we get through at least one episode where neither Susan or Barbara screams in terror? Please? Susan just screams ALL THE TIME! I was also less than impressed with the cave set. The artwork looked really cool, but the cave walls themselves looked pretty fake - more like cloth backdrops than stone.
Well, that's all I got this week.
-Ketina
NEXT WEEK: "THE WALL OF LIES"
Episode summary: First aired 7 March, 1964. Tegana laughs as he pours water from the oasis onto the sands! Meanwhile, Marco and the caravan languish in the desert. There is no water and they will die soon without it! The Doctor and Susan, inside the still non-functional TARDIS, are awakened by drops on their faces. Thanks to the cold night and the hot morning, condensation has created water, running down the ship's walls! They gather as much of it as they can and take it to the rest of the caravan. Marco, angered that they might have been concealing water from him, grudgingly accepts the scientific explanation, having seen it before. The caravan makes it to the oasis where Tegana tells them bandits kept him there over night...but Barbara sees no signs of any bandits. After reaching the city of Tun-Huang, Barbara confides her suspicion of Tegana to Ian, who brushes her off. The Doctor then confides to Ian that he gave Marco a fake key to the TARDIS and still retains the real thing! Marco tells the crew of the Cave of Five Hundred Eyes, an old hideout of the Hashishans, who had been cleared out ages ago when their headquarters in Persia was destroyed by the Mongol warlord Hulagu. After a short time, Ping Cho gives a public recital of the story of the Hashishans. After this, Tegana slips away and Barbara follows. He goes to the Cave of Five Hundred Eyes, meeting a servant who takes him to a secret chamber. Here he meets an agent of his khan, who tells him all is ready for their army's march--they mean to break their treaty with Kublai. Tegana tells them of the "flying caravan," as the servant discovers Barbara outside and captures her! Later, Ian and Marco go out to search for her with Tegana "assisting." Marco tells the rest to stay put. The Doctor slips out to enter the TARDIS and work on the broken circuit when Susan and Ping Cho appear (thus revealing the fact the Doctor has a key to Ping Cho) and say they believe Barbara might have gone to the famous cave. They interrogate a servant about how to get there and set off. Meanwhile, Barbara's Mongol captors dice to see who will get the honor of killing her! The servant goes to Tegana, revealing that the Doctor and friends have set off for the cave. They arrive, looking around and making noise. The hidden Mongols hear Susan and Ping Cho calling for Barbara and look out through peepholes...which happen to be located in a pair of eyes in one of the carvings. Susan looks up just in time to notice that the eyes of the carving are moving and she screams.... Episode transcription
The overall reaction to this episode was favorable with some caveats, most due to the quality of the sound recording, which...is what it is. There are also a number of sequences (like Ping Cho's recital) that felt like they would be better seen as moving images, rather than stills, but there's nothing anyone can do about that, alas. Everyone agreed that the condensation and accompanying scientific explanation worked really well--obviously part of the "educational" content for this week--and Marco's judgement of character after Tegana asked him how he could believe the crew's story ("I know it to be true") was a really good example of his strength of character (and the actor's ability, because we completely bought it). Tegana continues to be a fantastic villain--we're three episodes in and, although Marco obviously doesn't entirely trust him, only Barbara has any inkling he might be a baddie. The acting in general is very strong; this was Ping Cho's episode to shine, finally, although some members of our crew found the recital of the full story of the Hashishans--obviously the rest of the educational bits for this week--to be kind of distracting and a bit beside the point, tie in to the Cave or not. The regulars are in great form, with Ian using his science teacher personna to explain condensation to Marco (and the kids out there), Barbara following on from the last story to continue to establish herself as an observant and thoughtful person (yay, social sciences!) and Susan...being Susan, I suppose. Some of us continue to be a bit...less than enamoured of her occasional hysterics, but I think it generally worked here. The pace of the story continues to work well. It's not hurtling along, but not meandering aimlessly (like that episode of "The Daleks") either. Events seem to be unfolding at a steady pace. The sets, from what we can tell, look pretty fantastic, especially for the time. Sure, it's "TV studio China," but it looks pretty darn good.
