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

[The Nth Doctor]

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.

I seriously doubt anyone beyond the core fandom purchases any of the animated missing serials so I think that argument is rather moot. I don't think the general viewership is going to care that much of the difference in story of a fifty-year old, black-and-white animated story featuring a TARDIS team they probably aren't familiar with. If they've gotten that far, the nature of the story probably won't matter much. The only people who will really care is the fandom.

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.

Ah, that's good to read. Sounds like The Macra Terror might be like Enemy of the World as I described up thread.

 

[Christopher]

I seriously doubt anyone beyond the core fandom purchases any of the animated missing serials so I think that argument is rather moot.

Yeah, but it was the show's own fandom that decided 50 years ago that they'd rather see sci-fi stories than pure historicals, and since pure historicals have never yet made a comeback, evidently that preference within fandom hasn't changed.

I don't know, maybe you're right that the audience would be there either way. I'm just trying to figure out why the makers chose "Macra" over the alternatives, and one explanation might be that they believe a sci-fi serial would sell better than a pure historical, whether that belief is correct or not.

 

[VDCNI]

No. The idea that the historicals were less popular on broadcast isn't supported by fact.

Maybe they haven't sold as well on DVD, I don't know.

The audio of the Macra Terror is very good though so definitely excited to see it animated.

 

[N-121973]

No. The idea that the historicals were less popular on broadcast isn't supported by fact.

Maybe they haven't sold as well on DVD, I don't know.

The audio of the Macra Terror is very good though so definitely excited to see it animated.

Well there's long been a rumour - ever since the whole 'omni-rumour' surfaced a few years back - that Marco Polo had been recovered, or its recovery was imminent, so maybe there won't be a candidate for animation anytime soon.

Yeah, but it was the show's own fandom that decided 50 years ago that they'd rather see sci-fi stories than pure historicals, and since pure historicals have never yet made a comeback, evidently that preference within fandom hasn't changed.

I don't know, maybe you're right that the audience would be there either way. I'm just trying to figure out why the makers chose "Macra" over the alternatives, and one explanation might be that they believe a sci-fi serial would sell better than a pure historical, whether that belief is correct or not.

You say that but I seem to recall on these very boards the buzz surrounding the possibility the episode 'The Fires of Pompeii' that featured Karen Gillan and Peter Capaldi, possibly being a pure historical.

 

[Christopher]

You say that but I seem to recall on these very boards the buzz surrounding the possibility the episode 'The Fires of Pompeii' that featured Karen Gillan and Peter Capaldi, possibly being a pure historical.

But it wasn't. That's the point. Obviously there are those among us, myself included, who would like to see pure historicals again. But the active participants in a single online bulletin board are just a handful of people, not anywhere remotely close to being a statistically representative sample of the entire viewing audience. The producers and executives making the actual decisions about what kind of stories to tell surely have better ways of assessing overall audience response, and aside from "Black Orchid," they've never chosen to return to doing pure historicals. And that indicates that any anecdotal, subjective perception of "buzz" for pure historicals has not actually translated into a large-scale trend. I'd be glad if it did, but it hasn't, and facts outweigh wishful thinking.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I would hope that Jamie's introduction would trump any issues about whether the story is sci-fi or a pure historical.

 

[BritishSeaPower]

Indeed. It could inspire a whole new set of Outlander books.

 

[kirk55555]

Wow, I was hoping for another animated story but didn't know if it would happen. The last one was done well, even if I'm not a huge fan of the story the actual animation was more then acceptable as a substitute for recons of the story.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Cover art and special features revealed...

https://www.doctorwho.tv/news/?arti...amHTw4ZvDtnK0dfKLhrpOGGjQJ1Wdw-kOt5hoFw13OrFg

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Lots of great special features. I'm particularly curious about this:

• Bonus Mini-Episode: A ten-minute animated short, built around an otherwise lost Doctor Who episode from 1968 starring Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines. Directed by AnneMarie Walsh.

Edited to add: I just discovered on Amazon that it doesn't come out in the States until October!

