Trivia / Doctor Who S4 E7 "The Macra Terror"

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• Missing Episode: All four episodes are missing. Only a few censor clips and some off-air clips exist; the original camera scripts also exist, but they frequently diverge from what was filmed (which appears to be a result of the cast reworking their dialogue in rehearsals and the director not following the scripts particularly closely). The serial was animated in colour for a 2019 release.
• Missing Trailer Scene: The animated version omits a scene where the Doctor gets a makeover, due to budget and lack of desire to create a new character model for one scene. (The scene still appears on the DVD release, as it is included as part of the telesnap reconstruction).
• The Other Darrin: Chicki is credited to Sandra Bryant in Episode One and recast as "Karol Keyes" (actually Luan Peters) in Episode Four. Weirdly, this change was suggested by Bryant herself. It was later theorized by Doctor Who Magazine writer Jonathan Morris that Chicki may have been deleted from the script entirely prior to production after Bryant was let go. She has no lines, is not even mentioned in the script apart from being in the cast list, and does not appear in any of the telesnaps, so it is possible.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: The BBC's own website states that the sole Macra prop was repainted white to represent a different Macra in Episode 4. This would not have been possible, because the Macra prop was so large its position was given on the floor plan for the sets, so it would have been impractical to repaint it. With only the telesnaps to go on, it is difficult to be certain, but it seems most likely that the white Macra was a model placed close to a porthole to give the illusion of size.
• What Could Have Been:
  • This story and "The Highlanders" were considered for animation at the same time. "Macra" was chosen because the Highlanders' tartan and the serial's outdoor shooting locations were deemed too hard to animate.
  • The Macra were supposed to be giant spiders or insects before being finally changed into crabs, hence some of the serial’s early names and several Orphaned References.
• Working Title: The Spidermen, The Insect-Men and The Macras.
• You Look Familiar: Sandra Bryant had previously played Kitty, and John Harvey played Professor Brett in the same serial. Gertan Klauber had previously appeared in "The Romans".

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