 |
| Marco (Mark Eden), Tegana (Derren Nesbitt) and the Doctor (William Hartnell) |
1. The Roof of the World (9.4m)
2. The Singing Sands (9.4m)
3. Five Hundred Eyes (9.4m)
4. The Wall of Lies (9.9m)
5. Rider from Shang-Tu (9.4m)
6. Mighty Kublai Khan (8.4m)
7. Assassin at Peking (10.4m)
Average audience for serial: 9.47m
William Hartnell (The Doctor) January 8th 1908 to April 23rd 1975 (heart failure after a series of strokes) For a full career biography for William Hartnell, click here.
William Russell (Ian Chesterton) November 19th 1924 to June 3rd 2024 For a full career biography for William Russell (aka Russell Enoch), click here.
Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright) December 17th 1929 to February 18th 1993 (bone cancer) For a full career biography for Jacqueline Hill, click here.
Carole Ann Ford (Susan) Born June 16th 1940 For a full career biography for Carole Ann Ford, click here.
CREDITED GUEST CAST
Gabor Baraker (Wang-Lo) June 10th 1926 to April 30th 1983
Doctor Who credits
Played: Wang-Lo in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Luigi Ferrigo in The Crusade (1965)
Career highlights
After Doctor Who, Hungarian Gabor appeared in Compact (1964), Redcap (1965), Thunderball (1965), George and the Dragon (1966), Mickey Dunne (1967), Inspector Clouseau (1968), The Champions (1968), The Saint (1969) and From a Bird's Eye View (1970).
Average audience for serial: 9.47m
- A pictorial guide to the guest cast can be found at the bottom of this entry. Read an episode-by-episode review of this story at Time Space Visualiser here!
William Hartnell (The Doctor) January 8th 1908 to April 23rd 1975 (heart failure after a series of strokes) For a full career biography for William Hartnell, click here.
William Russell (Ian Chesterton) November 19th 1924 to June 3rd 2024 For a full career biography for William Russell (aka Russell Enoch), click here.
Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright) December 17th 1929 to February 18th 1993 (bone cancer) For a full career biography for Jacqueline Hill, click here.
Carole Ann Ford (Susan) Born June 16th 1940 For a full career biography for Carole Ann Ford, click here.
CREDITED GUEST CAST
Gabor Baraker (Wang-Lo) June 10th 1926 to April 30th 1983
Doctor Who credits
Played: Wang-Lo in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Luigi Ferrigo in The Crusade (1965)
Career highlights
After Doctor Who, Hungarian Gabor appeared in Compact (1964), Redcap (1965), Thunderball (1965), George and the Dragon (1966), Mickey Dunne (1967), Inspector Clouseau (1968), The Champions (1968), The Saint (1969) and From a Bird's Eye View (1970).
Facts
Gabor's family were persecuted as Jews during the Second World War, resulting in his family's shops being confiscated and his parents and sister sent to a concentration camp. Gabor himself was sent to a Nazi labour camp, helping to construct railroads. After training as an actor, Gabor emigrated to Australia, but after buying a bicycle, he was knocked off and spent two months in hospital, where the nurses taught him to speak English. Gabor emigrated to the UK in 1962. He passed away in Algeria.
Leslie Bates (Man at Lop) Died January 14th 2014
Doctor Who credits
Played: Shadow [the one cast across the TARDIS at the end of episode 1] in An Unearthly Child (1963, uncredited)
Played: Tribesman in An Unearthly Child (1963, uncredited)
Played: Man at Lop in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Mongol warrior/ bandit in Marco Polo (1964, uncredited)
Played: Guard in The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (1966), Frontier in Space (1973, uncredited), The Green Death (1973, uncredited), Planet of the Spiders (1974, uncredited)
Played: Villager at inn/ pirate in The Smugglers (1966, uncredited)
Leslie Bates (Man at Lop) Died January 14th 2014
Doctor Who credits
Played: Shadow [the one cast across the TARDIS at the end of episode 1] in An Unearthly Child (1963, uncredited)
Played: Tribesman in An Unearthly Child (1963, uncredited)
Played: Man at Lop in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Mongol warrior/ bandit in Marco Polo (1964, uncredited)
Played: Guard in The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (1966), Frontier in Space (1973, uncredited), The Green Death (1973, uncredited), Planet of the Spiders (1974, uncredited)
Played: Villager at inn/ pirate in The Smugglers (1966, uncredited)
Played: Soldier in The Highlanders (1966/67, uncredited), The War Games (1969, uncredited), Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974, uncredited)
Played: BBC3 TV crewmember in The Daemons (1971, uncredited)
Played: Draconian in Frontier in Space (1973, uncredited)
Played: BBC3 TV crewmember in The Daemons (1971, uncredited)
Played: Draconian in Frontier in Space (1973, uncredited)
Played: Exxilon in Death to the Daleks (1974, uncredited)
Played: Time Lord in The Deadly Assassin (1976, uncredited)
Played: Bi-Al member in The Invisible Enemy (1977, uncredited)
Career highlights
Other work included Barnaby Rudge (1960), The Ghost Sonata (1962), Moonstrike (1963), Adam Adamant Lives! (1966), The Newcomers (1966/67), Ivanhoe (1970), Moonbase 3 (1973), David Copperfield (1974) and George and Mildred (1978), as well as 13 episodes of Z Cars between 1962-77.
