THE SUNMAKERS

[Tony]

Here we are discussing Terrance Dicks' novelization of THE SUNMAKERS! If you want to hear your review of or comments on this book read on the air, or you have a specific question about the book, please post it here by no later than 5pm CST on Friday, July 16!

[Damon]

Never took to this TV episode but the book made the corridors seem a little more interesting.

It's a good idea for a story but not the best told one.

2 stars.

[Michael]

I believe this one of the last fourth Doctor serials that Terrance Dicks adapted for the Target line -- and I can't help but feel that he put a bit more care into it. Or maybe he just liked the script from Robert Holmes a bit more and it shows on the page.

Either way, this adaptation is every bit as dark and satirical as the original version. Holmes was (apparently) upset about taxes and wrote this in response. I wish I could say that it felt like we'd learned the lessons of what Holmes warns us about here and become a better world in the years since it was originally aired, but I don't necessarily think that's true.

Instead, we've got a story that still feels relevant today. Yes, there is a bit of corridor chasing in the middle installments, but there is some good stuff here. Leela is well used and you can see why Louise Jameson liked Holmes writing for her character.

Jameson does her usual good job of reading this one and bringing it to life on audio. That alone gets a star. I give this one 3 and a half stars.

[Dave]

A lot of the onscreen humour is lost in this book, which is mostly a shame, though Baker is at his "look at me, I'm so zany" worst at this point, and some of his "jokes", such as in the TARDIS at the beginning where he suddenly leaps into the air while shouting his line I don't miss at all. Most of the funnier stuff is probably not transferable to the page, as it comes from the performances.
Terrance Dicks continues to surprise me in his treatment of Leela. There's one scene in particular that I like, where she and the Doctor first meet the Others, and are being threatened. On the page it's more or less what we see on the screen, but rearranged, except that Leela is threatened, the Doctor gallantly steps in front of her to protect her, then Leela "gently moved him aside." Using the word "gently" give Leela a quiet strength. I would have expected an avowed male chauvinist like Dicks to make Leela more emotional, if not screaming then, at least, shouting threats.
Dicks also improves the story by making it a lot less callous, mostly by fixing one scene. When Gatherer Hade meets his demise, the mob all cheer, but Dicks has several of them showing various degrees of remorse.
I'll have to round the score up for this one. I want to give it 3.5, but there is too much improvement to warrant rounding it down.