#6 (25.5 - 25.7): The Happiness Patrol.

The Kandyman: Terra Alpha's gleeful, candy-coated executioner.

3 episodes. Approx. 74 minutes. Written by: Graeme Curry. Directed by: Chris Clough. Produced by: John Nathan Turner.


THE PLOT

The Doctor and Ace visit the Earth colony Terra Alpha, where a large number of citizens have disappeared over the past six months. The colony lives under the rule of Helen A. (Sheila Hancock), whose slogan is "Happiness will prevail." It's a slogan she enforces with her "Happiness Patrol," a Gestapo-like force that actively searches for anyone displaying unhappiness. Such "killjoys" are subject to lethal disappearances, something which has become routine on Terra Alpha.

Once the Doctor takes in the situation, he resolves to put a stop to it. He announces that the disappearances, the enforced happiness, and Helen A.'s entire reign will end this very night. That is, if he can avoid the candy-colored but deadly guns of the Happiness Patrol, the tricks of undercover Happiness Patrol agent Silas P. (Jonathan Burn), and the macabre confections of the Kandyman (David John Pope), Helen A.'s official executioner - a psychotic creation made entirely of sweets...


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: The Happiness Patrol is the third story in a row in which the Doctor doesn't stumble across a situation, but actively goes looking for one. He comes to Terra Alpha to investigate "disturbing rumors." Step One? Get arrested - Meaning that the Doctor being captured only to escape is actually part of his plan instead of narrative padding. Sylvester McCoy is on very good form through most of the story. The scene in which he confronts an armed guard with nothing but a steady voice and a direct gaze as he challenges the man to "pull the trigger, end my life" tends to get attention (and with good reason), but I find McCoy's best scene in the serial to be his final encounter with Helen A. As the architect of the colony's enforced happiness is finally reduced to tears, Ace instinctively asks if there is anything they should do. "'Tis done," the Doctor replies, voice and face unreadable.

Ace: I think this story would make more sense for her character arc if it had come after Dragonfire and before Remembrance - though I can't argue with the decision to make the Dalek story the season premiere. It's difficult to miss that most of the maturity added to Ace's characterization in Remembrance has been stripped away here. She's loud and aggressive, with very few quiet moments, and it's almost a relief that she's separated from the Doctor for the bulk of the story.

The Kandyman: Infamous as a Who monster because of the controversy involving candy company Bassett's mascot, Bertie Bassett. Being American, I had to look up Bertie Bassett to make up my own mind as to whether the Kandyman was a deliberate copy. Looking at images of Bertie, I see few visual similarities beyond both being made of sweets. I admit to bias, though, as I quite like the Kandyman. His high-pitched voice and ludicrous appearance offset his enthusiasm for grisly, candy-coated murders to make him a perfect representation of Helen A.'s entire reign: Silly and monstrous, all at the same time. He's also one of the most ineffectual Who villains ever, his efforts to kill the Doctor stymied with fizzy lemonade (not once, but twice!), and later by opening an oven door. Somehow, his complete ineffectiveness makes him more fun instead of less. It's easy to see why this creation would not be for all tastes, however.


THOUGHTS

The Happiness Patrol is somewhat of an oddity in Sylvester McCoy's last two seasons. The other seven stories of his final two years are so completely different from his first year, it's almost hard to credit that these stories are all from the same show. The Happiness Patrol is the exception, a story that feels very much like something from Season 24. It has cartoonishly exaggerated characters, gaudy costumes, and a silly monster, all of which would be right at home in McCoy's debut season.

Its link to the rest of the later McCoy years lies in its execution. As with Remembrance, it's a fast-paced story - but one with the confidence to slow down enough to allow certain moments to have meaning. The opening scene, as a depressed woman wanders languidly through a noirish landscape before sitting on a bench, provides a strong visual hook even before the reveal of "The Happiness Patrol." The Doctor pauses to play around with a microphone, taking a stab at singing a sad song. Helen A. and her husband, Joseph C. (Ronald Fraser), exchange meaningless platitudes about how happy they are (when they clearly aren't). Such moments reinforce the emptiness of Helen A.'s superficial "happiness" and the importance of expressing sadness even before the scenes arrive at the bits that advance the plot.

