Stories Television Doctor Who (1963-1996) Classic Who S4 Serial: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The Macra Terror 1 image Overview Episodes Characters How to Watch Reviews 8 Statistics Related Stories Quotes 4 Transcript Overview First aired Saturday, March 11, 1967 Production Code JJ Written by Ian Stuart Black Directed by John Davies Runtime 100 minutes Time Travel Future Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) Human Colony, Mind Control, Original Song, Propaganda Inventory (Potential Spoilers!) Recorder Synopsis When the Second Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie visit a human colony that appears to be one big holiday camp, they think they have come across a truly happy place. Yet a shadowy presence soon makes them realise that the surface contentment is carefully controlled. Watch Watched Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved 4 Episodes Episode 1 Missing First aired Saturday, March 11, 1967 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Ian Stuart Black Directed by John Davies UK Viewers 8 million Appreciation Index 50 Synopsis The TARDIS arrives at a holiday camp company with the crew worried by a prediction of giant crabs and the Doctor becomes interested in the apparent madman Medok's stories of creatures that roam the colony at night. Episode 2 Missing First aired Saturday, March 18, 1967 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Ian Stuart Black Directed by John Davies UK Viewers 7.9 million Appreciation Index 48 Synopsis The Doctor is unable to convince the colonists that the Macra exist and an attempt to brainwash his companions results in Ben betraying his friends. Episode 4 Missing First aired Saturday, April 1, 1967 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Ian Stuart Black Directed by John Davies UK Viewers 8.4 million Appreciation Index 49 Synopsis The Doctor and Polly manage to save Jamie from the Macra and then try to show the Pilot who is really in charge of the colony. Episode 3 Missing First aired Saturday, March 25, 1967 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Ian Stuart Black Directed by John Davies UK Viewers 8.5 million Appreciation Index 52 Synopsis The Doctor, Polly and Jamie are sentenced to work in the pits and an escape attempt sees Ben's loyalties called into question again. Show All Episodes Characters Second Doctor Patrick Troughton Jamie McCrimmon Frazer Hines Ben Jackson Michael Craze Polly Wright Anneke Wills Macra First Appearance Show All Characters (5) How to watch The Macra Terror: Watch on iPlayer Blu-Ray The Macra Terror [Steelbook] Blu-Ray The Macra Terror DVD The Macra Terror Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Newest First Oldest First Most Likes Highest Rating Lowest Rating Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 8 reviews 16 November 2024 · 134 words Review by Dogtor Spoilers This review contains spoilers! “Well, this is gay !” Stuart Black revient poutrer le totalitarisme, et fait donc son 1984, mais il le fait avec tellement de majorettes, de danses et même de crabes géants, que le résultat est résolument unique. Mais ce qu’il y a surtout de particulièrement jouissif, c’est son Docteur qui abat des utopies, et y découvre des monstres atroces et profiteurs. Déjà le mal est moins un tas de crabes qu’un système. Mais même quand tout est beau, tout est propre, ce Docteur rejette chaque loi, même la plus insignifiante, et envoie chier toute autorité. Ici il est moins l’homme qui stoppe les monstres qu’un magnifique agitateur politique, et même le porte-voix d’une génération en lutte. Like Liked 0 19 October 2024 · 71 words Review by Bongo50 This serial has a really neat concept behind it, and it starts off quite strong, but I find that the later parts really struggle to keep my attention and I just start to become bored while watching it. On the plus side, the telesnaps and what little footage survives suggests that this serial would have been quite scary upon release and I'm a big fan of the animated reconstruction's art style. Like Liked 0 6 October 2024 · 739 words Review by Joniejoon Spoilers 1 This review contains spoilers! A story of two halves, but entertaining all the way through. Our party land on an earth colony in the far future. While the colony is peaceful and accommodating, something more seems to be going on behind the scenes. The people take all their orders from a mysterious controller, who is only shown on a screen. But who is really behind those orders? And is this society as peaceful as it looks? Let’s start with the options: This story is, once again, missing in full. But not to worry. There is a brilliant animation which isn’t necessarily faithful, but has a fantastic atmosphere. On a creative level, this is by far the strongest animation I have seen. I would give it a go if you want to experience this story yourself. Moving past that, this story takes some clear inspiration from George Orwell’s 1984, in which a future society follows orders from a mysterious man shown on a screen. Any attempts to deviate from the norm set by the mysterious leader are quashed without mercy. While this Doctor Who version is notably a bit less harsh, its cruel utopia still comes through loud and clear. It's all fairly typical: The party enters the beautiful surface level and enjoys the luxuries, but soon find a hole and look behind the curtain. They discover monstrous creatures on the outside. They discover secret mines far beneath the city. They discover the controller is nothing but a weak, old man that is used as a puppet. It's a fine setup. I like seeing the party poke holes in the system. Some of their plans succeed, while others fail with dire consequences, which makes you feel tense every time they try something new. But while I like the way this story slowly falls into place, there are 2 of the major shifts in our party’s favor that are not really earned. The first is the discovery of the “real controller”, who is an old man, tortured by the mysterious Macra. They discover him by yelling at a screen for a while. Just a few chants of “We want to see the real controller!” and bam! The Macra turn on the camera feed and reveal a major piece of their scheme. It is completely unearned. The Macra weren’t fooled or cheated out of this information. They just heard