The First 'New' Doctor Who.

[Wayne]

By the way, did you watch Joseph Furst's interview on the Underwater Menace recon? Was rather touching, I thought, especially now he's gone... shame his "Nuzzink in ze world" bit wasn't as manic as it was in 1967

Well i watched the bit at the beginning, but i didn't bother with end bit.
Superb quality recon btw, (as was 'Power')
I'm undecided whether to use recons for Web & Fury as my copies are the usual blurry, muffled affairs. I might stick with audio for the those. (Looking forward to the 'Evil' recon, though!)

[Phillip Culley]

Wayne - I can do you a much better copy of the Fury recon if you want (well, it was good enough for Mr McCow, and I know he's not the biggest fan of them!

[Wayne]

Wayne - I can do you a much better copy of the Fury recon if you want (well, it was good enough for Mr McCow, and I know he's not the biggest fan of them!

Thanks Phillip. I'd better pm you about this. I had a thread deleted today when was fishing for a copy of 'Return to Devil's End'.

[Pip Madeley]

I'd better pm you about this.

Good lad

I actually started to make my very own recon of Fury from the Deep, you know...

This is as far as I got.

[Phillip Culley]

I actually started to make my very own recon of Fury from the Deep, you know...

Oh that stuff is fun - I'm slowly working on making my own recon of The Power of the Daleks - so far I've already done a Moonbase and Macra Terror.

All vastly inferior to the work done by Loose Cannon, of course

[Pip Madeley]

Oh that stuff is fun - I'm slowly working on making my own recon of The Power of the Daleks - so far I've already done a Moonbase and Macra Terror.

All vastly inferior to the work done by Loose Cannon, of course

Thing is, trying not to be immodest, I could probably match the quality of Loose Cannon (as far as picture quality goes, not specially shot footage etc). It's just a case of taking on such a big project... maybe one day, who knows.

I thought the title sequence worked very well though.

[Stuart Wallis]

Logo's pointed out all the reasons I like The Moonbase, thanks for saving me a lot of typing. 'Tis true though. Doctor Who And The Cybermen was my first ever Who book,so whenever I listen or watch it, where relevant, I also have a little shimmer of nostalgia run through me as well.

As for watches, oh we're back to the good old days of the Beeb boards - no mention of Sc*nthorpe or Startrek actors!

[Paul Clement]

MOONBASE

The plot may be almost identical to Tenth Planet, but I'd say Moonbase was a chance for the series to do it bigger and better.
I love the multi-national nature of the Graviton crew, the Cybermen look so much better and their voices are at their scariest best in this one. The Doctor really seems set in his role by now, the Target novelisation was excellent, and the first couple of episodes are just plain creepy. Woohoo to great Doctor Who.

[Wayne]

MOONBASE

The plot may be almost identical to Tenth Planet, but I'd say Moonbase was a chance for the series to do it bigger and better.
I love the multi-national nature of the Graviton crew, the Cybermen look so much better and their voices are at their scariest best in this one. The Doctor really seems set in his role by now, the Target novelisation was excellent, and the first couple of episodes are just plain creepy. Woohoo to great Doctor Who.

Concise, but accurate! Moonbase for the next animated release!

[Paul Clement]

Concise, but accurate!

I'm a man of few words.

[Wayne]

I'm a man of few words.

It was the underlined bold title that i found ironic.

[Paul Clement]

It was the underlined bold title that i found ironic.

You can't hammer home the point enough when a story is this good.

[Wayne]

You can't hammer home the point enough when a story is this good.

Quite! Only stupid earth brains don't rate this one highly!