Sheila Hancock is marvelous as Helen A. She provides the screen presence needed for this smiling despot to be a credible threat, but she also plays the part as someone who honestly believes that she is doing something good. The scenes between her and the Doctor bristle with intensity, Hancock's performance drawing the best out of Sylvester McCoy as well, and one of my main complaints about the serial is how few moments there are in which the two characters interact. I would trade the entire subplot with the underground dwellers for more scenes of the Doctor verbally fencing with Helen A.

The subplot with the underground dwellers is symptomatic of what keeps this interesting story from being a truly good one: The narrative. I love the notion of the Doctor taking down a decaying society in a single night, largely by just stirring already-existing discontent. But there's little sense of build-up. In Episode Two, we're introduced to striking factory workers. By Episode Three, every factory in the colony is on strike. But relatively little connects the one to the other. If the subplot with the underground dwellers was removed, then perhaps the story would have time for a couple of scenes showing the factory conditions. If we can truly see that the society is already on the brink of collapsing in on itself, then it would feel right for it to fall apart after the Doctor gives his carefully calculated push.

The narrative failings keep this story from being a truly good one, but I do find a lot to like in this bizarre little fable. The series is once again willing to experiment with different styles, and I applaud the ambition. The Happiness Patrol doesn't quite come together for me... But it feels like a story from a show that's in a much healthier state than anything from Season 24.


Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Story: Remembrance of the Daleks
Next Story: Silver Nemesis (not yet reviewed)

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#5 (25.1 - 25.4): Remembrance of the Daleks.

The Doctor tries to keep Group Captain
Gilmore (Simon Williams) out of the line of fire.

4 episodes. Approx. 98 minutes. Written by: Ben Aaronovitch. Directed by: Andrew Morgan. Produced by: John Nathan Turner.


THE PLOT

The Doctor returns to where it all began: London, 1963. He has returned to this time and place to retrieve the Hand of Omega, a powerful Gallifreyan artifact that he left behind during his sudden departure.  He is not the only one seeking The Hand. An Imperial Dalek mother ship orbits the Earth, dispatching forces to search for it. Oddly enough, the Doctor does not want to stop them - He wants them to have it.

He hasn't taken everything into account, however. A military unit under the command of Group Captain Gilmore (Simon Williams) is tracks the Daleks' strange readings right into a deadly confrontation - leaving the Doctor to do his best to keep Gilmore's men out of the line of fire. Worse still, there's another group of Daleks: A renegade group, seen as racially impure by the Imperial Daleks. And if the wrong Daleks end up with the Hand of Omega, then the Doctor's plan will have ended in disaster!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: There's little denying that Season 24 portrayed Sylvester McCoy's Doctor as a broad comedy character. The occasional serious moment showed that he had the potential to do more, but such opportunities were severely limited. In this story, his characterization is effectively rebooted. The physical comedy is still there, but it's a secondary element. Instead, we see a Doctor who's a remote figure, concentrating on a big picture while trying to limit the destruction caused by the immediate situation. He has a warm relationship with Ace, but is often cranky when she interrupts him in mid-thought; and, as Professor Jensen (Pamela Salem) observes, everyone has to be reliant on him simply because he won't reveal the full truth. This is the version Doctor we would see for the rest of McCoy's time - on television, and in the decades' worth of novels and audios thereafter.

Ace: My reaction to her debut in Dragonfire was... not positive. I found both the character and Sophie Aldred's performance to be aggravatingly over-the-top. Even more than the Seventh Doctor did, Ace needed a reinvention. Thankfully, she gets one. She retains her enthusiasm for explosives, but it's no longer an idiot's delight in things that go "Boom." Instead, we see her observing the soldiers' artillery and making comments that show that she understands how it works and how it could be further refined. In this way, even her love of explosives is used to demonstrate a quick mind. She remains emotional (all the more important, with the Doctor becoming more remote), but now gets at least as many quiet moments as loud ones. Most important of all, she gets a chance to show real chemistry opposite McCoy's Doctor, an opportunity Dragonfire did not afford.

Daleks: Their final television appearance in the series' original run is a good one. With Davros (Terry Molloy) reduced to a cameo, the mutant pepperpots get to take center stage. The Dalek civil war, which was a major plot point in Resurrection of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks, is revisited, with each side seeing the other as genetically unacceptable: The Imperial Daleks are "impure," having been modified by Davros; the renegade Daleks are inferior, precisely because they lack those modifications. This is paralleled with white supremacist Ratcliffe (George Sewell), who collaborates with them in hopes of using their power to impose his views on the world - and who, when told that this will result in casualties, gives a shrug of his shoulders as he mildly observes, "War is hell."


