016 Marco Polo Episode 3: Five Hundred Eyes

EPISODE: Marco Polo Episode 3: Five Hundred Eyes
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 016
STORY NUMBER: 004
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 07 March 1964
WRITER: John Lucarotti
DIRECTOR: Waris Hussein
SCRIPT EDITOR: David Whitaker
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
RATINGS: 9.4 million viewers
FORMAT: CD: Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes Collection: (1964-1965) No. 1

"What has happened to Tegana? Is he lost? Perhaps he never found the oasis. But in the hope he did, I inched our caravan forward through the night. What misery. A bitterly cold wind swept down from the north and set us shivering as we stumbled on. I fear the end is not far off."

The Doctor is asleep in the Tardis when he is awoken by water dripping on him which he and Susan hurry to collect. Condensation has formed: Marco does not understand what it is but Ian explains. They proceed to the oasis where Tegana strings them a story about being delayed by bandits. Marco takes the Tardis Key from the Doctor. From there they go to the way station at Tuang-Huan. The Doctor reveals to Ian that he has had a spare key made and will continue to work on the Tardis at night. Marco tells the time travellers of the cave of Five Hundred Eyes, where the faces of 250 evil warriors who were slain are painted. After which Ping-Cho relays the story of the great Mongol conqueror called Hulagu and how he had slain Ala-eddin, the Old Man of the Mountains and his Hashashins, during which Tegana sneaks out to the cave. But he is followed by Barbara, to meet Acomat who is hiding there. They plan to attack the caravan, capture the Tardis and kill everyone. Barbara is spotted and captured. Barbara is missed at meal time: Ian, Marco & Tegana set out to search for her. Ping Cho tells the Doctor that she thinks Barbara may have gone to the Cave of Five Hundred Eyes. Tegana's servant Chenchu reveals the location to them and they travel there. Chenchu finds Tegana and tells him what has happened. The Doctor is fascinated by the faces carved from rock exposing the quartz structure at the eyes. Barbara's handkerchief is found and the travellers call out for her while she is held silent by one of Tegana's allies. Susan notices a pair of eyes in the cave moving and screams!

A good episode this: everyone gets something to do and a piece of the action. The episode just works and works well. We've known that Tegana is up to something from the first episode now his travelling companions also have their suspicions. But in turn we now know that he's not working by himself, he's got allies who also serve his master Noghai. Marco being from the 13th century gives Ian an opportunity to explain what condensation is for the children at home and what English word is derived from Hashashins thus helping contribute to Marco Polo's educational value! Barbara's capture meanwhile gives Jacqueline Hill a chance to scream!

The Hulagu mentioned in this episode actually existed: he was Hulagu Kahn, the brother of Kublai Kahn. Ala-Eddin is a little harder to track down: he's mentioned in the Travels of Marco Polo and would seem to be the historical figure Rukn ad-Din Kurshah.

Noghai mean while may be the historical figure Nogai Khan, a relative of Kublai Khan by virtue of being a a great-great-grandson of Ghenghis Kahn. However I've not found any record of conflict between the two.

Two of the actors here have future Who appearances to come: Jimmy Gardner plays Chenchu: he'll be back in Underworld as Idmon. Acomat is played by Philip Voss who returns for The Dominators: Episode 1 as Wahed. He's the Auctioneer in Octopussy, the Coroner in 2 episodes of Inspector Morse and the Father at the first wedding in Four Weddings and a Funeral.

EDIT:

Philip Voss is interviewed by Toby Hadoke for his latest Who's Round Podcast at http://www.bigfinish.com/podcasts/v/doctor-who-toby-hadoke-s-who-s-round-46-march-03.

Missing Episodes 3) Ian Levine, The Film & Video Library & BBC Enterprises Film Store

The figure of Ian Levine enters our story in 1977. A successful record producer and Doctor Who fan he negotiated with the BBC to buy some episodes. At the time the earliest episodes available to buy commercially were the Pertwee ones. He negotiated with the Writers Guild and Equity and got dispensation to buy older stories. However when he got to the BBC's Film & Video Library he discovered they held just 47 of the 253 episodes of Doctor Who broadcast in the sixties, 17 Hartnells and 30 Troughtons and just one complete story: the first.

