Review of The Sun Makers (#95)

DVD Release Date:  09 Aug 11
Original Air Date:  26 Nov – 17 Dec 1977
Doctor/Companion:  Four, Leela, K-9
Stars:  Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, John Leeson
Preceding Story:  Image of the Fendahl (Four, Leela)
Succeeding Story:  Underworld (Four, Leela, K-9)

Robert Holmes is widely regarded as one of the best writers in Who history, and he certainly contributed vastly to the franchise. In The Sun Makers, he takes a time of personal irritation and molds it into a weirdly engaging dystopian tale of excessive taxes and stagnating humanity. Having fled Old Earth, the human race now lives on distant Pluto, in constant daylight from its six artificial suns (the only mention of any “sun makers” we are ever to get).

It starts out wonderfully creepy with a Citizen apparently pleased to hear of his father’s death, and continues with lots of stereotypical tromping (not much running, really) through corridors from there. However, to my eye, it soon took a rather darker turn – something I feel was unintended, or at least reflects the change in times since its original broadcast. Things are quite violent on this future Pluto, as people threaten each other with all sorts of tortures (not just Leela, either, who seems actually to be on par with the locals for a change). Public torture and execution – viewable in person, for a small fee – also appear commonplace. Near the end of the story, there’s even a cheerful – not angry, mind you; cheerful – mob of revolutionaries who throw an official to his doom.

Nor is the that kind of activity restricted to the locals. The Doctor himself shows a rather disturbing tendency to solve his problems by physical means. At one point, for instance, he’s chatting away with a fellow prisoner, supposedly a chemist (“What did they get you for?” “Curiosity.” “That’s a crime here?” “Yes.” Surely Plutonian science is doomed, in that case…), while fiddling with some electronic controls. It’s completely innocuous. At least, it is until some minor official/guard type actually gets fatally electrocuted by pulling one of those controls. Now granted, the Doctor did tell him, “I wouldn’t touch that if I were you,” but he’d also already been told that the guard would treat him as product rather than person. How very… un-Doctorly that felt.

In the meantime, the high officials are complete caricatures. The Gatherer and the Collector both display an odd combination of traits, making them menacing and comical by turns. By the end, the former has descended into constant use of nonsensical honorifics (Your Promontory and Your Aggrandizement were among the oddest) and the latter has been reduced to twirling in circles like an agitated Dalek (or Davros on a caffeine high). It all adds to a building sense of surrealism capped off by the Doctor leaving such clearly incompetent people (the Citizens, that is) to get themselves back to Earth and start human society all over again.

DVD Extras (highlights)

Running from the Tax Man

For me, one of the most intriguing parts of this “making of” was the opportunity to hear Louise Jameson (Leela)’s thoughts on the story. Among other things, she gives a different spin on the classic explanation of writer Robert Holmes’ inspiration. There is also plenty of material on the politics and economic climate of the time in Britain, to give context. Just to round things out, there is also a brief interview with a professional astronomer to talk about what was then – and is now – known about the real planet Pluto (as an astronomer myself, I’d like to add, for those who might be interested, that we’ll know more in 2015 when NASA’s New Horizons mission makes it to its rendezvous with the dwarf planet). Be sure to watch to the end of the credits, too.

The Doctor’s Composer – Part Two

Part One of this piece appeared with The War Games, which was released in November 2009 (Region 1). Part Two has thus been a long time coming, but it seems to have been worth the wait. Chock full of long-time Who composer Dudley Simpson’s memories of his time with the show (the end of that tenure, 1970-1979, being covered in this installment), it gives us the inside scoop on what it was like to change over to all electronic music (at the Radiophonic Workshop), among other things. Each serial on which Simpson worked is mentioned, as he highlights in the interview some of the musical choices he made for specific character themes or mood setting. It’s certainly worth 18 minutes of your time.

Despite some disturbing overtones, Sun Makers really is quite a good romp. There’s plenty of silliness (including the clearly non-functional “guns” and some of Four’s classic banter) to keep it from feeling as dark as perhaps I’ve made it out. Just don’t expect to hear anything about those who created the orbs lighting Pluto’s sky.