The Tardis lands on Pluto in the far future. Instead of being a lifeless rock, there's scented air, massive buildings, six suns, a human population subjugated by crippling taxes from a government called "The Company," and a man about to commit suicide.
THE SUN MAKERS BY: ROBERT HOLMES Part One Running time: 24:59 [SCENE_BREAK] WOMAN: Citizen Cordo, District Four? CORDO: Yes? WOMAN: Congratulations, Citizen. Your father ceased at one ten. CORDO: All was well? WOMAN: A fine death. Body weight was eighty four kilos at termination. CORDO: I'm gratified. WOMAN: Gatherer Hade is waiting for the death taxes. CORDO: Yes, I have them here. WOMAN: Pay them at the Gatherer's office. [SCENE_BREAK] HADE: Let him enter. HADE: Well, Citizen. Death taxes? Not on the desk. It might scar. CORDO: Oh, it is wood, your honour. HADE: Mmm, of a kind called ma-ho-gany. I don't suppose you've ever seen wood before, have you, Citizen? CORDO: No, never. But we learned about it at preparation centre. There was even a picture of a tree! A fine thing. HADE: Simply a primitive way of producing oxygen. Thank the Company we have no need of trees on Pluto. CORDO: Praise the Company. HADE: Is this your account, Citizen? I see you selected the golden death, with four mercy attendants. CORDO: Yes, your honour. I always pledged that when his death day came he would not suffer. HADE: Compassion is a noble thing, Citizen. Also costly. A hundred and seventeen talmars. CORDO: One hundred and seven? No, it can't be. HADE: See the account. CORDO: But there's a mistake. Eighty, they said. Eighty for the golden death. HADE: The Collector recently raised death taxes seventeen percent. CORDO: I didn't know, your Honour. HADE: It was bulletined. CORDO: But I didn't see it. HADE: It is every citizen's duty to know the tax rates. CORDO: I've been working double shifts to earn the money. HADE: Four mercy attendants is now a further eighteen talmars. Disposal fee ten talmars plus of course an ad valorum tax of ten percent. Total one hundred and thirty two talmars. It's all here, you see, and said we put your father's personal contribution of seven talmars. Only seven talmars, Citizen? Must have been a poor man. CORDO: He was a municipal servant for forty years, your Honour. He cleaned the walkways. HADE: And then there's the recycling allowance on his death weight of eighty four kilos. That is eight talmars. Leaving a debt of a hundred and seventeen. CORDO: Please, I have only eighty six. It has taken me years to save it. HADE: How do you propose to settle the thirty one talmars outstanding? CORDO: Well, I can't. Your Honour, I have nothing. HADE: Taxes are the primary consideration, Citizen. I see that you are a D grade worker in the Foundry. CORDO: Yes, your Honour. HADE: Fortunately, as the Gatherer, I have certain powers. I will encourage your supervisor to allow you increased output. CORDO: But, your Honour, I already work a double shift now! I have only my three hours sleep time away from the Foundry. HADE: Twenty one hours a week. You must manage without sleep time until the debt is paid. CORDO: It will kill me! HADE: Take your Q capsule. CORDO: But your Honour, the high medical tax on Q capsules! HADE: Citizen Cordo, you complain too much. Thank the Company you're warm and fed. CORDO: Praise the Company. HADE: You may go. CORDO: I am gratified, your Honour. [SCENE_BREAK] K9: Queen to knight six. LEELA: There? K9: Affirmative. DOCTOR: Even simple one-dimensional chess exposes the limitations of the machine mind. K9: Bishop to queen six. Mistress! LEELA: There? K9: Affirmative. Check, master. DOCTOR: What? K9: Machine mind computes mate in six moves. DOCTOR: Rubbish! LEELA: Doctor! DOCTOR: Leela, keep still. LEELA: But Doctor, the DOCTOR: And shut up. I'm trying to concentrate. K9: Your move, master. DOCTOR: I know it's my move. Don't flash your eyes at me. K9: Wrong square. DOCTOR: What? K9: Your king, master. Wrong square. DOCTOR: Really? Are you sure? K9: Affirmative. LEELA: Doctor, can I speak now? DOCTOR: What? All right, if you must. What is it? LEELA: Well, the column's stopped moving. DOCTOR: So? LEELA: It is not important? DOCTOR: What?! DOCTOR: We might have gone right through the time spiral! Why didn't you tell me? LEELA: I tried to but you wouldn't let me. DOCTOR: You didn't. LEELA: I did. DOCTOR: You didn't. LEELA: I did! DOCTOR: You didn't. LEELA: I did! DOCTOR: It's that confounded paint. It's always jamming things up. Stay calm. I'm going to materialise and take a