# Marco Polo (1982)

> A 13th-century Venetian explorer journeys across Asia in an effort to link the civilizations of China and Europe through trade.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/6050

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 8
- Episode runtime: 71 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, adventure, history
- Network: Rai 1
- Cast: Ken Marshall, Denholm Elliott, Tony Vogel, Donato Castellaneta, Giovanni Massa, Salvatore Puntillo, Enzo Robutti, Maria Pia Colonnello
- TMDB rating: 7.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083446/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: epic, earnest, adventurous, wondrous, intriguing

## Synopsis

Marco Polo (1982-1983) is an Italian and Indian co-produced historical adventure miniseries broadcast on Rai 1, created in a single eight-episode run. Ken Marshall plays the Venetian explorer Marco Polo, whose ambition is to connect the civilizations of China and Europe through trade, and Denholm Elliott plays his father Niccolò Polo, with Tony Vogel as the uncle Matteo. The engine of the story is the long, dangerous journey itself: a merchant family navigating unfamiliar courts, rival factions, shifting alliances and the hazards of the road, with each episode built around a new negotiation, obstacle or encounter at the edge of a foreign empire. Its shape is that of a single continuing expedition told across eight episodes of about seventy-one minutes each. The setting is thirteenth-century Asia, moving from Venice into the sprawling domains of the East, rendered with a grand, sweeping sense of scale. The tone is earnest and epic, combining wonder at distant cultures with the weight of political intrigue and personal loyalty. Fans of Shogun, Kingdom of Heaven and the 2014 Marco Polo series will find resonance in its blend of cross-cultural adventure and period grandeur.

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