The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: The Sun Makers
The Sun Makers: Part One (26/11/17)
An unsurprisingly excellent script from Robert Holmes this week, full of scathing wit and word play. On a colonised Pluto, which has six suns (in orbit), Citizen Cordo, a D-Grade Foundry Worker has just discovered that he can't afford his father's Death Tax. Faced with the possibility of no sleep until the excessive tax has been paid off, he chooses to go out onto the roof of the massive Megropolis and commit suicide.
Fortunately, the Doctor and Leela have just arrived and stop him, choosing to help. With no other option left, Cordo goes to the Undercity where a rough bunch of escapees are living in darkness, surviving by thieving from the Megropolis they once called home. Their nasty leader, Mandrel, agrees to take Cordo in if the Doctor goes and takes out 1000 Talmars from a Megropolis cashpoint using a forged Consumcard. He agrees, but the card doesn't work and he's trapped, being gassed in the closed booth,
K9 is back after his absence in the last story and he's actually really quite good, beating the Doctor at chess and ignoring orders to stay in the TARDIS. Primary villain, Gatherer Hade, dressed as a humbug, is wonderfully pompous investigating the illegal parking of the TARDIS on the Megropolis roof and tracking K9 with his lantern-jawed right-hand woman Marn. Her incredulity at how people are so willing to break laws, and Hade's clueless attempts at authority make them another great Holmes double act.
Leela again got some great dialogue ("Maybe everybody runs from the Taxman"), asking the Doctor if she can cut out Mandrel's heart when he turns out to be a bit of an arsehole and threatening to fillet Veet, the forger. Tom's on top form, stalking about the place with everyone assuming he's an Ajak (a Miner from Megropolis 3) and the locations - factories and subway maintenance tunnels - are absolutely amazing. The scenes on the roof, especially the long shots, are epic and quite breathtaking!
It's all quite refreshing, not like the previous Gothic Horror or the rather rubbish, shiny futurism of 'The Invisible Enemy', but a grim, stark, industrial world of drudgery and over-taxation. Plus we have the villainous Gatherer, but also the rebels are a bunch of cunts, too! It all emphasises how alone and helpless Cordo is, and makes the Doctor and Leela's roles all the more important. Great stuff!
The Sun Makers: Part Two (03/12/17)
Well, this story continues to be a little bit brilliant!
The Doctor was taken to the Correction Centre where he met Bisham, a lanky man who controlled the output of PCM (an anxiety-inducing drug) into the atmosphere, and whose curiosity about drugs used by the higher officials got him arrested.
Meanwhile, Leela had a fight, stopped by Cordo's arrival with news of the Doctor's capture, followed by a great rally that was totally ignored by the rebels of the Undercity. The Doctor was freed by Marn after the Gatherer had consulted his superior - a creepy, bald suit bent over a massive computer and only interested in profit; the Collector - and given 1000 Talmars, as Hade thinks he's an arms dealer working with the rebels. By the time Leela, Cordo and K9 reached the Correction Centre (and Leela had shot one of the operatives dead!), the Doctor had returned to the Undercity, followed by Hade on the CCTV network. Leela freed Bisham and the four of them tried to return to the Undercity only to be trapped in a huge corridor by guards in a Bond-esque Sci-Fi go-cart. It was the P45 route, so still plenty of word play.
It was great seeing Leela hold her own against the rebels and lead a rescue attempt. I think she has to be the most pro-active companion there's been since Vicki! Quite shocking when she killed the technician - I should probably start keeping a head count as she's the only companion I can think of who has got away with murder (apart from Barbara, of course!).
Some wonderful characterisation of the guest cast - Marn, at one point, felt like one of those female Bond villain henchmen and seemed to show a bit more contempt toward Gatherer Hade. Hade himself comes across as a wonderfully self-satisfied cretin who thinks himself smarter than he is and is wonderfully fawning to his superior. Mandrel, Veet and Goudry are also interesting, if unlikable, characters. Cordo took something of a back seat after being the centre of attention last week, but is still a great character.
This story, so far, is really enjoyable and Robert Holmes at his best! Despite 'The Invisible Enemy' being a bit naff, this series is looking to be as good as the last, which is saying something!
The Sun Makers: Part Three (10/12/17)
A lot happened this week. With K9's help, Leela hijacked the transport in the subway and apparently drove over the unconscious bodies of two guards! Then they drove through a blockade but Leela took a glancing shot to the head and fell off the go-cart. Cordo and Bisham went with K9 to the Undercity where Mandrel was about to torture the Doctor (while Leela was taken to the Correction Centre) and saved him by holding the rebels at gunpoint (the rebels didn't have guns, but Cordo and Bisham had taken two from the guards).
