Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...
Day 488: The Sunmakers, Episode Two
Dear diary,
I don’t know if I was simply having a bad day when watching Episode One of this story, but I’ve found this episode far more agreeable. Lots of the things that I was complaining about before either don’t seem to bother me so much now, or are simply better. The direction, for example, is much better here than it was during the first part, and there’s some lovely shots both down in the tunnels as the Doctor heads back to the under city, and when Leela and her new party of revolutionaries are making their way through the long, white tunnels upstairs.
Leela herself is yet another highlight. Anyone who follows The 50 Year Diary on a regular basis will be more than aware how much I’ve come to love the character over the last month or so, and she’s as brilliant here as she ever is. It’s another one of those instances where both the character and the actress really come together to create something… well… something perfect. Every choice Louise Jameson makes with her performance is fantastic - just watch here as she tells one of the rebels that they have have no pride, or courage, or manhood, and tell me that it isn’t one of the best performances a companion has ever given in Doctor Who.
Leela is simply brilliant in herself, though. She doesn’t even see the Doctor in this episode - they don’t once share the screen - but you never feel like she’s left running around as a spare part. She actively goes looking for her friend, and in the process starts to build up supporters for a revolution. I can only assume that this plot thread is going to keep building in the next half of the story, and we’ll have a rill-scale revolt on our hands by the end of Part Four.
Even K9 is acting as a great part of it, being sent to stun the gourd and giving Leela and Cordo a chance to proceed with their plans. By the time that the little robot pooch was removed from the programme during Season Eighteen, people often claim that he’d become too much of a useful tool, eliminating any really danger or tension in a lot of instances. I think I can see that already beginning here, but it’s still fresh and news, so I really enjoy it. We’ve never had a companion like Leela before - one who would be so willing to head off armed with a knife and a robot dog - and seeing them paired up like this is simply fun.
That said… oh my God K9 is loud! I don’t know if it’s a peculiar side effect of the types of tunnels they’re filming in this week, but I can’t say that I noticed his motors quite so obviously during The Invisible Enemy! It makes it sound really rather strange when he trundles up to the guard, and his mechanics are drowned out by the incidental music! The Doctor spent some time in the last story upgrading the dog’s systems - let’s hope he’s aiming to make him quieter! If I’m honest, I’m not entirely sure how K9 was able to sneak up on the guard like that!