Season 1: 1963-1964	EPISODES	Film Archive
An Unearthly Child	4	1,2,3,4
The Daleks	7
The Edge of Destruction	2
Marco Polo	7
The Keys of Marinus	6	5
The Aztecs	4
The Sensorites	6
The Reign of Terror	6
Season 2: 1964-1965	EPISODES	Film Archive
Planet of Giants	3
The Dalek Invasion of Earth	6	5
The Rescue	2
The Romans	4	1,3
The Web Planet	6	2
The Crusade	4	3
The Space Museum	4	3
The Chase	6
The Time Meddler	4	2
Season 3: 1965-1966	EPISODES	Film Archive
Galaxy 4	4
Mission to the Unknown	1
The Myth Makers	4
The Daleks' Master Plan	12
The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve	4
The Ark	4	3
The Celestial Toymaker	4
The Gunfighters	4	4
The Savages	4
The War Machines	4
Season 4: 1966-1967	EPISODES	Film Archive
The Smugglers	4
The Tenth Planet	4	1, 2, 3
The Power of the Daleks	6
The Highlanders	4
The Underwater Menace	4	3
The Moonbase	4	2,4
The Macra Terror	4
The Faceless Ones	6	1
The Evil of the Daleks	7
Season 5: 1967-1968	EPISODES	Film Archive
The Tomb of the Cybermen	4
The Abominable Snowmen	6
The Ice Warriors	6
The Enemy of the World	6	3
The Web of Fear	6
Fury from the Deep	6
The Wheel in Space	6	6
Season 6: 1968-1969	EPISODES	Film Archive
The Dominators	5	1,2,4,5
The Mind Robber	5	5
The Invasion	8	2,3,5,6,7,8
The Krotons	4	1,2,3
The Seeds of Death	6	1,2,4,5,6
The Space Pirates	6	2
The War Games	10	2,5,8,9

The F&VL believed they held a 48th: Part 4 of the Daleks Masterplan had been borrowed by the BBC Children's program Blue Peter but went missing following it's use on that program. For many years when this story was told by fans with a huge error in it, substituting Tenth Planet 4, the only episode of that story missing, for Dalek Masterplan 4. To this day many people believe that the final episode of The Tenth Planet was lost by Blue Peter!

After searching the BBC Film & Video library, Ian Levine then discovered that BBC Enterprises, the division of the BBC that sold the programs abroad, also had a film store. It was here that he discovered all seven episodes of The Daleks tied together and ready to be destroyed. The Film & Video library took possession of the films adding a further 56 Hartnell Episodes and 5 Troughton episodes to the collection:

Season 1: 1963-1964	EPISODES	BBC E	Previously Missing
An Unearthly Child	4	1,2,3,4
The Daleks	7	1,2,3,4,5,6,7	1,2,3,4,5,6,7
The Edge of Destruction	2	1,2	1,2
Marco Polo	7
The Keys of Marinus	6	1,2,3,4,5,6	1,2,3,4,6
The Aztecs	4	1,2,3,4	1,2,3,4
The Sensorites	6	1,2,3,4,5,6	1,2,3,4,5,6
The Reign of Terror	6
Season 2: 1964-1965	EPISODES	BBC E	Previously Missing
Planet of Giants	3	1,2,3	1,2,3
The Dalek Invasion of Earth	6	1,2,3,4,5,6	1,2,3,4,6
The Rescue	2	1,2	1,2
The Romans	4	1,2,3,4	2,4
The Web Planet	6	1,2,3,4,5,6	1,3,4,5,6
The Crusade	4
The Space Museum	4	1,2,3,4	1,2,4
The Chase	6	1,2,3,4,5,6	1,2,3,4,5,6
The Time Meddler	4
Season 3: 1965-1966	EPISODES	BBC E	Previously Missing
Galaxy 4	4
Mission to the Unknown	1
The Myth Makers	4
The Daleks' Master Plan	12
The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve	4
The Ark	4	1,2,3,4	1,2,4
The Celestial Toymaker	4
The Gunfighters	4	1,2,3,4	1,2,3
The Savages	4
The War Machines	4
Season 6: 1968-1969	EPISODES	BBC E	Previously Missing
The Dominators	5
The Mind Robber	5	1,2,3,4,5	1,2,3,4
The Invasion	8
The Krotons	4
The Seeds of Death	6	1,2,3,4,5,6	3
The Space Pirates	6
The War Games	10

BBC Enterprises held no stories from seasons 4 or 5. It wouldn't be until many years later that a complete story from these seasons existed when Tomb of the Cybermen was returned at the start of 1992

Three complete stories from Patrick Troughton's last season had been donated to the British Film Institute and were retrieved from there. Later it was discovered that the BFI had only returned copies and were still holding prints that turned out to be superior and in much better condition.