THOUGHTS

Remembrance of the Daleks feels less like the start of a new season and more like a complete relaunch. From the very first shot, a well-executed pullback from the Earth that ends with the revelation of a Dalek spaceship, there's a new sense of ambition and confidence. Gone is the cheap, frenetic desperation of Season 24. The series is once again willing and able to pace itself, moving quickly at the dramatic high points but slowing down for moments of reflection. It's almost as if Season 24 was a rushed dress rehearsal, with the true Seventh Doctor era starting here.

Ben Aaronovitch's script is complex, juggling: warring Dalek factions; an ambitious deception on the part of the Doctor; and multiple call-backs to the series' past, including visits to Coal Hill School and Totter's Lane and a military group that's a sort of proto-UNIT, complete with stand-ins for the Brigadier and Liz Shaw in the form of Group Captain Gilmore and scientific adviser Rachel Jensen. These references are just right, celebrating the series' past in a way that will draw smiles from old fans who will catch the references without causing any slow-down or confusion for casual viewers.

The action unfolds at a rapid pace, but that pace does pause for some scenes showing a reflective side to both Doctor and series unseen for far too long. Particularly good is a scene in Episode Two. Just before retrieving the Hand of Omega and putting his plan irrevocably into action, the Doctor stops at a cafe for a cup of tea. When the attendant offers him sugar, the Doctor reflects on the unintended consequences of even minor decisions. "Every great decision creates ripples, like a huge boulder dropped in a lake. The ripples merge, rebound off the banks in unforeseeable ways. The heavier the decision, the larger the waves, the more uncertain the consequences."

Andrew Morgan's visual direction milks the most of the budget. Much as Graeme Harper did in Revelation of the Daleks, Morgan shoots the metal pepperpots from low angles to make them seem powerful. In an early scene in which Group Captain Gilmore calls for reinforcements, the camera tracks through lines of soldiers to disguise how few uniformed extras are actually on-hand. Throughout the serial, he shoots the characters through foreground objects, with further background details behind them, lending a sense of dimension. I won't say there's nothing here that looks cheap: The Daleks wobble a bit in location footage, and long shots betray the meager number of soldiers on-hand as Group Captain Gilmore barks his orders. But it's clear that thougth has gone into making this look as good as possible, and the result is the best-looking Doctor Who story since... well, since Revelation.

For the first three episodes, I was leaning toward awarding full marks. But it does weaken in the final episode. While for most of the serial McCoy is splendid, finally able to be the Doctor in a way his debut season never allowed, he just isn't able to gather the weight and screen presence to pull off his confrontation scene with Davros. This leaves the ending falling just a bit flat, which is one of the main reasons why instead of a "10" this story gets a still very strong...


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Story: Dragonfire
Next Story: The Happiness Patrol

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#4 (24.12 - 24.14): Dragonfire.

The Doctor encounters friends old and new on Iceworld.

3 episodes. Approx. 73 minutes. Written by: Ian Briggs. Directed by: Chris Clough. Produced by: John Nathan Turner.


THE PLOT

The Doctor decides to visit Iceworld, a space-trading colony. There, he and Mel meet a new friend in the feisty Ace (Sophie Aldred), an Earth girl who was whisked away by a Time Storm. They are also reunited with Sabalom Glitz (Tony Selby), the untrustworthy space smuggler who has been both an ally and an enemy. Glitz is in possession of a map that supposedly leads to a treasure guarded by a dragon; and though he's skeptical, the Doctor finds the prospect of seeing a genuine dragon too enticing to ignore.

