Day 155: The Macra Terror Episode 3

As has probably been previously mentioned, Gerry Davis and Innes Lloyd came into the series with an aim to make it more 'serious' and less frivolous, a task at which they have achieved varying success. This is partially down to their choice of writers, most prominently Ian Stuart Black, who has been able to provide simple science fiction thrillers that are able to be unlike anything else we've seen before in the series. Previously, science fiction was defined by the monsters, or perhaps the stories that were told in this location. Black starts with an idea, and then builds the story around the dissection of this idea. The Savages, for instance, takes the idea of transferring a life force and explores what this means for class systems, and is able to build in a parable about colonialism. Similarly, The Macra Terror takes the idea of a society where everybody is brainwashed into being happy, and then he explores what this idea means. He takes it to extremes, seeing how far the brainwashing will go, sees how it would work and why it would happen. He builds a society, then has the Doctor enter and explore the world. It's thoroughly entertaining to watch, because it differentiates these stories from generic science fiction, such as that seen in The Underwater Menace, and provides a thoroughly entertaining story as well.