Paul Carson (Ling-Tau) August 18th 1934 to February 3rd 1989
Career highlights
Later appeared in No Hiding Place (1964), Love Story (1964), A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) and You Only Live Twice (1967).
Career highlights
Other work included Barnaby Rudge (1960), The Ghost Sonata (1962), Moonstrike (1963), Adam Adamant Lives! (1966), The Newcomers (1966/67), Ivanhoe (1970), Moonbase 3 (1973), David Copperfield (1974) and George and Mildred (1978), as well as 13 episodes of Z Cars between 1962-77.
Paul Carson (Ling-Tau) August 18th 1934 to February 3rd 1989
Career highlights
Later appeared in No Hiding Place (1964), Love Story (1964), A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) and You Only Live Twice (1967).
Facts
Born in the USA, Paul moved to Tokyo in 1951 when he was 17 and became drama critic of the Nippon Times before returning to the States in 1953. After several years in the US Air Force, he then moved to the UK in 1959 and became an actor until retiring from the profession in 1975. He later worked as a waiter in New York and Dallas. Paul was, for a brief time, engaged to be married to Hollywood star Kim Novak. In the 1960s he was married to historian and author Annette Carson.
Claire Davenport (Empress) April 24th 1933 to February 25th 2002 (kidney failure)
Career highlights
Claire debuted in Bulldog Breed (1962), then The Rag Trade (1963, as Myrtle), The Baron (1966), Queenie's Castle (1971), On the Buses (1971/73), Shoulder to Shoulder (1974), Fawlty Towers (1975), I Didn't Know You Cared (1975-78), Couples (1976), Adventures of a Plumber's Mate (1978), Carry On Emmannuelle (1978), The Elephant Man (1980), Sink or Swim (1981), By the Sword Divided (1983-85), Alice in Wonderland (1986), Camping (1990) and The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer (1993). One of her most unusual roles was as the buxom Askajian dancer, Yarna d'al' Gargan, in Jabba's palace in Return of the Jedi (1983).
Facts
Before becoming an actor, Claire was a teacher in the late 1950s. A series of strokes in the 1990s hampered her acting career.
Mark Eden (Marco Polo) February 14th 1928 to January 1st 2021 (Alzheimer's Disease)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Marco Polo in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Donald Baverstock in An Adventure in Space and Time (2013)
Career highlights
Mark debuted in Quatermass and the Pit (1958), then took roles in The Password is Courage (1962), Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964), Catch Hand (1964), Doctor Zhivago (1965), The Prisoner (1967), Crime Buster (1968), Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968), Clouds of Witness (1972), Poldark (1975), Jesus of Nazareth (1977), The Detective (1985), Cluedo (1991), Agatha Christie's Poirot (1993), Doctors (2002/06) and Casualty (2008). His most memorable role was as the villainous Alan Bradley in Coronation Street (1986-89).
Facts
Mark received little formal education as a child as he spent two years in a tuberculosis sanatorium. His first wife was Joan Long, who went on to marry actor John Le Mesurier, while his third wife was Coronation Street actress Sue Nicholls. His granddaughter is actress Emma Griffiths Malin, best known for her role as Louise in The Cazalets. In 2013, he co-wrote a musical about the Beach Boys.
Jimmy Gardner (Chenchu) August 24th 1924 to May 3rd 2010 (pneumonia)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Chenchu in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Idmon in Underworld (1979)
Career highlights
Jimmy first appeared in Tyger's Hart (1954), then Stranger in the City (1962), The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964), The Elusive Pimpernel (1969), 10 Rillington Place (1971), The XYY Man (1977), Coronation Street (1978), The Company of Wolves (1984), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Martin Chuzzlewit (1994), My Hero (2002), Finding Neverland (2004) and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005). He played Ernie Prang, driver of the Knight Bus, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).
