Review The Macra Terror (1967)

Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Macra Terror Animation is Edited.........


The new issue of DWM arrived today, with a piece about the Macra animation. It includes a little item that the Doctor's make over in the "rough and tumble machine" is missing from the animation. Charles Norton says "I know a lot of people won't like it, but we had to cut a chunk out of the scene. It's our only big dialogue cut, but it would have been totally impractical to keep it as it was. There was just too much work involved for the timescale we had. And it's just a bit of frippery, isn't it?"
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Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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Charles Norton says "I know a lot of people won't like it, but we had to cut a chunk out of the scene. It's our only big dialogue cut, but it would have been totally impractical to keep it as it was. There was just too much work involved for the timescale we had. And it's just a bit of frippery, isn't it?"
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Between 9:03 - 10:05 is what seems to have been chopped.......


'Let me out of here!' asks the Doctor. 'I'm done to a turn.' He steps from the machine looking immaculate. As Ben and Polly laugh at him he eagerly enters the 'rough and tumble' machine. He emerges looking like his old self. 'That's more like it!'


 
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johnnybear

johnnybear

Member: Rank 6
A bit of a cheek but what can you expect from the BBC! I got my DWM mag on Wednesday but still haven't opened it, which is odd because it used to be the highlight of my week! but not since they smothered it's pages with Mrs.Who propaganda!
JB
 
Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
I flipped through the latest mag in the shop with Macra on the cover and noticed that they seem to be deliberately making as few references to the Jodie era of WHO as they can. In fact, this issue is heavily, overwhelmingly devoted to Classic Who. And two letters on the letters page even reference how anti-men series 11 seemed to be, plus another letter saying that they have gone completely the wrong way about having a female Doctor. To my knowledge this is the first wisps of criticism that has appeared in the mag at all of this new "golden era" and suggests that dropping sales of the mag have scared the shit out of them. One would suspect that they are trying to win older, disillusioned fans back.
 
Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
  • Alternative Black and White presentation: The full four-part animation is also available to view in an alternative black and white format on disc 2.

I don't think either colour or b/w is in 4.3 though. Only 16:9 for both versions
 
Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
We could always imagine that that's the giant Queen Macra that we never got to see!

Damned BBC budgets!!

I can't see Polly fighting it in a powerloader though. And I doubt that Ian Stuart Black would have been permitted to use the word "bitch" at that time of day either.
 
ant-mac

ant-mac

Member: Rank 9
Doctor Omega said:
We could always imagine that that's the giant Queen Macra that we never got to see!

Damned BBC budgets!!

I can't see Polly fighting it in a powerloader though. And I doubt that Ian Stuart Black would have been permitted to use the word "bitch" at that time of day either.
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Actually, upon reflection, I think it bears a closer resemblance to the Macra seen in New Who...
 
Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
I have seen episode one of the animated version so far.

I actually really like it and think that it is one of the best animations so far. The snipping out of any material is unforgivable though, but the telesnap reconstruction, also present, is completely uncut at least.

I can see the quandary that faced the animators. Be absolutely faithful to the original production - or create a MACRA TERROR that the original makers would have happily have made, if they had had the resources. As the above video points out, they seem to have gone for a compromise of the telesnaps matching up with artistic licence improving the backgrounds - and particularly the Macra themselves - elsewhere.

Overall, based on the first episode, I feel as though I watched an actual episode of something, rather than just seeing the audio with some clumsy animation stuck over it as I often felt with others, including POWER.

Based on that feeling (and just the one episode so far) I think the approach of a compromised "visual faithfulness at times/artistic licence at others" pretty much works and an animated Macra that will work for new and future generations has been achieved.

Just a shame about that damned edited scene.
 
ant-mac

ant-mac

Member: Rank 9
Doctor Omega said:
I have seen episode one of the animated version so far.

I actually really like it and think that it is one of the best animations so far. The snipping out of any material is unforgivable though, but the telesnap reconstruction, also present, is completely uncut at least.

I can see the quandary that faced the animators. Be absolutely faithful to the original production - or create a MACRA TERROR that the original makers would have happily have made, if they had had the resources. As the above video points out, they seem to have gone for a compromise of the telesnaps matching up with artistic licence improving the backgrounds - and particularly the Macra themselves - elsewhere.

Overall, based on the first episode, I feel as though I watched an actual episode of something, rather than just seeing the audio with some clumsy animation stuck over it as I often felt with others, including POWER.

Based on that feeling (and just the one episode so far) I think the approach of a compromised "visual faithfulness at times/artistic licence at others" pretty much works and an animated Macra that will work for new and future generations has been achieved.

Just a shame about that damned edited scene.
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I know what you mean about POWER...

There were one or two moments that just didn't quite seem to fit.

As if the animators forgot just how long ago it was made and how the makers back then saw the future and the limitations they had...
 
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