I'll never understand this story's bad reputation. Sure, it does get too goofy for its own good sometimes, but it's such a fun romp with a huge set of colorful and memorable characters! And then there's the world building, the lore. This place feels such more more alive than any planet that Colin visited. Even though the skyscraper isn't exactly plausible as a place (Does no one ever go outside?), it's believable in a way that Karfel or Varos or whatever else never managed to be.
I think this story was what cemented the 7th Doctor specifically the scene where he uses the caretaker's rigid adherence to their nightmarish beauracracy in order to just walk out of their custody. I haven't seen this one properly in years but I do remember it fondly. Richard Briers was a delight in almost anything and he's on fine form as the Chief Caretaker. Demonic possession though was clearly out of his acting comfort zone as your hilarious and accurate impression reminded me.
I love Paradise Towers, it is such an underrated gem, easily the strongest from Seven’s first season. It is just such a joy, Pex’s hapless attempts to help, the colour coded girl gangs, old lesbian cannibals, Mel deciding that after nearly getting murdered she’ll just go for a nice swim, Seven tricking the guards by making up rules in the book. It’s a delight. Pex lives!
Easily the best story of season 24, and one that has such an undeservedly bad reputation... The Seventh Doctor is brilliant here, and I'm glad it made the writers immediately realise how desperately the Seventh Doctor needed an umbrella. The umbrella is my favourite accessory of any Doctor ever!
I was growing up in old London flats when this aired, so I took Paradise Towers as a slight dig at old English housing systems. You have the "Kangs" - kids who were left to fend for themselves, growing up with no supervision or parenting, thus self-taught and speaking mostly made-up slang. You have the "Caretakers", who are by-the-book followers and none too caring about the people they are overlooking, and the "Rezzies" (residents), left to their own devices, not looking out for the kids, and not getting support from the 'higher-ups' either. Despite being a simple setup, I really liked the overall world-building. You're given an opener that implies gang warfare, and you would assume they are killing each other. Still, you later realize that they are just self-taught teenagers playing capture the flag and wouldn't dare hurt each other, despite teenagers being "cleaned up" very regularly, or possibly eaten by cannibals. Just like Happiness Patrol, it's easy to be blinded by the campy/goofy vibe, but once you scratch the surface, there's a layer of darkness simmering below. Cannibalism, conscription, culling, bullying, growing up with no education or support, and various other angles. The only difference is Paradise Towers requires a bit more digging and assessment to see the darkness, whereas Happiness Patrol wears most of the darkness on its sleeve. Either way, I always found PT to be a fun little romp with enough darkness to prevent it from diving nose first into pure silliness, but I also understand when people don't take to it.
@@nekusakura6748 I think that if the Chief Caretaker remained serious for the final act instead of going all-in on the 'zombie' aspect, then things would have been much better overall. It's a classic case of panto/silliness overshadowing what could easily have been a grim and gritty tale -- at a time when Doctor Who was viewed as being very immature. Things improve in Season 25 + 26, but yes, I hold Dragonfire and Paradise Towers as the best of S24.
Red Kangs, Red Kangs, Red Kangs are best! I'm so happy you liked this one, Vera! It's so much fun, and I loved both the Doctor and Mel in it. Mel is charming and such a good foil for the Doctor when she's given things to do. Like, yes, she screams really well, but she only does it when she's got reason to. There's a strength of character that many people either don't see or choose not to see. McCoy's era is one where you can see Doctor Who finding its feet again and starting to pull itself out of the reputation it (undeservedly, IMO) got during the Colin Baker era, and creating some fantastic stories and arcs, only to be canceled (sorry, 'put on hiatus') after its third season. And Paradise Towers is such a good early example of what the production team was working toward. And it's so fun!
This was the very first Doctor Who story I watched when it was broadcast on BBC1 in 1987. I was 5. This was only Sylvester McCoy’s 2nd story. As a Brit, I did identify the coloured Kangs as the 3 main UK political parties.
Hmm, Red Kangs are best. Blue Kangs can't be trusted but will switch sides when it suits their interests. Yellow Kangs are wiped out and don't really have any influence. Yeah, that tracks.
I'm very happy you liked it, Vera. I've always liked the two middle stories of McCoy's first season and Paradise towers is such a big recovery from his first story. This is the story where you get to know the 7th doctor for real. My favourites among the supporting cast are the adorable old, man eating, women. They scared me a lot when I was a child (the 7th Doctor's my first one, watching him during the wilderness years during the 1990's). Thanks for a great review of a fun story.
The writers for this binge-read and tarantinoed at least 3 dystopian sci-fi classics: High Rise by J.G. Ballard, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and I have no Mouth and I must scream by Harlan Elison. I ain't even mad. Damn good episode.
If you were a young(ish) sci fi fan in the UK in the 80s the influence of 2000AD comics, specifically Judge Dredd is also writ, or indeed wallscrawled, large on this story. The vignette feel of quirky characters that is also a clear influence of RTD in Gridlock too.