Facts
Before becoming an actor, Jimmy worked as both a clapper boy at Gainsborough Studios, and as playwright John Osborne's personal driver. Jimmy's father Teddy was a jockey; he won the Epsom Oaks riding Pogrom in 1922 and the 1,000 Guineas in 1923 riding Tranquil, and came second in the 1923 Epsom Derby riding Pharos. Jimmy was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal as an air gunner with No. 10 Squadron during World War Two. The medal was one of several stolen by thieves from the Yorkshire Air Museum in 2014.
Michael Guest (Mongol bandit)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Mongol bandit in Marco Polo (1964)
Tutte Lemkow (Kuiju) August 28th 1918 to November 10th 1991 (leukaemia)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Kuiju in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Ibrahim in The Crusade (1965)
Played: Cyclops in The Myth Makers (1965)
Choreographed: The Celestial Toymaker (1966)
Career highlights
Norwegian born Tutte had a long career appearing in The Lost People (1949), Moulin Rouge (1952), Hancock's Half Hour (1957), The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Moon-Spinners (1964), The Wrong Box (1966), Fiddler on the Roof (1971, as the title character), Theatre of Blood (1973), Huntingtower (1978), Sphinx (1981), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Red Sonja (1985). He was also an experienced choreographer, including on Casino Royale (1967), and helped adapt Ibsen's The Wild Duck (1983) for film, for which he was nominated for an Australian Film Institute Award.
Facts
Tutte's first wife between 1944-53 was Swedish actress Mai Zetterling, after which he married Ballet Rambert dancer Sara Luzita. A biography of Tutte's life was published in Oslo in 1989.
Zienia Merton (Ping-Cho) December 11th 1945 to September 14th 2018 (cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Ping-Cho in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Registrar in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (2009)
Career highlights
Burmese born Zienia debuted in Masters of Venus (1962), then had roles in The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling (1964), Help! (1965), The Chairman (1969), Strange Report (1969), The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), Casanova (1971), Jason King (1972), Beryl's Lot (1973), The Wilde Alliance (1978), The Other Side (1979), The History Man (1981), Bergerac (1983), The Brief (1984), Tenko (1984), Grange Hill (1985), Lovejoy (1986), Chiller (1995), Crime Traveller (1997), The Lakes (1997), Family Affairs (2000), Dinotopia (2002), Judge John Deed (2006), Coronation Street (2008), Wire in the Blood (2008), Law and Order UK (2009) and Wizards vs Aliens (2013). She regularly played Sandra Benes in 35 episodes of Space: 1999 (1975-77).
Facts
In the pilot episode of Space: 1999, the moon is blasted out of Earth's orbit on September 13th, 1999. By sad coincidence, Zienia passed away on September 14th, 19 years later. In another nice piece of closure, one of the first TV jobs Zienia had was Marco Polo, and 55 years later the very last work she completed before her death was the narration for the BBC audiobook of the Marco Polo novelisation (released posthumously).
Martin Miller (Kublai Khan) September 2nd 1899 to August 26th 1969 (heart attack)
Career highlights
Czech-born Martin's career began in Squadron Leader X (1943), then Night Boat to Dublin (1946), Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948), The Gamma People (1956), Peeping Tom (1960), Children of the Damned (1963), The Pink Panther (1963) and Department S (1969). He died just a week before his 70th birthday while filming the Michael Caine/ Omar Sharif film The Last Valley (1971) in Austria.
Facts
After fleeing from the persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany, Martin (born Rudolph Muller) established the Little Viennese Theatre in Britain in 1939. During the 1950s, he appeared in over 1,000 performances of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap as Mr Paravacini on stage. He was married to actor Hannah Norbert. While filming in Austria for the movie The Last Valley (finally released in 1971), Martin suffered a fatal heart attack. Martin's son is Daniel Miller, founder of Mute Records and the man behind the 1978 single Warm Leatherette by The Normal. He was also instrumental in the early days of synth-pop band Depeche Mode.