[Carol Baynes]

"The Five faces of Doctor Who" season was quite a special event for those who were kids at the time. Most of us were veterans of the Tom Baker years, and most younger viewers only knew Jon Pertwee through "Worzel Gummidge".
It was the first repeat 'season' wasn't it, and came at a time when the new producer was quite keen to showcase the programme's past. The departure of Tom was also a timely event when it came to watching old stories. One episode of "100,000 BC" ("An unearthly child" or whatever) was definitely broadcast on Bonfire night as I recall going outside to play with a sparkler soon after.
Anyway..."The Krotons". I immediatly appreciated how different this Doctor was to the white haired guy in the other story. Hartnell was quite something else to someone used to Tom Baker. He was an imposing teacher figure, whereas Tom had been more of a mad uncle. Troughton was more like Tom, but seemed more scatty and perhaps less prone to lunacy. I remember accepting him right away. I'm not sure I was put off by "The Krotons" as a story, but I was 9 years old or whatever...the novelty of black and white telly and that fab tube thing in episode one was enough!
It was weirder accepting Jon as the Doctor. "It's Worzel Gummidge!", I said. To my parents he was recent news, but to me anything before about 1978 was ancient history. But I did like him at lot, and the fact Jon's episodes were in colour made him seem like a 'modern' Doctor, whereas the other guys may well have lived and already died for all I knew (I wasn't entirely wrong there).

But...yep...Troughton- the 'forgotten Doctor' he will perhaps always be, and ironically one of the most important.

[Captain Tancredi]

I think the Troughton era proper begins with 'The Moonbase'- it's the first in a line of strong stories which, with one or two exceptions, pretty much runs through to the end of Season 5. That said, there are one or two moments where it's clear that they still haven't toned down the outright comedy moments- the Doctor helping himself to somebody's shoe while it's still on their foot, for example- but it's disarming that he then admits to Polly that he's playing for time and doesn't know what's causing the sickness.

Totally unrealistic that a multinational moonbase would have a British head, though- particularly with a French number 2.

[Wayne]

Totally unrealistic that a multinational moonbase would have a British head, though- particularly with a French number 2.

Good point. I guess they should've had an American & Russian?

Anyway folks, Later today i'm off for the weekend, so i'll have to resume with 'The Macra Terror' early next week.
In the meantime, perhaps Milky James can keep you entertained with his reviews.

[Jason Thompson]

The Moonbase

Things that are good:

The crew of the Moonbase. Hobson is bad tempered, but has a softer side, which is actually much more believable. You're in a remote location like the Moon, you want a boss who understands that people are still people and need to be treated as such. Cutler was just a bad tempered old git, and even the Sergeant says he works people so hard they can't stand more than a couple of months working there. How did he not have mutiny before he went bananas?

The new Cybermen are better than the first lot. I prefer the monotone delivery, and the helmet rather than the cloth face. And now they zap you with proper guns and electric sparks from the hand, rather than shining a lamp at you and putting their hands on your head and shaking them a bit as they did before!

Ralph's disappearance in the first episode. Although the video no longer exists, the audio and telesnaps suggest a nicely atmospheric scene with wonderful spooky incidental music.

The Doctor. Troughton is fully settled by this point, without a doubt.

Things that are bad (apart from the paper plate spaceships)

Oh, what are the Cybermen doing? They get Evans to take over control of the Gravitron and lock the others out of the control room. They've won. And then they go and blow a hole in the dome that causes Evans to pass out and allows the others to regain control of the gravitron. And what did they use to blast the dome when their big weapon was deflected by the gravitron?

Why can't they operate the gravitron controls themselves? The Doctor's internal monologue about there being 'gravity' in the room just makes no sense.

Not everyone takes sugar in their coffee, but what about the myriad other uses for sugar? Is that really all they need a supply of sugar for in 2020?

The Cybermen can walk in and out of the Moonbase at will, so why don't they just waltz in and take over? Need humans to operate the gravitron? No problem. Incarcerate the lot and administer the neurotropic virus by force.

What I think of The Moonbase:

It's good, isn't it? Despite all the stuff that makes no sense, it's really rather a good way to pass a couple of hours. It's a shame that half of it is missing, though I suspect the Cybermen squirting foam and writhing as they are attacked by cocktail polly (which oddly seems to be carried in plastic fire extinguishers without ill effect) will actually look rather comical on screen. And the Cybermen that attack the two guys on the lunar surface in part 2 always look to me like they should have pickaxes in their hand and be singing 'high-ho, high-ho...'.