This serial is partly inspired by JG Ballard’s *High Rise* which is about how bad would the middle-class behave in project housing? (No-one in a certain income bracket lived in big city apartments in 1970-80s). Richard Briers was the most famous star of BBC TV suburban sit-com in the 1970-80s, but his reputation was built on nice-guy try-hard characters. His role as The Caretaker is fascistic & bombastic and so out of type it will have jarred British audiences and that was a deliberate choice by him in breaking type and the show in casting him, but it fits well with the Ballard-like dark comedy dystopia here, where everything is treated as “normal” but really isn’t (Ballard grew up in an English style red brick suburban house in Shanghai, China). I agree the ending isn’t as good as the journey, but the journey is pretty good and worth your time.
Yeah, I think everyone watching at the time was very taken aback at the Chief Caretaker's transformation into the Great Architect. I still don't know if it was odd choices from Briers or very strange direction, but it's written as 'evil genius piloting a fresh corpse' and we get 'drunk uncle covered in silver paint'.
"I am Kroagnon, the Great Architect! I will put an end to you, and all in Paradise Towers!" The way the various factions come together in the end (to my mind) outweighs any dodginess in Richard Briers' performance. However, you must admit that he it made it easy to tell his two characters apart. I watched this one when it was first broadcast, and have it on dvd now. Still like it.
In an old DW Magazine there's a great joke line under a still of Mel in the pool being attacked by the yellow crab monster. It has the monster saying; " Of course I'm completely invisible in custard"
This is one that I find I also like better than most, for aspects of the story and characters especially, the theme and idea are very interesting and for the most part, it's a fun on, let down by certain aspects, especially the last episode when the chief caretaker goes from fun to rather dull, thanks to him being controlled.
Green Kangs are best! This is my earliest memory, so I'll always have a fondness for it that someone checking it out for the first time in their 40s would be unlikely to share. Objectively I agree that Richard Briers hams it up too much in the final part (he gave a much more understated performance as a different character in Torchwood Season 2) but that might've not been his choice. And yes, the other issue is Mel screaming at the sight of a harmless kids' bathtub frog toy once she finally reaches the pool. The rest is awesome though. The cleaning robots were enough to give little me nightmares back in the day. Glad to see you mostly enjoyed it! *PEX LIVES*
I love paradise towers. I was 11 or 12 when it broadcast, and it was the first time I recognised anything going on besides "the Doctor has an adventure". I think that the most evil characters in it (Tabby, Tilda, the Chief Deputy Caretaker*) were played by actors that I was used to seeing in, if not heroic then at least 'goodie' roles made them more threatening. They really exemplified the banality of evil (not that I would have phrased it that way at the time). Also, I thought the kangs were -so- cool. Can't think why. *that title is genius. This jumped up little jobsworth, with delusions of authority, reduced to a dysfunctional meat puppet by the broken mind of his god. :)
The characterisation is both the stories are great. They're almost mirrors: Paradise Towers feels like it should have a darker tone, but ends up as a camp romp; Greatest Show feels like it should be a fun visit to the circus, ends up with a really dark tone.
I like this one. I don't mind the silly too much, and I like that you see hints of 7's darker and more dangerous side beginning to show up even this early. They certainly didn't lean into it to any real degree until Ace joined the show in Dragonfire but coming back to this after watching some of that you can kinda tell it wasn't a total rework of his take on the character, and the aspects they decided to put that emphasis on were already there. Makes it feel almost The Doctor's finding this unexpected side of himself and figuring out the ways he can use it. And I just like this kind of story where the whole world's built on dark secrets and even the most innocent characters have something to hide. And, yeah, I'll agree that this story has the problem where the last act erases the best character in the story and replaces them with someone who just isn't quite so entertaining. It's definitely a problem not unique to this story in Doctor Who; in a way I kinda get it... when it's the actor's performance that elevates the character and makes them so entertaining, especially if the writer didn't necessarily envision the character in the way they're being played, by the time they see that that's happening it might be too late to change the script and keep them in it for longer. I think there's enough other entertaining stuff going on in the last section that the story doesn't completely fall apart but the last time I watched it I was definitely feeling like it had lost its best element a little too early.
There are some great idea's in this. The advertising slogan becoming a greating "Build High for Happiness" - the "Parent" generation killed in a war and the "Grandparents" are unable to control the "Youths" leaving them to form gangs - the male / female devide between the youths given a job and career (the all male Caretakers) and the women who have no idea what they are meant to be (the Kangs) - Pecks (the coward) - the oldsters turning on the youths because society has broken down and they are looking for food - the building being self aware and controlling the cleaners to get rid of the inhabitants - the architect thinking people ruin his creations (buildings and city's not meant for people to live in, but to be considered art in their own right). The performances somewhat let it down (along with Mel's obsession with getting to the pool) and some other plot elements. But I'm always fascinated by the slang / evolution of language it depicts "wallscrawl", "taken to the cleaners", "kangs", "oldsters", "build high for happiness" - all memorable and interesting. Always felt it was underrated - but can understand if others can't get through the performances and other weaknesses in the story. In my view this is where McCoys era starts getting interesting. The Doctor also gets some good scenes (tying up the Caretakers with their own rules & regulations).
