Episode 18: Rider From Shang-Tu

Synopsis:

Ian leaves the tent where he and his companions are being held under guard, and discovers that their sentry has been killed...

The caravan is in the middle of the Bamboo Forest, and it has just been surrounded by Acomat and his men - allies of Tegana. The warlord is about to signal Acomat when Marco appears and orders him to alert the camp. Even the Doctor and Ian are conscripted to help defend the caravan, and are given swords to fight their attackers. Ian has another weapon in mind, however. He knows that bamboo explodes loudly in fire. They start to set the forest around them alight, and the attacking bandits panic in the ensuing chaos. Tegana kills Acomat, sacrificing him to reinforce his innocence in the eyes of Marco. He has a far more important mission to accomplish, which cannot be jeopardised...

With their leader dead, the remaining bandits flee.

The following day the caravan clears the forest. To gain his trust, Ian admits to Marco that they were going to abduct him and force him to hand over the TARDIS keys. Marco tells the Doctor and his companions that they will be given their freedom once more - so long as they promise not to attempt another escape. Susan and Ping-Cho will also be permitted to share a tent again. Marco will retain the two TARDIS keys, however.

A young man named Ling-Tau arrives at the caravan - a courier from Kublai Khan at Shang-Tu. He informs Marco that their master wishes to see him as soon as possible.

The caravan makes its next stop at Cheng-Ting. The way-station manager here is a man named Wang-Lo. Ping-Cho is made to promise Marco that she will never divulge that he keeps the TARDIS keys hidden in his journal.

Knowing that her friend Susan will never be able to get home if Marco gives the ship to Kublai Khan, Ping-Cho elects to steal the keys.

Tegana, meanwhile, has met with a man named Kuiju, who sports an eye-patch and has a small monkey as a pet. He employs him to steal the TARDIS.

That night Ping-Cho takes the keys. The Doctor, Ian and Barbara gain entry, but Susan has decided that she cannot leave without saying goodbye to her friend.

As she crosses the courtyard to the ship to join her grandfather and her friends, she is suddenly seized by Tegana...

Next episode: Mighty Kublai Khan

Data:

Written by: John Lucarotti

Recorded: Friday 28th February 1964 - Lime Grove Studio D

First broadcast: 5:15pm, Saturday 21st March 1964

Ratings: 9.4 million / AI 59

Designer: Barry Newbery

Director: Waris Hussein

Additional Cast: Tutte Lemkow (Kuiju), Gabor Baraker (Wang-Lo), Paul Carson (Ling-Tau).

Critique:

This episode features strongly in the memories of those who were involved in its production - thanks mainly to a monkey. When interviewed about the story, it was the main thing which Derren Nesbitt recalled. The animal in question - a spider monkey - was supposed to be the pet of Tutte Lemkow's villainous character Kuiju. It was very badly behaved, however, urinating all over the place and biting people. An untrained animal, it panicked when the wind machine was used in studio, defecating on Lemkow's costume. It then took itself up into the ceiling of the studio and took ages to be coaxed down again.

The complaint from William Russell was dealt with during this week's rehearsal period. Now that the series was going to be on for the full year, the situation with late script additions and amendments would be addressed, to prevent this happening too often. Head of Serials Donald Wilson had to report back to the cast that he had no say over the editorial decisions of the Radio Times, with regards the cover image.

There is a lovely scene between Ping-Cho and Susan at the Cheng-Ting way-station, as they admire a pool of goldfish. They decide to name each after people they know, based on how they look and move. A fat lazy one is Wang-Lo, and an energetic one Ian. A solemn looking one is Marco. Barbara's is on its own, independent. Ping-Cho thinks Susan's "wicked", whilst she thinks Ping-Cho's looks veiled, as if ready for a wedding. This latter comment reminds us that the girl is on her way to an arranged marriage with a man 60 years her senior. Some of the girls' dialogue makes them sound like ordinary 1960's teenagers. Susan has never sounded like this before - and won't ever again.

This week's science lesson from Mr Chesterton concerns the properties of bamboo when exposed to fire. It explodes. That Ian should know this, coupled with some comments he will later make about having seen ants eat their way through a house, and his ability to knock someone out with just his thumb, all point towards him having spent some time in the armed forces prior to becoming a teacher. This would have involved a posting to somewhere like the Far East.

National Service was introduced in the UK in 1949. It was compulsory for any physically fit male aged between 17 - 21. Conscripts served for 18 months, and remained on a call-up list for a further four years after this, in the event that the country should become involved in a new conflict. In the 1950's the period served was extended to two years. Students and apprentices could defer their call up until after they had completed their studies. There was a reserved occupations list, which prevented you from being called up. Conscientious objectors could take on a non-combat role. National Service ended in 1960, though those already in the programme had to finish their time, with the last people demobbed in 1963.

Ian would almost certainly have served with the army for his National Service stint.

Viewers at the time - who had no idea how long any story was going to last - might have thought that this story was about to come to an end, as the Doctor and his companions make it into the TARDIS. Had they thought it the conclusion, they may have felt a bit disappointed that Tegana had not received his comeuppance. As it was, the cliff-hanger took us into a further episode of the same adventure the following week.

Trivia:

• After a week away, Waris Hussein returns to direct the remainder of the story.
• The concluding part of this episode was remounted the following week, during the making of Mighty Kublai Khan.
• The half million added to the audience viewing figures last week disappears for this episode. There is also a further drop in the AI, though only of one point. 
• Both Gabor Baraker and Tutte Lemkow would return to the programme in The Crusade. Lemkow, a Swedish actor and dancer, also choreographed the dancing dolls in The Celestial Toymaker.
• Kuiju is never named on screen - only in the closing credits. He was named after a location mentioned in Marco Polo's book.
• Ling-Tau - the rider of the title - claims to have ridden 300 miles in a day, changing horses every league. That's every 3 miles, in the English speaking world, but the measurement varies wildly depending on which country you are in. The fastest speed a horse can gallop is 25 - 30 mph, so 300 miles is possible in a day.
• From this episode onwards, the end credits were centre aligned, rather than left aligned.
• I previously mentioned in the Trivia for The Roof of the World that Derren Nesbitt and Mark Eden had worked together before in an instalment of The Prisoner. Nesbitt had also built up a considerable body of work alongside William Russell prior to their reunion here. He had played 14 different characters, over two years, on Russell's The Adventures of Sir Lancelot.