"There's No Such Thing As Macra..." Well, Now There is!

[BritishSeaPower]

Announced yesterday, https://www.doctorwho.tv/news/?arti...macra-terror-to-be-released-on-dvd-and-bluray

Brand new animation of missing Doctor Who serial The Macra Terror to be released on DVD and Blu-ray
The missing episodes have been animated for the first time and will be released on DVD, Blu-ray, special edition Steelbook and digital download.

The four 25 minute missing episodes of the Doctor Who serial The Macra Terror, which were originally part of Doctor Who’s (now mostly lost) fourth season, have been animated for the first time and will be released on DVD, Blu-ray, special edition Steelbook and digital download.

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Well, there it is! The Macra Terror is being animated. This marks the second fully-missing episode to be animated, which I wonder is a sign that we can expect one of these every ~2 or so years as to get us the complete set of serials.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Sweet. I've always been interested in seeing the story properly since I've only seen a fan reconstruction. I wonder if my opinion of the story will improve with a proper viewing like it did with Enemy of the World, which went from "meh" to "one of my favorite Second Doctor serials."

Aside from that infamous Polly screaming moment, of course.

 

[Mr Awe]

Fantastic! Looking forward to it!

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

So, The Macra Terror was 100% lost?

Would they completely recreate a serial in animation if, say, half of it was missing, or do you think they'd just do up the missing bits?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

All four episodes are lost, although there are a few clips that still exist in various condition, including the aforementioned infamous Polly scream.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Awesome! Can't wait to get it.

 

[Christopher]

Would they completely recreate a serial in animation if, say, half of it was missing, or do you think they'd just do up the missing bits?

There are already several partially complete serials that have had the missing episodes animated -- "The Reign of Terror," "The Tenth Planet," "The Moonbase," "The Ice Warriors," "The Invasion" (which was the first one they did), and "Shada."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_missing_episodes#Animated_episodes

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

There are already several partially complete serials that have had the missing episodes animated -- "The Reign of Terror," "The Tenth Planet," "The Moonbase," "The Ice Warriors," "The Invasion" (which was the first one they did), and "Shada."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_missing_episodes#Animated_episodes

Have you seen them? Does the transitioning between live & animated take you out of the story at all?

I've seen that finished version of Shada, and it's a little disconcerting. I prefered the fully "animated" version with McGann, as much as I love Tom Baker.

 

[Christopher]

Have you seen them? Does the transitioning between live & animated take you out of the story at all?

"Shada" is the only one where the transitions occur within episodes; the rest are complete live-action episodes interspersed with full animated episodes. And of course the transition takes some getting used to, but it's possible to get used to most anything. The bigger problem is that the animation is generally not that great.

 

[Mr Awe]

Everyone's mileage will vary, but personally I don't find the transitions between live action and animated to be distracting at all. Particularly not in the majority of stories where entire episodes are either live action or animated. However, even in Shada, where it would transition back and forth, I didn't find it to be a problem. Maybe the first transition got my attention a bit, but even before you start watching, you know that's going to happen.

Mainly, I'm just glad to be able to see these episodes! I can't seem to get into the reconstructions much and find that the animation really helps me. The animation isn't always great (OK, almost always isn't), but it's miles better than reconstructions. With the animation, I feel like I know what the story was like when it existed in its entirety. Again, YMMV!

 

[diankra]

Slightly dubious about this one; those who saw it recall Macra having an unusual, disturbing directorial style thay may not be recreated.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

"Shada" is the only one where the transitions occur within episodes; the rest are complete live-action episodes interspersed with full animated episodes. And of course the transition takes some getting used to, but it's possible to get used to most anything. The bigger problem is that the animation is generally not that great.

I also have the blu-ray of the last known release of Metropolis with the 16mm Argentinian footage. Very little of that added footage was particularly important to the plot, and it was definitely jarring to me. Of course it has the remastered/re-recorded soundtrack, so that's a plus over previous DVD releases.

 

[BritishSeaPower]

It’s interesting that they’ve moved onto another “Season 4” story for Troughton.

While Seasons 3 and 4 were hurt the worst, I’m surprised they didn’t animate the few with missing episodes but almost complete. If they’re going Macra and they did Power of the Daleks, do they fully animate Marco Polo and roll out Hartnell Season 1?

 

[Christopher]

It’s interesting that they’ve moved onto another “Season 4” story for Troughton.

It was suggested to me that that might because it lets them reuse their Doctor, Ben, and Polly models from "The Power of the Daleks," thereby saving some money. "Macra" is the only other wholly missing serial featuring those characters.

 

[Nightowl1701]

It was suggested to me that that might because it lets them reuse their Doctor, Ben, and Polly models from "The Power of the Daleks," thereby saving some money. "Macra" is the only other wholly missing serial featuring those characters.

Oh? What about "The Highlanders," Jamie's debut story right after "Power?"

 

[Christopher]

Oh? What about "The Highlanders," Jamie's debut story right after "Power?"

Oh, right. That's the other one, but it's a historical, so they probably figure there'd be less demand for it. So what I was really thinking was "the only other wholly missing sci-fi serial featuring those characters," but I lost track of my thought process.

 

[Nightowl1701]

They're going to have to tackle the historicals eventually if they want complete season sets. With the missing bits of 'The Reign of Terror' already animated, 'Marco Polo', in one form or another, is all that stands in the way of a Hartnell Season 1 BR. (And only two parts of 'The Crusade' to get Season 2!) So that's got to be top of the demand list for the next project if nothing from it's been recovered.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Oh, right. That's the other one, but it's a historical, so they probably figure there'd be less demand for it. So what I was really thinking was "the only other wholly missing sci-fi serial featuring those characters," but I lost track of my thought process.

I would think there would be more demand for it because it's Jamie's first story and because it's a historical and the last pure one until Black Orchid more than a decade later. All The Macra Terror is known for are the giant crab monsters and Polly's over-the-top screaming.

 

[BritishSeaPower]

It was suggested to me that that might because it lets them reuse their Doctor, Ben, and Polly models from "The Power of the Daleks," thereby saving some money. "Macra" is the only other wholly missing serial featuring those characters.

That makes a lot of sense.

They're going to have to tackle the historicals eventually if they want complete season sets. With the missing bits of 'The Reign of Terror' already animated, 'Marco Polo', in one form or another, is all that stands in the way of a Hartnell Season 1 BR. (And only two parts of 'The Crusade' to get Season 2!) So that's got to be top of the demand list for the next project if nothing from it's been recovered.

Yeah, that's what I'm imagining.

I do think Marco Polo is a hard sell, even though it would go a longer way to wrap up a blu-ray of Season 1. Highlanders is saved by being Jaime's debut and if they keep the same team, we're not too far from a complete "Season 4." Although, I think we can all do without The Smugglers. ;-)

 

[Christopher]

I would think there would be more demand for it because it's Jamie's first story and because it's a historical and the last pure one until Black Orchid more than a decade later.

For dedicated fans and people interested in the series's history, sure. But that's presumably not a large enough segment of the audience to make it profitable. As far as the general, more casual viewing public is concerned, a purely historical story with no science fiction elements wouldn't be as popular. That's why the show stopped making pure historicals in the first place.

All The Macra Terror is known for are the giant crab monsters and Polly's over-the-top screaming.

I expressed curiosity on Facebook over why "Macra" would've been chosen, and to my surprise, I got replies from both Gary Russell and Robert Shearman saying it was one of the best Troughton stories.