It's all in there, a 'police' force more interested in protecting capital than people and clearly being unsuccessful at both, diverting resources to overseas wars and letting the young and old fend for themselves, street gangs and urbanisation making the urban landscape less liveable: all big concerns in the 80s in the UK (if not elsewhere)... there's a start at the sort of social commentary that Happiness Patrol really showcases.
Thank you for asserting that Tilda and Tabby are lesbians. I pointed this out about ten years ago and people got uppity with me as a result. Nice to have some validation there. Talking of Tabby and Tilda, the one played by Elizabeth Spriggs genuinely terrified me at the time. This was because she was probably best known at that point, certainly among younger viewers, as the titular female lead in children's drama Simon and the Witch, in which her character kindly rather than malevolent. Richard Briers (The Chief Caretaker) was very much a household name, from sitcoms The Good Life and Ever Decreasing Circles. He chose to play the character as if in The Theatre of the Absurd, which is a bold choice if nothing else. There's also an air of the Gumby from Monty Python in his performance, I would say. Finally, Pex was originally conceived as a Stallone-like figure, but the more ordinary-looking option was the right one, in my opinion.
I seem to remember that they wanted a Stallone-like actor for Pex, but they got a less-muscly actor instead and so that was incorporated into the script. Personally, I like Pex as a super-hero wannabe, who doesn't really have what it takes, but still tries his best.
I can't remember if Bonnie did scream a lot as Violet Elizabeth in the 1977 adaption of the Just William books, or just threaten to, but it was her best known acting gig before Doctor Who and I think the nation thought she was a screamer and JNT in my view had her cast because of that. It's good now to see her at unit not screaming, and being the maths whizz she was meant to be in the character bio but never seemed to do on screen. Richard Briers who played the chief caretaker/great architect would have probably been considered the greatest sitcom actor in British TV/radio at the time of his appearance in DW
If anybody would ask me, "what's classic Who like?", then this is one of the first stories that comes to mind. It's far from perfect, but a lot of fun!
Glad I'm not the only one who gets this one weirdly mixed up with Happiness Patrol lol. I kept conflating things between the two early into the video, but this is genuinely a great story on its own merits. I don't like when people say that a story is bad for just being silly fun, because so much of Doctor Who is exactly that and I love it for that.
Yeah, this story was the start of the development of the 7th Doctor's character, and it's pretty good. It's really Delta and the Bannerman and Time of the Rani that let this season down. (Dragonfire is a mixed bag) . .. ... Spoiler buffer ... .. . Richard Briers was a great actor, but he really missed the boat with the way he portrayed his character being possessed by Kroagnon, and on the commentary track they confirmed that the director had told him to knock it off but he wouldn't listen. Watch him as Polonius in Kenneth Branagh's 1996 version of Hamlet instead. He's brilliant in that. Pex Lives!
You're certainly right about the weird juxtaposition, especially at the end where, despite looking like he couldn't fight a hankie in a breeze, the Great Architect (Kroagnon) is able to resist being thrown down a lift shaft to his death (and that's the Doctor's plan??) until Pex steps in and finally becomes the hero he's dreamed of being. You also have the decidedly odd effect of the Doctor drinking soda because the Kangs, whilst using these things for decades, never turned them around? And HOW is that soda still drinkable? It's one of the brightly lit, clown, type of episodes when it's actually quite dark in story purpose and far more serious than the rest of season 24. I think this was the first one written when they actually knew who was playing the 7th DOctor.
It's been a long while since I saw this one but I remember liking it as well. I definitely remember Pex and the cleaners, which were both funny in different ways.
I love this story. Easily Mel's best outing on television story for me, and absolutely adore her interaction with the cannibal lesbians. And I'm glad we're agreed they're lesbians, I was worried I was editing that in to my memories of the story. I think the worst part about the conclusion is the Great Architect is a less interesting villain than _everything else_ going on in the story. There's already a bunch of conflict, there's already danger and threats and this interesting microcosm of a society that's gone deeply, deeply, wrong. I'm not sure it _needed_ a big central villain controlling everything with a secret plot, just one faction (the Caretakers) that are clearly worse than the others. Dial up the Caretakers' threat a bit and I think you can drop that aspect. You might even be able to do that without dialing up the Caretakers' threat a bit.
I think it's an intended plot point that the Caretakers move from being primarily interested in protecting property (and ignoring the deaths of the Kangs and Rezzies) and reaching solidarity with their other living inhabitants of Paradise Towers and work against the real enemy (a soulless architect valuing a building above the people that are supposed to live in it, more concerned with vandalism than the fact that the community within is in desperate straits). Honestly think the story might have worked better leaving the Great Architect as a brain in a jar, but I suppose it's usually easier to convey threat and menace when you have an actor rather than a prop as your villain - but then we get *that* performance from the otherwise extremely talented Richard Briars.
