The Sun Makers (TV story)
Synopsis
The TARDIS arrives in the future on the planet Pluto where there are now six suns, a breathable atmosphere and a large industrial community. The Company controls the planet and exploits the workers, pays them a pittance and then taxes them on everything imaginable. The Doctor and Leela join forces with an underground band of rebels led by a man named Mandrel.
They learn that the head of the Company's operations on Pluto, represented by the human official Gatherer Hade, is an Usurian known as the Collector. The Usurians enslave planets through economic means and then fleece the inhabitants with exorbitant taxes. The Company keeps the citizens in line by diffusing a calming gas, PCM, through the air conditioning system.
The Doctor manages to stop this, and the workers then rise up against the Company and hurl Gatherer Hade to his death from the roof of a tall building. The Doctor meanwhile gains access to the Company computer and programs it to apply a two per cent growth tax. The Collector, unable to cope with the loss of his profits, reverts to his natural form - a type of poisonous fungus - and is rendered harmless.
Plot
The Doctor battles the Collector.
Cast
- The Doctor - Tom Baker
- Leela - Louise Jameson
- Voice of K-9 - John Leeson
- Bisham - David Rowlands
- The Collector - Henry Woolf
- Commander - Colin McCormack
- Cordo - Roy Macready
- Goudry - Michael Keating
- Guard - Tom Kelly
- Hade - Richard Leech
- Mandrel - William Simons
- Marn - Jonina Scott
- Nurse - Carole Hopkin
- Synge - Derek Crewe
- Veet - Adrienne Burgess
Crew
- Assistant Floor Manager - Linda Graeme
- Costumes - Christine Rawlins
- Designer - Tony Snoaden
- Film Cameraman - John Tiley
- Film Editor - Tariq Anwar
- Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
- Make-Up - Janis Gould
- Producer - Graham Williams
- Production Assistant - Leon Arnold
- Production Unit Manager - John Nathan-Turner
- Script Editor - Anthony Read
- Special Sounds - Paddy Kingsland
- Studio Lighting - Derek Slee
- Studio Sound - Michael McCarthy
- Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
- Visual Effects - Peter Day
- Visual Effects - Peter Logan
References
- Droge of Gabrielides once offered a star system for the Doctor's head.
- The Usurians have a file on Gallifrey.
- Usarians are listed in Professor Thripsted's Flora and Fauna of the Universe as "parasitic fungi".
- Three types of gas are mentioned: Dianane, a deadly poison (to which Usurians are immune), Balarium, a muscle neutraliser, which also effects speech, and Pentocyleinicmethylhydrane (PCM), an anxiety inducing agent.
Story Notes
- Michael Keating (here playing Goudry) would later be cast as Vila in Blake's 7 based partially on this performance.
- Most of the corridors were named after UK tax forms, as the story was intended as a satire of contemporary British taxes.
- This story marks the last appearance of Leela's darker outfit. For the next two serials - her last - she would continue to wear the lighter (and more revealing!) one.
- During production of this story, Louise Jameson informed the producers that she would be leaving the show at year's end.
Ratings
- Part 1 - 8.5 million viewers
- Part 2 - 9.5 million viewers
- Part 3 - 8.9 million viewers
- Part 4 - 8.4 million viewers
Myths
to be added
Filming Locations
- WD and HO Wills Tobacco Factory (now known as Imperial Park), Hartcliffe Way, Hartcliffe, Bristol
- Camden Town Deep Tube Shelters, Stanmore Place, Camden Town, London
- BBC Television Centre (TC3 and TC6), Shepherd's Bush, London
Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors
- When the Gatherer is to be thrown off the roof by an angry mob it's quite obvious that it is a dummy.
- A car park insignia is visible on the roof top.
Continuity
- Professor Thripsted's works also appear in DW: Destiny of the Daleks and EDA: Alien Bodies.
Video Releases
Released as Doctor Who: The Sun Makers.
Released:
Novelisation
- Main article: Doctor Who and the Sunmakers
Novelised as Doctor Who and the Sunmakers by Terrance Dicks in 1982.
See also
to be added
External Links
- BBC Episode Guide to The Sun Makers
- Outpost Gallifrey Episode Guide: The Sun Makers
- Doctor Who Reference Guide: Detailed Synopsis - The Sun Makers
- A Brief History of Time (Travel): Guide to The Sun Makers
- The Locations Guide to Doctor Who - The Sun Makers
