The Macra Terror (1967) Review

The barber's just come for another visit.

Most of The Macra Terror isn't terribly exciting. The monster is suitably creepy(and ironically everything that Doctor Who swore not to stand for in its early days) and the hypnosis angle is still new at this point, but basically, all that happens for 4 episodes is: "The Doctor and co find suspicious stuff, go to see suspicious stuff, find Macra. Cliffhanger." rinse and repeat with the Doctor's exploration of the colony's pipework thrown in. Ooh, exciting. Things do perk up in Episode 4 as I'll explain in a moment.

CHARACTERS

Patrick Troughton continues the new, strong Second Doctor performance that he started in the last story. His easygoing jokes are still here(I loved it when he gave himself 11/10 for solving an equation) and so is his oddness(oh sure Ben, I'll tell you all about my anti-colony plans), but like all good Doctors, his will is unquestionable.

Ben gets something to do, at last. He is hypnotised by the Macra and tries to actually stop his friends from doing whatever it is they're doing(the pipework drama is hard to follow).

Polly has a really awful haircut(hey, I'm all for pixie hair, but it just doesn't suit her at all) and spends most of her time going "oh, Doctor, it was awful". She too, continues her performance from last time unfortunately. Oh well.

Jamie has this really hilarious scene where he introduces the Highland flip dance or whatever. He also likes taking care of Polly, which really adds to the character. He's a very good companion. I wish he came back for a cameo or a tribute story.

The guest stars are all relatively decent. The idea of talking to a photograph comes across really well(the Controller's face gains a lot of spirit during the course of 4 episodes). The Pilot is a nice person, but like Ben, he's hypnotised. Ola is the evil fat guy(no offense) who goes along with whomever gives him powahh.

PLOT

The TARDIS lands on a human colony that's been hypnotised by the Macra to serve them, complete with cheerleaders(love the cheerleaders). They try to hypnotise the Doctor and co as well, but only succeed with indoctrinating Ben. For no real reason, after the Doctor and co prove that they want to take down the Controller, they're allowed to walk about freely and end up discovering a complex piping system that provides gas for the Macra and air for the rest of the colony. They take away the Macra's air I think and somehow... blow them up. I don't know, I'm just guessing.
As the story ends, the Doctor is forced to escape from the colony before he gets promoted leader(haha, it happens even in the 60s). He does this by singing and dancing his friends away with him Pied Piper style. If any episode of this story should be there, it's this one.

NOTES

*Seriously, even Ola complains about the Doctor and co being free all the time. Why? They're prisoners! Why doesn't anyone lock them up?!

*Much of the music in this story's a racket.

*The Macra are the most boring villains since the Voord. We learn nothing about them. They're just "evil bacteria" things.

*I love the scene where the Macra force the old Controller(wait, if they can use the console and speak on their own, why even keep him alive?) to talk. You can hear them off-screen being like: "c'mon, you idiot, tell them we're not here!"

*Why are some of the Macra in the mines? Heck, what are they even doing?!

*The moment a character gets outside of the main building, they end up in the old house. Cheap, huh. I shouldn't be surprised, given that they've moved back to the crappy Lime Grove Studios from Season 1.

*So the Doctor is given the chance to administrate his friends down in the mine. Does he leap at the chance to figure something out and take it? Noooo, he gives the job to Polly. Polly actually has to convince him to think!

*Ben and Polly are leaving just in time. I've gotten tired of both characters. Ben's just... aimless and Polly's become a whiner. So here's to the next story. With... *sigh* one remaining episode and five recons. GOD... damn these recons are making me mad! And you know what? The story after that has one remaining episode and SIX recons! And unlike the recons of the past, these show actors barely being able to move in their cupboard-sized sets instead of evoking that "oh, what am I missing!" feel.
This should be known amongst Doctor Who circles as the Season Of Hell.

BEST LINE

"Old? What do you mean, old, Jamie? I'm not old!"

CONCLUSION

Besides the funny conclusion, there's really nothing memorable about this story. It certainly didn't warrant a new series sequel. But there's nothing awful about it either. It's just forgettable.