TEGANA: I will use it well...on all but the first of Marco Polo's water gourds, for tomorrow, the caravan sets out to cross the Gobi Desert. His words are illustrated by the image of the TARDIS once more on the back of a horse-drawn wagon with attendant Mongol bearers.) The DOCTOR is absent from the meal which they have just finished. SUSAN: Yes, but at Kublai Khan's Court, when it's too late. SUSAN: Oh, a long way from here. He gets up and moves to the doorway. (An insane monkey-like babble echoes through the storm.) (He looks at the Mongol warlord.) The weary travellers, now including the DOCTOR, lie motionless in the shade of the wagons underneath an awning gazing out across the merciless baking sands.
Plan: A: 1289; Q: In what year did the Doctor and his companions arrive in Central Asia? A: the Doctor; Q: Who strikes up an extraordinary friendship with the now-aged ruler? A: the famous Venetian explorer Marco Polo; Q: Who did the Doctor and his companions join in Central Asia? A: its way; Q: What does the caravan of Marco Polo make? A: the Pamir Plateau; Q: Where did Marco Polo start his journey? A: the treacherous Gobi Desert; Q: What desert did Marco Polo cross? A: the heart; Q: What part of Cathay did Marco Polo travel through? A: Cathay; Q: What imperial city did Marco Polo travel through? A: a variety; Q: What kind of dangers did the Doctor and his companions survive? A: the mighty Kublai Khan's Summer Palace; Q: Where did the Doctor and his companions arrive in Shang-tu? A: Peking; Q: Where is the Imperial Palace? A: the travellers; Q: Who saves the Khan from an assassination attempt? A: an assassination attempt; Q: What does the Doctor save the Khan from? A: a peace mission; Q: What was the Mongol warlord Tegana supposedly on? A: the TARDIS; Q: What vehicle does the Doctor and his companions leave in? Summary: Missing episode Arriving in Central Asia in 1289, the Doctor and his companions join the caravan of the famous Venetian explorer Marco Polo as it makes its way from the snowy heights of the Pamir Plateau, across the treacherous Gobi Desert and through the heart of imperial Cathay. Having witnessed many incredible sights and survived a variety of dangers, they arrive at the mighty Kublai Khan's Summer Palace in Shang-tu, where the Doctor strikes up an extraordinary friendship with the now-aged ruler. They move on at last to the even more sumptuous Imperial Palace in Peking, where the travellers save the Khan from an assassination attempt by the Mongol warlord Tegana - supposedly on a peace mission - before departing once more in the TARDIS.