Leela in A Blind Eye

posted February 8th 2024

One of the few constants in Gallifrey is the tension between the way Leela sees herself and how everyone else sees her. This episode is an important one for her, and is one of the better ones for deconstructing the assumptions everyone in her world make about her. So often, Leela is treated like she's stupid or lesser just because she isn't like anyone else around her. Indeed, Leela's story is one of profound loneliness because no matter where she is or who she is with, she doesn't fit in or think alike.

A Blind Eye is no different in this regard - Leela is taken on a trip by Romana who thinks she will be useful. Though Romana thinks she treats Leela well, and certainly compared to some other people she does, Romana's folly is that she sees Leela as an 'asset', as proven by Spirit. This is Romana's issue with absolutely everything in her life, however - everything and everyone is something that is either useful to her cause or not. But to return to my point, Leela's purpose in this episode is to protect Romana and Sissy from danger, and in doing so is yet again subject to prejudice from everyone around her.

It is not the Time Lord prejudice that interests me in this episode though, but Sissy's. From the moment Sissy steps into the train carriage with her, she is making assumptions about Leela being someone exotic and primitive, much as the Time Lords do - Torvald's first observation about Leela on recognising her is to call her 'Andred's creature... Andred's little alien trick'. Sissy's observation is that Leela must be 'Slavic', a 'vagabond queen with a gypsy hoard' and a 'noble of the Romani'. Though these seem to be opposite statements, the fact is still that neither are true. Leela is and always has been subject to everyone's fantastical notions about her, positive or negative, and she knows it. 'I am whatever you want me to be,' is what she says to Sissy's interrogation which says a lot about Leela's resignation to being unheard and unseen. She will always stay true to her principles, but it seems that living on Gallifrey has taught her that no-one will care to try and understand her.

And though it may seem that Sissy is not disrespecting Leela as much as her Time Lord colleagues, once the glamour of whatever fairytale Sissy is weaving about Leela has worn off and they get thrust into danger, they have this conversation:

'I don't blame you for wanting to live alongside us, but, well, you can't because you'll drag us down, and we have to preserve the most beautiful things. Though I mean no offense, of course.'
'You think you are better than me? You pick the lock.'
'I can't, I don't know how.'
'Then who is dragging who down? I mean no offense, of course... and since you are the superior one, perhaps you would care to walk first into the danger.'
'Oh, well... I don't mean it like that. And besides, you said you were here to protect me.'
'It is just as well for you that is true.'
'Well then. After you.'

This is a blatant parallel to the way Time Lords look down on Leela, and though it seems extreme to draw a comparison between Time Lord society and Nazi Germany, when Narvin is first introduced in this episode, he is mistaken for Sissy's Nazi boyfriend, who himself is Narvin's lackey Torvald. There is no doubt that Time Lord society is corrupt and Romana spends most of her time trying to dismantle the toxic and embedded forms of prejudice that make up everything a Time Lord is. Romana, despite some of her shortcomings, represents forward progress and a newer, better Gallifrey, while Narvin and the CIA represent the insititution as it is and all the ways it hinders those who are seen as undesirable.

So what does this mean for Leela, who is very much a representation of everything Gallifrey sees as undesirable? The conclusion of A Blind Eye sees her discover the truth about what happened to her husband. Throughout series 1, all Leela has been trying to do is leave Gallifrey as she does not feel she has a place on this planet without Andred, who in a kind interpretation of the text, is one of the only people in the universe who understands and accepts Leela. This is what makes his betrayal of her all the worse, because without him, she is a 'special case' as Romana calls her later. Leela ability to belong in the world of Gallifrey is always dependent on something or someone - after Andred, she is only ever desired for how useful she can be, a role she never manages to shake throughout the entire range.

A Blind Eye gives us a real insight into one of the throughlines of the range, which is not to underestimate or undervalue outsiders. For Leela, this takes the form of various battles to be seen as a person and worthy citizen of Gallifrey, and though the series sometimes forgets this, when she is allowed to make cutting comments and shine as the wonderful, brave, intelligent character she is, that is when Gallifrey is best.