I'm sure there's more we discussed, but hopefully Ketina will cover some of it below. I know I keep saying this, but I'm enjoying this reconstruction so much, I can't wait until next week! But, until then, I remain
THE HISTORIAN
----
Ketina here,
I personally found this episode rather disappointing. Likely this is likely mostly due to poor audio quality and viewing stills, but I can't entirely be sure due to the poor audio quality and lack of moving visuals. :)
The story presented by Ping Cho took up a significant chunk of the story and was difficult for me to follow. And most of the remaining plot seemed to involve running around between creepy caves and searching for people, I think. I required an explanation from The Historian after we finished watching it to explain to me about a third of what had happened.
So, the good - from what little I could tell the costumes and most of the sets looked pretty good. The scene where Ping Cho tells her story reminded me the China pavillion in Walt Disney World's Epcot (c). I kept waiting for Mulan and Mushu to show up, or someone to try and sell me a hat or something at the end. (Coming from me this is a good, really). I also liked in the images where they showed Susan curled up in front of her grandfather while listening to Ping Cho's story. Very cute.
The less good - Can we get through at least one episode where neither Susan or Barbara screams in terror? Please? Susan just screams ALL THE TIME! I was also less than impressed with the cave set. The artwork looked really cool, but the cave walls themselves looked pretty fake - more like cloth backdrops than stone.
Well, that's all I got this week.
-Ketina
NEXT WEEK: "THE WALL OF LIES"
Friday, March 6, 2009
"The Singing Sands"
Hello all, the Historian here. Before we begin, a small announcement: we will be skipping next week, as I have been unavoidably summoned and must journey to the planet of Hilarus Solum. Have no fear, though, we will return the week following with our next episode!
Tonight, though, we watched "The Singing Sands," episode two of the "Marco Polo" serial. We being myself, Ketina, Ronelyn, Kroroboros and Schmallturm. So, let's get to it!
Episode summary: First aired 29 February, 1964. Tegana and a retainer plan to poison all but the first gourd of water Marco and his caravan bring into the desert! The journey into the Gobi begins, with the Doctor sulking and remaining in his tent when they camp. Marco challenges Ian to a game of chess, while Susan and Barbara go out to view the desert in evening. Later, when all are asleep (or so he thinks), Tegana steals from the tent and poisons all but the first container of water. Susan and Ping Cho also leave their tent to see the night desert (which Susan "digs"). They see Tegana leave the camp and decide to follow him. Marco and Ian, finishing their game, realize all is too quiet--a sign a sandstorm is coming! The girls lose sight of Tegana and Susan convinces Ping Cho to return to camp when the storm descends on them! They hide behind a sand dune, terrified. Meanwhile, Barbara is roused by the horrible noise of the wind, which Marco tells them has been known to sound like howling, musical instruments, drums, even voices calling names. They discover Tegana's absence and Marco determines the Mongol can take care of himself, but them the girls' absence is discovered. The teachers are prevented by Marco from searching until the storm stops and morning comes. Back in the desert, Susan thinks she hears Ian calling to her and tries to move towards the voice...only to see Tegana coming at them! He brings the girls back to the caravan, having realized he would not be able to make it back to Lop thanks to the storm. However, before morning, he steals out and slashes all the poisoned water containers, realizing he would only poison himself if he allowed them to be drunk. The loss of water is discovered the next day; Marco attributes it to bandits. The caravan has a choice: either return to Lop or press on, rationing water, to an oasis some five to seven days away. At Ian's urging, they decide for the oasis. After several days of hard travel, the last of the water is gone with at least a day's travel left to go. Tegana offers to ride on ahead to bring back water; Marco agrees. Just as he is leaving, the Doctor collapses. Ian convinces Marco that the Doctor must rest inside the TARDIS. Marco relents, but says that Ian and Barbara must remain outside. Meanwhile, Tegana reaches the oasis, drinks his fill and laughs. He will leave Marco's caravan to die in the desert.... Scripts Project transcription of episode
Another thoroughly enjoyable episode, though nowhere near as eventful as the last. In some ways, this was more of what I call a "from here to there" episode, though there was a certain amount of character development, especially for Tegana. He is definitely a favorite for us, a truly nuanced character. He isn't evil per se, he is doing what he's doing to advance the cause of his khan against Kublai. I will admit, we had to discuss his plan a bit; the static nature of the reconstruction made the whole "why is he slashing the containers if he was going to poison them? Oh wait, he did poison them, but he's stuck" part less obvious. (To be fair, it's not clear how simple it would have been to see in the original episode either.) Again, though, his actions, when examined for a moment, make sense...which still gives him a leg up on most other Doctor Who villains! Another point where the recon made things difficult was during the sandstorm; the sound of the wind on the recording (which, to be fair, couldn't have been done on fantastic equipment in 1964!) made some of the dialogue a bit hard to hear. I could get it, but some of the others had some problems. And, to be honest, it's probably not quite fair to judge the episode on the (absolutely unavoidable) limitations of the recon, which was still excellent, if a little more static than last week's.