The Collector, who travels around in a motorised wheelchair and is the sole representative of The Company who gave Pluto its suns, 'interviewed' a restrained Leela, and The Company apparently have records of the Time Lords and Gallifrey, and view the Doctor as a possible disruptive element. The Doctor managed to talk Mandrel and the rebels round thanks to Cordo and Bisham's exploits, and the Doctor got Cordo to fetch a couple of CCTV cameras (which the workers and rebels all thought were 'sunfeeds' - clever) and dicked around with them so they'd transmit an image of him pacing up and down a corridor as a diversion while they fomented rebellion.
Then the Collector decided to execute Leela by Public Steaming to draw the Doctor out of hiding, but Mandrel used to be a B-Grade working at the control centre (which they've stormed and easily won over the two workers there in order to stop the distribution of PCM) and is holding off the Steaming while the Doctor , with K9's help, climbs inside the Steamer to rescue her.
Much more of the Collector this week, a really slimy little creep, and lots for Tom and Louise to do, despite Leela being captured - she still gets the best lines; straight-jacketed and carried struggling into the Collector's office by a heavy, this week she roared "I'll split you!!!" at her guard. It's possibly one of my favourite Leela lines so far!
Hade and Marn have taken a bit of a back seat after ruling the first episode, Marn retaining her efficiency but Hade upping the buffoonery as his incompetence is revealed by the Collector - he's clearly a parody of middle Government types who think they're better than they are.
This is nothing short of a brilliant story and probably Holmes' best script. It's certainly the best Fourth Doctor story so far!
The Sun Makers: Part Four (17/12/17)
Well, that was a brilliant story, and a fantastic way to end the year! The Doctor rescued Leela but the Collector, Hade and Marn were alerted by the lack of agonised screaming from Leela, and Mandrels' Tannoy warning that he couldn't hold the Steamer back much longer.
However, the PCM was dissipating faster than Bisham had thought it would and the rebels were succeeding in stirring up the work units. The Doctor and Leela headed to the Collector's office to transmit a fake announcement that The Company had been overthrown and the people were free - resulting in Marn joining the revolution - followed by a stand-off between the Collector and the Doctor. I say 'stand-off'; the Doctor established that The Company was run by Usurians who had made a business deal with the dying inhabitants of an over-populated Earth and relocated them, first to Mars, then Pluto but, because they had provided the terraforming technology they had Humanity pretty much as over-taxed, drugged slaves. Once Pluto became unviable, they would be left to die.
Fortunately, the Doctor had fed a growth index into Megropolis 6's output which collapsed the economy and resulted in the Collector liquidating - ie reverting to his 'Sea Kale' Usurian form and hiding inside his wheelchair where he was trapped. Meanwhile, Gatherer Hade went to the roof to confront a load of rebels who'd gone up there, but Veet rather brutally rallied the rebels to pick him up and throw him to his death!
All in all, this was a fantastic story of the Doctor, Leela and K9 fomenting a rebellion and freeing the oppressed, and was a wonderfully refreshing change to the usual runaround saving the universe from monsters. Granted, there was a lot of grit and brutality, but this helped underline that even the 'good guys' could be morally questionable; Veet in particular was quite vicious and nasty.
I wasn't too sure how the show would go with a change of Producer, especially after such a great run of stories last year and how underwhelming 'The Invisible Enemy' was, but the quality has stayed high with this and the last story, whilst moving away from the excessive Gothicism of the last few series. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series in the New Year and what's to come; the Fourth Doctor, Leela and K9 make a great team!
An unsurprisingly excellent script from Robert Holmes this week, full of scathing wit and word play. On a colonised Pluto, which has six suns (in orbit), Citizen Cordo, a D-Grade Foundry Worker has just discovered that he can't afford his father's Death Tax. Faced with the possibility of no sleep until the excessive tax has been paid off, he chooses to go out onto the roof of the massive Megropolis and commit suicide.
