Last year Doctor Who fans were blessed by the return of nine completely missing stories from The Second Doctor era back to the BBC. The lesser known of the two was The Enemy of the World. The Enemy of the World had never received much appreciation from fandom due to the fact it is overshadowed by everything else in that season and that five parts were missing. In the recent DWM poll it was the most improved Doctor Who Story which is such a testament to how under appreciated the lost stories of this era are. I had always loved The Enemy of the World, even before it had been discovered and I was only really able to listen to the soundtrack; The Macra Terror comes into a similar category as The Enemy of the World.
The Macra Terror feels forgotten by Doctor Who fans. The only thing people really remember from it are The Macra, namely due to their surprise (and welcomed) return in Gridlock. These were the third monster (following the Daleks and the Cybermen) to feature in the series and then come back. They are interesting monster and it is a shame we cannot see the original story as despite the fact they probably may have looked quite clunky they are actually a very good monster.
The story sees the TARDIS land on an Earth colony (like The Power of the Daleks three stories before this). The first episode portrays this happy jolly perfect place where the companions are very willing to stay at. However as we delve deeper into the story we realise that the place is too perfect and that there is something deadly going on. By episode three we learn how The Macra had infiltrated the workings on the colony and now are controlling the entire thing. There is a funny scene in Episode Four were the narration between segments of the soundtrack states that the Macra control buttons and controls with grace - I suspect it would not look like that but I leave that up to my imagination.
This is probably the best story for the Polly, Ben and Jamie trio as Jamie feels forced on in all the stories prior to this (as he was) and in the following story Polly and Ben are hardly in it. It is this story however we begin to see the transition from the nervous Scot to the Jamie which we know of from seasons five and six. Ben is very good in this, despite being controlled for a couple of episodes. All three serve a purpose and work well here. Patrick Troughton is now firmly comfortable in the roll now and it seems like The Moonbase has calmed this Doctor down into the typical Second Doctor.
Unfortunately I cannot add much more since we do not have the complete visuals to be able to analyse production and direction but this is a thoroughly enjoyable story bringing about an interesting monster and giving the companions very good treatment. It is so good to listen to them having so much fun in episode one whilst The Doctor investigates. It is this and Fury from the Deep I want back next. Both these stories I suspect will jump up greatly in fandom and will receive the respect they deserve.
9/10