Derren Nesbitt (Tegana) Born June 19th 1935
Career highlights
Derren's first credit was in Sword of Freedom (1957), followed by Room at the Top (1959), Victim (1961), The Rat Catchers (1967), The Prisoner (1967), Where Eagles Dare (1968), Monte Carlo or Bust (1969), Burke and Hare (1972), Spy Story (1976), Return of the Saint (1979), The Chinese Detective (1982), Eat the Rich (1987), Bullseye! (1990), Hale and Pace (1993), Flawless (2007), Home for Christmas (2014), Tucked (2018) and The Haunting of Margam Castle (2020). He had recurring roles as Campbell Goffin in Emergency Ward 10 (1963), DCI Jordan in Special Branch (1969-70) and Judge Arnold Francis in The Courtroom (2004). He also wrote, directed and produced sex comedy The Amorous Milkman in 1975, based on his 1973 novel.
Facts
Derren's father was Harry Nesbitt, one half of a South African close harmony-singing duo (with Derren's uncle Max). Derren's career was damaged in 1973 when he was convicted of assault causing actual bodily harm on his wife, actress Anne Aubrey. He thrashed her on the bare buttocks with a leather strap after she admitted to having an affair. He was fined £250, and they divorced soon after.
Basil Tang (Office foreman) December 22nd 1912 to December 19th 2000
Doctor Who credits
Played: Office foreman in Marco Polo (1964)
Claire Davenport (Empress) April 24th 1933 to February 25th 2002 (kidney failure)
Career highlights
Claire debuted in Bulldog Breed (1962), then The Rag Trade (1963, as Myrtle), The Baron (1966), Queenie's Castle (1971), On the Buses (1971/73), Shoulder to Shoulder (1974), Fawlty Towers (1975), I Didn't Know You Cared (1975-78), Couples (1976), Adventures of a Plumber's Mate (1978), Carry On Emmannuelle (1978), The Elephant Man (1980), Sink or Swim (1981), By the Sword Divided (1983-85), Alice in Wonderland (1986), Camping (1990) and The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer (1993). One of her most unusual roles was as the buxom Askajian dancer, Yarna d'al' Gargan, in Jabba's palace in Return of the Jedi (1983).
Facts
Before becoming an actor, Claire was a teacher in the late 1950s. A series of strokes in the 1990s hampered her acting career.
Mark Eden (Marco Polo) February 14th 1928 to January 1st 2021 (Alzheimer's Disease)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Marco Polo in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Donald Baverstock in An Adventure in Space and Time (2013)
Career highlights
Mark debuted in Quatermass and the Pit (1958), then took roles in The Password is Courage (1962), Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964), Catch Hand (1964), Doctor Zhivago (1965), The Prisoner (1967), Crime Buster (1968), Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968), Clouds of Witness (1972), Poldark (1975), Jesus of Nazareth (1977), The Detective (1985), Cluedo (1991), Agatha Christie's Poirot (1993), Doctors (2002/06) and Casualty (2008). His most memorable role was as the villainous Alan Bradley in Coronation Street (1986-89).
Facts
Mark received little formal education as a child as he spent two years in a tuberculosis sanatorium. His first wife was Joan Long, who went on to marry actor John Le Mesurier, while his third wife was Coronation Street actress Sue Nicholls. His granddaughter is actress Emma Griffiths Malin, best known for her role as Louise in The Cazalets. In 2013, he co-wrote a musical about the Beach Boys.
Jimmy Gardner (Chenchu) August 24th 1924 to May 3rd 2010 (pneumonia)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Chenchu in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Idmon in Underworld (1979)
Career highlights
Jimmy first appeared in Tyger's Hart (1954), then Stranger in the City (1962), The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964), The Elusive Pimpernel (1969), 10 Rillington Place (1971), The XYY Man (1977), Coronation Street (1978), The Company of Wolves (1984), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Martin Chuzzlewit (1994), My Hero (2002), Finding Neverland (2004) and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005). He played Ernie Prang, driver of the Knight Bus, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).
Facts
Before becoming an actor, Jimmy worked as both a clapper boy at Gainsborough Studios, and as playwright John Osborne's personal driver. Jimmy's father Teddy was a jockey; he won the Epsom Oaks riding Pogrom in 1922 and the 1,000 Guineas in 1923 riding Tranquil, and came second in the 1923 Epsom Derby riding Pharos. Jimmy was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal as an air gunner with No. 10 Squadron during World War Two. The medal was one of several stolen by thieves from the Yorkshire Air Museum in 2014.
Michael Guest (Mongol bandit)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Mongol bandit in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Man-at-arms in The Crusade (1965, uncredited)
Played: Saxon hunter in The Time Meddler (1965)
Played: Interviewer in The Daleks' Master Plan (1965-66)
Career highlights
His acting debut came in Escape (1957), then Quatermass and the Pit (1958-59), Pathfinders in Space (1960), Compact (1963), R3 (1965), The Champions (1968), Menace (1970), Upstairs, Downstairs (1972), Special Branch (1974) and Dixon of Dock Green (1974/75).
