"Let me tell you how it will be; there's one for you nineteen for me..." Fourteen years in, and the taxman has caught up with the Doctor.
Before starting this story, we were both wondering if we'd seen it before. After watching it, I'm fairly certain I hadn't, which made the viewing even more delightful. What a fun, clever story!
Harry -
I am 100% certain that I had never seen "The Sun Makers" before, nor the next story to follow, so this is a unique treat during our marathon.
Bob Holmes stories are the best. Cracking dialogue!
Sarah -
Absolutely!
Harry -
I get the sense he's channeling his inner Mac Hulke here.
Sarah -
Spot on, Old Boy!
Harry -
The scene is set when we first see Citizen Cordo in a drab, high-walled corridor, awaiting to pay his father's death taxes. He's made to look so insignificant, like a mouse in a maze.
Sarah -
Poor Cordo. The set design does all it can to overwhelm him -- I can't imagine anyone watching this without wanting to give him a hug. Shortly after meeting Cordo, we meet Gatherer Hade, obsequiously performed by Richard Leech with all the verisimilitude of a ingratiating sycophant. So much so that his performance seems to have inspired my vocabulary to soar to unctuous heights!
Harry -
Glory be to the Company!
Sarah -
Glory be!
Harry -
Gatherer Hade is a hilarious panto villain in a hilarious panto story. I had to view it that way - there was no other way to take his bathrobe and turban seriously.
Sarah -
Despite his pomposity, I can't help but feel a bit sorry for him in the end.
Harry -
A shocking demise. They tried to make it comedic, but still, quote shocking. Bob Holmes has done his Hulkeian best in delivering a biting anti-capitalist satire set in a mercantile madhouse on the planet Pluto. The cheap yet creative sets, the lack of special effects, and the all-humanoid cast (barring K-9) reminded me of a Hartnell or Troughton adventure.
Sarah -
I can easily picture Patrick Troughton dashing around the planet Pluto!
Harry -
We've seen Doctor Who as a psychedelic fantasy show earlier this season, now we see it as a vehicle for social fables. How else would this story have gotten the green light had they not included some zany caricatures and funny sets to entertain the kids? I loved the walls with the giant dials on them.
Sarah -
The sets were epic -- and K-9 gets to join in on a proper adventure.
Harry -
Good to see K-9 tearing up and down some corridors at last. Although he wasn't quick enough to stop the Doctor getting gassed at the Plutonian ATM. Another very simple set yet a memorable one. The giant bank card was amusing too.
Sarah -
Holmes had no idea how truly futuristic he was in that scene. It was a particularly harrowing cliffhanger as the Doctor succumbs to the gas.
Harry -
While the Doctor is hauled off to the correction centre and Leela tries to rally the skeptical conspirators beneath the city, Gatherer Hade meets with the Collector. Hard to believe the Gatherer could be trumped for silliness, but the Collector was even sillier. With his mock-Nosferatu appearance and funny voice, Henry Woolf creates a truly unique character.
Sarah -
I'm pretty sure the only way you can go with these character is over the top -- WAY over the top.
Harry -
I was amazed to discover that neither Woolf nor Leech appeared in any other Doctor Who adventure. Their performances here were brilliant. (As an aside, I was delighted to learn that Woolf moved to Canada and has lived here for decades and is still going strong!)
Sarah -
Hm, I sense a special guest for the next Canadian WhoCon. Get to work on it, Harry!
Harry -
It was too bad that the conspirators didn't have a charismatic character among them. They were a bit generic, that is, until Cordo completed his transformation from a meek everyman into a gun-wielding revolutionary.
Sarah -
They were a bit predictable, weren't they? Still, "The Sun Makers" is a nice change of pace from the heavy tone of the series in recent stories.
Harry -
Do you wonder if this story -- heavy on the allegory, light on the aliens -- was produced as a one-off, or if they were seeing if the show could move in another direction. Could Doctor Who have used more of these types of story? Granted, we did get some silly alien action at the end as the Collector (who turned out to be a Usurian, ha!) transformed into green goo and got flushed down his own chair. The rest of the story was free of the proverbial bug-eyed monsters. It was a nice change.
Sarah -
It was nice to have some (mostly) human drama.
Harry -
At the end, I found myself wishing for more stories like this one, rather than craving a return to the more familiar monsters and maniacs. What do you think, old girl?
Sarah -
I guess we're seeing the road not taken -- for a while, at least.
Harry -
Oh gosh, I almost forgot to point out that Tom Baker had his own brainy specs! I'm talking about that weird pince-nez with the black lenses. Pretty sure he never wore those again. Another unique point to this unique adventure.
Sarah -
Always a good luck, with the pince-nez!
Best Line: "We have tried war on occasion – but the use of purely economic power is far more effective."
Favorite Moment: The Gatherer's flattery
Lasting Image: The Doctor in his straightjacket
7/10
Harry -
Best Line:
[as the Doctor tries to open a safe]
Leela: "What are you doing?"
Doctor: "I don't know. It always looks so easy."
Favourite Moment: I'm with you on Gatherer Hade's loquacious pomposity.
Lasting Image: The Collector leering in his chair.
8/10
Our marathon continues with Story #96 - Underworld...
