July 18th, 2018
30 comments
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Doctor Who Marco Polo 1st Doctor Audio CD
Available to order from www.amazon.co.uk
Zienia Merton reads this captivating novelisation of an epic ‘lost’ historical TV adventure featuring the First Doctor.
The young Venetian, Marco Polo, is on his way to the Emperor’s court in Peking when he meets four intrepid time travellers: the elderly Doctor, his granddaughter Susan, and their companions Ian and Barbara.
The TARDIS has broken down whilst on Earth, in the year 1289. Marco Polo recognises in it a means of winning favour with the Emperor, and he insists that the travellers accompany his caravan to Cathay.
The journey is fraught with sandstorms, drought, bandits, would-be assassins and many other hidden dangers. Even if they do arrive safely at the court of Kublai Khan, the Doctor and his friends have no guarantee of ever seeing the inside of the TARDIS again…
Zienia Merton, who played Ping-Cho in the original BBC serial, reads John Lucarotti’s own novelisation of his 1964 TV adventure.
Duration: 4 hours approx.
Categorised under: Audio stories, CD
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Michael Parsons
August 22nd, 2021 - 10:07amfurther to my comment above regarding this release according to the recent doctor who magazine this release is still available on cd but I can not obtain It from Amazon or eBay Galaxy four or who one or the who shop so where is it available to
booboo
August 22nd, 2021 - 10:19amdoesn’t seem to be stock anywhere, a few have sold on ebay so it did exist but Penguin list it as download only now so its not a current stock item
Michael Parsons
August 5th, 2021 - 2:12amLOOKING FOR THIS AMONG OTHER AUDIOBOOKS IN THIS RANGE BUT CAN NOT OBTAIN IT AT AMAZON OR E BAY ANYBODY KNOW WHERE I CAN GET A BRAND NEW COPY
David butcher
May 19th, 2023 - 12:43pmHi Michael have you found it yet?im currently trying to get a copy of this myself
Gordon
July 19th, 2018 - 11:07amUnexpected but intresting choice
Alex
July 19th, 2018 - 1:54pmAgreed. I mean it’s a good choice, she played a prominent role in the episode, it just seems a bit left-field from the type of cast they attract at this point. I would’ve thought either Carole-Anne Ford or Mark Eden were just natural obvious choices. But I look forward to it! It’s one of my favourite novelisations.
TigerMan1995
May 18th, 2018 - 9:44pmIs anyone going to make a cover with the white McGann logo when this comes out? I would love that.
William Byers
July 18th, 2018 - 12:21pmI think it looks great.
When I was a 5 or 6 I wish that there were more things with the Davies era logo on it because I would have watched classic Who from a young age. It’s all about Brand Recognition. With all of the new people who will watch Doctor Who they will look at what has that logo as it catches their eye. Recognition = Comfor
Gordon
May 17th, 2018 - 12:09amAfter this year we will only have the following to go from the classic era
1st Doctor:
An Unearthly Child (wrapped up in rights issues)
The Keys of Marinus
The Reign of Terror
The Romans
The Celestial Toymaker
The Savages
The War Machines
The Smugglers
2nd Doctor
The Power of the Daleks
The underwater menace
The Crusaders
The Faceless Ones
The Evil of the Daleks
The Enemy of the World
The Wheel in Space
The Krotons
The Seeds of Death
3rd Doctor
The Time Monster
The Monster of Peladon
4th Doctor
Revenge of the Cybermen
Terror of the Zygons
Planet of Evil
The Android Invasion
The Seeds of Doom
The Face of Evil
Image of the Fendahl
The Sun Makers
Underworld
The Power of Kroll
The Armageddon Factor
Destiny of the Daleks
Nightmare of Eden
The Horns of Nimon
Meglos
Warriors’ Gate
The Keeper of Traken
5th Doctor
Kinda
Time-Flight
Arc of Infinity
Snakedance
Terminus
Enlightenment
Resurrection of the Daleks (never officially novelised)
Planet of Fire
6th Doctor
Attack of the Cybermen
Vengeance on Varos
Timelash
Revelation of the Daleks (never officially novelised)
7th Doctor
Time and the Rani
Dragonfire
Silver Nemesis
Battlefield
8th doctor
The movie
Gordon
May 17th, 2018 - 12:10amScrap the crusaders
Alex
May 17th, 2018 - 1:54amWow, really? I didn’t realise there was so many left un-audiobooked (though I do tend to forget just how much classic who there is at times). So, assuming one is done 1 every month, that gives 4.5 more years, plus we can assume there’d be months where it’s other novelisations and the such being read, so really it’s still a bit over 5 years until we’ve got them all.
