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Ian Stuart Black developed the story of The Macra Terror from the idea that different life forms require different environments to survive. Hence the central premise of the creatures who brainwash a small community of humans to mine a gas which is toxic for the humans but vital for the survival of the creatures. The original idea of the Macra as 'insect men' was vetoed by the production team of script editor Gerry Davis and producer Innes Lloyd, and so instead the Macra creatures became crab-like in appearance. The idea of the community being brainwashed by subliminal messages transmitted to them when they are asleep fully develops the concept of mind control, which had featured in both Black's previous Dr Who scripts. The use of jingles and slogans to enliven the spirits of the indoctrinated populace has been compared in The Sixties book by Howe/Stammers/Walker to George Orwell's 1984 novel, although a stronger parallel can be seen in the TV series The Prisoner which was still at the planning stage when The Macra Terror was on air.
Black's first Dr Who story had been the first to be given a title for the entire story on screen rather than individual episodic titles, and this, his last story for the series featured a new set of opening titles designed by Bernard Lodge, which incorporated Patrick Troughton's face, so it can be seen that his scripts appeared at a time of change in the series. The War Machines had used a setting of near contemporary London, which was almost unique in the Hartnell era (the only other examples being the very first episode and brief bits in The Chase and The Daleks' Master Plan), but it became more common in the Troughton years with stories like The Faceless Ones, The Web of Fear and The Invasion. The Macra Terror follows a formula which featured heavily in Season 4 and was also used extensively in Season 5, namely the situation of a small, embattled community faced with a new and terrifying menace which appears to threaten their whole way of life. The recurrence of this story idea is such a strong feature of Season 4 that it must have been part of the script editor's overall vision for the show. However Black gives an interesting new spin on this plot device by having his endangered community blissfully unaware of the danger that surrounds them, with the exception of one or two people like Medok who are treated like pariahs.
The Macra need their gas to survive and are in many ways simply following their own instincts for self preservation. What makes them loathsome is their cynical exploitation of a human work force to mine the gas for them, even though they know the said gas is poisonous to the human miners. The story is in many ways a study of the abuse of power. The prime example of this is the exploitation of the human colonists by the Macra through brainwashing and other covert methods. However the colony's human authorities are themselves guilty of abusing their power by forcing dissidents to conform to the colony's way of life in a similar way to that of a totalitarian state.
The Pilot, superbly played by Peter Jeffrey, is at least open minded
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