O. Ikeda (Yeng)
Played: Saxon hunter in The Time Meddler (1965)
Played: Interviewer in The Daleks' Master Plan (1965-66)
Career highlights
His acting debut came in Escape (1957), then Quatermass and the Pit (1958-59), Pathfinders in Space (1960), Compact (1963), R3 (1965), The Champions (1968), Menace (1970), Upstairs, Downstairs (1972), Special Branch (1974) and Dixon of Dock Green (1974/75).
O. Ikeda (Yeng)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Yeng in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Attendant in Marco Polo (1964, uncredited)
This was his only credit.
Peter Lawrence (Vizier) September 1st 1924 to February 9th 1998 (heart attack)
Career highlights
Further work included How Green was My Valley (1960), The Arthur Askey Show (1960), The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling (1964), Department S (1969), Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1970), The Befrienders (1970), The Carnforth Practice (1974), Through the Night (1975) and The Spongers (1978). He regularly played PC Sam Moneypenny in Weavers Green (1966) and Detective Inspector Rigby in soap Crossroads (1965/72).
This was his only credit.
Peter Lawrence (Vizier) September 1st 1924 to February 9th 1998 (heart attack)
Career highlights
Further work included How Green was My Valley (1960), The Arthur Askey Show (1960), The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling (1964), Department S (1969), Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1970), The Befrienders (1970), The Carnforth Practice (1974), Through the Night (1975) and The Spongers (1978). He regularly played PC Sam Moneypenny in Weavers Green (1966) and Detective Inspector Rigby in soap Crossroads (1965/72).
Facts
It is estimated that Peter appeared in the UK touring production of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat more than 6,000 times over the decades. An obituary which appeared in the Scottish Herald claims his first film role was aged 10 in Penny Points to Heaven, as part of the Jack Lewis Singing Scholars. However, no such film exists, but there was a film called The Penny Pool, dating from 1937, featuring the Singing Scholars, which would make Peter 13 at the time. It's possible they are one and the same. Peter suffered a massive heart attack and died while holidaying in Tunisia.
Tutte Lemkow (Kuiju) August 28th 1918 to November 10th 1991 (leukaemia)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Kuiju in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Ibrahim in The Crusade (1965)
Played: Cyclops in The Myth Makers (1965)
Choreographed: The Celestial Toymaker (1966)
Career highlights
Norwegian born Tutte had a long career appearing in The Lost People (1949), Moulin Rouge (1952), Hancock's Half Hour (1957), The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Moon-Spinners (1964), The Wrong Box (1966), Fiddler on the Roof (1971, as the title character), Theatre of Blood (1973), Huntingtower (1978), Sphinx (1981), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Red Sonja (1985). He was also an experienced choreographer, including on Casino Royale (1967), and helped adapt Ibsen's The Wild Duck (1983) for film, for which he was nominated for an Australian Film Institute Award.
Facts
Tutte's first wife between 1944-53 was Swedish actress Mai Zetterling, after which he married Ballet Rambert dancer Sara Luzita. A biography of Tutte's life was published in Oslo in 1989.
Zienia Merton (Ping-Cho) December 11th 1945 to September 14th 2018 (cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Ping-Cho in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Registrar in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (2009)
Career highlights
Burmese born Zienia debuted in Masters of Venus (1962), then had roles in The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling (1964), Help! (1965), The Chairman (1969), Strange Report (1969), The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), Casanova (1971), Jason King (1972), Beryl's Lot (1973), The Wilde Alliance (1978), The Other Side (1979), The History Man (1981), Bergerac (1983), The Brief (1984), Tenko (1984), Grange Hill (1985), Lovejoy (1986), Chiller (1995), Crime Traveller (1997), The Lakes (1997), Family Affairs (2000), Dinotopia (2002), Judge John Deed (2006), Coronation Street (2008), Wire in the Blood (2008), Law and Order UK (2009) and Wizards vs Aliens (2013). She regularly played Sandra Benes in 35 episodes of Space: 1999 (1975-77).
Facts
In the pilot episode of Space: 1999, the moon is blasted out of Earth's orbit on September 13th, 1999. By sad coincidence, Zienia passed away on September 14th, 19 years later. In another nice piece of closure, one of the first TV jobs Zienia had was Marco Polo, and 55 years later the very last work she completed before her death was the narration for the BBC audiobook of the Marco Polo novelisation (released posthumously).
