Previously on Doctor Who… The Macra Terror episodes 1 & 2.

The Macra Terror is a 4-part early Doctor Who adventure that is completely missing from the BBC archives.

In order to watch the serial, I’ve found the “Loose Cannon” reconstructed version of the adventure.  This version employs the audio of the story matched against telesnap (still images), descriptive text captions, existing footage where available, and sometimes a little added pieces of CGI/animation.

The final two episodes of The Macra Terror continued in the same style.

Ben is brainwashed into betraying his friends, which is well handled.

The “holiday camp” setting for the story isn’t played on strongly enough to give the contrast to the threat, although it does go some way towards explaining the brainwashing that no one questions.

The Macra didn’t do anywhere near as much as I thought they’d do, and it largely ended up similar to that Star Trek episode I mentioned previously.

I recall enjoying the audio, but on-screen the Macra are largely absent and it’s hard to understand how they managed to enslave the colony – a bit like wondering how the mad scientist had enslaved the fish people in The Underwater Menace.  I guess using your own imagination when listening to the audio somehow enhances the Macra’s presence.

Next time … The Faceless Ones