Day 156: The Macra Terror Episode 4

About a week ago, I made some comments about Jamie, and how it was difficult for writers to cope with him as this meant that there were now two young male protagonists, meaning that the TARDIS has become rather crowded. But here, roles are found for both Ben and Jamie, and their roles can be defined more easily. Jamie forms the action hero, being courageous and sticking up for himself in moments of peril. He is the one to whom many of the action sequences in this story occur, and he is able to go along with them well. Ben, on the other hand, is able to be influenced by the evil Macra and brainwashed by them to do their will. This means that the more familiar character is put into a position that the audience is unfamiliar with them keeping, and so the audience is able to realise the power of the Macra, given that they can take something that is familiar and make it unfamiliar, something that couldn't be done with Jamie or any other supporting character, as then we wouldn't feel the connection that we do with Ben. But this also means that Jamie is able to become a more trusted figure, which means that he has finally settled into the role of companion to the Doctor, and so we can now look forward to many more adventures with the Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie, together in the TARDIS.