Doctor Who: The Macra Terror (Revisited), Parts Three and Four

Part Three

"We are all happy to work..."

Three episodes in, and The Macra Terror feels like a totally different story with visuals, especially in an episodelike thiswhere the TARDIS crew (minus that snitch Ben) are put to highly dangerous slave labour in the mines, even if the Doctor does have it rather cushy by acting as "supervisor".

It's true, perhaps, that this is not the most visually arresting episode, consisting mainly of dangerous and back breaking sweatshop labour in the "pit". But it doesn't half help in following the plot.

There's some good drama, and good acting from Michael Craze, as Ben struggles against his conditioning, lots of the Doctor being mischievous, and a scary cliffhanger, but this is treading water somewhat.

Part Four

"We want something gay and cheerful!"

It's a pity, I suppose, how a story with such a great concept sags so noticeably in its third episode, as this final episode piles on the revelations and the drama. The revelation that the planet is literally controlled by parasites that look like an STD is full of all sorts of potential for political the political subtext of your choice. It's a nice touch that, even after being given their freedom, the colinists are still a cultural desert, a nightmare of forced jollity and cheery songs even without the giant crabs. No wonder this uniquely anarchic Doctor can't wait to be rid of the place.

Again, though, the visuals are great. Somehow I suspect the wiped original wouldn't have featured all those Macra in the control room, er, controlling things. Conversely, it's a pity we don't get to see Frazer Hines' actual attempt at the Highland Fling.

But there's Troughton, too. This is very much the early, anarchic, slightly sinister if not for the innocence, "I would like a hat like that" Second Doctor. He's great, but the actual footage would be priceless,

Doctor Who: The Macra Terror (Revisited), Parts One and Two

Part One

"Well, this is gay."

The animation begins with the rather relevant reprise from the end of The Moonbase, showing us how the TARDIS regulars are to be animated. It's all mostly pretty good, and the Doctor is very good. But Polly isn't quite right. The animation works, the visual storytelling is very good, but it has its limitations.

Still, it's great to have visuals and actually understand what's going on for the long stretches without dialogue. The storytelling is rather nice; we meet Medok first, suggesting something wrong with the colony, and there are hints from the beginning that things are quite right with all this creepy conformity.

The visuals here- so important in these early stories as Patrick Troughton evolves his performance into what it would become- shows that this is still the elfin, nimble, unpredictable and mischievous Doctor of the early stories- anarchistic, openly and cheerfully resistant to authority, and at times seeming not enormously trustworthy. The animation leans nicely into this.

Part Two

"They're in controooool!"

The opening titles have been nicely colourised for this animation, with animation of Troughton's face and the colour scheme being the same as Pertwee, belatedly showing me what should have been the obvious fact that Pertwee's era, despite the big changes, would eventually keep Troughton's opening titles for four years.

This episode is much talkier and hence less absolutely dependent on the visuals, with the Kafkaesque tyranny of the colony becoming more and more apparent as Ben is brainwashed and Medok sentenced to hard labour for life. The sequence with the Controller is animated superbly for effect, and I suspect the Macra look far much better here than they would have at the time.

I'm rather enjoying this, if mostly because I'm reminded what a brilliant, politically clever story this is.

Doctor Who: The Macra Terror

Part One


"Would you call these ladies off? I'm frightened of what they might do to me."


It's times like the start of this story that I wish I was coming to these stories completely fresh, without the accumulated little bits of knowledge you pick up by osmosis from being a fan. Then I'd probably be saying things like "How shocking! They've changed the title sequence! And it's got the Doctor's face in it. This is clearly part of Lloyd's face agenda. Bring back the swirly things!" but alas, I can't.

Ah, Peter Jeffreys. Splendid! The story starts off well, with a society which seems all happy and shiny on the surface but you know something's not right- after all, what could possibly be more horrifying or sinister than the holiday camp style scenes of forced jollity we see here? "You will have fun! That's an order!" Semi-repressed memories of hearing S Club 7 at university club nights and having to dance to it are surfacing here. Truly chilling. And the muzak is suitably horrible too. Although these early scenes are not too dissimilar in terms of basic structure to Ian Stuart Black's earlier The Savages.

I couldn't resist a slight raising of the eyebrow at the Doctor's saying "Well, this is gay!", but this is very good indeed, however obviously based on both Brave New World (the drugging and parasitism) and 1984 (the totalitarianism) the premise may be. The Doctor's anarchistic streak comes splendidly to the fore here as he instinctively releases Medok before he even knows what's going on. The revelations are unfolding nicely and gradually and the creepy, totalitarian atmosphere builds up. There's a touch of the real life contemporary Soviet Union in the "psychological treatment" of the dissident Medok. This is very good indeed. And at the end we even get a bit of not-very-good footage.


Part Two

"There is no such thing as Macra! Macra do not exist! There are no Macra!"


The Macra's eyes are clearly headlights, but I'm willing to overlook the rubbishness of the monster as everything else is bloody fantastic. Lots of nice touches illustrate just how repressive this society is- the Pilot has a "viewing machine", a kind of panopticon, which allows him to see exactly what everybody is doing. One thing that grates with me here is the way Medok gets the Doctor off the hook too easily, but generally this episode basically serves to ratchet up the totalitarianism. The Pilot says of Medok "He will co-operate and he will obey orders. He'll be just like the rest of us."

