TEXT: 1. EXTERIOR - TIME TRAVELLERS' TENT (IAN cuts through the tent, and sneaks up behind the guard. However, the guard offers no resistance. IAN turns him over. The guard is dead, having been stabbed through the chest.) [SCENE_BREAK] 2. THE BAMBOO FOREST (ACOMAT and the MONGOL warriors are hidden in the bamboo forest. ACOMAT turns to the Mongol warrior next to him.) ACOMAT: Are the men in position? MONGOL: The caravan is surrounded, my lord. ACOMAT: Do they know the signal to attack? MONGOL: Each one has been told that lord Tegana will wave a burning torch. ACOMAT: Then we shall watch for it. [SCENE_BREAK] 3. INTERIOR - TIME TRAVELLERS' TENT (IAN rushes back into the time travellers' tent. The others immediately note his agitated state.) DOCTOR: What's the matter? Did you kill him? IAN: No, of course not. He was dead. BARBARA: Dead? IAN: Yes, he's been stabbed. BARBARA: Bandits? IAN: They must be just on the point of attacking us. SUSAN: Grandfather, what are we going to do? DOCTOR: Well, continue with our plan, get the keys, and get out of here as soon as possible. SUSAN: (Looking out the tent.) Tegana! IAN: We're already too late, Doctor. The only thing I can do now is warn Marco. BARBARA: Be careful, Ian. IAN: I will. (IAN rushes out of the tent.) [SCENE_BREAK] 4. MARCO POLO'S TENT (IAN creeps into POLO's tent, and attempts to wake POLO.) IAN: Marco, Marco... wake up. (POLO mumbles, reaching for his sword.) IAN: No, no, it's all right. (POLO turns sleepily towards IAN.) IAN: Marco, the guard's dead, I think we're
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.