PJ
May 17th, 2018 - 4:30pmPlus The Hand of Fear and Warriors of the Deep.
TigerMan1995
May 16th, 2018 - 4:30pmNow only two more stories to go from Season 1: Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus and The Reign of Terror
Nuallain
May 16th, 2018 - 11:01amIsn’t it kind of time the default image template was updated for these things? None of them are going to have the 1996 logo on them when they actually come out.
booboo
May 16th, 2018 - 11:42ammade one up, not seen any kind of official one yet
Whorules
May 16th, 2018 - 10:32amI’d rather get reprinted versions of the books than these audio versions. My copy of marco polo is still in good condition but it is 33 years old now! More reprints and new target books please…
Alex
May 16th, 2018 - 5:11amGordon, how do we know that Age of Endurance was recorded in 2014? Not that I don’t believe you, I just wasn’t aware they did EA’s so far in advance. I assumed that was mainly just the Fourth Doctor Adventures where they record years in advance.
Anonymous
May 16th, 2018 - 7:44amNot the guy you’re asking, but that’s the date recording on the Big Finish website. If you have a look around, you’ll see that William Russell hasn’t worked now for BF since 2014, and I honestly doubt he will again.
Gordon
May 16th, 2018 - 9:44amThere was a q and a by nick Briggs on facebook and he said that it was for availability reasons
Alex
May 16th, 2018 - 1:00pmThanks! I did check the Age of Endurance technical details (which is where they normally have the “Date Recorded” thing but it wasn’t there). And thanks! Really is a shame he isn’t fit enough to do Big Finish again (I assume it’s just health/exhaustion reasons he’s reluctant).
TARDISGuy
May 16th, 2018 - 2:25amLike Caves, with this being such a highly regarded story I’d have thought they’d record this one ages ago. I hope it’s either William Russell or Mark Eden reading.
Alex
May 16th, 2018 - 3:06amSadly, I doubt William Russell would read it. Russell’s stopped doing audio work for Big Finish, assumably because he’s 93 and probably doesn’t have the energy to keep doing it, so I doubt he’d be able to do a 3-4 hour audiobook.
Mark Eden is possible though? I’m honestly expecting either Carole Anne Ford or Peter Purves, as the BBC has had him recording quite a bit lately in terms of audiobooks.
Gordon
May 16th, 2018 - 4:09amProbably will be carol Ann ford or mark Eden. Seems unlikely to be William Russell as he hasn’t done audio work for some time. Even the last big finish stuff was done 2 years before it was out. He’s 92 year old. He’s earned the right to put his feet up
TARDISGuy
May 16th, 2018 - 4:24amHe has read quite a few at this point.
Carole Ann Ford makes sense as she read Planet of Giants not long ago.
Andy
May 16th, 2018 - 5:08amI thought Russell had retired after his work in 2016 for Big Finish? Something about his health, iirc
bryan
May 15th, 2018 - 8:42pmSilly to get excited, as these are all coming out eventually.
But I have been waiting for this one.
After the small cryptic message from William Russells` Agent , that we shouldnt rule out some more Audio work. I was hoping he would Read this one (although Mark Eden would be excellent as well.
It also seems there are ghost listinfs for An Unearthly Child 2018 release or TBA on the Audiobooks wiki page , which is usually very very accurate. and has normally said about the problem with the copyright. So hopefully this one can finally come out too.
TigerMan1995
May 16th, 2018 - 4:33pmAn Unearthly Child was planned to be released in Nov 2013 but AudioGO went into bankruptcy and the release was cancelled. When Penguin picked it back up in early 2014 the release date would be Nov 2014 but was cancelled again because of “rights” issues. We still don’t know when it’s coming out. Do note it’s not the 1981 novelisation but a new one by Nigel Robinson written, of course, in 2013.
J45ON96
May 17th, 2018 - 12:33amCryptic message from his agent?
TIMELORDTC
May 15th, 2018 - 8:34pmAre these Target Audiobook or the original TV story on CD? I’m presuming it’s Target considering Marco Polo has already been released
Gordon
May 16th, 2018 - 10:42amIt’s an audio reading of the target book