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22 October 2014

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Doctor Who | Photonovels | The Macra Terror

Episode Four contact sheet

The old mine shaft fills with toxic gas as Jamie finds himself trapped between two advancing Macra.

Control orders that full pressure is maintained. 'Full pressure is being maintained on master control,' reports Officia. 'Reserves are standing by.'

Announcement chimes

Polly tells the Doctor the pressure readings on the control desk dials. 'Plus must be made minus,' he says, 'and minus must be made plus.'

He pauses. 'The question is, which is plus and which is minus?'

Inside the tunnel, Jamie wedges himself behind a crevice of rock.

'What are you doing?' asks Officia as the Doctor taps the pipes. The Doctor confuses Officia into inadvertently revealing which are the inflow and outflow pipes.

Officia is powerless to stop the Doctor making some swift readjustments. 'There,' the Doctor beams. 'I think you'll find I've revolutionised the entire gas flow of the Colony ...there'll be a fine old gale of fresh air blowing along the old shaft any time now.'

Officia tries to restore the gas flow and calls for a guard. The Doctor tries to buy Jamie more time by telling Polly to lock the door with Officia's keys.

In the mineshaft one of the Macra finds Jamie in his hiding place and grabs him with its claw.

Jamie struggles bravely but is dragged out into the open.

Fresh air wafts into the mineshaft and the Macra relinquishes its grip.

Jamie turns around to see the other creature become similarly motionless.

Scarcely able to believe his luck, Jamie edges around the slumped Macra and moves along the mineshaft. In the pump room, Control berates the panicking Officia.

Outside, Ola and his guards beat on the locked door. The Doctor and Polly find another exit just as the guards crash into the room. They spot the Doctor and Polly, and try to prevent them closing the door behind them.

'Go on,' the Doctor urges Polly as they try to close the door. 'Together!'

The door closes and the two relax for a moment. 'Looks rather like a cupboard with a load of pipes,' says the Doctor looking around him. The Doctor decides to follow the pipes carrying the poisonous gas, and Polly reluctantly tags along.

In the pump room, Officia restores the flow of gas to the old mineshaft. Inside the mineshaft, Jamie finds an exit that has been blocked with a metal grille.

As the familiar smell of toxic gas begins to fill the air, Jamie grabs a piece of wood and uses it to prise off the rusted grille. Jamie drops into small room on the other side, and is bemused to hear the sound of people singing.

'Whaddya know?' calls out a cheerleading young man. 'We all know Control is right and we must obey,' respond a group of beaming colonists. 'Let them know they're happy!'

Colony cheerleading

'Greet the morning with a shout!' sings the young man. 'Everyone up, the sun is out!' respond the group. 'Ra-ra-ra, ra-ra-ra, cheers for the Colony! We're the gang that works the hardest and we must obey!'

'Obey Control, ring that bell,' they chant enthusiastically. 'Ra-ra-ra, work well, ring the bell!'

'Oh that's much better,' enthuses the young man, 'but we'll do it again, and this time with more feeling. And don't forget, our job is to inspire the others – our brave workers who are doing such a dangerous job.' They repeat the chant.

'That's very good,' beams their leader. 'That's beginning to sound like something.' While he rallies the group further, Jamie gingerly makes towards the door. He is spotted by the cheerleader, and mistaken for a dancer.

'Have you got your dance ready?' asks the man. Jamie says he has, but is mortified when the man asks to see it straight away. 'And don't forget,' he says, 'you have to be very good to get into the Happy Colony Finals.' Jamie launches into an impromptu Highland Fling...

...but his attempt to escape ends with him flinging himself into Ola and a group of waiting guards.

The young man protests that Jamie is one of his dancers. 'Nonsense,' says Ola. 'He is the escaped stranger.'

Ola calls Ben into the room and orders him to identify the prisoner. The strain shows on Ben's face as he confirms the stranger's identity. Jamie is tied up and Ola orders Ben to report his capture to the Pilot.

'Jamie, I'm...' falters Ben as his friend is led away.

The Doctor follows the pipes, pausing when her hears the voice of Control ordering that 'the Doctor and the girl' must be taken dead or alive.

Polly points to a large porthole, identifying the source of the mysterious voice from behind the screen. 'He must be there.' They scale a metal ladder.