I see you took up my recommendation of your Next 7th Doctor serial. Considering your love of 'The Happiness Patrol', I thought you'd get a lot out of the satirical aspects of this Serial.
I watched this as a nine year old when it first came out and then didn't watch it again until about a year ago when i got the series 24 Blu-ray collection. I think it's pretty good. It definitely falls apart in the last episode, but Doctor Who has been doing that since 1963 so I don't mind that too much. Apparently Richard Briers was deliberately over-acting and could not be dissuaded. He usually played jolly nice middle-aged middle-class characters in sitcoms like the Good Life and Ever Decreasing Circles, so I think he fancied a change. Unfortunately he seems to be treating the whole thing as if it was silly. Which it is, but the performances should not be. I would gently push back on the politics of the piece. The Kangs have the same colours as the UK's three main political parties. The smallest of which (the Liberals) had failed to break through at the General Election that year. There is also the tragedy of the UK's social housing stock, much of which had been built as high-rises in a burst of progressive enthusiasm during the 1960s. By the 1980s, those blocks had lost much of their funding and many were seen as no-go areas. The caretakers were often fighting a losing battle against graffiti, and the police rarely went through the blocks which led to fears of gang violence. At least in the tabloid press of the time. I appreciate that 30+ years later the context is missing. Anyway, great video! 👍
Paradise Towers is great, one of my favorite campy ones! Agreed with all your critiques, although they don't take away from my favorite bits. Would love to see you review Happiness Patrol if you haven't already! 😊
Happiness Patrol and Paradise Towers have a lot in common. They're not quite as 'brave and bold' with their satire here as they will be in S25, but they lay a solid groundwork. I also think the sets and overall production in this are terrific. Sure, it's all clearly studio bound but they are beginning to break away from the "no shadows over-lighting" that seemed to rule in TV drama in the UK, especially the BBC, up to the late 80s and in particular they do use the lighting intelligently to 're-dress' the same corridors and shoot from different angles. I think this is also the story with cameos from a couple of Weylan-Yutani barrels left over from Aliens being filmed in Pinewood and clearly still knocking around the local prop houses. Does this put Aliens and Paradise Towers in the same universe? In both stories the city is almost a character in itself and I think this story does it slightly better Terra Alpha is supposed to have a look of faded glamour, fresh paint over crumbling buildings, like Venice, and the budget and space never really stretches that far.
Like a 2000 AD story with the Doctor in it (which is automatically a great thing), with a pinch of JG Ballard - but better than the film of 'High Rise' because it doesn't have Tom Hiddleston in it. And of course I'll always remember the first time I came across Bonnie Langford's melony bush. Sorry, Melanie Bush.
Ok, I got pulled away by the real world by 3 hours, and now I've seen. Yeah, I liked this story too but the presentation was really goofy at times, and crossed a line for me. I actually read the Target novel as a kid here in America before seeing the show because in the 80s it was hard to get Doctor WHO on anything close to "on time." That said, I'm glad you liked it and I should probably rewatch it with more adult sensibilities.
I've warmed to this over the years. I now think it's easily the most interesting story of Sylvester's first Season, even if I still find the pantomimic style rather jarring.
I warmed to 7th Doctor through Big Finish many years later. But watching his first season, I recall Paradise Towers specifically. That's when I tapped out of Doctor Who, until the TV movie.
"Take me down to the Paradise Towers where the Kangs aren't green and you may get devoured!" -Guns n' Roses, maybe
Have you watched it?
Oh my god, you win the comment section!😭😭😭
@@brucesimmons5517 Just last Saturday actually! This vid was perfect timing!
I'll never understand this story's bad reputation. Sure, it does get too goofy for its own good sometimes, but it's such a fun romp with a huge set of colorful and memorable characters! And then there's the world building, the lore. This place feels such more more alive than any planet that Colin visited. Even though the skyscraper isn't exactly plausible as a place (Does no one ever go outside?), it's believable in a way that Karfel or Varos or whatever else never managed to be.
I think this story was what cemented the 7th Doctor specifically the scene where he uses the caretaker's rigid adherence to their nightmarish beauracracy in order to just walk out of their custody. I haven't seen this one properly in years but I do remember it fondly. Richard Briers was a delight in almost anything and he's on fine form as the Chief Caretaker. Demonic possession though was clearly out of his acting comfort zone as your hilarious and accurate impression reminded me.
I love Paradise Towers, it is such an underrated gem, easily the strongest from Seven’s first season. It is just such a joy, Pex’s hapless attempts to help, the colour coded girl gangs, old lesbian cannibals, Mel deciding that after nearly getting murdered she’ll just go for a nice swim, Seven tricking the guards by making up rules in the book. It’s a delight. Pex lives!
this serial was directly inspired by J.G Ballard's dystopian Novel High Rise
Yes! Which is kinda bonkers when you consider that Doctor Who is a family show and J.G. Ballard was...well, J.G. Ballard!
