10 Times Doctor Who Got History Totally Wrong

2. Marco Polo

Marco Polo was one of the earliest serials in the original run of Doctor Who, and the second story to be set in the past. While visiting China in 1289, the Doctor and his companions met both the Venetian merchant-explorer Marco Polo and Mongolian Emperor Kublai Khan. Following its original remit as an educational program, the story focuses on the historical period and context and avoids science fiction elements beyond establishing the Doctor and his companions's means of travelling to the past. While mostly accurate, especially considering the show's limited budget, the story's major error comes in its use of terminology. Characters- both European and Asian- frequently refer to the city of "Peking" as the serial progresses. However, as the story is set in the late 13th century, the city we now call Beijing was known as "Dadu" to the Chinese. Meanwhile, the Mongolian characters would have referred to it as "Daidu," and the Europeans would have called it "Khanbaliq." Even the Doctor's companions wouldn't have called the city "Peking." The Chinese Government began using the transliteration Beijing in 1949. The use of this name increased as China started to enforce its official name on all flights, sea routes and official documents in the following years. Because the Doctor's companions, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, were natives of 1960s England, they would have known the city by this newer transliteration. As a result none of the characters, regardless of their country of origin or the translation powers of the TARDIS, would have referred to the city as "Peking."