Synopsis:
Medok and the Doctor are about to change their hiding place to another empty cabin when they see a huge black shape with glowing eyes, crawling steadily towards them...
The creature vanishes into the night, but the two men have been spotted by Ola. He refuses to listen to Medok's claims about seeing a monster and arrests them both - the Doctor accused of breaching curfew and of being in the company of a wanted man.
The Doctor is taken to see the Pilot who dismisses Ola, intending to question him himself. The Doctor is fascinated by the monitoring system which allows the Pilot to see the entire Colony.
Ola returns with Medok, who wishes to make a statement. He claims that the Doctor was actually trying to get him to give himself up, until Ola interrupted them and refused to let him explain.
The Pilot orders that the Doctor go free whilst Medok is returned to the hospital for "correction".
Concerned when the Pilot talks about everyone in the Colony having to conform, the Pilot explains to the Doctor that it was founded centuries ago by people from Earth, who valued hard work alongside a happy and healthy lifestyle, and they simply wish to uphold their ancestors' values.
After the Doctor has been sent to his rest quarters, the Pilot communicates with Control. It insists that there are no such thing as the creatures Medok claims to have seen - Macra - and the strangers must be conditioned whilst they sleep tonight, in order that they obey the rules of the Colony.
As his companions sleep, they are subjected to a hypnotic voice which accompanies a gas. Jamie wakes before this can affect him, instinctively recognising the voice as "evil", but Ben sleeps on.
The Doctor sabotages the mechanism responsible for this in Polly's cubicle, then goes to do the same for Ben and Jamie. It has failed to work on the young Scot, but Ben angrily challenges him - accusing him of damaging Colony property and breaking its laws, which he is now compelled to report.
Ola and his guards are summoned, and Ben claims that the Doctor needs correction more than Medok does.
He, meanwhile, has been subjected to various hypnotic processes at the hospital, but they have all failed to make him withdraw his claims about the Macra.
As the Doctor and Jamie are taken away, Polly runs off and Ben gives chase. He catches up with her at the building site. Polly sees one of the giant crab-like monsters but Ben refuses to believe her - until he also sees them and they come under attack.
The Doctor discovers that the Pilot is also subjected to mental conditioning through a mechanism in his quarters - which he promptly sabotages.
Ola then brings Ben and Polly to the office as the young man wishes to report what he has just seen outside. However, under questioning Ben begins to change his story - denying that he has seen any creatures.
The Pilot assures everyone that Control looks after the well-being of everyone in the Colony and there can be no threat. The Doctor and Polly challenge this - asking to see Control. The static photograph of the stern-looking man appears on the office screen, but Jamie insists he doesn't really exist. They ask to speak to the Controller in person.
The photograph disappears, to be replaced with live images of a gaunt man in dishevelled uniform. He is clearly terrified and unsure of what he can say - speaking to someone or something out of shot. Suddenly a huge crab-like claw reaches into view, to seize him and pull him away.
Polly screams that the Macra are in control of the colony...
Written by Ian Stuart Black
Recorded: Saturday 11th March 1967 - Lime Grove Studio D
First broadcast: 5:50pm, 18th March 1967
Ratings: 7.9 million / AI 48
Designer: Kenneth Sharp
Director: John Davies
Critique:
Only one Macra was built for the story - created at their Uxbridge workshop by Shawcraft Models. Innes Lloyd was shocked to see the invoice for this prop as it cost roughly the same as a small family car at the time. It was some 10 feet in circumference and could only be moved when loaded onto the back of a truck. Colour footage exists of the prop during its construction - the "Follow That Dalek" super-8 mm film which featured on the DVD of The Chase and also appears as an extra on the animated version of this story. Made from fibreglass, it was brown in colour, with inflatable bladders built into the shell which could be used to simulate breathing. Horse hair bristles gave additional texture, and the eyes on stalks contained lightbulbs.
It was designed to be operated by one man - Robert Jewell, who was an experienced Dalek operator - who could manipulate the large claws, as well as a pair of smaller claws on either side of the mouth.
Pipes would be used to pump out slime from the base of the prop.
The prop had not been available for the Radio Times photographer to capture in publicity photographs.
Only one official image of the creature exists - standing outside in a car park in broad daylight. This was taken on 6th March.