Fortunately, the Doctor and Leela have just arrived and stop him, choosing to help. With no other option left, Cordo goes to the Undercity where a rough bunch of escapees are living in darkness, surviving by thieving from the Megropolis they once called home. Their nasty leader, Mandrel, agrees to take Cordo in if the Doctor goes and takes out 1000 Talmars from a Megropolis cashpoint using a forged Consumcard. He agrees, but the card doesn't work and he's trapped, being gassed in the closed booth,
K9 is back after his absence in the last story and he's actually really quite good, beating the Doctor at chess and ignoring orders to stay in the TARDIS. Primary villain, Gatherer Hade, dressed as a humbug, is wonderfully pompous investigating the illegal parking of the TARDIS on the Megropolis roof and tracking K9 with his lantern-jawed right-hand woman Marn. Her incredulity at how people are so willing to break laws, and Hade's clueless attempts at authority make them another great Holmes double act.
Leela again got some great dialogue ("Maybe everybody runs from the Taxman"), asking the Doctor if she can cut out Mandrel's heart when he turns out to be a bit of an arsehole and threatening to fillet Veet, the forger. Tom's on top form, stalking about the place with everyone assuming he's an Ajak (a Miner from Megropolis 3) and the locations - factories and subway maintenance tunnels - are absolutely amazing. The scenes on the roof, especially the long shots, are epic and quite breathtaking!
It's all quite refreshing, not like the previous Gothic Horror or the rather rubbish, shiny futurism of 'The Invisible Enemy', but a grim, stark, industrial world of drudgery and over-taxation. Plus we have the villainous Gatherer, but also the rebels are a bunch of cunts, too! It all emphasises how alone and helpless Cordo is, and makes the Doctor and Leela's roles all the more important. Great stuff!
The Sun Makers: Part Two (03/12/17)
Well, this story continues to be a little bit brilliant!
The Doctor was taken to the Correction Centre where he met Bisham, a lanky man who controlled the output of PCM (an anxiety-inducing drug) into the atmosphere, and whose curiosity about drugs used by the higher officials got him arrested.
Meanwhile, Leela had a fight, stopped by Cordo's arrival with news of the Doctor's capture, followed by a great rally that was totally ignored by the rebels of the Undercity. The Doctor was freed by Marn after the Gatherer had consulted his superior - a creepy, bald suit bent over a massive computer and only interested in profit; the Collector - and given 1000 Talmars, as Hade thinks he's an arms dealer working with the rebels. By the time Leela, Cordo and K9 reached the Correction Centre (and Leela had shot one of the operatives dead!), the Doctor had returned to the Undercity, followed by Hade on the CCTV network. Leela freed Bisham and the four of them tried to return to the Undercity only to be trapped in a huge corridor by guards in a Bond-esque Sci-Fi go-cart. It was the P45 route, so still plenty of word play.
It was great seeing Leela hold her own against the rebels and lead a rescue attempt. I think she has to be the most pro-active companion there's been since Vicki! Quite shocking when she killed the technician - I should probably start keeping a head count as she's the only companion I can think of who has got away with murder (apart from Barbara, of course!).
Some wonderful characterisation of the guest cast - Marn, at one point, felt like one of those female Bond villain henchmen and seemed to show a bit more contempt toward Gatherer Hade. Hade himself comes across as a wonderfully self-satisfied cretin who thinks himself smarter than he is and is wonderfully fawning to his superior. Mandrel, Veet and Goudry are also interesting, if unlikable, characters. Cordo took something of a back seat after being the centre of attention last week, but is still a great character.
This story, so far, is really enjoyable and Robert Holmes at his best! Despite 'The Invisible Enemy' being a bit naff, this series is looking to be as good as the last, which is saying something!
The Sun Makers: Part Three (10/12/17)
A lot happened this week. With K9's help, Leela hijacked the transport in the subway and apparently drove over the unconscious bodies of two guards! Then they drove through a blockade but Leela took a glancing shot to the head and fell off the go-cart. Cordo and Bisham went with K9 to the Undercity where Mandrel was about to torture the Doctor (while Leela was taken to the Correction Centre) and saved him by holding the rebels at gunpoint (the rebels didn't have guns, but Cordo and Bisham had taken two from the guards).
The Collector, who travels around in a motorised wheelchair and is the sole representative of The Company who gave Pluto its suns, 'interviewed' a restrained Leela, and The Company apparently have records of the Time Lords and Gallifrey, and view the Doctor as a possible disruptive element. The Doctor managed to talk Mandrel and the rebels round thanks to Cordo and Bisham's exploits, and the Doctor got Cordo to fetch a couple of CCTV cameras (which the workers and rebels all thought were 'sunfeeds' - clever) and dicked around with them so they'd transmit an image of him pacing up and down a corridor as a diversion while they fomented rebellion.
