Macra!!!!!!

There is no such thing as Macra!!!

Except in animated form?
Guess we'll have to stop saying that!

http://merchandise.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/doctor-who-the-macra-terror-dvd/

I have to admit I'm excited! Although also confused why they didn't want to fully animated Wheel in Space.

Maybe we'll have to change the saying to: "There's no such thing as Enemy of the World Region 1 Special Edition!!"

Looking at the special features this release will be pretty vanilla. Only a short behind-the-scenes on animation and at least a commentary. But not the typical making-of documentary and other short subjects we've come to accustomed to on Doctor Who DVDs. Perhaps a "Special Edition" in the future like they did with "Enemy of the World"?

I'm still very happy to see that they are putting this release out. Can't get enough of Troughton, especially if we get another Ben and Polly story. I will admit to enjoying the telesnap recon as they seem to be a bit more like the "real episode" to me, but enjoy the animations as well.

"Wheel in Space" continues to be a puzzle. Why did they decide to do it like that?

I love this! Will pick up the U.K. Blu-ray immediately upon release:)

squishy, what have you heard about "The Wheel in Space"? You mentioned you wondered why they chose to do it THAT way, what way ARE they doing it?????? And where the heck is my Enemy of the World Special Edition. Why are the BBC crapping on all the USA dvd stuff nowadays???

DWFAN1974 wrote:

squishy, what have you heard about "The Wheel in Space"?  You mentioned you wondered why they chose to do it THAT way, what way ARE they doing it??????  And where the heck is my Enemy of the World Special Edition.  Why are the BBC crapping on all the USA dvd stuff nowadays???

I could be wrong --- I HOPE I'm wrong --- but apparently the Wheel in Space is only having a 10 minute section of episode 1 animated. The rest is the ol' telesnap slideshow.

I have no freaking clue regarding Enemy of the World Special edition. I got a region-free DVD player years ago specifically for when goofy things like this happen (sorry WhoNA! I'll buy one from you if it comes out here!!).

digby, REALLY???? That is the dumbest idea i've ever heard. Why bother to animate 10 min. and telesnap the rest? If they have put out these nice animations of the dvds before, why not wait til they can do that for the full missing eps??? Having a cartoon in the middle of telesnaps is just gonna be weird.

DWFAN1974 wrote:

digby, REALLY????   That is the dumbest idea i've ever heard.  Why bother to animate 10 min. and telesnap the rest?   If they have put out these nice animations of the dvds before, why not wait til they can do that for the full missing eps???  Having a cartoon in the middle of telesnaps is just gonna be weird.

I really don't know why either. At the time it was announced I don't remember hearing them explain why they are only doing 10 minutes, just that they ARE doing 10 minutes and the fans rejoiced thus etc etc ....

http://thedoctorwhocompanion.com/2018/11/07/bfis-missing-presumed-wiped-to-host-the-wheel-in-space-animated-mini-episode/


If I had to speculate, I wonder if it has something to do with the "Britbox" streaming channel's Wheel in Space reconstruction ... if you remember hearing about that they made a big deal earlier this year about having a new telesnap recon for the story (which I think was done in connection with Loose Cannon? Maybe??)

Anyway,  I've never fully understood how Britbox is connected to the BBC, because I think you can only get the service in the US and not Britain. Which as I recall annoyed British fans. So the Wheel reconstruction might have been commissioned by Britbox and not the BBC? Which might explain why the DVD for "Wheel in Space" is up for preorder on the American Aamazon site but not the British Aamazon?

So maybe the BBC didn't want to fully animate Wheel in Space because an American company already paid to telesnap reconstruct the thing? Again, I have ZERO idea what's going on!!

The Wheel in Space segment is part of the annual Missing Believed Wiped event at the BFI. It was created for the sole purpose of being screened there. It's only being added to a DVD release presumably as a special feature.

This is part of the discussion over at that thread.

https://whona.forumotion.com/t10782-wheel-in-space-on-dvd-wheelie

Funny how the trailer didn't dare to use music from the actual episode!
Anyone who's heard the "happy parade" music in episode 1 will know what I'm talking about ... yikes!

