Doctor Who: Marco Polo /Ep. 1 The Roof of the World/ Part 1

[GenvieveWoolf]

Wow. I can't believe they didn't keep them--did VCRs exist at that time? Maybe a fan recorded them and can sell the tapes back to BBC. x) I wish I had them.

[BattyKellen]

You are an absolute diamond, my friend! This reconstruction is excellent. After a bit I don't even realize I'm looking at stills.

[MegaUnoriginal]

can someone tell my why some fool back in the 70s deleted these episodes?

[alfredagain]

@MegaUnoriginal Money. What else do people do stupid things for? As I understand it, the episodes were taped on videotape, which was expensive. So, rather than get more expensive tape, some genius decided money came first, so they taped over it with new footage. Don't quote me, but that is what I've heard.

[MegaUnoriginal]

@alfredagain

genius? you mean dumbass?

[Cryer24597]

@alfredagain No, it was becuase the BBC archives were full and there wasn't enough room for new material so the old tapes were burned to make space. The story "The Daleks" was rescued, from the top of a pile of tapes that were about to be burned, by a passing BBC employee who recognised its worth.

[RichTipple]

Hi there. I'm made my own roof of the world recon here using moving footage from SDBV8fO_h5M

[Richiepookinshoo]

"Dear dear dear we're always in trouble, isn't it extraordinary, it follows us everywhere!"

Great delivery by Hartnell there

[ricekrispy795]

oh, at first I thought Susan screamed because there might be shelter nearby, like OH MY GOSH SHELTER!

[orbital151]

I like the oldest episodes better than the fourth doctor episodes I think.

[jptothemax02]

how come its still shot?

[chocobolvr]

@jptothemax02 Because these episodes were deleted by BBC and the only things that survived of them were the audio tracks and these still shots. If you Google 'Doctor Who lost episodes' you'd probably get a better answer ;)

[catnipemo]

ok I wish I had the tardis so I could stop the BBC people being dumb-asses and dystorying these & episodes I mean MY GOD!

[larsreal9]

Wow, this is great, when I read the comment saying it was stills and audio, I was thinking about not watching the video, but you've done such a great job with this, I was completely into it all the way through.

[HypnoToad72]

I'd trade all of the RTD era and the 1996 tv movie abomination for Hartnell's and Troughton's eras to come back. 105 missing episodes (25 minutes each) vs well over 50 minutes at 45+ minutes each and a 90 minute TVM. Seems a fair trade-off, given the inventiveness put into the original vs the new...

[GHUMPHREY1980]

very good

[KirbyForce1]

Once. Just Once Has This Episode Ever Been Broadcast On TV Ever In The  1960s, Ever?

[suzielynne82]

Thank you for posting this! I heard that all these episodes had gone missing and it made me sad to think I was never going to get to see them. That the sound reel still exists along with still shots seems like a miracle!!!

[Abdulsfromthebless]

so isnt there a single place on earth where they have this episode and all the other missing ones

[randomdave30]

I would gladly dispose of the entire Colin Baker era for one ost episode of either Hartnell or Troughton.

[buffscrag]

Amen to that!

[WrongRoadRailways]

hmm same here but I would dispose of the Jon Pertwee era (expects this comment to get lots of thumbs-downs)

[zazozung]

@WrongRoadRailways Why on earth would you want that? The Pertwee era was excellent.

[ImagineHuZhou]

BBC could not find real Asians do these episodes?

[necromx]

It's 1963 you should know the practices of the film industry back then.

[ImagineHuZhou]

I am not certain what the UK's film industry did at those times. I was not born then and I never have travelled to UK. I assume they had low accuracy standards and their audiences were more forgiving. Or BBC (or maybe pressure from their audiences) did not like non European people and used fakes instead to appease that. Now I am curious if 1960s Chinese or Japanese movies used fake Europeans in their movies for similar reasons. ;) 哈哈哈 Overall Dr Who is a great series and really enjoy it.

[maleques]

Didn't you ever see the big-screen movie "Genghis Khan" with Omar Sharif in the title role and with ROBERT MORLEY as the Emperor of China, complete with brilliant blue eyes?

[butheadVSbevus]

all the asian actors where on strike at the time.

[yot5000]

Pity they can now LOL

[legodoctorwhodude]

wait a sec i read on wikapidia not a second of footage exists so how did you get that clip at the beginning

[Junltd0000]

The clip in the beginning is actually from the tail end of the previous episode. The two overlapped so we do actually have a few seconds of footage that survived.

[MrDeathrock9]

@legodoctorwhodude it's from the end of "The Edge of Destruction" which isn't lost and leads into this episode.

[doctorw2]

this was a very good story bloody bbc they never took proper care of the tapes of the classic series namely the william hartnell and patrick troughton serials.

[Gemini9857]

I thought that they had erased them or destroyed them in the 60s/70s to make more space for the current programmes they were running. And that a lot of the episodes that we have now were returned to the BBC by other countries that had bought them like Australia and Hong Kong as well (I believe).

[doctorw2]

there is no excuse for that sort of lack of effincency, they had the ability to preserve those tapes properly they just couldnt be bothered to do so.

[butiamthedoctor]

BBC politics, they didn't have an archive back then and didn't see the need to keep one, as BBC Enterprises did that for them, with films and tapes for overseas sales. Only problem was, Enterprises had no idea that BBC Television didn't have an archive, so when they ran out of room, they destroyed the films they held on the assumption they were just copies.