Martin Miller (Kublai Khan) September 2nd 1899 to August 26th 1969 (heart attack)
Career highlights
Czech-born Martin's career began in Squadron Leader X (1943), then Night Boat to Dublin (1946), Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948), The Gamma People (1956), Peeping Tom (1960), Children of the Damned (1963), The Pink Panther (1963) and Department S (1969). He died just a week before his 70th birthday while filming the Michael Caine/ Omar Sharif film The Last Valley (1971) in Austria.
Facts
After fleeing from the persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany, Martin (born Rudolph Muller) established the Little Viennese Theatre in Britain in 1939. During the 1950s, he appeared in over 1,000 performances of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap as Mr Paravacini on stage. He was married to actor Hannah Norbert. While filming in Austria for the movie The Last Valley (finally released in 1971), Martin suffered a fatal heart attack. Martin's son is Daniel Miller, founder of Mute Records and the man behind the 1978 single Warm Leatherette by The Normal. He was also instrumental in the early days of synth-pop band Depeche Mode.
Derren Nesbitt (Tegana) Born June 19th 1935
Career highlights
Derren's first credit was in Sword of Freedom (1957), followed by Room at the Top (1959), Victim (1961), The Rat Catchers (1967), The Prisoner (1967), Where Eagles Dare (1968), Monte Carlo or Bust (1969), Burke and Hare (1972), Spy Story (1976), Return of the Saint (1979), The Chinese Detective (1982), Eat the Rich (1987), Bullseye! (1990), Hale and Pace (1993), Flawless (2007), Home for Christmas (2014), Tucked (2018) and The Haunting of Margam Castle (2020). He had recurring roles as Campbell Goffin in Emergency Ward 10 (1963), DCI Jordan in Special Branch (1969-70) and Judge Arnold Francis in The Courtroom (2004). He also wrote, directed and produced sex comedy The Amorous Milkman in 1975, based on his 1973 novel.
Facts
Derren's father was Harry Nesbitt, one half of a South African close harmony-singing duo (with Derren's uncle Max). Derren's career was damaged in 1973 when he was convicted of assault causing actual bodily harm on his wife, actress Anne Aubrey. He thrashed her on the bare buttocks with a leather strap after she admitted to having an affair. He was fined £250, and they divorced soon after.
Basil Tang (Office foreman) December 22nd 1912 to December 19th 2000
Doctor Who credits
Played: Office foreman in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Passenger in The Faceless Ones (1967, uncredited)
Played: Chauffeur in The Mind of Evil (1971, uncredited)
Played: Chinese delegate in Day of the Daleks (1972, uncredited)
Played: Coolie in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977, uncredited)
Career highlights
Other work includes Adam Adamant Lives! (1966), Callan (1967), Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970) and Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977).
Philip Voss (Acomat) August 20th 1936 to November 13th 2020 (cancer and complications from coronavirus)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Acomat in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Wahed in The Dominators (1968)
Career highlights
Philip's debut came in Top Secret (1962), then Suspense (1963), No Hiding Place (1964), The Troubleshooters (1970), Elizabeth R (1971), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1973), Melissa (1974), Lillie (1978), Ladykillers (1980), Octopussy (1983), Clockwise (1986), Inspector Morse (1987), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Boon (1995), Let Them Eat Cake (1999), Fish (2000), North Square (2000), The Brides in the Bath (2003), About Time (2013) and Vicious (2013-16).
Played: Chinese delegate in Day of the Daleks (1972, uncredited)
Played: Coolie in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977, uncredited)
Career highlights
Other work includes Adam Adamant Lives! (1966), Callan (1967), Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970) and Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977).
Philip Voss (Acomat) August 20th 1936 to November 13th 2020 (cancer and complications from coronavirus)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Acomat in Marco Polo (1964)
Played: Wahed in The Dominators (1968)
Career highlights
Philip's debut came in Top Secret (1962), then Suspense (1963), No Hiding Place (1964), The Troubleshooters (1970), Elizabeth R (1971), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1973), Melissa (1974), Lillie (1978), Ladykillers (1980), Octopussy (1983), Clockwise (1986), Inspector Morse (1987), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Boon (1995), Let Them Eat Cake (1999), Fish (2000), North Square (2000), The Brides in the Bath (2003), About Time (2013) and Vicious (2013-16).
Facts
Philip's life partner was screen writer John Peacock, who wrote the screenplays for Hammer's Straight On Till Morning and To the Devil, a Daughter.