Yeah, it's trying to do High Rise meets Judge Dredd meets Clockwork Orange... at 7.30pm on a weeknight for a family audience.
I still love it though.
Easily the best story of season 24, and one that has such an undeservedly bad reputation...
The Seventh Doctor is brilliant here, and I'm glad it made the writers immediately realise how desperately the Seventh Doctor needed an umbrella. The umbrella is my favourite accessory of any Doctor ever!
I was growing up in old London flats when this aired, so I took Paradise Towers as a slight dig at old English housing systems. You have the "Kangs" - kids who were left to fend for themselves, growing up with no supervision or parenting, thus self-taught and speaking mostly made-up slang. You have the "Caretakers", who are by-the-book followers and none too caring about the people they are overlooking, and the "Rezzies" (residents), left to their own devices, not looking out for the kids, and not getting support from the 'higher-ups' either.
Despite being a simple setup, I really liked the overall world-building. You're given an opener that implies gang warfare, and you would assume they are killing each other. Still, you later realize that they are just self-taught teenagers playing capture the flag and wouldn't dare hurt each other, despite teenagers being "cleaned up" very regularly, or possibly eaten by cannibals. Just like Happiness Patrol, it's easy to be blinded by the campy/goofy vibe, but once you scratch the surface, there's a layer of darkness simmering below. Cannibalism, conscription, culling, bullying, growing up with no education or support, and various other angles. The only difference is Paradise Towers requires a bit more digging and assessment to see the darkness, whereas Happiness Patrol wears most of the darkness on its sleeve.
Either way, I always found PT to be a fun little romp with enough darkness to prevent it from diving nose first into pure silliness, but I also understand when people don't take to it.
I think it's the best Serial of McCoy's first series and I'm willing to defend that opinion come hell or Highwater.
@@nekusakura6748 I think that if the Chief Caretaker remained serious for the final act instead of going all-in on the 'zombie' aspect, then things would have been much better overall. It's a classic case of panto/silliness overshadowing what could easily have been a grim and gritty tale -- at a time when Doctor Who was viewed as being very immature.
Things improve in Season 25 + 26, but yes, I hold Dragonfire and Paradise Towers as the best of S24.
Red Kangs, Red Kangs, Red Kangs are best! I'm so happy you liked this one, Vera! It's so much fun, and I loved both the Doctor and Mel in it. Mel is charming and such a good foil for the Doctor when she's given things to do. Like, yes, she screams really well, but she only does it when she's got reason to. There's a strength of character that many people either don't see or choose not to see. McCoy's era is one where you can see Doctor Who finding its feet again and starting to pull itself out of the reputation it (undeservedly, IMO) got during the Colin Baker era, and creating some fantastic stories and arcs, only to be canceled (sorry, 'put on hiatus') after its third season. And Paradise Towers is such a good early example of what the production team was working toward. And it's so fun!
This was the very first Doctor Who story I watched when it was broadcast on BBC1 in 1987. I was 5. This was only Sylvester McCoy’s 2nd story. As a Brit, I did identify the coloured Kangs as the 3 main UK political parties.
Hmm, Red Kangs are best. Blue Kangs can't be trusted but will switch sides when it suits their interests. Yellow Kangs are wiped out and don't really have any influence. Yeah, that tracks.
I'm very happy you liked it, Vera. I've always liked the two middle stories of McCoy's first season and Paradise towers is such a big recovery from his first story. This is the story where you get to know the 7th doctor for real. My favourites among the supporting cast are the adorable old, man eating, women. They scared me a lot when I was a child (the 7th Doctor's my first one, watching him during the wilderness years during the 1990's). Thanks for a great review of a fun story.
The writers for this binge-read and tarantinoed at least 3 dystopian sci-fi classics: High Rise by J.G. Ballard, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and I have no Mouth and I must scream by Harlan Elison. I ain't even mad. Damn good episode.
Also The Machine Stops by E.M Forster...
If you were a young(ish) sci fi fan in the UK in the 80s the influence of 2000AD comics, specifically Judge Dredd is also writ, or indeed wallscrawled, large on this story. The vignette feel of quirky characters that is also a clear influence of RTD in Gridlock too.
@@OldManFerdiad Oooh, good catch, I missed that!
This serial is partly inspired by JG Ballard’s *High Rise* which is about how bad would the middle-class behave in project housing? (No-one in a certain income bracket lived in big city apartments in 1970-80s).
Richard Briers was the most famous star of BBC TV suburban sit-com in the 1970-80s, but his reputation was built on nice-guy try-hard characters. His role as The Caretaker is fascistic & bombastic and so out of type it will have jarred British audiences and that was a deliberate choice by him in breaking type and the show in casting him, but it fits well with the Ballard-like dark comedy dystopia here, where everything is treated as “normal” but really isn’t (Ballard grew up in an English style red brick suburban house in Shanghai, China). I agree the ending isn’t as good as the journey, but the journey is pretty good and worth your time.