Apparently some local children who observed this shoot found the prop funny rather than scary.
Lloyd had wanted some "beauty and the beast" style images, with a couple of young women posing with the creature (just as the female Guardians had bee pictured posing with one of the Monoids as publicity for The Ark). The producer was unhappy when his request wasn't followed - especially once he had discovered the cost of the prop.
Relations with Shawcraft were becoming strained, and would break down almost entirely in the next few weeks.
The draft script differed from the broadcast version in that the Doctor was originally to have been taken to the hospital with Medok (then named Medoc). Various brainwashing techniques were tried on him - all to no effect, so he was instead sent to work in the mines.
The Pilot in this version was known as the "Prime-Minister" of the Colony.
During rehearsals for this episode, Sandra Bryant asked to be released from her contracted role as Chicki to take up another job offer. This was agreed, and the character would be played by another actress in Episode 4.
Frazer Hines missed some of the rehearsals to film at Gatwick Airport for the following story - presumably the shots of Jamie wandering alone around the airport in its second episode.
Recording at Lime Grove took place between 8.30 - 9.45pm on Friday 11th March, starting with a filmed reprise of the Doctor and Medok witnessing the Macra from the end of the previous instalment.
The main new set was the Pilot's office, which had a large back projection screen to show the Controller images, as had the sets from the previous week.
Two of the planned recording breaks allowed the regulars to move between sleeping cubicles, whilst the final one took place after Ben and Polly had been attacked by the Macra.
For this, some of the action was shot via gimballed mirrors, which could be manipulated to make it look as if the largely immobile prop was moving.
All three companion actors reported subsequently that they had to throw themselves into the creature's grasp to make it looked like they had been seized, such was its lack of manoeuvrability.
At other times the claws, which could be detached, were handled separately by studio crew.
One of the subjects Ian Stuart Black wanted to write about in this story was something he had touched on before. In The War Machines, WOTAN functions by mentally subjugating people - making them wish to work for it and even lay their life down for it, as can be seen when one worker calmly stands and allows himself to be gassed by one of the Machines.
As previously mentioned, Black had contributed to TV spy series, and the subject of brainwashing often arose in this genre. Captured agents might be subjected to mental torture to provide information, whilst others might be made to turn against their own people - most famously seen in Richard Conden's 1959 novel The Manchurian Candidate, filmed in 1962. It forms a significant part of Len Deighton's The Ipcress File (1962), filmed with Michael Caine as spy Harry Palmer in 1965. Indeed, "IPCRESS" proves to be an acronym - Induction of Psychoneurosis by Conditioned Reflex under Stress.
This episode shows Medok undergoing procedures similar to that seen in the Palmer movie, including strobe lighting effects which wouldn't be allowed to be broadcast these days.
The Doctor's view on such conditioning is made very clear. The reasons for him being cut off from his own people are still a couple of years away, but we can start to see possible reasons here, such as his dislike of conformity and authority.
He tells his companion:
"Polly, I think you've been listening to some very bad advice", and, "Well it's just possible that you've been given a series of orders while you've been asleep. You know, do this, do that, do the other thing. My advice to you is don't do anything of the sort. Don't just be obedient. Always make up your own mind". He's a bit of a rebel.
Unfortunately for him - but not for the narrative - the Doctor is too late to stop Ben falling under the influence of Control. We'll talk about the young Able Seaman next time, as this very much develops to become Michael Craze's story.
- The viewing figures remain stable from the opening episode, though the appreciation index drops two points.
- Doctor Who was the third most watched children's series in March 1967, behind Disney Time and puppet pigs Pinky & Perky.
- Some very brief clips of the Macra attack on Ben and Polly from this episode survive, thanks to those Australian censors.
- Whilst the music for this story was composed by Dudley Simpson, and realised by Delia Derbyshire, the jingles heard throughout - such as at shift changes - were written by vocalist Wilfred Johns.
- One of Doctor Who's competitors at this point was a sitcom about time travel - It's About Time - which was being shown in Wales and the West of England. The main competition remained camp caped crusader Batman.
- One of those "things that make no sense": if the Macra don't want anyone to know what's really going on here, why do they allow the Controller to be seen in his haggard form, and then reveal themselves by dragging him away in full view of everyone?
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