In 2014 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Philip here.
Charles Wade (Malik) April 2nd 1901 to December 14th 1968
Career highlights
Other screen work includes Red Peppers (1937), King of the Congo (1938), Send for Paul Temple (1946), Down Our Street (1949), The Gilded Cage (1955), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1956), David Copperfield (1956), Paul of Tarsus (1960), The Avengers (1961), Dixon of Dock Green (1965) and Z Cars (1967).
In 2014 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Philip here.
Charles Wade (Malik) April 2nd 1901 to December 14th 1968
Career highlights
Other screen work includes Red Peppers (1937), King of the Congo (1938), Send for Paul Temple (1946), Down Our Street (1949), The Gilded Cage (1955), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1956), David Copperfield (1956), Paul of Tarsus (1960), The Avengers (1961), Dixon of Dock Green (1965) and Z Cars (1967).
UNCREDITED GUEST CAST
Gordon Bremworth (Mongol bandit; Palace guard)
Gordon Bremworth (Mongol bandit; Palace guard)
Ronald Chee (Palace guard)
Stanley Chen (Mongol bandit) A Stanley Chen married a Leonie Robertson in Lambeth, London, in 1959. This could be him, as no other Stanley Chens come up in restricted UK BMD searches.
Su Chin (Attendant to the Empress)
Robert Chow (Traveller to Peking; Courtier)
Clem Choy (Mongol warrior; Chinese villager; Attendant to Ping-Cho; Palace guard; Litter bearer; Soldier) May 21 1944 to Dec 28 2010. A Clement C Choy married a Mary P McSweeney in Wandsworth, London, in 1967. In 2013, their son Jason completed a London to Paris sponsored cycle ride in aid of Macmillan Cancer Care, stating on his Just Giving page that he lost both his parents to cancer at a relatively young age. The site has a photo of Clem and Mary on their wedding day.
Harry Dillon (Spittoon bearer to the Khan) Harry also appeared in three episodes of the 1965 series Volpone.
Eton F'Ong (Mongol porter; Courtier)
Kay Fong (Noblewoman; Courtier)
Maung Hlashwe (Mongol porter; Courtier)
Irene Ho (Chinese villager)
John Lee (Mongolian warrior; Litter bearer; Palace guard)
Philip Lee (Palace guard)
Boon Wan Lee (Mongol porter)
Violet Leon (Chinese lady of quality; Traveller to Peking; Courtier) Violet was the great-aunt of Peter Ware, journalist on Doctor Who Magazine 2007-2023.
L.L Lim (Mongol porter) Paperwork also lists a Lloyd Lam as playing uncredited Traveller to Peking and Courtier in 'Mighty Kublai Khan'. Could Lloyd Lam and L.L Lim be one and the same?
Henry Loy (Mongol porter; Courtier) Henry and Iris could well have been related.
Iris Loy (Courtier) Iris and Henry could well have been related.
Carlton Ngui (Palace guard) Artist Marc Ngui mentions that his father was named Carlton Ngui on his website. As it is such an unusual name, it's possible this is the same man. Marc was born in Guyana and later moved to Canada.
W A Scully (Courtier)
Suk Hee S'Hng (Attendant at Wang-Lo's inn; Courtier)
Peggy Sirr (Chinese lady; Traveller to Peking; Courtier) Mar 14 1929 to Dec 5 2021. Burmese-born Peggy ran the Oriental Casting Agency between 1991-2015. She had a recurring role as Jo in the 1985-87 series The Mistress.
Doreen Tang (Attendant to the Empress) It's possible Doreen was related to Basil Tang, who was credited as playing Office foreman (see above).
Aman Tokyo (Mongol porter; Attendant at Wang-Lo's inn; Courtier)
Roy Vincente (Mongol bandit; Courtier) Died 1994. Roy worked as a stuntman on series such as Man in a Suitcase, Strange Report and The Protectors, and the Bond film You Only Live Twice.
Ying Wiu (Servant at Way Inn; Courtier)
Santos Wong (Mongol bandit; Palace guard) It's possible his name was actually Santso Wong, but there is a 'Santos' credited on Theatricalia as appearing in a production of The World of Suzie Wong at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London, in 1959, and a 'Santso' on IMDB as appearing in 1961's The Terror of the Tongs (as well as Doctor Who).
