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| "Welcome back to reality, "Doctor". Merry Christmas." |
The Sun Makers is a wonderfully unsubtle satire and an adventurous romp to boot.
PLOT
The TARDIS lands on Pluto, where humanity have immigrated to with the assistance of a mysterious Company, who have subsequently taken advantage of them by using them as a labor force to recoup profits. Thus, it's up to the TARDIS crew(oh yes, I get to call them a crew again! It IS Christmas!) to ferment revolution amongst the downtrodden humans.
ANALYSIS
There are a few flaws in the story - the direction is slightly haphazard, the comedy is a bit too broad and out of place and the rebellion aren't very sympathetic until they actually confront the Collector's forces. Also, every time someone joined the rebellion(the two guards in Episode 3 and Marn in Episode 4), they acted like they were being forced(which they were) and were planning to betray the group. But that never came to anything. It seemed odd to me that beyond the Gatherer, no one was loyal to the Company without the PCM gas.
But those flaws do not tarnish the slyness and obvious bitterness of Robert Holmes's script nor does it take away from the levity of the performances. The Sun Makers is a perfect example of a writer getting his point across by engaging its audience instead of teaching it. And dare I say it, by the time Holmes was finished, I doubt he had any anger left inside as he tears the whole concept of over-taxation apart bit by bit.
CHARACTERS
As I mentioned earlier, some of the comedy was a bit too broad and felt disconnected from the more darker, hate-fuelled humor against the villains. No one exemplifies that more than Tom Baker, who spends the majority of the first episode acting like an arse. I love his dynamic with K-9 and Leela, but I can't deny it feels like they're being ever-slightly dumbed down or at least, the writing for their characters is more formulaic. The banter doesn't come across entirely naturally, particularly K-9, since he's established not to have feelings.
The Collector is a pretty cool and slimy villain completely obsessed with facts and figures, though his voice can get annoying after a while(it kind of reminds me of the Security Chief from The War Games).
His polar opposite, yet equally evil Gatherer is probably the most mocked character of the piece and you can see that he's the one Holmes really hates, not the higher-ups. He sees the Collector as naturally evil, but the Gatherer has the power to topple him, yet does nothing for greed alone.
One of my favourite characters was Cordo, who I would've loved to see join the TARDIS crew. He is forced out of the community by sheer over-taxation and later befriends the Doctor and Leela and is taught bravery and individualism. Even though he's not a warrior of any kind, his heart obviously impresses Leela(he's the only rebel to accompany her to try and rescue the Doctor) and the two have some great chemistry.
As I mentioned earlier, the rebels had one flaw: they weren't very sympathetic. I don't really get why Holmes decided to write them as brutes, but that's what they come across. For some reason, the Doctor does what they demand of him, yet immediately comes under suspicion out of nowhere(they have a legit reason to think he's a traitor, but it just comes across weird, you have to watch it to tell) and is almost tortured before they suddenly accept the Doctor's plan only on Cordo's word and are all buddies.
In one of the more shocking parts of the story, they toss the Gatherer off the roof to his death, yet that's taken completely in stride. From what I understand, Terrance Dicks rectified this in his novel, but here, the act is celebrated.
NOTES
*K-9's ticker tape is shortened, thank God. It doesn't look like a beard anymore and looks more like a little dog's tongue, which seems to be the point.
*Another flaw of the comedy in this story is that it's not given the pace it requires. Comedy requires cause and effect, yet the effect part is almost always glossed over for the next pun. Even the good jokes kind of fall flat because of it.
*What's with the part where they look for K-9 for ten seconds and then he just shows up?
*I have to wonder what guns the future humans use. They shoot Leela in the head and it leaves a mark, yet she's fine later. I would've liked them to be more specific about what sort of weapons they were using.
*Ah, the ever-so-compassionate Doctor. When he is released from an execution chamber, he throws the next victim a bag of jelly babies.
*What is it with Doctor Who getting discounts of famous actors? Mandrell(the rebel leader) looks like the spitting image of a young Sir Michael Caine.
*The TARDIS console room is pretty small now, isn't? It used to be enormous during the Hartnell era. And that was during the Lime Grove days.
*Why are Leela and the rebel woman so chummy at the end? They're bitter enemies in every other scene.
*That being said, I loved the way the rebels waved goodbye to the TARDIS crew.
*I liked the way Pluto was used as the setting. Pluto needs love now more than ever.
*Leela being suspended in the air by string whilst waiting for execution was pure LOL material.
*If this story was made nowadays, Cordo would definitely have been killed off for becoming an increasingly reckless person. Recklessness basically equals death in modern TV and film.
BEST QUOTE
All the inventive titles the Gatherer gives to the Collector.
CONCLUSION
It's been a Merry Christmas indeed. But wait! There's more to come today!
For the very first time, I have found BBC One online(I know, right? Took me soooo soon) with my smart phone(which btw, is my very first one. I got it for Christmas and I love it!) so I'll be able to watch The Husbands Of River Song along with everyone else in real time in just about an hour!
Whilst watching it, I'm going to write down my reactions and post them immediately after seeing the episode before a full-fledged review later. I would've done a reaction video, but I live in a flat with hear-through walls so that's not gonna happen unfortunately. Maybe one day we'll get a Going Through Doctor Who episode on Youtube. Maybe.
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