10 Failed Doctor Who Movies (And Why They Didn't Happen)

10. Disney's Adaptation Of Marco Polo

One of the first Doctor Who adventures to land on British TV screens, Marco Polo was the fourth serial of William Hartnell's inaugural run as the grumpy old Time Lord, first broadcast in February 1964.

A straightforward historical adventure, the story followed the Doctor and his companions as they landed in the Himalayas in 1289, where they encountered Marco Polo and attempted to stop Tegana, who was plotting to assassinate Kublai Khan.

The serial was well-received by critics, with the final chapter being watched by 10.4 million viewers in the UK, the joint-highest figure for the show at the time. Possibly as a result of its popularity, Disney contacted the BBC in the 1960s and enquired about making a feature film based on the serial, but this is as far as the idea got, and no major movie developments were made.

Yeah, because Disney is absolutely desperate for more popular IP, right?

Authored by Danny Meegan

Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.

First Posted On: 4th Dec 2019

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