Just like Robot a couple of seasons ago, we have a serial penned by the outgoing script editor. Now unfettered from the position he's held for almost four years, the first episodes that come from Holmes's pen are a furious invective against the taxman. Although the story behind this choice isn't the most flattering, The Sun Makers somehow manages to be more than the sum of its parts. Holmes' skill with satire turns what could have been a strongly worded complaint writ long into a takedown of corporate greed, which is really much more up my alley.
This story succeeds because it has a sense of humor, and unlike, say, Talons from last season, it turns that humor toward a clear purpose and punches up instead of down. We're shown a cross section of a sci-fi society that's meant to mirror our own, and all the parallels are clear and easy to define. There's the outcasts who have chosen to buck the system, treated like criminals; there are the overworked laborers suffering daily for a pittance; the guards and overseers, who whether through coercion or false promises are striving to be a part of the machinery that's oppressing them; and the privileged ruling class presiding over it all.
These are worth looking at individually. I think I'd like to focus on the guards and overseers first, since this is a type of character that pops up in Doctor Who even more regularly than the others. Although it's true that the old standard of dispatching them without much of a second thought is still employed here, the final episode shows some of them joining with the revolution. It's smart in showing that some of them (like Marn) only do so out of self preservation. Overall, I'd say that we get a characterization of Pluto's guards as actual humans, which isn't a complete novelty, but sure is uncommon.
The other group I'd like to look at more closely are the rulers of this arrangement, exemplified by the bumbling Hade. The story does a good job of showing both the supreme power and supreme incompetence wielded by this sort of person. Although Hade is self-assured and secure in his position, his inability to pronounce "mahogany" properly and failing to understand what the Doctor means by Rubus leaves show that no amount of money can buy class - or for that matter, intelligence. It's telling that the masses are only kept in check by lies, and once those are dispelled, people like Hade don't last very long at all.
As showings for the Doctor and Leela go, I also think that this story succeeds in making both of them look good, with plenty of fun moments and nice lines shared between them. I always like the Doctor the best when he's helping to start a revolution, and it's neat getting that with this incarnation for the first time in what feels like a while. I'm just starting to realize how few stories I still have left with Leela, which is a depressing notion. I feel like, at this stage, there's still a lot of space where they could take the character, which sadly will be left for the expanded universe instead.
I think this story is really underrated; I wish Holmes had written something like this more often while he was still script editor. Thumbs up.
Before the next televised story, we'll have the annual music post for 1977. See you then.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 5 July 2021.)
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