Although Marco and the regulars were uniformly excellent (I loved the entire chess scene, especially Tegana's observations on the game), I think the episode did suffer a bit from the Doctor's absence. William Hartnell was apparently ill during the week, so the script for this episode was rewritten slightly to minimize his involvement; indeed, he only appears (and does not speak) in the last sequence. Still, they cover his absence in the script nicely; one can easily imagine the Doctor, like Achilles, sulking in his tent after Marco's plan was revealed! And the pacing, which was so erratic in other stories, feels just right for this story of a journey; Schmallturm remarked several times how refreshing and different the story was from what he expected from Doctor Who. Indeed, this is very different to one more used to the show as it developed later. The series has found its feet (the regular cast has certainly solidified), but this first Historical story is a new and different world for them to react in--both familiar (it is, after all, known history of Earth) and yet still somewhat alien (Ian's "checkmate" vs. Tegana's "Shah Mat," for example). I think I can say, without doubt, that we're all thoroughly enjoying ourselves; we certainly can't wait until our next episode!
And now, it's time to turn things over to Ketina. See you back here in two weeks! Until then, I remain
THE HISTORIAN
----
Hey, Ketina here.
Well, it looks like The Historian covered most of what I would have talked about this week. I personally didn't like this episode as well as last week's, but it's very possible that's due to the reconstruction aspect and not the episode itself. This format makes a fair critique rather difficult. For example, the sand storm scene got very silly, but that could have been just due to weird sound effects over still images with sand bits being thrown in front of the pictures. I thought the idea of the sound effects was interesting - music and cries intermingled the wind, which is apparently what the wind storms in the Gobi really sound like - but I think they went over the top with some of it.
I suggested Tegana's motive for slashing the water jugs - being caught in the sand storm while trying to sneak out spoiling his original plan. However I think they could have explained that plan change better. And why did he rescue Susan and Ping Cho? Again, I feel that we're missing a lot by not seeing the actual visuals.
Anyway, I feel like I'm just repeating The Historian here. :P
-Ketina
IN TWO WEEKS: "FIVE HUNDRED EYES"
Tonight, though, we watched "The Singing Sands," episode two of the "Marco Polo" serial. We being myself, Ketina, Ronelyn, Kroroboros and Schmallturm. So, let's get to it!