Those are also some very peppy Macra in the video. Any young ones expecting the "Gridlock" style Macra who can actually...move...may be shocked to see the original things. Although I'm sure the animators have taken some liberty with them this time.

squishy wrote:

Those are also some very peppy Macra in the video.  Any young ones expecting the "Gridlock" style Macra who can actually...move...may be shocked to see the original things.  Although I'm sure the animators have taken some liberty with them this time.

How do you feel about that, about the animators "taking liberty" with animating some things better than they would have appeared in the show? On paper I should be VERY against it, but in this case I'm sort of not!

I mean as long as they don't go way off kilter -- like making them fly or shoot laser beams from their claws -- I think I'm happy to have them animate them as peppy and fast. Because technically the script it saying they are moving around, so the animators should have the freedom to show that, and NOT be constrained by the reality that the original props were hard to move around.

It's sort of like how I'm cool with the CGI special edition updates, like in "Kinda." The script says a big giant snake appears, and they didn't change the integrity of the script by making a more scary CGI snake.

If there are existing episodes they have to intermix with, then I'm very against liberties. You can't have a grand citadel on "Moonbase" Episode 1 and then switch to the actual model shots in later surviving episodes. But when the story is totally missing I don't see as big a problem with using color or making costumes and sets look a little more expensive than the real thing. They're not framing the picture and editing shots the same way as 1960's television probably did so I'm not upset if the Macra scuttle along a bit more briskly. Getting full stories out there with lots of extras from surviving cast and crew is the priority for me now that I've got all the fan recons.

Now if they used the telesnaps to try and recreate shot-for-shot accuracy using CGI/animation I would likely purchase the story over again.

squishy wrote:

If there are existing episodes they have to intermix with, then I'm very against liberties.  You can't have a grand citadel on "Moonbase" Episode 1 and then switch to the actual model shots in later surviving episodes

Ah! VERY good point. I totally agree.

If you have existing material I think you have to make it match as much as possible.
But if the whole thing is gone, then yeah go to space town.

Yeah, I concur with that assessment.

If there are existing episode's then Id say they are included as an extra with the animation being the official release. I do think f they have an actual episode the BBC will try and be as authentic as possible as fans will compare the two of them for sure.

And if you have not herd the audio of The Macra Terror before I can tell you the music on that one was very different that is for sure

I still haven't seen an official release date, but one online retailer has a date of October 8 for North America.

Once again, the wait for the Region 1 release, is over six months later, just like
Shada and The Power of the Daleks.  I suppose we will have to wait for BBC America to get around to showing it first, before we can be allowed to purchase it.  And also as with the other releases, only a DVD version for Region 1, no Blu-Ray.  And one would imagine the BBC America screening will be a color version of the story.

And while I'm thinking about it, why no Special Edition of The Enemy of the World for Region 1?  What is going on with these releases?

I contend that they don't care about the North American market for classics.  At all.

Its shameful.



(NA never got the TV Movie on blu ray either...)

Some artwork

So Is the U.K. Blu-ray of this region locked?

So, I now own the 3 disc Blu-ray Steelbook set and it does play on my Samsung 4k player, so it will play in a U.S. player. As does The 8th Doctor Blu-ray and Shada Blu-ray U.K. releases. This animation looks better than all previous releases of classic animated who:) *** Sony players may not execute playback*** other brands may or may not provide playback.

Just a heads up...not all US players will play them. Yes, Samsung players will play them...but my Sony players will NOT.

So buyers still beware.

What i don't get is, that it took YEARS for the BBC to get it right and get us on track with the Classic DVD releases....now we don't get a Special Edition of "Enemy of the World" and while i appreciate BBC America's hand in getting the new animated episodes, it sucks we have to wait til they FEEL LIKE showing it before we can buy it. Why can't they air it right after it's release in the UK, so we could get it faster??? And it REALLY ticks me off that they have to use the new logo on Classic Who. It's horrible. And why after releasing SO many of the Classics on DVD now they change the look of them altogether?? You have 95% of the Classic era DVD's that match, and the new ones look weird in the middle.

Well, as for the Logo, you can always print out a spine with the original logo and just cover it up with double sided tape...