Then the Collector decided to execute Leela by Public Steaming to draw the Doctor out of hiding, but Mandrel used to be a B-Grade working at the control centre (which they've stormed and easily won over the two workers there in order to stop the distribution of PCM) and is holding off the Steaming while the Doctor , with K9's help, climbs inside the Steamer to rescue her.
Much more of the Collector this week, a really slimy little creep, and lots for Tom and Louise to do, despite Leela being captured - she still gets the best lines; straight-jacketed and carried struggling into the Collector's office by a heavy, this week she roared "I'll split you!!!" at her guard. It's possibly one of my favourite Leela lines so far!
Hade and Marn have taken a bit of a back seat after ruling the first episode, Marn retaining her efficiency but Hade upping the buffoonery as his incompetence is revealed by the Collector - he's clearly a parody of middle Government types who think they're better than they are.
This is nothing short of a brilliant story and probably Holmes' best script. It's certainly the best Fourth Doctor story so far!
The Sun Makers: Part Four (17/12/17)
Well, that was a brilliant story, and a fantastic way to end the year! The Doctor rescued Leela but the Collector, Hade and Marn were alerted by the lack of agonised screaming from Leela, and Mandrels' Tannoy warning that he couldn't hold the Steamer back much longer.
However, the PCM was dissipating faster than Bisham had thought it would and the rebels were succeeding in stirring up the work units. The Doctor and Leela headed to the Collector's office to transmit a fake announcement that The Company had been overthrown and the people were free - resulting in Marn joining the revolution - followed by a stand-off between the Collector and the Doctor. I say 'stand-off'; the Doctor established that The Company was run by Usurians who had made a business deal with the dying inhabitants of an over-populated Earth and relocated them, first to Mars, then Pluto but, because they had provided the terraforming technology they had Humanity pretty much as over-taxed, drugged slaves. Once Pluto became unviable, they would be left to die.
Fortunately, the Doctor had fed a growth index into Megropolis 6's output which collapsed the economy and resulted in the Collector liquidating - ie reverting to his 'Sea Kale' Usurian form and hiding inside his wheelchair where he was trapped. Meanwhile, Gatherer Hade went to the roof to confront a load of rebels who'd gone up there, but Veet rather brutally rallied the rebels to pick him up and throw him to his death!
All in all, this was a fantastic story of the Doctor, Leela and K9 fomenting a rebellion and freeing the oppressed, and was a wonderfully refreshing change to the usual runaround saving the universe from monsters. Granted, there was a lot of grit and brutality, but this helped underline that even the 'good guys' could be morally questionable; Veet in particular was quite vicious and nasty.
I wasn't too sure how the show would go with a change of Producer, especially after such a great run of stories last year and how underwhelming 'The Invisible Enemy' was, but the quality has stayed high with this and the last story, whilst moving away from the excessive Gothicism of the last few series. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series in the New Year and what's to come; the Fourth Doctor, Leela and K9 make a great team!
It's easy to see why Louise Jameson rates this as her favourite script, since it really is Robert Holmes unleashed in the best possible way. As usual, his world-building and character shorthand make the whole thing very believable very quickly, even while layered with satire and sarcastic excess. Tom Baker revels in it, but then the cast as a whole is good, and as you say, it's nice to see Holmes throw in some of the moral uncertainty that was more of a trademark of Malcolm Hulke.
ReplyDeleteAll that said, I don't hold the story in *quite* the same regard as you. Sure, it's good, and a vast improvement on The Invisible Enemy, but for me it's perhaps a little too... frivolous for its own good at times. Holmes himself admitted it was written to blow off steam after a run-in with the Inland Revenue or whoever. Which is no better or worse a starting point for a story than any other of course, but it does tinge the whole thing for me, just a tiny bit.
P.S. 'Foment', not 'ferment' ;)
I think that Holmes' reasons for writing the script is what makes it all the more brilliant for me. Doctor Who is always great when it's being political, when it's addressing subjects the writer has a passion for, and it really does make some valid points about society which still resonate today. It's also great to see that K9 really does work as a companion after being written out of the previous story as he was never meant to be in it.That's possibly the biggest surprise I got from watching The Sun Makers as transmitted. I'd taken for granted the fact that it was the Doctor, Leela and K9, but in the context of the series this is the first time we see him as the Doctor's companion and, unlike Jamie who only really came into his own in his fourth or fifth story, having been absent for only one serial K9 hits the ground running (so to speak).
DeleteMidway through the Tom Baker years, and it's still throwing out some excellent stories!