Episode summary: First aired 29 February, 1964. Tegana and a retainer plan to poison all but the first gourd of water Marco and his caravan bring into the desert! The journey into the Gobi begins, with the Doctor sulking and remaining in his tent when they camp. Marco challenges Ian to a game of chess, while Susan and Barbara go out to view the desert in evening. Later, when all are asleep (or so he thinks), Tegana steals from the tent and poisons all but the first container of water. Susan and Ping Cho also leave their tent to see the night desert (which Susan "digs"). They see Tegana leave the camp and decide to follow him. Marco and Ian, finishing their game, realize all is too quiet--a sign a sandstorm is coming! The girls lose sight of Tegana and Susan convinces Ping Cho to return to camp when the storm descends on them! They hide behind a sand dune, terrified. Meanwhile, Barbara is roused by the horrible noise of the wind, which Marco tells them has been known to sound like howling, musical instruments, drums, even voices calling names. They discover Tegana's absence and Marco determines the Mongol can take care of himself, but them the girls' absence is discovered. The teachers are prevented by Marco from searching until the storm stops and morning comes. Back in the desert, Susan thinks she hears Ian calling to her and tries to move towards the voice...only to see Tegana coming at them! He brings the girls back to the caravan, having realized he would not be able to make it back to Lop thanks to the storm. However, before morning, he steals out and slashes all the poisoned water containers, realizing he would only poison himself if he allowed them to be drunk. The loss of water is discovered the next day; Marco attributes it to bandits. The caravan has a choice: either return to Lop or press on, rationing water, to an oasis some five to seven days away. At Ian's urging, they decide for the oasis. After several days of hard travel, the last of the water is gone with at least a day's travel left to go. Tegana offers to ride on ahead to bring back water; Marco agrees. Just as he is leaving, the Doctor collapses. Ian convinces Marco that the Doctor must rest inside the TARDIS. Marco relents, but says that Ian and Barbara must remain outside. Meanwhile, Tegana reaches the oasis, drinks his fill and laughs. He will leave Marco's caravan to die in the desert.... Scripts Project transcription of episode
Another thoroughly enjoyable episode, though nowhere near as eventful as the last. In some ways, this was more of what I call a "from here to there" episode, though there was a certain amount of character development, especially for Tegana. He is definitely a favorite for us, a truly nuanced character. He isn't evil per se, he is doing what he's doing to advance the cause of his khan against Kublai. I will admit, we had to discuss his plan a bit; the static nature of the reconstruction made the whole "why is he slashing the containers if he was going to poison them? Oh wait, he did poison them, but he's stuck" part less obvious. (To be fair, it's not clear how simple it would have been to see in the original episode either.) Again, though, his actions, when examined for a moment, make sense...which still gives him a leg up on most other Doctor Who villains! Another point where the recon made things difficult was during the sandstorm; the sound of the wind on the recording (which, to be fair, couldn't have been done on fantastic equipment in 1964!) made some of the dialogue a bit hard to hear. I could get it, but some of the others had some problems. And, to be honest, it's probably not quite fair to judge the episode on the (absolutely unavoidable) limitations of the recon, which was still excellent, if a little more static than last week's.
Although Marco and the regulars were uniformly excellent (I loved the entire chess scene, especially Tegana's observations on the game), I think the episode did suffer a bit from the Doctor's absence. William Hartnell was apparently ill during the week, so the script for this episode was rewritten slightly to minimize his involvement; indeed, he only appears (and does not speak) in the last sequence. Still, they cover his absence in the script nicely; one can easily imagine the Doctor, like Achilles, sulking in his tent after Marco's plan was revealed! And the pacing, which was so erratic in other stories, feels just right for this story of a journey; Schmallturm remarked several times how refreshing and different the story was from what he expected from Doctor Who. Indeed, this is very different to one more used to the show as it developed later. The series has found its feet (the regular cast has certainly solidified), but this first Historical story is a new and different world for them to react in--both familiar (it is, after all, known history of Earth) and yet still somewhat alien (Ian's "checkmate" vs. Tegana's "Shah Mat," for example). I think I can say, without doubt, that we're all thoroughly enjoying ourselves; we certainly can't wait until our next episode!
And now, it's time to turn things over to Ketina. See you back here in two weeks! Until then, I remain
THE HISTORIAN
----
Hey, Ketina here.
Well, it looks like The Historian covered most of what I would have talked about this week. I personally didn't like this episode as well as last week's, but it's very possible that's due to the reconstruction aspect and not the episode itself. This format makes a fair critique rather difficult. For example, the sand storm scene got very silly, but that could have been just due to weird sound effects over still images with sand bits being thrown in front of the pictures. I thought the idea of the sound effects was interesting - music and cries intermingled the wind, which is apparently what the wind storms in the Gobi really sound like - but I think they went over the top with some of it.
I suggested Tegana's motive for slashing the water jugs - being caught in the sand storm while trying to sneak out spoiling his original plan. However I think they could have explained that plan change better. And why did he rescue Susan and Ping Cho? Again, I feel that we're missing a lot by not seeing the actual visuals.