Season 6: 1968-1969	EPISODES	BFI	Previously Missing
The Dominators	5	1,2,3,4,5	3
The Mind Robber	5
The Invasion	8
The Krotons	4	1,2,3,4	4
The Seeds of Death	6
The Space Pirates	6
The War Games	10	1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10	1, 3, 4, 6, 7 & 10

This completed 15 Hartnell stories and 5 Troughton stories with several odd episodes existing from other stories. At this point 139 episodes of Doctor Who were missing: 137 episode of 60s Doctor Who made up of 61 Hartnell episodes - including all Seven episodes of Marco Polo - and 76 Troughton episodes, plus a further two episodes from Jon Pertwee's tenure as the Doctor during the 1970s - Invasion of the Dinosaurs 1 & Death to the Daleks 1. In addition a number of Pertwee episodes only existed in Black & White.

This then is the state of the Doctor Who archives before the hunt for the missing episodes really began:

Season 1: 1963-1964	EPISODES	Film Archive	BBC E	BFI	Combined	MISSING
An Unearthly Child	4	1,2,3,4	1,2,3,4		1,2,3,4	-
The Daleks	7		1,2,3,4,5,6,7		1,2,3,4,5,6,7	-
The Edge of Destruction	2		1,2		1,2	-
Marco Polo	7				-	1,2,3,4,5,6,7
The Keys of Marinus	6	5	1,2,3,4,5,6		1,2,3,4,5,6	-
The Aztecs	4		1,2,3,4		1,2,3,4	-
The Sensorites	6		1,2,3,4,5,6		1,2,3,4,5,6	-
The Reign of Terror	6					1,2,3,4,5,6
Season 2: 1964-1965	EPISODES	Film Archive	BBC E	BFI	Combined	MISSING
Planet of Giants	3		1,2,3		1,2,3	-
The Dalek Invasion of Earth	6	5	1,2,3,4,5,6		1,2,3,4,5,6	-
The Rescue	2		1,2		1,2	-
The Romans	4	1,3	1,2,3,4		1,2,3,4	-
The Web Planet	6	2	1,2,3,4,5,6		1,2,3,4,5,6	-
The Crusade	4	3			3	1,2,4
The Space Museum	4	3	1,2,3,4		1,2,3,4	-
The Chase	6		1,2,3,4,5,6		1,2,3,4,5,6	-
The Time Meddler	4	2			2	1,3,4
Season 3: 1965-1966	EPISODES	Film Archive	BBC E	BFI	Combined	MISSING
Galaxy 4	4				-	1,2,3,4
Mission to the Unknown	1				-	1
The Myth Makers	4				-	1,2,3,4
The Daleks' Master Plan	12				-	1,2,34,5,6, 7,8,9,10,11,12
The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve	4				-	1,2,3,4
The Ark	4	3	1,2,3,4		1,2,3,4	-
The Celestial Toymaker	4				-	1,2,3,4
The Gunfighters	4	4	1,2,3,4		1,2,3,4	-
The Savages	4				-	1,2,3,4
The War Machines	4				-	1,2,3,4
Season 4: 1966-1967	EPISODES	Film Archive	BBC E	BFI	Combined	MISSING
The Smugglers	4				-	1,2,3,4
The Tenth Planet	4	1, 2, 3			1,2,3	4
The Power of the Daleks	6				-	1,2,3,4,5,6
The Highlanders	4				-	1,2,3,4
The Underwater Menace	4	3			3	1,2,4
The Moonbase	4	2,4			2,4	1,3
The Macra Terror	4				-	1,2,3,4
The Faceless Ones	6	1			1	3,2,4,5,6
The Evil of the Daleks	7				-	1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Season 5: 1967-1968	EPISODES	Film Archive	BBC E	BFI	Combined	MISSING
The Tomb of the Cybermen	4					1,2,3,4
The Abominable Snowmen	6				-	1,2,3,4,5,6
The Ice Warriors	6				-	1,2,3,4,5,6
The Enemy of the World	6	3			3	1,2,4,5,6
The Web of Fear	6				-	1,2,3,4,5,6
Fury from the Deep	6				-	1,2,3,4,5,6
The Wheel in Space	6	6			6	1,2,3,4,5
Season 6: 1968-1969	EPISODES	Film Archive	BBC E	BFI	Combined	MISSING
The Dominators	5	1,2,4,5		1,2,3,4,5	1,2,3,4,5	-
The Mind Robber	5	5	1,2,3,4,5		1,2,3,4,5	-
The Invasion	8	2,3,5,6,7,8			2,3,5,6,7,8	1,4
The Krotons	4	1,2,3		1,2,3,4	1,2,3,4	-
The Seeds of Death	6	1,2,4,5,6	1,2,3,4,5,6		1,2,3,4,5,6	-
The Space Pirates	6	2			2	1,3,4,5,6
The War Games	10	2,5,8,9		1,2,3,4,5, 6,7,8,9,10	1,2,3,4,5, 6,7,8,9,10	-