Looking through the porthole they see a Macra operating the levers of a control panel that generates the disembodied voice. 'They're like germs in the human body,' mutters the Doctor. 'They're living as parasites.'

'One system must provide them with the gas they need,' says the Doctor, 'and the other one must be an outflow.' Polly suggests they show the Pilot what they have seen and the Doctor agrees.

'I am going to report to Control that there is no discipline in the pits,' an angry Ola tells the Pilot. 'Ever since these strangers arrived here your authority in this Colony has gone to pieces.'

The Doctor and Polly appear. Ola tries to arrest them, but the Doctor defuses the situation by breezily asking the Pilot to accompany him. Control orders everyone – including the Pilot – back to work.

'Arrest the strangers! That is an order!' screams the hysterical voice. 'That doesn't sound like a man in control,' says Ben, clearly back to his old self.

The Pilot overrules Ola, who leaves to report him to Control. 'What is it you wanted to tell me?' the Pilot asks the Doctor.

The Pilot follows the Doctor. Polly tells Jamie that they must be ready to make a run for it. Both are relieved that Ben seems to be back to normal, but then they notice he has gone.

Ben crouches in the gantry of the pump room, watching as the Doctor and the Pilot approach. 'This is forbidden territory ...you're breaking the law,' wails the Pilot. 'Bad laws were made to be broken,' says the Doctor.

Ola and his guards enter the pit head. Ola informs Control that the Pilot is a traitor.

The image of the Controller appears and the voice booms, 'The Pilot has no more authority. Ola is in command.' As the Doctor and the Pilot follow the pipes, the Pilot hears Control calling for his arrest.

Announcement chimes

They arrive at the large porthole. 'They've used this Colony for their own ends, destroying you to live themselves,' says the Doctor, showing the Pilot the Macra behind the screen. 'No Doctor,' says the horrified Pilot. 'It is they who must be destroyed.'

The Macra turns to see the Doctor and the Pilot at the porthole. 'They're here!' screams the voice. 'The Pilot and the stranger – they must be destroyed!' The Doctor convinces the Pilot that he must take control.

A guard signals that the Doctor and the Pilot are returning. 'Ola,' says the Pilot, 'the Colony is in the hands of grotesque insects. They're in there – the Macra!'

'It is forbidden to say that,' booms the voice of Control. 'Don't let him say that he has seen Macra!' The Pilot is defiant, and points to the screen. 'I saw you! You are the Macra!' Control orders that the Pilot and the three strangers are to be locked in the pipe room.

'Clear the building,' Control orders Ola. 'Guards and workers are to return to the hall for music. It will take precisely four minutes and then it will be safe for everyone to return to work.'

'What can they do in four minutes?' wonders Jamie. His question is answered when they hear a rush of gas. The Doctor frantically searches for a hidden inlet. 'You cannot stop it,' says the voice, before telling them they have only four minutes left.

Above the sound of hissing gas and uncontrollable coughing, the Doctor hears Ben hitting the other side of the door. 'We've got very little time!' shouts the Doctor. 'It's all up to you!'

The Doctor tells Ben to go to the control panel and find the switch marked outflow and the switch marked inflow. 'The other stranger has recovered,' warns the voice. 'He is now dangerous. He will no longer obey Control.'

'He is no longer one of us,' shouts the voice. 'He must be stopped at once!'

Once Ben has located the switches, the Doctor tells him to find a lever in front of them. 'You must not obey the Doctor. He will kill us all!' says the voice. 'Oh shut up,' responds Ben.

'Switch on both inflow and outflow!' shouts the Doctor. 'No!' cries Control. 'The pressure would be unbearable for all – for human beings as well!'

The Doctor tells Ben to throw the lever away from him. 'No, no!' begs the voice as there is a searing flash of light and a huge explosion.

The screams of Control recede and the image of the Controller vanishes from the screen.

In the hall, a group of majorettes perform as the colonists clap along with the music.

Colony band music

'My first duty is to thank the strangers, for they have saved our colony,' announces the Pilot. 'A dance festival will be held every year in their memory, and the winners will be awarded the Strangers' Trophy.'

Ben tells the Doctor he is to become the next Pilot. 'They can't do that to me,' says an indignant Doctor. 'Take a leaf out of Jamie's book – give 'em the old dance routine!' The Doctor and his friends dance towards the door, and away from the celebrating colonists.

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