Anyway, I feel like I'm just repeating The Historian here. :P
-Ketina
IN TWO WEEKS: "FIVE HUNDRED EYES"
Friday, February 27, 2009
"The Roof of the World"
So, here we are at the first of our Reconstructed episodes, an episode long lost. The Historian here, along with Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm and Kroroboros, all gathered to watch an episode of Doctor Who that none of us had ever seen! Of course, an uncharitable soul might say we've still never quite seen it, but this reconstruction is the closest we will probably ever get! Onward!
Episode summary: First aired 22 February, 1964. Barbara and Susan have gone outside the TARDIS, into a mountainous, snow-filled landscape, where they discover what appears to be a giant footprint! The Doctor and Ian join them, but the Doctor, who appears to be unwell, decides he wishes to leave immediately. He reenters the TARDIS as Ian and Barbara wonder if they've landed back on Earth and where they could be? The Doctor emerges, telling them with alarm that the TARDIS' power system is out and needs repair. It might take some time, during which the heat system will be out; if the crew do not find shelter from the cold, they will die come nightfall! Ian and Barbara go exploring and Barbara sees what she thinks is a giant creature in skins, but Ian only sees the footprint--which looks like a fur boot. After returning to the TARDIS (where the Doctor tells them it will take him days to fix the circuit), the crew are surrounded by "creatures," which turn out to be men calling themselves Mongols in skins! Their leader, Tegana, believes the crew to be evil spirits and is about to kill them when a European man steps forward and tells him to stand down. This man is the emissary of the great Kublai Khan--Marco Polo! Polo takes them down to his camp (both because of the elements and the Doctor's "mountain sickness") where they meet Ping-Cho, the daughter of a government official, who Marco is escourting to her wedding...to a man some 60 years her senior. Although Tegana (who is the emissary of a rival to the Khan, sent to supposedly make peace) still distrusts them, Marco tells the travelers he will take them and their "flying caravan" down the with him plateau to the town of Lop, where the Doctor will be able to make repairs. When they get to the town, however, Marco reveals his real plan: He, his father and uncle have been in the service of the Khan for 18 years and with to return to Venice. He believes that the gift of the amazing flying caravan will convince Kublai to let them go, taking the crew with him, of course; he thinks that they will be able to fashion another caravan in Venice! He will take them all across the Gobi Desert to the Khan's city. Kublai Khan must accept the TARDIS, Polo reasons, as it will make him so powerful that no one will stand against him! Tegana listens with interest, but the Doctor replies by laughing uproariously--the whole thing is too funny to him. Later, though, Tegana meets with a henchman who is carrying poison. They will leave just enough water for Polo's caravan to enter the desert, then poison the rest...and then, after all others are dead, Tegana will take the spoils, including the TARDIS, for himself.... Script Project Transcript of Episode
Well. As you can tell from the above, a lot happened in this episode! This was the first chance for the show to fill the "educational" portion of its remit with a historical, and it's glorious. A note about the Loose Cannon reconstruction: beyond the wonderful introduction by Marc Eden, the actor who played Polo, the backbone of the recon are the color production shots that exist. These are supplemented by hand colored b&w shots, composite pictures, and a bit of filming (the map, for example), meaning we're watching the story in color! The sets and costumes being legendary for their color, it does make sense. In fact, the whole story, since it's lost, is pretty legendary. So the question is: does it hold up to the legend?
I think the consensus of our group is YES. Yes, it does. It moves along quickly, packing a lot into 24 minutes. The writing is pretty fantastic and believable; the historical characters speak with a slightly stilted rhythm, but that's what one would expect, and it comes off as natural. The acting itself is quite good; Eden shines as Marco and Tegana is shaping up to be an excellent villain. (Schmallturm remarked that his plan at the end of the episode is one of the better plans of Doctor Who villains, regardless of the era!) True, he is played by a white English actor, but you have to recall what the profession was like in 1964...and, as "white actor playing Asian characters" go, he's inoffensive. The girl, Ping-Cho (also, I think, played by a white actress) doesn't fare quite as well, speaking with a hint of music hall chinese accent, but it's slight enough that you can just let it go by. As for the regulars, they were well served by the script as well. Barbara got the chance to be the historian and figure out when (1289) they are and who they're speaking to (Polo), Ian gave us some science facts (about altitudes and oxygen) that were rather well integrated into the script, Susan found a friend in Ping-Cho and the Doctor was his wonderful, friendly, irracible, changable, maddening fascinating self. The more I see of William Hartnell, the more I love his Doctor; truly a great development of a great character! (Since I keep track of this kind of thing, I suppose I should add that the Doctor is vulnerable to altitude sickness and that Susan's use of the 60's word "fab" is something she says they say "when they're back on Earth." Oops.)
