.jpg "Doctor Who: 'The Macra Terror' DVD Mock-Up")
- Broadcast:
- 11th March - 1st April 1967
- Doctor:
- Patrick Troughton
- Companions:
- Ben, Polly, Jamie
- Adversary:
- Macra, Oppressive regime
- Written by:
- Ian Stuart Black
- Director:
- John Davies
- Music:
- Dudley Simpson
- Script Editor:
- Gerry Davis
- Producer:
- Innes Lloyd
- Average Viewers:
- 8.2m (8.0, 7.9, 8.5, 8.4)
I first heard about the Macra when they featured briefly in 2007's Gridlock almost as an after thought because Russell T Davies thought it would be nice to have some proper footage of them, since their original appearance was lost and presumably gone forever. This gave them a certain amount of cult status so I was looking forward to finally seeing The Macra Terror, albeit in telesnap recon form. Fortunately, a couple of brief clips do still exist and were included, just enough to hint at how good they might have been, but also their potential to have been lumberingly inanimate. I needed to forget my hopes and expectations and view it in its own right...
As the first episode was broadcast, Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva had just defected to the USA and the Cambodian Civil War began between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge. As the serial progressed, nine executives of the German pharmaceutical company Grunenthal, creators of thalidomide, were charged with breaking drug laws (the trial wouldn't begin until the following year but would continue until December 1970 following a settlement in April that still sees the government and Grunenthal paying support to victims) Similar rulings and payments are made around the world and international drug regulations were revised as a result. The world's first supertanker, Torrey Canyon, ran aground midway between Land's End and the Scilly Isles, with around 32 million gallons of crude oil spilt, most of which ultimately headed east with a large quantity collected and dumped into a quarry in Guernsey to keep it off the beaches and still has an impact 47 years later, despite numerous clean-up attempts (suggested reading 1, 2.) Again, international regulations were changed as a result and the then little known botanist David Bellamy came to public prominence as an environmental consultant during the disaster and would go on to be a popular children's presenter in the 80s. Meanwhile, there was a military coup in Sierra Leone and a 'Be-in' in New York's Central Park consisting of 10,000 people.
In the entertainment world, The Who perform their first concert in the US, Lennon and McCartney received the Ivor Novello award for "Michelle" - Britain's most performed song in 1966 - and the Beatles as a whole posted for the "Sgt Pepper..." album cover. Just as iconically, Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar at The Astoria London. Engelbert Humperdinck's "Release Me" remained at number one throughout the serial's broadcast, while cinemas débuted the likes of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Follow Me, Boys!, and The Viking Queen which featured a certain Patrick Troughton!
Finally, on the 11th March not only introduced a new Doctor Who serial, but also ushered in a new title sequence with a squarer appearance and featuring the Doctor's face for the first time, and future friend of the Doctor and head of Torchwood John Barrowman was born.
As the first episode was broadcast, Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva had just defected to the USA and the Cambodian Civil War began between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge. As the serial progressed, nine executives of the German pharmaceutical company Grunenthal, creators of thalidomide, were charged with breaking drug laws (the trial wouldn't begin until the following year but would continue until December 1970 following a settlement in April that still sees the government and Grunenthal paying support to victims) Similar rulings and payments are made around the world and international drug regulations were revised as a result. The world's first supertanker, Torrey Canyon, ran aground midway between Land's End and the Scilly Isles, with around 32 million gallons of crude oil spilt, most of which ultimately headed east with a large quantity collected and dumped into a quarry in Guernsey to keep it off the beaches and still has an impact 47 years later, despite numerous clean-up attempts (suggested reading 1, 2.) Again, international regulations were changed as a result and the then little known botanist David Bellamy came to public prominence as an environmental consultant during the disaster and would go on to be a popular children's presenter in the 80s. Meanwhile, there was a military coup in Sierra Leone and a 'Be-in' in New York's Central Park consisting of 10,000 people.
In the entertainment world, The Who perform their first concert in the US, Lennon and McCartney received the Ivor Novello award for "Michelle" - Britain's most performed song in 1966 - and the Beatles as a whole posted for the "Sgt Pepper..." album cover. Just as iconically, Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar at The Astoria London. Engelbert Humperdinck's "Release Me" remained at number one throughout the serial's broadcast, while cinemas débuted the likes of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Follow Me, Boys!, and The Viking Queen which featured a certain Patrick Troughton!
Finally, on the 11th March not only introduced a new Doctor Who serial, but also ushered in a new title sequence with a squarer appearance and featuring the Doctor's face for the first time, and future friend of the Doctor and head of Torchwood John Barrowman was born.
.jpg "Doctor Who: 'The War Machines' BBCDVD2441")
.jpg "Doctor Who: 'The Savages' DVD Mock-Up")