Episode 20: Assassin At Peking

Synopsis:

At Cheng-Ting way-station Ian is confronted by Tegana, who approaches with sword drawn - goading him into attacking him...

Kuiju is killed as he tries to flee, and Tegana accuses Ian of being responsible for the theft of the TARDIS. They set off for Peking.

In the Imperial Palace at Peking, the Doctor and Kublai Khan play backgammon together. The Doctor is doing well - winning 35 elephants, 4000 white stallions, 25 tigers, the sacred tooth of Buddha, and all the commerce of Burma for one year. He proposes one further game, gambling all his winnings for the return of the TARDIS. When Marco enters, he is shocked to see his gift to the Khan possibly being won back by the Doctor. He reports back to Barbara and Susan what he has seen. 

The Doctor appears a few minutes later, and lets them know that his luck had turned to the bad. He has lost everything, although the Khan has given him a piece of his new paper currency by way of a consolation prize.

Kublai Khan inspects his new gift and Marco admits that he seized it for him solely in order that he might let him return home to Venice.

There is good news for Ping-Cho that evening when the Khan informs her that her husband-to-be has expired after drinking a virility potion. She may stay on in Peking if she wishes it.

The Doctor and his companions realise that Tegana intends to assassinate the Khan, and they rush to warn Marco. He enters the throne room just as the warlord launches his attack, killing the Vizier.

Marco and Tegana fight a fierce sword duel, which the Venetian wins.

Rather than face capture and execution, Tegana elects to throw himself onto the spear of one of the surrounding guards.

Grateful for their warning, Marco gives the Doctor the keys to the ship and the travellers hurry inside. The blue box vanishes in front of everyone.

The Khan informs Marco that he may not be believed when he tells everyone back in Venice of what he has seen in Cathay - thus informing the explorer that he will now be allowed to go home at last.

They ponder where - and when - the travellers may have gone next...

Next episode: The Sea of Death

Data:

Written by: John Lucarotti

Recorded: Friday 13th March 1964 - Lime Grove Studio D

First broadcast: 5:30pm, Saturday 4th April 1964

Ratings: 10.4 million / AI 59

Designer: Barry Newbery

Director: Waris Hussein

Additional cast: Claire Davenport (Empress)

Critique:

And so, after seven weeks, the epic Marco Polo comes to an end. Unusually for the time, it concludes not on a cliff-hanger into the next story but with an image of the travellers standing around the TARDIS console, superimposed against a starry backdrop, and the dialogue remains on the guest characters.

The reason for the star-scape background is that the console had been set up against some black drapes, to avoid having to use up space in the already cramped studio with the full TARDIS set.

As well as the story's lengthy run time on television, a fan with maybe too much time on their hands once worked out that the duration of the adventure, as far as the Doctor and his companions would have experienced it, would be about three months. The events of the second episode alone cover some ten days.

The conclusion is a rather rushed affair, as the travellers suddenly realise what Tegana is up to, and Marco rapidly believes them, after scoffing at their suspicions for the last six episodes. 

The climactic sword-fight between Marco and Tegana was one of the first things filmed for the serial - at Ealing Studios on Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th January. It was arranged by Derek Ware, who had been the fight arranger on An Unearthly Child, also directed by Waris Hussein. On both occasions, the director handed the action over to his production assistant, Douglas Camfield, as he had a lot more film experience.

Assassin At Peking suffered from an over-run. At this time, episodes went into studio on a Friday after four days of rehearsals. The sets would have been erected the night before. The daytime was used for camera rehearsals, publicity photographs and so forth. The actual recording happened in the evening after dinner, commencing at 8:30pm. Recording had to finish before 9:45pm, as this is when the technical staff would shut the production down, turning off the lights and walking out. The only way round this was to agree an over-run in order to complete a production, where it would be extremely difficult to stage a remount at a later date. The technical staff had to agree this over-run - if they declined, it didn't happen. The cast were also asked, but more as a matter of courtesy as they naturally wanted to complete their work. An over-run meant over-time for the crew, so it was an expensive occurrence which all directors obviously wanted to avoid.

