The Sun Makers

] [cite web
url= http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/4w.html
title= The Sun Makers
publisher = A Brief History of Time Travel
last = Sullivan
first = Shannon
date = 2007-08-07
accessdate = 2008-08-30]

Outside references

*Robert Holmes intended the serial to be a satire of his own experiences with the Inland Revenue services. However, much of the political content was toned down by order of producer Graham Williams, who feared it would be controversial among viewers. Many of the letters and numbers used to denote the labyrinth of corridors in the city, for example P45, allude to well-known Inland Revenue forms and tax documents. The actor who played the Gatherer had deep bushy eyebrows, very reminiscent of the then-Chancellor of the Exchequer, Denis Healey. However, Holmes presented the villains of the piece as working for a private corporation rather than a government.
*The Doctor refers to Galileo Galilei in passing, saying "Galileo will be pleased."
*When one of the rebels rhetorically asks the Doctor, "What have we got to lose?" he replies, "Only your claims!" This is a playful paraphrase of the famous slogan derived from the last lines of "The Communist Manifesto".
*K-9 refers to Pluto as "the ninth planet." It was regarded as such at the time the programme was written and broadcast; in 2006, Pluto lost that distinction when it was downgraded to the status of dwarf planet.
*This story is echoed in "The Simpsons" episode "Treehouse of Horror X" in which Comic Book Guy's alter ego "The Collector" kidnaps the Fourth Doctor for his collection.
*In this episode, Leela and the Doctor are identified as "terrorists." In real life, Leela's character was partially based on Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled. [cite web |url=http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/4q.html |title=The Face of Evil |accessdate=2007-03-18 |last=Sullivan |first=Shannon Patrick |work=A Brief History of Time (Travel)] [cite news |first=Katharine |last=Viner |title='I made the ring from a bullet and the pin of a hand grenade' |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,428510,00.html |work=The Guardian |date=2001-10-26 |accessdate=2007-03-18 ]

In print

Doctorwhobook
title=Doctor Who and the Sunmakers
series=Target novelisations
number=60
featuring=


writer=Terrance Dicks
publisher=Target Books
coverartist=Andrew Skilleter
isbn=0 426 20059 4
set_between=
pages=
date=18 November 1982
preceding=Logopolis
following=Time-Flight|A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in November 1982. Dicks chose to tone down the scene in which revolutionaries cheer as they hurl one of their former oppressors from a roof, reducing the apparent horror so that the rebels concerned feel that their actions have gone "a bit too far".

Broadcast and VHS release

*This story was released on VHS in July 2001.

References

External links

*BBCCDW|id=sunmakers|title=The Sun Makers
*Brief |id=4w | title=The Sun Makers
*Doctor Who RG | id=who_4w | title=The Sun Makers

Reviews

*OG review | id=4w | title=The Sun Makers
*DWRG | id=sunm | title=The Sun Makers

Target novelisation

* [http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~ecl6nb/OnTarget/1982/sunmaker/82sunmak.htm On Target — "Doctor Who and the Sunmakers"]