The deep sleep gas and "thinking tablets" raise the stakes brilliantly, and the Doctor's speech to Polly about thinking for herself is great. The only disturbing thing about this whole sequence is Jamie's statement that he'll take orders from no one "but the Doctor"!

The script's treatment of Ben and the lines he's given are actually quite clever. In real life many people, perhaps even most people, react as he does, accepting things at face value without questioning why.

Once again, the episode ends with some actual footage of our crap monster. It's interesting that Polly, such a strong character a few minutes earlier as she resisted the mind control, is now screaming her lungs out!


Part Three

"The voices are here to help us. They are our friends."


Our heroes have been caught, and sent to what is essentially the gulag. Fascinating that this was written at the height of the cold war.

We get lots of short snippets of off-air footage this episode, which show us very clearly all the facial acting from Troughton that we're missing. Troughton is great explaining how he worked out the formula, every inch the genius who likes to play the fool.

I'm not sure about "Officia" as a name! But apart from this we get another excellent episode. The plot's ticking along nicely- in fact very nicely for a third episode- the TARDISeers are all well used, and the cliffhanger is excellent.


Part Four


"The colony's in the hands of grotesque insects!"


Much as I'm loving the story- and, incidentally, the splendid new Loose Cannon recon which makes my hiatus almost worth it- I have to admit that it's probably improved by our not being able to see the full awfulness of the Macra in all their moving glory. Still, another great episode. The Doctor gets a nice line to Polly: "I'm sure there's no need to be afraid. Well, I think there's no need to be afraid."

Surely the colony cheerleaders are the most terrifying and spine-chilling thing we've seen in all of Doctor Who so far? My intense dislike of anything that smacks of forced jollity means I'm probably genetically designed to love this story, but even so, the song they perform is genuinely sinister.

There's a slight potential worry that occurs to me once we realise the full situation- the Macra, native to this planet, are acting as parasites on the human colonists. This threatens to raise the obvious colonial issues, but I think the story gets away with it- the Macra aren't shown as oppressed native peoples but rather as predators with the humans essentially caught in their web. Also, I suppose it helps that the overall tone of the story is far from reactionary.

Another great line from the Doctor; "Bad laws were meant to be broken!"




Overall, superb. Well plotted, great lines, all of the regulars being well-characterised and given plenty to do- no easy feat with this TARDIS crew- and some truly literate and thought-provoking sci-fi themes. 5/5.

Doctor Who: The Romans

The Slave Traders

"There's a great difference between resting and... being sort of bone idle."


So, falling off a cliff can be felt inside the Ship. No doubt this will be adhered to with absolute consistency from now on.

The early scenes are fun, and do the important job of establishing Vicki very quickly by having a whole month pass. One comment by Barbara to Vicki raises an eyebrow though- "Are you any good at dressmaking?". 1964 suddenly feels a long time ago- I'm reminded of the episode of Torchwood with the time travellers from the 1950s.

Hartnell mispronounces Ian's surname for the first time in ages, but generally spends the whole story being superb. If there's one thing he does really well, it's comedy. It's also noticeable how differently he acts towards Vicki than towards Susan- much more fond and indulgent, with none of the friction we're used to, continuing the process of the Doctor becoming ever more likeable.

Dennis Spooner seems to have officially founded Ian and Barbara shipping here; they're clearly a couple by now. I love the "fridge" line. It's very noticeable that Spooner has produced a much more overtly comedic script than with The Reign of Terror, using tragic elements to counterbalance the comedy rather than vice versa.

All Roads Lead to Rome

"You know, I'm so consistently outwitting the opposition, I tend to forget the delights and satisfactions of the art, the gentle art, of fisticuffs!"


The Doctor's fight with Ascaris is hilarious, played with perfect comic timing by Hartnell. With this episode it becomes clear that the story is to be a tightly plotted farce, with the TARDISeers forever just missing each other. The story is not without a sense of threat, but it never loses the sense of being a comedy, and ends up being fun and undemanding to watch.

Conspiracy

"Now, close your eyes and Nero will give you a big surprise!"

"Pardon?!"


Vicki's very innocent, isn't she? She's the only character forever protected from any threat or unpleasantness, able to walk around completely impervious, casually poisoning Nero along the way. Not only Maureen O'Brien but the entire cast plays it brilliantly- Hartnell, the actor playing Tigillinus with such brilliant physical comedy, and Derek Francis as Nero. The scene with Nero forcing Tigillinus to taste his poisoned drink is comedy gold, as is the entire scene with the Doctor's lyre playing.

Another namedrop from the Doctor here, this time Hans Christian Anderson.

Inferno

"I've got a friend who specialises in trouble. He dives in and usually finds a way."


I'm not sure the business about Nero setting fire to Rome is good history, but it's certainly good farce. The fun doesn't let up in the final episode- my favourite bit is the Doctor's punning to Nero on his imminent mauling in the arena. Of course, the Doctor, in changing history, seems to contradict what we were told in both The Aztecs and The Reign of Terror. But it's worth it for the moment when the Doctor starts chuckling insanely and the laughter then segues into Nero's.

The end is priceless, with the Doctor believing Ian and Barbara to have been carousing in the villa all this time. Once again Ian and Barbara seem very couply.


Overall, it may not have been big or clever but it was fun, and an admirably constructed farce. 4/5.