It's really a shame that Marco Polo only exists as a recon. This is definitely the best serial I've seen so far(yes, better than The Daleks). The story flows nicely, the pacing is some of the best I've ever seen and it feels like a long and fulfilling journey(the Indiana Jones-esque maps + Marco's voiceover helped).
I loved the fact that the story had no alien influence in it whatsoever. The Doctor and his companions merely get caught up in the events of the past and spend the entire time working their way back out. Just what a proper historical should be like(not giant bees and invisible monsters).
My one complaint is that the Doctor is virtually non-existent in this story. I can see this incarnation prefers to work behind the scenes and here it's literal. He barely even showed up and when he did, it was usually in the background.
The main focus of the story is on Ian and Marco Polo. And that's not bad in itself since Ian is a very strong character and this story reinforces it tenfold. His heroism is believable and he's a great role model for kids.
Marco is presented very believably. He isn't exactly the most likable person and he never actually becomes friends with the crew, but you can see he's got morals and tries to follow them to the best of his ability. He also represents how people's minds worked in the 1200s.
Tegana was a chilling, slippery villain. His picture should be in the dictionary next to the word insidious. If only I could've actually seen him act... great casting here. You just see him and you know, "that's a villain, man."
Susan had some character development here with a girl named Ping-Cho who was forced to marry an old guy. That was rather nice. She also became a bit braver and learned a few lessons about wandering off.
Barbara... still nothing.
Overall, I thought it was brilliantly done. It seemed a bit slow at times and the ending was very rushed, they sort of just got into the TARDIS after the final action scene and disappeared.
Despite what I said above about pacing, it seemed like a few episodes too long, just like The Daleks. Fortunately, this one never got boring.
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