"Did you hear that rhyme? The man who wrote that ought to be sent to the Danger Gang - not us."
TECHNICAL SPECS: Missing from the archives except for some very brief clips, I supplemented my experience of this episode with a reconstruction. First aired Mar.25 1967.
IN THIS ONE... Betrayed by Ben, the Doctor, Polly and Jamie are set to work in the gas mines.
REVIEW: Though it's not yet a cliché, it will be - the Doctor and his companions spend their time in captivity during the third episode of a four-part story as a way to pad the story out. At least it's not a matter of escaping only to be captured again by episode's end. Our heroes are put to work in the Colony, one by choice (Ben) and the rest by force. There's a lot of technical business that shows how dangerous mining the Macra's yum-yum gas is, and it all resolves in a stare-down between the mighty crabs and Jamie in a tinfoil apron, but very little happens to advance the plot. Even the bits where the Doctor works out what's happening is based on nonsense math and engineering. At least Troughton's Doctor keeps the bafflegab vague, so it's never too annoying.
What makes the episode worth watching/listening to anyway is Troughton (no surprise there). He puts on a childish act that affords him every chance at comic business. He has fun working out the mining formula, covets a gas mask as if it were a hat, argues over who should be Danger Gang supervisor (not him until Jamie hints he could use the position to commit sabotage), and critiques the Colony's jingles. On the more serious side, he plays host to Ben's slow deprogramming, asking all the right questions, but never pushing his young friend. It's times like these you can't believe the BBC wiped so many of his performances.
As for the Colony, I was right - the Macra did make them forget everything that happened, so it really doesn't matter to them if they show up on CCTV. We get a few more jingles and the Colonists are heard to speak in slogans and platitudes. I know what it reminds me of! The Paranoia RPG! Obviously, it used all the same utopian source material this did, but had the whimsy and comedy too. The Computer/Control is my friend! And in the place of Friend Computer, the Colony has the Macra, who are thankfully shot in shadow once again. There's every reason to believe that no matter how naff the actual prop might have been, John Davies knew how to direct the bloody great things.
THEORIES: So now you know why the devolved Macra who made a cameo in Gridlock were doing in New Earth's smog. They eat gas! Just how they became the giant smog vermin of the universe is theorizing for another day.
VERSIONS: Animated Marca don't need to stick too closely to the shadows because they look good, and the sets are bigger than they really were, but the animators didn't go too far. It still looks of a piece with the surrounding material. I like the bit where they have the Doctor writing on a window pane, but the original where he's writing on a pipe is more anarchic and therefore better. For simplicity's sake, there are no costume changes except Ben's, so no shiny apron for Jamie. Medok's corpse is turned into green goo.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium - More or less limited to the TARDISeers' punishment for poking their nose in, the plot could stand a little more movement. There are still bits and pieces to enjoy, especially Troughton's performance.
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