The Macra Terror Episode 2

The one where Ben turns bad guy...

Although there isn't much opportunity for the guest cast to make a huge impression (The Macra Terror isn't the most character-driven serial), Trevor Lodge does his best to make poor old Medok a rounded, sympathetic character. The viewer knows he's telling the truth about the creatures he sees, and the Doctor knows he's right too. But Medok isn't your run-of-the-mill rebel; once he knows the Doctor believes him, he realises that he'd be more useful free than incarcerated alongside him, so tells the Pilot that the Doctor is innocent.

We later see Medok in the hospital undergoing correction treatment, and the telesnaps make this look pretty awful, as if someone's beating him while he's hung upside down, but I'm sure that wasn't the case! Lodge's performance is heartfelt and truthful, making him a character we can relate to and care about, unlike almost everybody else in the colony. Patrick Troughton shares some lovely scenes with him, particularly when Medok insists the Doctor wasn't helping him.

Troughton really comes into his own in this episode, bumbling into the Pilot's office, commenting on how nice it is, and investigating the advanced technology about the place. Of course, what the Doctor's really doing is snooping, as we later discover when he starts dismantling the devices which subliminally control the population. He hears the voice intoning its orders to the sleeping Polly, and instructs her to think for herself and make her own decisions rather than accept what she's told. Great advice for young viewers too.

The somnambulant tones of Denis Goacher's voice are sinister, as it subliminally instructs the slumbering companions to obey and work hard for the colony, accompanied by sleeping gas. We also learn in this episode that the colony was founded on a requirement that the population should have a life of "healthy happiness", which again foreshadows The Happiness Patrol 21 years later, especially when Pilot insists that maintaining that happiness sometimes requires force. For Ola and his guards, read Daisy K and her leggy gendarmes.

Goacher's vocal performance leaps to the opposite extreme when the controller starts spouting propaganda about what the colonists should and shouldn't believe. I suspect director John Davies shot this with close-ups on a picture of controller Graham Leaman's face as the voice hysterically screams: "This is an emergency! No-one in the colony believes in Macra! There is no such thing as Macra! Macra do not exist... There are no Macra!"

The subliminal messages succeed in brainwashing Ben, who turns into a hard-line colonist and calls Ola in on the Doctor when he destroys the speaker system. It's startling to have one of the Doctor's companions turn against him (I wondered if this was the first time this happened, but then remembered Dodo in The War Machines), and Michael Craze gives a fantastic performance as the altered Ben, putting on a totally different voice, removing Ben's usual Cockney accent and replacing it with a more authoritative RP.

The attack by the Macra on Ben and Polly in the tunnels would probably be more effective if it weren't for Dudley Simpson's parping electronic score, which also went some way to undermining the tension in The Underwater Menace. It is a prolonged attack by at least two creatures, during which time the brainwashed Ben goes from denying the Macra exist (despite the evidence of his eyes) to helping Polly escape from their clutches. However, when questioned back at the Pilot's office, Ben reverts back to denying the Macra were there, showing just how strong a hold the subliminal messages have on him. It's heartbreaking to have a companion move to the "dark side", and is particularly frustrating for Polly.

At the end of the episode we get to see the real face of the controller - not handsome and proud, as in the still photos, but elderly, emaciated and haggard. Quite why the Macra allow everybody to see the real controller upon request is unclear, and a little too convenient. It feels like Ian Stuart Black makes the reveal just to create a cliffhanger, although when it comes - a giant Macra claw grabbing the controller round the throat - it's a real doozy. "Macra! They're in control!" screams Polly. Polly does a lot of screaming and weeping in this story, reverting to basic type, which is a shame when you remember the good work done with her in stories such as The Smugglers and The Highlanders.

First broadcast: March 18th, 1967

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Michael Craze gets to flex his acting chops by making brainwashed Ben a totally different character to the familiar chirpy Cockney.
The Bad: I'm not a fan of Dudley Simpson's electronic score, which doesn't accentuate the darker scenes enough for my liking.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

NEXT TIME: Episode 3...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 1; Episode 3; Episode 4

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-macra-terror.html

The Macra Terror is available on BBC soundtrack CD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Macra-Terror-Doctor-Stuart-2001-05-01/dp/B01K3N3EH4