screaming and gave in. Another unearned moment shows up at the end of the story. The Doctor meets up with the captain, the man “in charge” of the settlement. A man who has been hypnotized by the Macra all his life. But for some reason, the Doctor has absolutely no trouble convincing him to shake off his programming and just follow him into the deep underground mines to discover the truth of his society. It completely undermines the blissful ignorance we’ve seen through the entire 4 parts, just so it can quickly wrap up the story. But while these moments blemish the story, they are also incredibly interesting to analyze. Without realizing it, Doctor Who has hit a bit of moral roadblock: How do you properly break down a dystopic control state? It’s something the original 1984 didn’t really have an answer for. And this story never really bothers explaining it either. It feels like the Doctor just got lucky as he suddenly convinces the captain. The Macra get scared off and everything is better now by default. Ironically, this is where the story asks us to stop thinking, as we now put one man in charge of the entire colony. And of course this is thinking way too deep about the topic, but it is interesting. We’ve seen the Doctor save plenty of civilizations, without spending any time on the fallout. The big difference is that the people here already believed they were living in a utopia. What happens to the frail excuse of “helping the oppressed” when the society doesn’t feel oppressed? How do you help the happy? It's something I don’t have a clear answer on, but it keeps nagging at my mind. This story just begs you to ask those kinds of questions. And because of that, this story has matched its inspiration. Which is quite the accomplishment! Is it perfect? No. It does dawdle, and it has the previously mentioned plot holes, but it is also thought-provoking. And that is worth quite a bit too. Like Liked 1 18 August 2024 · 216 words Review by 15thDoctor Spoilers 1 This review contains spoilers! I found the story engaging and easy to follow even without visuals. I was engrossed in the mundane and highly detailed dystopian world building. It is so perfectly summed up by mindless civilians singing "we are, we are all happy to work!" The Macra go from being portrayed as these huge crab monsters hidden away from society to super intelligent parasites which burrowed into the control centre of the entire civilisation, keeping themselves hidden through a mixture of mind control and intimidation. This works extremely well... In fact I'd go as far to say that this has shot right up my list of stories I am most desperate to see return - one day perhaps. It taps into a kind of political nightmare, the natural feeling that we could somehow become boxed in by our society and controlled by vitriolic powerful figures to live out their bidding. We get some nice moments for our companion dynamics in this story. I love how Ben is tricked into doing the Macra's bidding and how Jamie and Polly handle this. It is taking me a long time to make my way from season to season in this marathon - but stories like this is what it’s all about, rejuvenating my enthusiasm with the project. It is total classic. Like Liked 1 18 July 2024 · 120 words Review by RoseBomb Spoilers This review contains spoilers! It is a decent little story. I find it especially fun that it's sort of a take on Orwell's 1984, with The Controller standing in for Big Brother and the obvious lie the oppressed people are made to believe, to show the regime's totalitarianism and fascism, is "There's no such thing as Macra" in place of "Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia" It can drag a bit at points, however, and it is very convenient how The Doctor gets allowed full access to the mine operation room, with no supervision, which they try to address, but fail to do so convincingly, merely hinting at a loosening of The Macra's control over certain people, without ever making it explicit enough. 7/10 Like Liked 0 Show All Reviews (8) Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating339 members 3.87 / 5 Trakt.tv AVG. Rating240 votes 3.55 / 5 The Time Scales AVG. Rating147 votes 4.00 / 5 Member Statistics Watched 605 Favourited 71 Reviewed 8 Saved 2 Skipped 0 Owned 9 Related Stories The Blogs of Doom Medok Rating: ??? 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Animated Reconstructions The Macra Terror (Animated Reconstruction) Rating: 4.03 Story Skipped Animated Reviews(2) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Animated Reconstructions Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved BBC Audio Soundtracks The Macra Terror (BBC Audio Soundtrack) (2012) Rating: ??? Story Skipped Soundtrack Reviews(1) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: BBC Audio Soundtracks Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved BBC Audio Soundtracks The Macra Terror (BBC Audio Soundtrack) Rating: ??? Story Skipped Soundtrack Reviews(1) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: BBC Audio Soundtracks Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Link to Quote Favourite DOCTOR: Well, this is gay! — Second Doctor, The Macra Terror Show All Quotes (4) Open in new window Transcript Needs checking (Transcriber's note - this story only exists in audio format) Episode One [Colony entrance] (The entrance to the colony is futuristic, A crowd is watching a drum majorette perform to the accompaniment of a band. The whole place is like a holiday camp, with everyone smiling and enjoying themselves.)PILOT: Oh, splendid! Splendid! You've got a very good band there, Barney.BARNEY: Thank you, Pilot.PILOT: Mind you, I don't say you'll come first at the festival, but never say die, what? Nothing succeeds like success. If at first you don't succeedALL: Try, try, try again!PILOT: That's right.OLA: Stop him! Don't let him get out!PILOT: What's the matter? Medok!MEDOK: Let me go!PILOT: This is very foolish of you, Medok. It's for your own good.MEDOK: Out of my way!OLA: He's far too dangerous to be allowed to escape. Get after him! You should have stopped him.PILOT: What happened, Ola?OLA: He refused treatment in front of my guards so I dismissed them and he made a dash for it.PILOT: Well, get after him. He must not get away. [Countryside] Show Full Transcript Open in new window