All in all, this was a gripping episode, a great start. All of us were definitely gripped (although I think Kroroboros found the stills and slightly quiet soundtrack a bit difficult by the end) to be on the edge of our seats for next week! One last note and then I must turn this over to Ketina: I loved the "fake out" of the "monster" at the beginning. This is the first Historical, no one had any idea what to expect. Maybe it could have been a monster! A yeti? (Not yet!) The fact that it turned out to be a man in skins was a masterstroke of John Lucarotti's wonderful script. So! I will turn this over to my companion and, until next week, I remain
THE HISTORIAN
---
Ketina here,
Despite my apprehension at watching a reconstruction, I really liked this one. The plot really moved along, we didn't get bogged down running around in circles endlessly, and overall things made sense. Marco Polo's logic regarding the TARDIS was fantasic "I know some Budist monks who, given enough time, can probably get it working." Also seeing it in color, even if it was mostly stills, was super cool. They opened with the closing footage from the last story, but colorized, which set the mood excellently.
- The good: most of it. As I said, I was overall impressed with the acting and plot. Of course, I may be misled given the reconstruction was all done with stills. I also enjoyed the scientific and historical references. The explanation of the footprints for example (the snow may have melted around them, making them appear larger), altitude sickness, and explaining how altitude would impact how water boils was all really cool.
- The silly: The Doctor's inexplicable laugher towards the end, after Marco Polo threatens to give the TARDIS to Kubla Khan. Without the visuals it wasn't clear if he was hysterical or just laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
Also silly - Mongolians with British accents. And I couldn't help but sing the Indiana Jones theme as they showed the map with the line filling in to show their travels.
I'm really looking forward to next week's. It's a 7 part story, so I hope they can keep the story and pace as interesting as this first episode.
-Ketina
NEXT WEEK: "THE SINGING SANDS"
Episode summary: First aired 22 February, 1964. Barbara and Susan have gone outside the TARDIS, into a mountainous, snow-filled landscape, where they discover what appears to be a giant footprint! The Doctor and Ian join them, but the Doctor, who appears to be unwell, decides he wishes to leave immediately. He reenters the TARDIS as Ian and Barbara wonder if they've landed back on Earth and where they could be? The Doctor emerges, telling them with alarm that the TARDIS' power system is out and needs repair. It might take some time, during which the heat system will be out; if the crew do not find shelter from the cold, they will die come nightfall! Ian and Barbara go exploring and Barbara sees what she thinks is a giant creature in skins, but Ian only sees the footprint--which looks like a fur boot. After returning to the TARDIS (where the Doctor tells them it will take him days to fix the circuit), the crew are surrounded by "creatures," which turn out to be men calling themselves Mongols in skins! Their leader, Tegana, believes the crew to be evil spirits and is about to kill them when a European man steps forward and tells him to stand down. This man is the emissary of the great Kublai Khan--Marco Polo! Polo takes them down to his camp (both because of the elements and the Doctor's "mountain sickness") where they meet Ping-Cho, the daughter of a government official, who Marco is escourting to her wedding...to a man some 60 years her senior. Although Tegana (who is the emissary of a rival to the Khan, sent to supposedly make peace) still distrusts them, Marco tells the travelers he will take them and their "flying caravan" down the with him plateau to the town of Lop, where the Doctor will be able to make repairs. When they get to the town, however, Marco reveals his real plan: He, his father and uncle have been in the service of the Khan for 18 years and with to return to Venice. He believes that the gift of the amazing flying caravan will convince Kublai to let them go, taking the crew with him, of course; he thinks that they will be able to fashion another caravan in Venice! He will take them all across the Gobi Desert to the Khan's city. Kublai Khan must accept the TARDIS, Polo reasons, as it will make him so powerful that no one will stand against him! Tegana listens with interest, but the Doctor replies by laughing uproariously--the whole thing is too funny to him. Later, though, Tegana meets with a henchman who is carrying poison. They will leave just enough water for Polo's caravan to enter the desert, then poison the rest...and then, after all others are dead, Tegana will take the spoils, including the TARDIS, for himself.... Script Project Transcript of Episode
Well. As you can tell from the above, a lot happened in this episode! This was the first chance for the show to fill the "educational" portion of its remit with a historical, and it's glorious. A note about the Loose Cannon reconstruction: beyond the wonderful introduction by Marc Eden, the actor who played Polo, the backbone of the recon are the color production shots that exist. These are supplemented by hand colored b&w shots, composite pictures, and a bit of filming (the map, for example), meaning we're watching the story in color! The sets and costumes being legendary for their color, it does make sense. In fact, the whole story, since it's lost, is pretty legendary. So the question is: does it hold up to the legend?
