Leela’s last few stories were by no means my favorites of the short Tom Baker run we had growing up—I remember scratching my head seeing Sarah again after Invasion, being disappointed when it happened a second time, then a third, fourth… but maybe it was for the best, considering what actually followed. Wouldn’t it have been great if it turned out that Romana was Leela all along, gentrified by Time Lord society? Killing her off wasn’t the right call (imagine the effect on the Doctor, though), but a time skip definitely would’ve worked.
Crazy that they were actually thinking of doing it in The Sun Makers, which I admit I like now more than I did back then, when I was far too young to relish the overthrow of a corporatocracy, however cheaply dramatized. As if the BBC would air a group of terrorists tossing a government official off a building anymore, much less greenlight a companion named after a Palestinian freedom fighter! Underworld also suffered from trying to present an epic with a shoestring budget, but I’ve always had a soft spot for takes on Greek mythology, those shield guns were as cool as anything in Star Wars, and Leela truly had her final best moments under (and after) the influence of the Pacifier Gun. Orf was not a beautiful name.
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