The Macros by Ingrid Pitt & Tony Rudlin
June 2010
One thing about all these Lost Stories is that
they're somewhat on the longer side. With many of them running over two
hours, it can be a bit of a time commitment, though generally they have
enough incident to make up for this. Even though The Macros is significantly better than Mission to Magnus, I regret to say it's the first of these stories that really has noticeable pacing issues.
I was a little surprised to find that the story is based on the
"Philadelphia Experiment". This is an urban legend I've heard since I
was a kid, so it's pretty amusing that Doctor Who took a spin at it. The
opening minutes on the deck of the USS Eldridge call the beginning of Carnival of Monsters
to mind and are genuinely quite creepy and unsettling. Accordingly, I
was disappointed when this aspect of the story fell out of focus and we
started to get scenes on an alien world.
Capron isn't exactly the most lovingly sketched world we've ever seen in
Doctor Who, and the characters failed to stick with me for the most
part. The closest is the villain, Presidenta Osloo, who is at least
entertainingly evil. The rest flitted away from my mind almost as soon
as I was done.
As soon as the story shifts primarily to Capron, things become much less
interesting, with the sole real highlight being Peri getting mistaken
for an opera singer and getting ushered out on stage in front of
thousands. As a true fan, I remember Nicola's contribution to Doctor in Distress and
immediately know where this is going. Hilarity was had by all. It was
also nice to hear Peri talk about what parts of traveling with the
Doctor she actually likes, something which is far too rare. That scene was very nice.
Otherwise, there's not a whole lot else to recommend here, except the bonkers ending that prefigures Boom Town.
(Or does it post-figure it? I'm never sure what was part of the
original script or outline and what was a latter-day Big Finish
invention, for these things.)
Altogether a somewhat disappointing note to end this range on, for now.
Don't go anywhere; our round-up for this alternate Season 23 is coming
up now.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 2 June 2024.)
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