Yeah, I think everyone watching at the time was very taken aback at the Chief Caretaker's transformation into the Great Architect. I still don't know if it was odd choices from Briers or very strange direction, but it's written as 'evil genius piloting a fresh corpse' and we get 'drunk uncle covered in silver paint'.
"I am Kroagnon, the Great Architect! I will put an end to you, and all in Paradise Towers!"
The way the various factions come together in the end (to my mind) outweighs any dodginess in Richard Briers' performance. However, you must admit that he it made it easy to tell his two characters apart.
I watched this one when it was first broadcast, and have it on dvd now. Still like it.
The impression of the villain caught me so off guard 😭😂 love it. Not seen this story in a while! Will have to give it another go.
In an old DW Magazine there's a great joke line under a still of Mel in the pool being attacked by the yellow crab monster. It has the monster saying; " Of course I'm completely invisible in custard"
A neat, if coincidental, nod to the fact that Richard "Kroagnon" Briers voiced the cartoon series "Roobarb and Custard" :)
That was the winning entry to a caption competition =)
@@weejas That's right! I remember, now you've said that.
This is one that I find I also like better than most, for aspects of the story and characters especially, the theme and idea are very interesting and for the most part, it's a fun on, let down by certain aspects, especially the last episode when the chief caretaker goes from fun to rather dull, thanks to him being controlled.
Green Kangs are best!
This is my earliest memory, so I'll always have a fondness for it that someone checking it out for the first time in their 40s would be unlikely to share.
Objectively I agree that Richard Briers hams it up too much in the final part (he gave a much more understated performance as a different character in Torchwood Season 2) but that might've not been his choice.
And yes, the other issue is Mel screaming at the sight of a harmless kids' bathtub frog toy once she finally reaches the pool.
The rest is awesome though. The cleaning robots were enough to give little me nightmares back in the day. Glad to see you mostly enjoyed it!
*PEX LIVES*
I love paradise towers. I was 11 or 12 when it broadcast, and it was the first time I recognised anything going on besides "the Doctor has an adventure".
I think that the most evil characters in it (Tabby, Tilda, the Chief Deputy Caretaker*) were played by actors that I was used to seeing in, if not heroic then at least 'goodie' roles made them more threatening.
They really exemplified the banality of evil (not that I would have phrased it that way at the time).
Also, I thought the kangs were -so- cool. Can't think why.
*that title is genius. This jumped up little jobsworth, with delusions of authority, reduced to a dysfunctional meat puppet by the broken mind of his god. :)
And the writer who wrote this-- Stephen Wyatt--would go on to write The Greatest Show I'm the Galaxy next season
The characterisation is both the stories are great. They're almost mirrors: Paradise Towers feels like it should have a darker tone, but ends up as a camp romp; Greatest Show feels like it should be a fun visit to the circus, ends up with a really dark tone.
I like this one. I don't mind the silly too much, and I like that you see hints of 7's darker and more dangerous side beginning to show up even this early.
They certainly didn't lean into it to any real degree until Ace joined the show in Dragonfire but coming back to this after watching some of that you can kinda tell it wasn't a total rework of his take on the character, and the aspects they decided to put that emphasis on were already there. Makes it feel almost The Doctor's finding this unexpected side of himself and figuring out the ways he can use it.
And I just like this kind of story where the whole world's built on dark secrets and even the most innocent characters have something to hide.
And, yeah, I'll agree that this story has the problem where the last act erases the best character in the story and replaces them with someone who just isn't quite so entertaining. It's definitely a problem not unique to this story in Doctor Who; in a way I kinda get it... when it's the actor's performance that elevates the character and makes them so entertaining, especially if the writer didn't necessarily envision the character in the way they're being played, by the time they see that that's happening it might be too late to change the script and keep them in it for longer.
I think there's enough other entertaining stuff going on in the last section that the story doesn't completely fall apart but the last time I watched it I was definitely feeling like it had lost its best element a little too early.
There are some great idea's in this.
The advertising slogan becoming a greating "Build High for Happiness" - the "Parent" generation killed in a war and the "Grandparents" are unable to control the "Youths" leaving them to form gangs - the male / female devide between the youths given a job and career (the all male Caretakers) and the women who have no idea what they are meant to be (the Kangs) - Pecks (the coward) - the oldsters turning on the youths because society has broken down and they are looking for food - the building being self aware and controlling the cleaners to get rid of the inhabitants - the architect thinking people ruin his creations (buildings and city's not meant for people to live in, but to be considered art in their own right).
The performances somewhat let it down (along with Mel's obsession with getting to the pool) and some other plot elements.
But I'm always fascinated by the slang / evolution of language it depicts "wallscrawl", "taken to the cleaners", "kangs", "oldsters", "build high for happiness" - all memorable and interesting.
