Marco Polo


 * You may be looking for the television story of the same name.

Marco Polo (born 1252) was a Venetian trader and explorer who, with his father Niccolò and his uncle Maffeo, was one of the first Westerners to travel the Silk Road to Cathay. By his twenty-fifth birthday in 1277, he had come into the service of Kublai Khan. (DW: "The Roof of the World")

He encountered the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan in 1289 and promptly seized the Doctor's TARDIS as a gift for the Khan. He hoped it would be sufficiently impressive to buy his way out of the Khan's service so he could return home. The Doctor and his companions were forced to make a long overland journey with Polo, during which time they got to know him well. (DW: Marco Polo)

Behind the scenes
Marco Polo offers a clear example of how Doctor Who universe history differs from real world history. According to real world history, Polo was born in 1254. However, the first episode of Marco Polo explicitly tells us that he turned twenty-five in 1277, meaning that in the Doctor Who universe Marco Polo was born in 1252.