Day 469: The Sun Makers Part 4

The Sun Makers is an interesting story, as it appears to directly advocate for a revolution. We get an oppressed society that is encouraged to rise up againt their oppressors by the Doctor, which they do with aplomb. One of the highlights of the story, for instance, is watching the development of the character Cordo go from a mild mannered character to a ravolutionary fanatic, joyously proclaiming the need for revolt.

There's another interesting scene where a group of civilians, after Gatherer Hade (the secondary villain for this story) tells them off for being on top of a building. They respond to this by picking him up and throwing him off the building. They follow this by some gleeful cheering and laughter. What's interesting about this is it has an underlying question: 'is this too far?'. Hade was a minor character, relatively inneffectual. Did he deserve to be punished? Yes, but to be killed is another matter entirely. And it's more than just killing him, we are supposed to rejoice in this death, which seems to me to be a step too far. This is coupled with the fact that only moments later we see the Doctor cheerily saying goodbye to the rebels, and wishing them well, even though it's blatantly obvious that they have been killing people left, right and centre.

All of this encourages discussion of whether these actions were justified or not, making the story more interesting as it allows for a conversation to be set up amongst viewers, directly engaging with the audience and showing that Doctor Who is still a strong piece of television.