Always felt it was underrated - but can understand if others can't get through the performances and other weaknesses in the story.
In my view this is where
McCoys era starts getting interesting.
The Doctor also gets some good scenes (tying up the Caretakers with their own rules & regulations).
It's all in there, a 'police' force more interested in protecting capital than people and clearly being unsuccessful at both, diverting resources to overseas wars and letting the young and old fend for themselves, street gangs and urbanisation making the urban landscape less liveable: all big concerns in the 80s in the UK (if not elsewhere)... there's a start at the sort of social commentary that Happiness Patrol really showcases.
Thank you for asserting that Tilda and Tabby are lesbians. I pointed this out about ten years ago and people got uppity with me as a result. Nice to have some validation there.
Talking of Tabby and Tilda, the one played by Elizabeth Spriggs genuinely terrified me at the time. This was because she was probably best known at that point, certainly among younger viewers, as the titular female lead in children's drama Simon and the Witch, in which her character kindly rather than malevolent.
Richard Briers (The Chief Caretaker) was very much a household name, from sitcoms The Good Life and Ever Decreasing Circles. He chose to play the character as if in The Theatre of the Absurd, which is a bold choice if nothing else. There's also an air of the Gumby from Monty Python in his performance, I would say.
Finally, Pex was originally conceived as a Stallone-like figure, but the more ordinary-looking option was the right one, in my opinion.
I seem to remember that they wanted a Stallone-like actor for Pex, but they got a less-muscly actor instead and so that was incorporated into the script. Personally, I like Pex as a super-hero wannabe, who doesn't really have what it takes, but still tries his best.
I can't remember if Bonnie did scream a lot as Violet Elizabeth in the 1977 adaption of the Just William books, or just threaten to, but it was her best known acting gig before Doctor Who and I think the nation thought she was a screamer and JNT in my view had her cast because of that. It's good now to see her at unit not screaming, and being the maths whizz she was meant to be in the character bio but never seemed to do on screen. Richard Briers who played the chief caretaker/great architect would have probably been considered the greatest sitcom actor in British TV/radio at the time of his appearance in DW
Red Kangs are Best!
ok, I'll watch the vid now 😅
If anybody would ask me, "what's classic Who like?", then this is one of the first stories that comes to mind. It's far from perfect, but a lot of fun!
His druunk acting aside im glad you enjoyed Richard Briers! He's a minor british TV icon
Glad I'm not the only one who gets this one weirdly mixed up with Happiness Patrol lol. I kept conflating things between the two early into the video, but this is genuinely a great story on its own merits. I don't like when people say that a story is bad for just being silly fun, because so much of Doctor Who is exactly that and I love it for that.
Yeah, this story was the start of the development of the 7th Doctor's character, and it's pretty good. It's really Delta and the Bannerman and Time of the Rani that let this season down. (Dragonfire is a mixed bag)
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Richard Briers was a great actor, but he really missed the boat with the way he portrayed his character being possessed by Kroagnon, and on the commentary track they confirmed that the director had told him to knock it off but he wouldn't listen.
Watch him as Polonius in Kenneth Branagh's 1996 version of Hamlet instead. He's brilliant in that.
Pex Lives!
You're certainly right about the weird juxtaposition, especially at the end where, despite looking like he couldn't fight a hankie in a breeze, the Great Architect (Kroagnon) is able to resist being thrown down a lift shaft to his death (and that's the Doctor's plan??) until Pex steps in and finally becomes the hero he's dreamed of being.
You also have the decidedly odd effect of the Doctor drinking soda because the Kangs, whilst using these things for decades, never turned them around? And HOW is that soda still drinkable?
It's one of the brightly lit, clown, type of episodes when it's actually quite dark in story purpose and far more serious than the rest of season 24. I think this was the first one written when they actually knew who was playing the 7th DOctor.
For me I love all of 7s era. Sometimes it's a bit cheesy but never boring
It's been a long while since I saw this one but I remember liking it as well. I definitely remember Pex and the cleaners, which were both funny in different ways.
I love this story. Easily Mel's best outing on television story for me, and absolutely adore her interaction with the cannibal lesbians. And I'm glad we're agreed they're lesbians, I was worried I was editing that in to my memories of the story.
I think the worst part about the conclusion is the Great Architect is a less interesting villain than _everything else_ going on in the story. There's already a bunch of conflict, there's already danger and threats and this interesting microcosm of a society that's gone deeply, deeply, wrong. I'm not sure it _needed_ a big central villain controlling everything with a secret plot, just one faction (the Caretakers) that are clearly worse than the others. Dial up the Caretakers' threat a bit and I think you can drop that aspect. You might even be able to do that without dialing up the Caretakers' threat a bit.
I think it's an intended plot point that the Caretakers move from being primarily interested in protecting property (and ignoring the deaths of the Kangs and Rezzies) and reaching solidarity with their other living inhabitants of Paradise Towers and work against the real enemy (a soulless architect valuing a building above the people that are supposed to live in it, more concerned with vandalism than the fact that the community within is in desperate straits).