 

[Christopher]

Lots of great special features. I'm particularly curious about this:

• Bonus Mini-Episode: A ten-minute animated short, built around an otherwise lost Doctor Who episode from 1968 starring Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines. Directed by AnneMarie Walsh.

Oh, that must be the short animated piece they did based on "The Wheel in Space": https://io9.gizmodo.com/another-tiny-slice-of-doctor-whos-missing-history-will-1830235083

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Ah, that's right. I had forgotten about that news from last year. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I mean, why is the B&W the "alternative" presentation? That's surely nonsense by any reasonable standard, no? And I'm not trying to sound like a naive, egotistical purist (which I'm not) but, shouldn't it be the primary presentation, while the color presentation should be the alternative option?

 

[Christopher]

I mean, why is the B&W the "alternative" presentation? That's surely nonsense by any reasonable standard, no? And I'm not trying to sound like a naive, egotistical purist (which I'm not) but, shouldn't it be the primary presentation, while the color presentation should be the alternative option?

Presumably because this is a commercial product and a color version is more likely to appeal to a general audience.

Although really, I have to admit that since they have to remake the whole thing from scratch anyway, I don't see any reason not to do it in color. It's not like the ones where they only have to animate a couple of episodes alongside the recovered black-and-white originals. And these animated reconstructions aren't all that convincing as recreations of the original look, so I'm fine with them not pretending to be any longer.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I'm not opposed to the color option. I am opposed to the revisionist thinking of making the color option the default one. Like it or not, the Power of the Daleks release got it best, with the color option being the second option and the B&W being the main presentation. Because lets not kid ourselves, this is how the stories were made, and its the least we can do to respect the artists that actually made the original in the first place.

 

[Christopher]

I'm not opposed to the color option. I am opposed to the revisionist thinking of making the color option the default one.

It's not revisionist thinking, it's commercial thinking. The default option is the one they think will sell the most DVDs and make them the most money. There's no value judgment involved in that beyond the value of a pound/dollar/Euro/etc.

Besides, it's not like a black-and-white animated reconstruction is any more "real" than a color animated reconstruction. If you were talking about colorizing a b&w episode, then I'd agree with your objection, because it would be altering the original. In this case, neither version is the original. So purism seems misplaced here.

Because lets not kid ourselves, this is how the stories were made, and its the least we can do to respect the artists that actually made the original in the first place.

The fact is, a lot of the "pure" things that fans want to preserve are things that the creators themselves would've gladly changed if they'd been able to -- things they had to reluctantly settle for because of the limitations they were working under. They didn't make Doctor Who in black-and-white for artistic reasons, they did it because it was the only option they had at the time. If colo(u)r TV had been available to the producers of the Hartnell or Troughton episodes, they probably would've jumped at the opportunity to use it.

 

[The Wormhole]

I mean, why is the B&W the "alternative" presentation? That's surely nonsense by any reasonable standard, no? And I'm not trying to sound like a naive, egotistical purist (which I'm not) but, shouldn't it be the primary presentation, while the color presentation should be the alternative option?

They did the same thing with Power of the Daleks, although the theatrical screenings of that one were the B&W version.

 

[N-121973]

When I first watched Power of the Daleks, I did so in colour, but last year, when I did my 'epic Doctor Who rewatch' and I reached that episode I watched the black & white DVD version. Unlike 'Power' I don't think I'll bother with the steelbook if the only additional extras are Gridlock since I've already got it and if the other extras are identical between the Blu-Ray and DVD editions I'll get the Dvd as it'll look better on my shelf with the other DVDs. In hindsight I wish I'd done that with Shada.

 

[diankra]

Unfortunately, the animation is slightly cut to save money. Which is only an irritation to purist fans... but is there any other audience for this?

 

[Qonundrum]

Unfortunately, the animation is slightly cut to save money. Which is only an irritation to purist fans... but is there any other audience for this?

New series fans who think "Gridlock" is the greatest thing since sliced bread?

And what's up with what almost feels like disdain for "purist fans"? Everyone's a fan of something. (Heck, the color options are nice to have for the animations... as well as the originals and technology has advanced enough...)