I think the consensus of our group is YES. Yes, it does. It moves along quickly, packing a lot into 24 minutes. The writing is pretty fantastic and believable; the historical characters speak with a slightly stilted rhythm, but that's what one would expect, and it comes off as natural. The acting itself is quite good; Eden shines as Marco and Tegana is shaping up to be an excellent villain. (Schmallturm remarked that his plan at the end of the episode is one of the better plans of Doctor Who villains, regardless of the era!) True, he is played by a white English actor, but you have to recall what the profession was like in 1964...and, as "white actor playing Asian characters" go, he's inoffensive. The girl, Ping-Cho (also, I think, played by a white actress) doesn't fare quite as well, speaking with a hint of music hall chinese accent, but it's slight enough that you can just let it go by. As for the regulars, they were well served by the script as well. Barbara got the chance to be the historian and figure out when (1289) they are and who they're speaking to (Polo), Ian gave us some science facts (about altitudes and oxygen) that were rather well integrated into the script, Susan found a friend in Ping-Cho and the Doctor was his wonderful, friendly, irracible, changable, maddening fascinating self. The more I see of William Hartnell, the more I love his Doctor; truly a great development of a great character! (Since I keep track of this kind of thing, I suppose I should add that the Doctor is vulnerable to altitude sickness and that Susan's use of the 60's word "fab" is something she says they say "when they're back on Earth." Oops.)
All in all, this was a gripping episode, a great start. All of us were definitely gripped (although I think Kroroboros found the stills and slightly quiet soundtrack a bit difficult by the end) to be on the edge of our seats for next week! One last note and then I must turn this over to Ketina: I loved the "fake out" of the "monster" at the beginning. This is the first Historical, no one had any idea what to expect. Maybe it could have been a monster! A yeti? (Not yet!) The fact that it turned out to be a man in skins was a masterstroke of John Lucarotti's wonderful script. So! I will turn this over to my companion and, until next week, I remain
THE HISTORIAN
---
Ketina here,
Despite my apprehension at watching a reconstruction, I really liked this one. The plot really moved along, we didn't get bogged down running around in circles endlessly, and overall things made sense. Marco Polo's logic regarding the TARDIS was fantasic "I know some Budist monks who, given enough time, can probably get it working." Also seeing it in color, even if it was mostly stills, was super cool. They opened with the closing footage from the last story, but colorized, which set the mood excellently.
- The good: most of it. As I said, I was overall impressed with the acting and plot. Of course, I may be misled given the reconstruction was all done with stills. I also enjoyed the scientific and historical references. The explanation of the footprints for example (the snow may have melted around them, making them appear larger), altitude sickness, and explaining how altitude would impact how water boils was all really cool.
- The silly: The Doctor's inexplicable laugher towards the end, after Marco Polo threatens to give the TARDIS to Kubla Khan. Without the visuals it wasn't clear if he was hysterical or just laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
Also silly - Mongolians with British accents. And I couldn't help but sing the Indiana Jones theme as they showed the map with the line filling in to show their travels.
I'm really looking forward to next week's. It's a 7 part story, so I hope they can keep the story and pace as interesting as this first episode.
-Ketina
NEXT WEEK: "THE SINGING SANDS"
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