CREW
John Lucarotti (writer) May 20th 1926 to November 20th 1994 (spinal cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Wrote: Marco Polo (1964), The Aztecs (1964), The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (1966), The Ark in Space (provided idea for story, uncredited, 1975)
Career highlights
John's writing career began in 1954 with Playbill, followed by work on Tomahawk (1957), Encounter (1958), City Beneath the Sea (1962), Dimensions of Fear (1963), Secret Beneath the Sea (1963), Ghost Squad (1963), Dr Finlay's Casebook (1965), The Avengers (1961-65), The Troubleshooters (1965-70), Joe 90 (1969), Paul Temple (1971), Moonbase 3 (1973), Operation Patch (1976), Star Maidens (1976), The Onedin Line (1974/78), The Ravelled Thread (1979-80) and Into the Labyrinth (1981). He also worked for French and Swiss television.
Facts
In November 1990, John wrote a short story under the Brief Encounter banner for Doctor Who Magazine (issue 167), later to become known as The Meeting. It featured the First Doctor, and was his final completed work before his death.
Waris Hussein (director, episodes 1-3 & 5-7) Born December 9th 1938 Click here for Waris Hussein's entry on An Unearthly Child
John Crockett (director, episode 4) January 31st 1918 to October 11th 1986
Doctor Who credits
Directed: Marco Polo (episode 4, 1964), The Aztecs (1964)
Career highlights
John began his career with a travelling theatre company called The Compass Theatre, taking quality drama to people who might not ordinarily get to see it, and then he moved into directing stage productions. It was this that led to his brief TV directing career on Suspense (1963) and Compact (1964-65), after which he became an art teacher in Somerset.
Facts
John's mother was Jessie Thomson, daughter of William Sinclair Thomson, physician to Queen Victoria, while his wife was Anne Stern, daughter of Dr William Stern, who was instrumental in the development of the jet engine. Devout Catholics John and Anne spent their final years as oblates at the Benedictine monastery Prinknash Abbey in Gloucestershire, where they are now buried.
Verity Lambert (producer) November 27th 1935 to November 22nd 2007 (cancer) Click here for Verity Lambert's entry on An Unearthly Child
Mervyn Pinfield (associate producer) February 28th 1912 to May 20th 1966 Click here for Mervyn Pinfield's entry on An Unearthly Child
David Whitaker (story editor) April 18th 1928 to February 4th 1980 (lymphoma) Click here for David Whitaker's entry on An Unearthly Child
CREW
Doctor Who credits
Wrote: Marco Polo (1964), The Aztecs (1964), The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (1966), The Ark in Space (provided idea for story, uncredited, 1975)
Career highlights
John's writing career began in 1954 with Playbill, followed by work on Tomahawk (1957), Encounter (1958), City Beneath the Sea (1962), Dimensions of Fear (1963), Secret Beneath the Sea (1963), Ghost Squad (1963), Dr Finlay's Casebook (1965), The Avengers (1961-65), The Troubleshooters (1965-70), Joe 90 (1969), Paul Temple (1971), Moonbase 3 (1973), Operation Patch (1976), Star Maidens (1976), The Onedin Line (1974/78), The Ravelled Thread (1979-80) and Into the Labyrinth (1981). He also worked for French and Swiss television.
Facts
In November 1990, John wrote a short story under the Brief Encounter banner for Doctor Who Magazine (issue 167), later to become known as The Meeting. It featured the First Doctor, and was his final completed work before his death.
Waris Hussein (director, episodes 1-3 & 5-7) Born December 9th 1938 Click here for Waris Hussein's entry on An Unearthly Child
John Crockett (director, episode 4) January 31st 1918 to October 11th 1986
Doctor Who credits
Directed: Marco Polo (episode 4, 1964), The Aztecs (1964)
Career highlights
John began his career with a travelling theatre company called The Compass Theatre, taking quality drama to people who might not ordinarily get to see it, and then he moved into directing stage productions. It was this that led to his brief TV directing career on Suspense (1963) and Compact (1964-65), after which he became an art teacher in Somerset.
Facts
John's mother was Jessie Thomson, daughter of William Sinclair Thomson, physician to Queen Victoria, while his wife was Anne Stern, daughter of Dr William Stern, who was instrumental in the development of the jet engine. Devout Catholics John and Anne spent their final years as oblates at the Benedictine monastery Prinknash Abbey in Gloucestershire, where they are now buried.
Verity Lambert (producer) November 27th 1935 to November 22nd 2007 (cancer) Click here for Verity Lambert's entry on An Unearthly Child
David Whitaker (story editor) April 18th 1928 to February 4th 1980 (lymphoma) Click here for David Whitaker's entry on An Unearthly Child
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