Performances are good, sets are not too bad (though why anyone would set up a laboratory in a room full of sick people I have no idea), plot is basic but OK even if parts of it are utterly ludicrous. Overall not as bad as I had thought it was going to be.

The best thing about The Moonbase:

That wonderful publicity shot of the Cybermen with their big gun, in which one of the Cybermen can be seen strolling casually thought the background with his hands clasped behind his back...

[Wayne]

The Macra Terror

I'd really like to be able to see this story, because it sounds like a fairly good one from the audio. Ep.1 is quite intriguing from the start as the travellers arrive on the planet, & find the colony being run like a strange kind of holiday camp. It soon becomes apparent that things in the colony aren't quite right. We are introduced to Medok, who the authorities try to present as a disturbed malcontent, but after the Doctor's instinctive suspicions are aroused, he seeks out Medok, in order to hear what he has to say about what's going on in the colony. I really like the setting; the whole thing comes over quite well on audio. It has a strong 1984-ish atmosphere, & i particularly like Peter Jeffery's performance as Pilot.
In Ep.2, the 'authorities' are trying to quosh the rumours about the so called 'Macra', & Ben is affected by hypnotic suggestion in his cubicle. I really like that scene: I think i would be very susceptible to such hypnotism! Jamie seems to have a resistance to the effect, & similarly; the Doctor breaks out of his sleeping cubicle, & encourages Polly not to obey the voices she heard in her dreams, but meanwhile Ben has totally succumbed to the point of betraying the Doctor. I must admit though that i did feel that the latter half of Ep.2 suffered somewhat because of the lack of visuals, particularly when the Macra attacked Polly & Ben. But i liked the fact that even after his their encounter with the creatures, Ben still fervently denies their existence when control of his mind is reasserted, & the cliffhanger was effective enough to keep me intrigued about how things might proceed in Ep.3.
Actually, i found coming back to Ep.3 & 4 a day later a bit of a chore. It can be difficult sometimes to get the feel of the Missing Story audios, this one in particular isn't helped by the very sparse narration. There's nothing wrong with Colin Baker's narration, but there's just not much of it. This is all compounded by the fact that Ep.3 is IMO, a fairly average, runaround sort of ep that just seems to plod along...... Troughton gives an earnest performance though, & the cliffhanger does sound as though it would've been a very good one to watch!
The final episode fares a bit better; but i have the over-riding impression of a story of 2 halves, because whilst i found ep's 1 & 2 fairly interesting & enjoyable, the latter 2 eps, instead of getting more exciting, seem to flag a bit. I dunno, maybe i liked the overall concept better than the actual story, But again, it's such a shame that we're not able to experience the story as it was meant to have been experienced. Because of that, i find it difficult to put this one perspective. It's not a bad story by any means, but neither is it a great one. I feel like i should rate it higher than say 'The Underwater Menace', & if like that story, i could at least've seen one episode, then i more than likely would, But as it stands, i think i'd give the Macra Terror a comparative rating of: 6.5/10.

[Logo Polish]

The Macra Terror

The story seems, more than anything else perhaps, to be about nasty putrid things lurking behind a pretty but false outward appearance. On the surface, we have a supposedly happy-go-lucky cheerful colony, which seemingly runs on friendliness, co-operation, fun, enhancing life in various cosmetic ways (hence the grooming and beauty products which the TARDIS crew are treated to - or subjected, from the Doctor's point of view), a society which appears to be permanently on holiday.

But it soon becomes clear that your quality of life there, whether resident or visitor, is strictly dependent on various factors, most specifically to what extent you conform with (what turns out to be) the only permitted worldview, which is that the Macra don't exist. Acknowledge that there is a less pleasant side to the place, that this one particular problem is real, and you're deemed a threat to the whole fabric of this society. Your freedom is strictly conditional on belief, and whether you are amenable to having any "wrong" beliefs corrected. In that respect, the place is totaliterian, in that the whole society constitutes a gigantic denial, with its continuing existence depending on enforced conformity to that particular lie. Even the Pilot (who, it gradually becomes clear, is no more than a figurehead) is as much a victim of the system he is upholding.