Honestly think the story might have worked better leaving the Great Architect as a brain in a jar, but I suppose it's usually easier to convey threat and menace when you have an actor rather than a prop as your villain - but then we get *that* performance from the otherwise extremely talented Richard Briars.
I see you took up my recommendation of your Next 7th Doctor serial.
Considering your love of 'The Happiness Patrol', I thought you'd get a lot out of the satirical aspects of this Serial.
I watched this as a nine year old when it first came out and then didn't watch it again until about a year ago when i got the series 24 Blu-ray collection. I think it's pretty good. It definitely falls apart in the last episode, but Doctor Who has been doing that since 1963 so I don't mind that too much. Apparently Richard Briers was deliberately over-acting and could not be dissuaded. He usually played jolly nice middle-aged middle-class characters in sitcoms like the Good Life and Ever Decreasing Circles, so I think he fancied a change. Unfortunately he seems to be treating the whole thing as if it was silly. Which it is, but the performances should not be.
I would gently push back on the politics of the piece. The Kangs have the same colours as the UK's three main political parties. The smallest of which (the Liberals) had failed to break through at the General Election that year.
There is also the tragedy of the UK's social housing stock, much of which had been built as high-rises in a burst of progressive enthusiasm during the 1960s. By the 1980s, those blocks had lost much of their funding and many were seen as no-go areas. The caretakers were often fighting a losing battle against graffiti, and the police rarely went through the blocks which led to fears of gang violence. At least in the tabloid press of the time.
I appreciate that 30+ years later the context is missing.
Anyway, great video! 👍
I honestly forgot about Pex completely until I watched this review
Will never not love that War Doctor sonic.
One of my top 10 favorite episodes from this era!
Paradise Towers is great, one of my favorite campy ones! Agreed with all your critiques, although they don't take away from my favorite bits.
Would love to see you review Happiness Patrol if you haven't already! 😊
Vera reviewed that in November 2022.
I like Paradise Towers
Same. I think it's the Best Serial in McCoy's First Series.
Happiness Patrol and Paradise Towers have a lot in common. They're not quite as 'brave and bold' with their satire here as they will be in S25, but they lay a solid groundwork.
I also think the sets and overall production in this are terrific. Sure, it's all clearly studio bound but they are beginning to break away from the "no shadows over-lighting" that seemed to rule in TV drama in the UK, especially the BBC, up to the late 80s and in particular they do use the lighting intelligently to 're-dress' the same corridors and shoot from different angles. I think this is also the story with cameos from a couple of Weylan-Yutani barrels left over from Aliens being filmed in Pinewood and clearly still knocking around the local prop houses. Does this put Aliens and Paradise Towers in the same universe?
In both stories the city is almost a character in itself and I think this story does it slightly better Terra Alpha is supposed to have a look of faded glamour, fresh paint over crumbling buildings, like Venice, and the budget and space never really stretches that far.
Like a 2000 AD story with the Doctor in it (which is automatically a great thing), with a pinch of JG Ballard - but better than the film of 'High Rise' because it doesn't have Tom Hiddleston in it. And of course I'll always remember the first time I came across Bonnie Langford's melony bush. Sorry, Melanie Bush.
Not a Kang in life, but brave and bold as a Kang should be!
yes, a silly but v fun story, my favorite from this season. Pex lives!
you and ms tardis released a video at the same time how am i supposed to choose with one to watch first :-)
I love this story , but I’m never entirely sure if all the rezzies are cannibals or just Tilda and Tabby.
3 Left:
Delta and the Bannermen
Ghostlight
And Survival!
I have such a soft spot for this story and have even cosplayed a Red Kang a few times at conventions. #redkangsarebest ❤❤
Of course Ricard Briers was also in Torchwood.
Ok, I got pulled away by the real world by 3 hours, and now I've seen. Yeah, I liked this story too but the presentation was really goofy at times, and crossed a line for me. I actually read the Target novel as a kid here in America before seeing the show because in the 80s it was hard to get Doctor WHO on anything close to "on time."
That said, I'm glad you liked it and I should probably rewatch it with more adult sensibilities.
Not a huge fan of S24, but this is easily the best
I feel like a Mel screaming joke/reference is inevitable in the new series
So bad it's bad fun tho Andrew cartmell told me about arguments to just turn lights down
this i remember on broadcast
Ah yes, the one with Hitler in the basement.
I've warmed to this over the years. I now think it's easily the most interesting story of Sylvester's first Season, even if I still find the pantomimic style rather jarring.
When you said ‘lesbian cannibals’ I briefly heard ‘lesbian camels’
Richard Briars is the popular face of smug middle class British sitcoms...
He was also Mr Smee in the 2003 Peter Pan film.
I warmed to 7th Doctor through Big Finish many years later. But watching his first season, I recall Paradise Towers specifically. That's when I tapped out of Doctor Who, until the TV movie.