The penultimate episode of what
has felt like an epic picks up when the regulars go from all but Susan being in the TARDIS to
them all being out of there. Most people would be frustrated with this scenario
but to be honest it means that we get to spend more time in company of Marco
Polo, Ping-Cho and also Ping-Cho. However the main problem with the episode is
that it feels like its going through the motions. The early part of this
episode does feel like a lot of just standing around and its only when Ian has
to go and find the TARDIS that things feel like they are progressing. After
weeks of talking about him, we finally get to meet the Mighty Kublai Khan and
after weeks of talking about him we get to see him (via telesnaps) in the flesh
and his outfit is what stands out in my mind. It’s clear that the budget mostly
went on this costume alone but its highly impressive. It’s also a good
performance from Martin Miller who as Khan is arguably the most eccentric
member of the supporting cast.
The regulars have all been fairly
consistent in recent episodes and the good run of form continues here. It’s difficult
to say who is the best because they all have a good episode but I thought that
Ian’s description of what the caravan can do and that their desire to get home isn’t
just a question of geography but also time and for Ian the events of Marco Polo
happened over seven hundred years in his past. Ian’s attempt to try and defend
and shield Ping-Cho from Polo’s predictable rage is quite chivalrous but it’s
all in vain.
The cliffhanger is another
corker. It features Tegana who just has
to say “come” and he manages to make it sound menacing. That makes two in a row
now for good cliffhangers and I think that it’s more to do with that I think
that Derren Nesbitt is fantastic as Tegana and I keep going on about him so I
wont carry on here. The writing from John Lucarotti has been fairly good here
and it’s a below par episode from Waris Hussein which isn’t something that I
say very often as his level of work is usually quite high.
‘Mighty Kublai Khan’ isn’t as
strong as the previous episode but it’s still a good one. As the story starts
to reach its finale, I must say that
overall the episode has impressed me more than it had done in recent
years. 
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