"We're always in trouble, Isn't this extraordinary? It follows us everywhere."
No yeti? Not yet.
And here I was expecting that an Abominable Snowman would be somewhere in the background of this story... it turns out that the villain is the Mongol warlord, Tenaga.
I'm watching this as a Loose Cannon reconstruction. The original recordings of this adventure no longer exists - so the version I'm watching is the original audio combined with mixture of production stills and "telesnaps" (photos of the episode taken from a tv screen). It gives the effect of a slideshow and there are helpful subtitles describing actions not obvious from the images on screen. It works well enough and, in a strange way, adds to the charm of watching. Seems to me that this is an episode of frustrated expectations.
The TARDIS lands in the Himalayas - the Roof of the World - in 1289 and suffers another technical fault (I'm sure that something has gone wrong with the TARDIS during every previous story). The Doctor is concerned about freezing to death but luckily the travellers are rescued by a caravan of Mongols headed by Marco Polo who are travelling to Shang Tu in Cathay to Kublai Khan's summer palace.
Marco Polo, played by Mark Eden, captures our attention from his first appearance. Seemingly courteous (more Home Counties English than Venetian!) - he's actually quite scheming and, without realising, the Doctor and his companions are actually prisoners - plus the TARDIS has been claimed as a gift for Kublai Khan! We are also introduced to the villainous Tenaga who reveals his murderous plan as the cliffhanger of the episode. I liked his description of the TARDIS being like a "warlord's tomb". Plus Ping-Cho, the 15 year-old girl who befriends Susan and is on her way to marry a man in his seventies (much to Susan's shock). Susan avoids answering Ping-Cho's question about where she comes from.
I enjoyed the novelty of the sequence where there's a voiceover from Marco Polo over a map of their travels: "Success. My plan has worked. The strangers and their unusual caravan accompany me to Lop. Our route takes us across the Roof of the World, down to the Kashgar Valley and southeast to Tarkand. Here we join the Old Silk Road, along which the commerce and culture of a thousand years has travelled to and from Cathay. I wonder what the strangers' reaction will be when I tell them what I propose to do?"
Marco Polo also shows off his gold seal, the visible emblem of the authority bestowed on him by Kublai Khan. I suspect this will become important in a later episode.
Our regular characters return to their usual roles. The Doctor becomes worrisome and disagreeable once more. Again he seems old and frail (this time the "mountain sickness" of the altitude affects him). Later in the episode, when he is prevented from accessing the TARDIS and Marco Polo reveals his plans for the ship, he laughs madly. Ian reverts to Science teacher (at one point he explains how the lack of air on the mountains causes the fire to burn less - not the cold making the flame cooler). Barbara shows off her History teacher skills and is able to provide historical commentary on what's taking place. Susan is beat-girl again and has to explain her use of Fab" as a (supposedly) youth colloquialism.
So far the story is... fine... and the historical setting a pleasant change from the previous stories set in the prehistoric past and space.
Next week's episode: The Singing Sands.
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