In this instance the cause of the over-run was down to multiple issues. The studio fireman objected to gangways being blocked, a lift bringing camera equipment broke down, and Studio D was often being used as a dumping ground by other productions.

Instead of a 9:45pm finish, this episode wrapped at 9:57pm. A wrap party followed. John Lucarotti could not attend as he had fallen ill, and was also busy writing a second historical story for the series.

The executive producer, Mervyn Pinfield, had to answer to their superiors about the over-run. Donald Wilson responded by stating that in future he expected the production assistant and the studio fireman to resolve these issues quickly between themselves.

Historically, Kublai's rival Noghai lived until 1299, five years after the death of the Khagan. As a great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan, the two men were related. He never ruled in his own right, preferring to be regarded as a general and "king-maker" who would co-rule with others.

One of Kublai Khan's great achievements was the overhaul of China's economy. Part of this was to open the country up to foreign trade. He needed a sound economy as his various foreign invasions cost money. One highly lucrative move was his gaining of a monopoly on salt production.

The Mongols had been issuing paper currency since 1227. In 1260, Kublai Khan issued the first unified paper currency (known as jiaochao). It could be translated into gold or silver, and you could pay your taxes with it. A new version was introduced in 1287, just before the events of this story, but it was an inferior version which could be translated to copper. It may be this which the Doctor is given after losing his backgammon game.

Sadly, Hussein never worked on the programme again. In 1983 Producer John Nathan-Turner attempted to get him back to direct the 20th Anniversary story The Five Doctors, but he declined.

After Marco Polo he directed a BBC adaptation of A Passage to India, as well as the highly regarded Edward and Mrs Simpson. He was reunited with Verity Lambert on the suffragette drama Shoulder to Shoulder. One of his big screen ventures was the film version of the BBC's Six Wives of Henry VIII, once again starring Keith Michell.

He lost a partner, Ian, of 12 years to AIDS during the 1980's. The illness formed the backdrop to another drama of his - Intimate Contact, which starred Daniel Massey and Claire Bloom.

Much of his later career was spent in the United States, on projects as diverse as Copacabana, a musical based on the song, starring Barry Manilow, which earned him an Emmy.

At 83, he has now retired.

In the anniversary drama An Adventure in Space and Time Hussein was portrayed by Sacha Dhawan, who has since gone on to play the Master.

Trivia:

• The one million viewers which the previous episode lost are more than compensated for by a two million increase this week - confirming that the Easter weekend was probably to blame. The AI remains stable, however.
• It wasn't the Daleks which first drew the attention of movie-makers to Doctor Who. In July 1964 the Walt Disney organisation made some enquiries about potentially adapting this story as a movie. As nothing came of this approach, it is not known if they were only interested in the historical aspect of the drama, minus the TARDIS and its crew, or if they wanted the whole concept.
• The Doctor is given a walking stick by Kublai Khan. This prop, which featured carved monkeys on its shaft, would be used by Hartnell on and off over the next three years.
• For Miller's performance, John Lucarotti had recalled the Canadian TV serial he had written, in which the director had asked the actor playing the Khan to behave more like a fussy little bureaucrat than a great warrior.
• Mike and Bernie Winters (a sort of poor man's Morecambe and Wise) spoofed Doctor Who in their ITV variety show on the night this episode was broadcast. Bernie played a character called Doctor Shmoo. The sketch also featured Daleks.
• The video tapes for this story were wiped by the BBC in August 1967, with the film prints following in 1972. As all of the episodes from either side of it still survive (only two other episodes are missing from the rest of the season) this story's rediscovery is often anticipated. It was sold to more than a dozen countries, so perhaps one of these still has a copy, hidden away somewhere...