[GenericConroy]

probably had the same efficiency processes as NASA.

[timebender13]

It's so sad how many of these episodes have been lost....

[britfrenir]

I am glad to see Doctor on You tube. I cannot afford the DVDs.

[louisesaunders]

ahh awesome, sounds like a plan! Baker is pretty immense! ten is my fave tho. have fun watching them!!!! i no i will :D

[metaliant]

I am attempting to watch every single episode of the original Dr Who series right from the pilot episode.

Why you ask? The answer is simple. Why not?

[louisesaunders]

hey me too!!! having trouble finding them tho

[metaliant]

What I am doing is renting them on DVD and if not, see if they are on YouTube. Just can't wait until it's my favourite Doctor, Tom Baker. (the fourth one)

[mimkyodar]

That's hard seeing as how some of them don't exist any more.

[metaliant]

Which is why I am partly hoping to find them somewhere on Youtube and renting the rest on DVD. Let's hope BBC can do something about it as they are missing out on a fantastic money making idea here. Original Doctor Who on DVD.

[Frestare]

R.E. laineycrusoe (4 months ago)

Loose cannon do a pretty good recon of the celestila toymaker, no naration however they only distribute them on vhs, due to copyright.

[dramaticguy]

Even listening to the cd of this story is very atmospheric.A real classic.

[ClappingForChlamydia]

oooeeeoooo

i'm glad they had that back then :) the theme song is pretty sweet.

[smallvilleaddict]

Thank you! I've been wanting to watch Marco Polo for ages, thanks again!

[laineycrusoe]

This is a great reconstruction of my favourite TV show! Does anyone know where I can get a non-narrated copy of 'The Celestial Toymaker'?

[ButlerHarperBlakey]

What is the font called that you used to do the title? Great Recon, by the way.

[2234dw]

The font is called Steelfish. It's not totally accurate but it convinced me!

[androzani7]

Thank you sooooo much for creating this! Ever since I read the Target novelisation I have dreamed (literally!) of seeing Marco Polo, and so watching this is an incredible experience. Only 7 minutes in and I am engrossed. Judging by the atmospheric soundtrack and photographic evidence it really does seem worthy of its legend. Seriously, if there is one Doctor Who story I have always wanted to see, it is Marco Polo, so I really can't thank you enough!

James

[britfrenir]

I hope more episodes are restored to replace the destroyed and lost copies for people to watch. They do not make historical episodes like this anymore and mostly episodes about aliens instead of human villians now days. Now even when the Doctor goes to a past century he meets aliens.

[Drwhofan1971]

the historicals were an early remit for the show - there had to be an educatinol bit in the show. They stopped that with the Highlanders.

[mimkyodar]

Yeah, just once I'd like a historical where they reveal that the only alien is the Doctor.

[britfrenir]

It is nice to see it here when there is not way to have it on DVD or tv.

[britfrenir]

drwhome50 has posted an animated version of this. I wonder if people should vote on the best recontructed version of this.

[2234dw]

Ah, well this is the most accurate of the two to what you would have seen on screen in 1964, with most of the photographs taken off screen at the time of transmission.

[KAISERANIME]

@britfrenir Folks talk about what a shame it is that some episodes are now lost for Dr Who. The same is also the case for many older Asian anime that are at best sitting in storage somewhere rotting away after decades! One series I wish could be found is TIME QUEST (TONDEKEMAN) that was sub in Hawaii back in the 80s. Has anyone got #7,8,12,20,23,32,35? Even w/o subs would be great.Also if anyone has a guide maybe they could help me ID 3 Japan episodes I have? TIME QUEST has time travel too!

[britfrenir]

Yes very well done even if I had never seen the episode. I have read about it though in various sources. I have also seen photos of it too. There is an animated version of this story on You Tube too. Thank you very much for posting this.

[GrandDizzy]

Very well done! I only have one suggestion: I might have used a bit of subtle camera movement (zooming/panning) to give it more action. Like you see on illustrated children's stories. Perhaps something you might consider for the next one? Anyway, great work.

[chiafarrow]

Wonderful work. I really appreciate what you've done!

[aab91030]

I concur with the other comments. This is spectacular work. Thanks so much for posting.

[Jackalman99]

Is this the one with Yeties?? No, that's the one with the guy that looks like Moe howard and the Brigadere.

[Maurice797Evans]

This is phenomenal--you're doing far more than just bringing pleasure into Who fans' lives, this is part of history you've reconstructed--a window to walking talking people of the past and how they thought and how they envisioned their own past and future--this must have taken an unfathomable amount of hard work on your part, but I am so glad that there are people like you out there

[simonluckin8]

This is incredible. By far and away the best recon I've ever seen. It totally brings the story to life again. You are ace at doing this;the BBC should employ you. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't take it off line yet. I want to watch it again and again. If only you could do the entire story and make it available.....

Thankyou so much!

[HazzJB]

To my suprise this is actually quite watchable, I thought a reconstrution would of put me off.

[flippinecc]

Fabulous! The Roof of the World is one of my favourite Who episodes of all time.

I remember the suspense first time around, when Marco Polo "carted off" the TARDIS on his caravan.

[flippinecc]

Fabulous! The Roof of the World is one of my favourite Who episodes of all time. I remember ther suspense as a child when the TARDIS was "carted off" by Marco Polo.

You may be interested to know there's a new petition for the return of the

Police Box on UK streets. It's on the Number 10 website.

[sachabrunel]

Thanks so much for putting this up.

[drgrantwilliams]

wow!