Today the number of missing episodes stands at 97, with FORTY episodes having been recovered from a variety of sources. However just four more stories have been completed: The Time Meddler, The War Machines, The Tomb of the Cybermen and Enemy of the World. The story of the missing Hartnell episodes and how they came to be returned/recovered will be picked up in a few weeks with Part 1 of The Reign of Terror.

Marco Polo is the longest complete story, at seven episodes, that is completely missing from the Doctor Who archives. However, if you look elsewhere in Doctor Who, there are greater numbers of consecutive missing episodes. Thankfully this has changed since I first wrote this entry when I said:

Ten consecutive episodes are missing from Galaxy Four part 1, through Mission to the Unknown & The Myth Makers to The Dalek Masterplan 1. There's two "runs" of 13 missing episodes: Tenth Planet 4, through Power of the Daleks & The Highlanders to the second episode of the Underwater Menace, then again from Web of Fear 2 through Fury from the Deep to the second part of the Wheel In Space.

All three of those runs are now shorter!

The record is now held by the TWELVE episodes from Tenth Planet 4 to Underwater Menace 1. Following that is an EIGHT episode run from Fury from the Deep 1 to Wheel in Space 2 and then two lots of SEVEN episodes: Galaxy 4 episode 4 to Dalek Masterplan 1 and Marco Polo 1-7. These account for the 3 longest completely missing stories: Marco Polo at 7 episodes and Power of the Daleks & Fury from the Deep both at 6 episodes.

What the BBC kept seems completely random. If I, a fan, was selecting for the archives I'd have given priority to stories containing the Doctor's more famous foes, the Regeneration stories, and other notable tales, like companion's debuts and final stories, instead of the hodge podge we had.

So using that criteria I drew up a list of what I'd have kept:

An Unearthly Child	4	First Story
The Daleks	7	First Dalek Story
Marco Polo	7	First Historical Story
The Dalek Invasion of Earth	6	Daleks, last Susan
The Rescue	2	First Vicki
The Chase	6	Daleks, last Ian & Barbara, first Steven
The Time Meddler	4	first other Tardis
Mission to the Unknown	1	Daleks
The Myth Makers	4	Last Vicki
The Daleks' Master Plan	12	Daleks, longest story
The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve	4	Two Hartnells
The Savages	4	last Steven
The War Machines	4	first return to London, last Dodo, first Ben & Polly
The Tenth Planet	4	First Cybermen, last First Doctor
The Power of the Daleks	6	First Second Doctor, Daleks
The Highlanders	4	Last Historical, First Jamie
The Moonbase	4	Cybermen
The Faceless Ones	6	Last Ben & Polly
The Evil of the Daleks	7	Last 60s Daleks. First Victoria
The Tomb of the Cybermen	4	Cybermen
The Abominable Snowmen	6	First Yeti
The Ice Warriors	6	First Ice warriors
The Enemy of the World	6	Two Troughtons
The Web of Fear	6	Yeti. First Lethbridge-Stewart
Fury from the Deep	6	Last Victoria
The Wheel in Space	6	Cybermen, First Zoe
The Invasion	8	Cybermen, Lethbridge-Stewart, First UNIT
The Seeds of Death	6	Ice Warriors
The War Games	10	Last Second Doctor. First Time Lords