The Macra Terror - Episode 1

This is sadly another story that doesn’t exist at all. It’s the third story to be written by Ian Stuart Black and at the end of the previous episode we got to see a claw and it would have been nice to see what was on the end of the claw but sadly we won’t be able to. What’s odd when listening to this is that the mystery would have been somewhat subdued due to the rather annoying perky music. The music does have a purpose and that is to help create an atmosphere that immediately looks false. I must say that despite the annoying music, the atmosphere feels different to previous stories as there is a sense that the Doctor and friends have stumbled across a potential revolution. The Doctor and company are so preoccupied with getting a makeover, that the claw almost seems to be forgotten apart from a brief mention when they first land. It’s nearly two thirds into the episode before it’s properly mentioned.

As we don’t have any video evidence of what the Macra look like we are left with the pictures and I was looking at the picture whilst listening to Anneke Wills reading the narration that made this cliffhanger somewhat better than it looked on TV. I suppose that there are some benefits to not having things on TV. The setting is somewhat of a thing for me as I felt that it seemed very similar to The Underwater Menace although its probably a darker setting than Atlantis and more grown-up.

Like the Underwater Menace there is a gentle pace to the first episode. It doesn’t rush itself and I quite like that. Even though there is nothing to look at during this episode the story was working enough to keep my attention and I think that all that stuff to do with them getting a makeover was designed purely to pad the episode out a bit and keep things ticking along before the final stages of the episode. I thought that the regulars all performed well and the supporting cast all did well with what wasn’t the greatest set of supporting characters ever devised. I thought that Gertan Klauber as Ola was a particular highlight and think that we will prove to be quite fun to listen to over the next three episodes. A good opening episode and hopefully listening to this story again will elevate my appreciation. But I’m not holding out much hope though.