The Macra Terror

"There's no such thing as Macra!"

Writer: Ian Stuart Black
Format: TV Animation
Released: March 2019
Season: 4.07

Featuring: Second Doctor, Polly, Ben, Jamie

Synopsis

The Doctor and his companions arrive on a human colony in the far flung future which outwardly appears to be happy and carefree. But behind its cheerful exterior, the colony has been secretly infiltrated by a race of giant parasitic creatures called Macra. They brainwash the human colonists to mine toxic gas in the levels below the colony. Ruling the settlement from a control centre in the heart of the main city, they scuttle around at night looking for food. The Doctor's friend Ben is soon taken over by the Macra and under their malign influence, he turns against the Doctor. As their influence spreads, the Doctor sets out to bring an end to the Macra terror...

Verdict

The Macra Terror was an excellent animated reconstruction of the now long-lost Classisms adventure! When I first watched the recons from Loose Canon six or so years ago, this was probably one of my least favourite tales of the Second Doctor. However, the beauty of the animation reconstruction format was on full display here as I loved what I watched! This serial is the reason why Classic TV stories have dominated my blog over the past week or so as I have wanted to watch this one since it was released. Upon finding it was on BritBox, I couldn't help but take up the free trial and also blog a number of other stories. I must admit that if I had the preference before watching, I would have watched the animation in black and white but without such an option on the streaming service, I watched it in colour and I have to say I absolutely loved it. It really did feel like a brand new and modern Second Doctor animation which was magnificent. It looked very impressive! I do have one little issue with what we saw and that was in the design of the Macra itself. I felt it resembled a spider a bit too much and after looking at the image of the infamous prop used for television, I think it was a bit too big and wide. I can appreciate what was being attempted though for the remake. I really enjoyed Ben's story in this serial with him being subjected to the Macra and the brainwashing on hand from Control. Jamie waking up mid-brain wash was great and the dynamic of just having Ben being subjected was excellent. The atmosphere in the story was outstanding and the use of the music was terrific. It felt unlike any other Classic adventure which gave it a unique feel. The initial arrival to the Colony for the TARDIS quartet was really good and I thoroughly enjoyed the pace. It worked effortlessly well over the four parts and whilst the cliffhangers were somewhat similar, they were still effective. Polly's look is quite different to what I would normally associate her with and it's good for this animation to being able to fill the gap with some visuals. The story with Medok was good and I liked how quickly the Doctor was getting his hands dirty and not exactly staying quiet after his arrival at a clearly trepidatious environment. Ola was another good and conniving character and the animation for his face was impressive in capturing his obvious distain. The Pilot was magnificent throughout and it was fantastic for him to finally come around and go against Control. The way Control was handled throughout the serial was excellent and the desperation of the Macra in the fourth part was palpable. It was a sight to behold and when they caught on to what the Doctor's plan was whilst Ben had finally shaken off the Macra effects, they were practically begging for survival. The way they were used throughout the serial was actually sporadic and that made them pretty effective, but by the end they were quite amusing. I'd have loved to have seen that final scene for real from the 1967 story. As such, we are unable to do so, but this animation brings us something close which is a real treat.

Rating: 9/10