The Macros

"This is the most exciting time of my life."

Writers: Ingrid Pitt & Tony Rudlin
Format: Audio
Released: June 2010
Series: Lost Stories 1.08

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis

The TARDIS materialises on the USS Eldridge, after the Philadelphia Experiment has gone disastrously wrong. Most of the crew are dead, the ship is disintegrating, and the Doctor soon realises that the problem comes from another dimension...

As they attempt to find a way to get the ship home, the Doctor and Peri visit the distant planet Capron and meet is tyrannical ruler Osloo. But the search for a possible solution only creates increasingly dire problems. Osloo's horizons have been widened – and space and time are hers for the taking...

Verdict

The Macros was an excellent audio adventure to conclude the first series of The Lost Stories! It has taken me rather a long time to complete this series and I think my blogging of The Nightmare Fair occurred a good six years ago, but better late than never! This served as a very strong finale for what was a great series. I think this one would have worked really well on television back in the 1980s as the initial premise for Season 23, but thankfully we get it reworked here. I didn't know what the Philadelphia Experiment was prior to listening, but thankfully I read the synopsis before starting and did some quick research and found myself very intrigued! I love the idea and it's a perfect place for a Doctor Who story to take place. Historical and sci-fi all blended into one very neatly here. I enjoyed the continuity with Planet of Fire here and how the Doctor was trying to take Peri back to Baltimore to let her family know that she was okay after what had occurred in Lanzarote, but he didn't quite get them there. Their arrival instead was on the USS Eldridge and I liked how they saw those that were repeating events in a loop without having any impact on their lives. Peri initially thinking she was being snubbed was very funny. I thought the adventure worked well as a two-parter and I loved how the Doctor was in his element once he found that the reason for the Philadelphia Experiment's mishaps were in another dimension. His unconvincing confidence that he could navigate the TARDIS into the micro dimension was terrific. The reference to Planet of Giants was magnificent to go alongside that. The adjustments needed to alter to the new dimension were interesting and I thought the Capron setting within was brilliant. Osloo made for a fantastic villain and I was quite shocked that when she found out that her source of authority and the planet's source of power stemmed from the Eldridge being trapped in dimensions, she wanted to extract more power and essentially put her source out of its misery and wither into nothingness! She was utterly ruthless and that made her great. I loved the cliffhanger with Peri rushing into exiting the TARDIS once back at the Eldridge and in her normal dimension as it meant she was dying, ageing and looked set for a death similar to that of Sara Kingdom in The Daleks' Master Plan. The use of the Zero Room to restore her was great along with the usual Castrovalva reference. The reactions of the Eldridge crew when the Doctor told them they had actually been trapped in their state for sixty years rather than the six months or so they had expected was brilliant and it was a very good twist finding out that there was no possible way to restore them in 1943 from when they had come. They could only get back in 2010, but that was no good with all that would have happened to their families and society. The Doctor and Peri's efforts to go back in time and to try and change history and stop the experiment altogether was a surprise because our Time Lord hero doesn't usually advocate that sort of thing! It was a nice change to be honest as the result without that was just tough to accept. Of course, they failed anyway and the Experiment went ahead. Osloo getting her horizons expanded and journeying through the dimensions to the Eldridge to see for herself what damage she was causing was excellent, but still she was seeking power for herself in the TARDIS. I loved her referring to that as a special chariot. That seemed quite a nice description. Her offering the resources to continue the experiment if the crew joined her was good, but the subtly with which the Doctor defeated her was superb. He used the dimensional effects against her and reverted both her and Bosun to babies to relive their lives again. With all that wouldn't be there for him in 2010, I thought that was nice touch for the latter. Overall, an excellent audio!

Rating: 9/10