reading. LEELA: Where are we? DOCTOR: We're still in the Solar System. Pluto? LEELA: Pluto? DOCTOR: Yes, Pluto. K9: Ninth planet. Was until the discovery of Cassius believed to be the outermost body in the system. It has a diameter of three thousand DOCTOR: Leela, tell your tin friend to shut up. LEELA: K9, you can tell me later. K9: Affirmative. It's distance from the Sun is LEELA: Shush. DOCTOR: Breathable atmosphere. That's wrong. LEELA: There are buildings. DOCTOR: Pluto's a lifeless rock. Leela? I think you and I should take a W A L K. LEELA: W A L K? DOCTOR: W-a-l-k. K9: Walk, mistress. LEELA: I know. K9: Ready, master. DOCTOR: No, no, no. You're not coming. You stay here. K9: Entreat, master. DOCTOR: No. K9: I'll be good. DOCTOR: No! Pluto's no place for a LEELA: I'm sorry, K9. We won't be long. [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: Quite warm. Around twenty degrees. Very humid. LEELA: It is like Earth, except that the air is scented. DOCTOR: It's all wrong. It shouldn't be like Earth. Unless, of course, the Sun's turned nova. LEELA: Doctor, look! DOCTOR: Fascinating. DOCTOR: What an engineering achievement, eh? DOCTOR: Don't joggle, Leela. Don't joggle. You can look in a minute. DOCTOR: Must have taken them centuries to build a city like that. LEELA: Hey! DOCTOR: What? LEELA: Come down! Please, come back! DOCTOR: Don't touch him! LEELA: Doctor! Please, don't jump. DOCTOR: Magnificent view, isn't it. How high is this building? CORDO: A thousand metres. DOCTOR: A thousand metres? My. Are we interrupting something? CORDO: What would you say, Citizen? DOCTOR: Somehow I have the impression you're thinking of killing yourself. CORDO: It's the taxes. DOCTOR: What? CORDO: It's the taxes. I can't pay the taxes. DOCTOR: Oh, the taxes. My dear old thing, all you need is a wiley accountant. Would you care for a jelly baby? Hmm? Try one. CORDO: What? DOCTOR: They're rather good. DOCTOR: Now, tell us about it. This is Leela, I'm the Doctor. [SCENE_BREAK] HADE: What is it, Marn? MARN: Air space violation, your Honour. HADE: District Four. MARN: The data vibes also indicate illegal landing. HADE: Hmm? MARN: Block Forty. HADE: Excellent. There's a fine of five hundred talmars on each count. Order my demon(?) immediately, Marn. We must apprehend the culprit. [SCENE_BREAK] CORDO: Then there's the medical tax on Q-capsules, and work tax on extra hours, so I could never clear the debt. You see, the Company charges fifty percent compound interest on unpaid taxes. I'm only a grade D work unit, three talmars a shift. Three talmars. That's not enough. LEELA: What is he saying, Doctor? I do not understand. DOCTOR: He can't make ends meet. Probably too many economists in the government. LEELA: These taxes, they are like sacrifices to tribal gods? DOCTOR: Well, roughly speaking, but paying tax is more painful. LEELA: Then the people should rise up and slaughter their oppressors! DOCTOR: Well, if little Cordo's at all typical, they haven't any spirit left for fighting. CORDO: It's the Gatherer! Quick, run! LEELA: Run, Doctor! It's the Gatherer! [SCENE_BREAK] CORDO: If we are caught up here, there is a fine of five talmars or a week in the Correction Centre. DOCTOR: What? CORDO: It is an offence! Only the executive grade is allowed in the light of the suns. DOCTOR: Suns? LEELA: Shush. [SCENE_BREAK] MARN: How did it get here? HADE: Oh, use your intelligence, Marn. We detected an air space violation. Clearly a sky freighter. MARN: But what is it, your Honour? HADE: Obviously a container. See the lock? [SCENE_BREAK] LEELA: He is trying to open the TARDIS. DOCTOR: Pity K9 can't bark. CORDO: Quick! Quick! DOCTOR: What is it? CORDO: We must get away. DOCTOR: For someone who wanted to commit suicide a few minutes ago, you seem very anxious not to be caught. CORDO: Death is easy. Perhaps you've never been in the Correction Centre, Citizen. DOCTOR: Come on, Leela. CORDO: Hurry. [SCENE_BREAK] HADE: It's an intriguing case, Marn. MARN: Your Honour, it's inconceivable. To flout so many regulations. HADE: Exactly. I smell something very big. Perhaps another Kandor conspiracy. MARN: What was that? HADE: Oh yes, Kandor. MARN: I never heard of it. HADE: Yes, it wasn't made public at the time in case it gave others ideas. Kandor was an executive grade in Megropolis Four who falsified computer records for the enrichment of himself and his fellow conspirators. Altogether he defrauded the Company of millions of talmars. MARN: Praise the Company. What happened to him? HADE: He survived three years in the Correction Centre. MARN: Three years? A record. HADE: He was very strong. [SCENE_BREAK] LEELA: Where are we going? DOCTOR: I don't know. Why did you run? LEELA: Well, he ran first. DOCTOR: That's no answer. LEELA: Why did you run? DOCTOR: I don't know. Odd, isn't it? LEELA: Perhaps everyone runs from the tax man. DOCTOR: He says you're right. [SCENE_BREAK] MARN: I can easily trace the delivery and freighter records. HADE: Whatever programme the freighter used will self destruct in print. MARN: You mean the instruction will not be retained in records? But that's another illegal HADE: Does the robber hesitate to break a window? We're not dealing here, Marn, with some snivelling tax defaulter. This is a carefully planned criminal enterprise. MARN: To what end, your Honour? HADE: To defraud the Company of its rightful revenues by smuggling contraband goods into the Megropolis. I see the magnitude of the offence astounds you. MARN: Well, it's hard to believe such depths of criminality. HADE: It exists, Marn. It exists. Despite the screening and the Preparation Centres and the air conditioning, criminal deviants occur in every generation. Enemies of the Company. On old Earth they had a saying. There's one rotten acorn in every barrel. We must find this filth, Marn. Find it and crush it. MARN: The Company be praised. How should it be done? HADE: I have a plan. [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: What's the hurry? CORDO: I must leave you here, Citizens. LEELA: What are you going to do? CORDO: Perhaps I can join the others. LEELA: Who are the others? CORDO: It is said they live in the Undercity. Outlaws, tax criminals, some who've escaped from the Correction Centre. Perhaps they will help me, if they exist. LEELA: If you are not sure they exist, how do you expect to find them? CORDO: I know the secret way to the Undercity. You see, my father was an E grade work unit. He cleaned the walkways all his life. He learned the secret. DOCTOR: We'll come with you. CORDO: I'm gratified, Citizens, but there may be danger. DOCTOR: No, I'm interested in this Undercity. Always like to get to the bottom of things. LEELA: Come on. [SCENE_BREAK] CORDO: But you don't understand, Citizens. My father looked in once. He said there is no light, nothing. It is not possible to imagine such a thing. LEELA: You mean it is dark. CORDO: What is dark? LEELA: Well, at night, when the sun has gone. DOCTOR: He means there's no night on this planet, Leela. That's why the concept of darkness frightens him. LEELA: But that is not possible. Every planet must have a night. DOCTOR: Not if the sidereal and axial rotation periods are the same, or if there's more than one sun. CORDO: There are six. DOCTOR: What, six suns on Pluto? CORDO: Well, everyone knows that. Each Megropolis was given its own sun. DOCTOR: In-station fusion satellites. Galileo would have been impressed. [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: Cordo? CORDO: Yes? DOCTOR: Which way? CORDO: Somewhere beyond this point there is a little grating in the ground. DOCTOR: Well, go on. CORDO: No, I can't. It's hard to see. All the light is fading. LEELA: Your eyes will soon grow accustomed to the darkness. CORDO: I didn't think it would be as bad as this. I must turn back. DOCTOR: Too late. DOCTOR: Take your hand off that knife, Leela. DOCTOR: Hello. You must be the others. [SCENE_BREAK] K9: Master? [SCENE_BREAK] MARN: The tracker system is activated, your Honour. HADE: So soon? Well done, Marn. MARN: What is it? HADE: I don't have to tell you, Marn. [SCENE_BREAK] GOUDRY: We caught these three snooping around the service subway. DOCTOR: You did not catch us. We allowed you to escort us. MANDRELL: What are they? GOUDRY: They claim they're from another planet, Mandrell. MANDRELL: There's no life on the other planets. DOCTOR: Really? How many other planets have you been to? MANDRELL: Show courtesy to my rank, or I'll cut your skin off inch by inch. DOCTOR: I can see we're going to get on famously. [SCENE_BREAK] K9: Descend to level forty two. [SCENE_BREAK] MANDRELL: Where are they from? He looks like an Ajack. DOCTOR: Do you think he's insulting me? LEELA: With a face like his? He would not dare. DOCTOR: No. LEELA: Let me get him, Doctor. I could cut his heart out. DOCTOR: Shush. We haven't come here to fight. We haven't come here to fight. MANDRELL: Why did you come here, then? DOCTOR: Because my new little chum here seemed unhappy about something. MANDRELL: The D grade? DOCTOR: Yes, the D grade. LEELA: He wishes to join your tribe. MANDRELL: Get him up. DOCTOR: I'll get him up. Come on, don't be frightened. CORDO: Light. Please, Doctor, let me see some light. MANDRELL: Fool, there's no light down here. Only that which we make ourselves. GOUDRY: Come on. Come on! We can make a few candles out of him. It's all he's good for, Mandrell. MANDRELL: Shut up. What's your name? CORDO: Citizen Cordo, District Four. GOUDRY: Foundry or smelting? CORDO: I'm a foundry work unit, your honour. Always respectable. All my life I've met the production quotas, paid my dues and taxes, praise the Company. MANDRELL: Stuff the Company. Mouth those mindless parties down here, Citizen Cordo, and you'll get your throat slit. So, you're in trouble with the Gatherer, eh? CORDO: Yes. I couldn't meet my father's death taxes. It was more than I was told, and I MANDRELL: It's always more than they tell you. I've heard the story a thousand times. You stay with us, you'll have to earn your keep. CORDO: Oh, yes, your honour, I'll work. Anything. MANDRELL: Work? Work, Cordo? Nobody works here. We go into the upper levels and steal what we need. Aye, and kill for our needs when necessary. VEET: This skin, it's real skin! LEELA: You touch me again and I'll fillet you! MANDRELL: A handy girl. Doctor? DOCTOR: Hmm? MANDRELL: You two may be of more use to us than I thought. DOCTOR: Well I'm delighted to. Oh, no, no, we're just tourists. We're not staying. DOCTOR: On the other hand, it is quite cozy. Don't you think it's quite cozy here? [SCENE_BREAK] MARN: It's turning into subway CT1. HADE: How I dislike the lower levels. So very depressing. MARN: The D grade work units have their dormer somewhere along there. HADE: He's turned again, Marn. Where is it now? MARN: It looks like one of the service subways, your Honour. [SCENE_BREAK] VEET: It is finished. MANDRELL: A thousand talmars? VEET: It will do. MANDRELL: It'd better do. A little task for you, Doctor. DOCTOR: Oh, good. MANDRELL: Here's a ConSumCard we got of an Ajack. It's made out for a thousand talmars. DOCTOR: A thousand talmars. Stolen? MANDRELL: What do you think? DOCTOR: Stolen. MANDRELL: It hasn't been used, so it's not on the computer records. GOUDRY: None of us could us it. We don't look like Ajacks. DOCTOR: Hmm. What do these Ajacks look like, if I'm pretending to be one. I ask merely for information. GOUDRY: They're all miners. They live in Megropolis Three. MANDRELL: Do you know how to use a ConSumCard? DOCTOR: Er, computer microloaded, er, do you feed it into a reader? MANDRELL: At the ConSum Bank on subway thirty seven. DOCTOR: Subway thirty seven. MANDRELL: Cordo? You show the Doctor how to get there. LEELA: (quietly) Do not go, Doctor. DOCTOR: What? Suppose I refuse to go? MANDRELL: You'll die. DOCTOR: It was just a passing thought. MANDRELL: Well, here's another one in case you run off with our talmars. If you're not back by this time, the girl dies. [SCENE_BREAK] CORDO: I couldn't breathe down there. DOCTOR: It was a bit stuffy, but unscented. CORDO: What is it? DOCTOR: Nothing, just an idea. K9. K9: Master. DOCTOR: Didn't I tell you to stay in the TARDIS? [SCENE_BREAK] MARN: An Ajack, by the stamp of him. HADE: The other. The other I've seen somewhere before. MARN: A D grade? HADE: D grade. Hmm. Of course! He was here, only hours ago, whining for time to pay his taxes. MARN: What would an Ajack want with those riff-raff of the Undercity? HADE: Quick, put the tracker on the Ajack. MARN: Your Honour, it's not possible. The tracker system is keyed to follow that machine. HADE: You mean you've lost him. MARN: We know the subways he's traversing. We can make physical contact. HADE: No, too soon for that. I want to know more about this Ajack. By my ledger, I've got it, Marn! MARN: Your Honour? HADE: I know what they're smuggling. Arms. MARN: Weapons? HADE: Mmm. They were always an arrogant, unsettled lot, the Ajacks. The air conditioning isn't effective in the mines. It's long been recognised that if there's ever a rebellion against the Company, it will start among the Ajacks. Don't you see? MARN: You mean he's smuggling arms to the Undercity? HADE: Exactly. And if it's happening here, it's a talmar to a toffee it's happening in every Megropolis on Pluto. MARN: What shall we do? HADE: I must go to the Company palace and warn the Collector. We need the Inner Retinue to deal with this. [SCENE_BREAK] CORDO: There it is, Doctor. DOCTOR: Tens, please.
The Sun Makers - part 1