Day 468: The Sun Makers Part 3

It's interesting to look at the role of Leela within this story. In previous adventures, she has been fairly attached to the Doctor, i.e. they both tend to be together throughout the story. This is different here, where a series of events causes them to be separated for much of the story. What this means is that we can appreciate her character more as she is on her own, instead of appreciating her chracter in relation to the Doctor's. Take, for instance, the scene where she meets the villainous Collector. Instead of getting a scene where the Doctor is able to be witty towards the villain (perhaps with a number of supporting characters in the background) we get one that is just Leela against the villain. This scene shows Leela at her best, being combative against the Collector, stating that his time will come in no uncertain terms. It's in part due to the writing from Robert Holmes that the character works so well in this scene, however I would put a lot of it down to Louise Jameson, the actress playing Leela, who brings true strength to the part and never makes us doubt that Leela is fully capable of killing most of what can be thrown at her. In short, Leela is a wonderful character, and The Sun Makers is an excellent demonstration of why this is the case.