This is what throws the shoddy hollowness of the society seen here into sharp relief. There are the excruciating jingles and tunes exhorting the people to enjoy and relish and be grateful for the work they have to do, the constant inducements to remain in one particular emotional state, all of it geared towards the prevention if independant thought or non-conformity. As the Doctor is seen to recognise early on, its would-be benefits are worthless ultimately. His entering the rough-and-tumble machine to get his clothes all scruffy again is a clear example of the character asserting his individualism, his reluctance to be smoothed over and brought into line.

What's interesting is to what extent the Doctor's ideals are shown to be better than the prevailing society's. He has to countermand the instruction therapy given to his companions while they sleep (a technique very similar to the hypnopedia methods Aldous Huxley makes use of in Brave New World, when imagining a society where people could be conditioned into rigid social classes) by giving instructions of his own, and Jamie's "I take orders from no-one but the Doctor" suggests the possibility that the Doctor might have similarly authoritarian instincts over his companions as the colony does over them.

On the whole though, I'd say the significant difference is that the Doctor's recommendation is to think for yourself and make your own decisions, based on what you know, which is not the same as telling someone what the end decisions they make should be. The society is advocating total submission to its authority, as seen in its initial effects on Ben when he succumbs (something which foreshadows a theme in Evil of the Daleks, a couple of stories later - indeed, it could be said that as run by Macra the colony is well on the way to being governed by the Dalek Factor, in its apparent inability to tolerate the continuing existence of those not like themselves in their midst).

It tends to become a more conventional monster runaround in its later stages, although there's still time for Jamie to get involved with a group planning a dance and song event, with its tightly controlled choreography. The dancing and singing continues afterthe parasitic regime is overthrown too, although this time (presumably) in genuine celebration, with the hope left open that in future this will be a society genuinely devoted to the pursuit of happiness rather than its pretence.

[Wayne]

'The Macra Terror' is a popular one isn't it?

[Andrew Curnow]

I didn't much take to the audio version, which was the very hissy cassette released in 1992; but I did love the book, minimal though the text was - and there is something just so haunting about the "There are no such things as Macramen" moment.

[Stephen Morgan]

I like The Macra Terror, with its themes of mind control and deep hypnosis, sinister goings on at a seemingly innocent holiday camp, this story can be quite frightening.
The theme of mind control, a favourite of writer Ian Stuart Black whose two other scripts for Doctor Who (The Savages and The War Machines) also featured some form of mind control, was certainly a stalwart of many other sixties shows, The Champions, The Avengers, The Prisoner, a theme which seemed to fit in well given the surreal nature of the times.
I don't remember much about the Macra, huge crablike monsters whose insidious omniprescence was denied by the residents of the camp, but listening to the surviving audio gives the impression of menace, which, thanks to the presence of the second doctor, is diffused with little trouble, even if under hypnosis his companions quickly turn against him.
The Macra Terror is a lost classic, and definately one I'd like to see turn up.

[SiHart]

I agree with Stephen! The Macra Terror is a big favourite here as well, though obviously we've never seen it!

I love the atmosphere o the story- the colony where everything is jolly on the outside but has a rotten core and a big secret at its centre is a great idea and the propaganda songs and jingles are incredibly sinister. I really like the censor clips too, with Anneke Wills giving her all as she throws herself into the rather static Macra! Brilliant stuff!

So defintely one I'd like to see return.

Si xx

[Stuart Wallis]

I'd like to see this one, if only to see the Macra in action. I only remember it from the cassette as well,and i think it may just lose something from not having the pictures. I've got to thinking now about whether the camp may be too tacky to be true and gives itself away,or whether it's convincing; and how the director pulls off the scene where Ben's brainwashed. The story's intriguing, the acting's reasonable, although Ben was a bit OTT once he'd been got at.

[Wayne]

Thanks all. I think as many have said, this is really a story that needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. Some of the Missing Stories can better on audio than others, but this isn't one of the better ones for that, IMO. Even having just one surviving episode would've helped a lot to get the feel of the story across better.