The map is actually a trap, planted on Glitz by the evil Kane (Edward Peel). The ruler of Iceworld, Kane is also imprisoned on the planet, serving an eternal sentence that has already lasted for three thousand years. The key to his escape lies with the dragon, and he has planted a tracking device on the map so that he can follow the travelers' progress. Every step the Doctor and Glitz take brings Kane closer to his ultimate goal: Vengeance against his jailers!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Sylvester McCoy's "slipping on ice" acting grows very old, very fast, and his clowning as Glitz rescues him from the Episode One cliffhanger is similarly irritating. But he's very good in a genuinely clever scene with the Doctor encountering a guard who's better-versed in philosophy than the Time Lord would have expected. He's also terrific in the story's quieter moments: Showing the Doctor's sadness as he rejects Belazs as beyond help; allowing Kane to have his prize, then destroying the man with something as simple as the truth of his situation, letting Kane destroy himself as he stands by passively. These are good bits, ones which show that the actor has a grasp on who the character should be. It's just that all the bad comedy keeps getting in the way.

Mel: In her final story, her most amusing moments are contrast between her and her soon-to-be replacement. When they first see the dragon, Mel screams in terror while Ace looks amazed at seeing something so unusual. When stuck in a chamber on Iceworld waiting for the Doctor, Mel suggests they pass the time by playing "I Spy," earning a withering look from Ace... who, a few scenes later, becomes bored enough to take her up on it. As usual, there isn't much to justify the hatred of Bonnie Langford, who does perfectly fine with what little she has to work with. In this story, at least, I'd rate her acting as considerably better than Aldred's. But Mel's characterization is as nonexistent as usual; it wouldn't be until more than a decade later, when Big Finish and writer Steve Lyons put actual thought into making her into a human being for The Fires of Vulcan, that she would work as a proper character.

Ace: Sophie Aldred's introduction as Ace is not a promising one. She shouts practically her every line, to the point that when Glitz makes an exaggerated gesture as if to backhand her, I was practically rooting for him to do it. Aldred does get one good, subtle scene near the end of Episode One, however. Kane tempts Ace with the promise of an escape from her dead-end life, promising her adventure and breathtaking sights if she goes to work for him. All she has to do is pick up his coin. Aldred conveys Ace's temptation, internally battling herself as she slowly reaches for that coin... It's the first truly good scene of the story, and one of only a few moments showing potential for this character in an otherwise grating debut.

Sabalom Glitz: Glitz was first seen as a ruthless, even murderous character, before he was watered down to a safe comedy rogue. In tone, Dragonfire takes the latter approach... which is bizarre, given that the story literally opens with his crew being cryogenically frozen after he sells them into slavery! The story reminds us of this repeatedly, yet the Doctor and Mel treat him like an embarrassing yet still ingratiating old friend. You'd think he should be required of the Doctor/the narrative to do penance. But no! He actually gets rewarded, inheriting Kane's entire infrastructure while Mel (inexplicably) goes off with him at the end. I know the audience is eager to be rid of Mel... but the Doctor is actually supposed to like her. Not only could Glitz sell Mel into slavery after zipping back to Iceworld to restart Kane's empire with himself at the head - Doing so would actually be pefectly in-character for him! (Hmm... Now I almost want a sequel...)


THOUGHTS

Dragonfire is often regarded as the best story of a bad season. I actually find Paradise Towers better, despite its misjudged production, and I find Delta and the Bannermen more enjoyable. Still, this three-parter does have more of a traditional Doctor Who feel to it. It's studio-bound and looks it, but it doesn't look half-bad for the most part. Kane's multi-level lair is even moderately atmospheric. In Edward Peel's Kane, it has a classic Who villain: An urbane but ruthless man with near-limitless resources, Kane isn't played for laughs, but is presented as a sinister figure. After the sustained silliness of the rest of Season 24, it must have felt like a relief to see something recognizably Doctor Who.

Which isn't to say that this could be mistaken for anything but a Season 24 story. It's rushed, frenetic, and very uneven. The first episode is appallingly bad; the second, surprisingly good; the third is entertaining, but suffers from the kind of rushed ending all too typical of the era. I know Doctor Who has always had widely varying quality between stories - but rarely has quality varied so much within the same story!

There are good moments. Edward Peel gets to show an additional layer to his villain in a scene that finds Kane rhapsodizing over a sculptor's ice statue of his beloved. The emotion visible just beneath Kane's icy surface earns our compassion for a second or two - until he rewards the sculptor by murdering him.

Another strong scene parallels Ace's temptation by Kane. The Doctor encounters Belazs (Patricia Quinn), Kane's subordinate. Belazs once stood in Ace's spot, at the same age, tempted by the same offer. While Ace just barely manages to reject the offer, Belazs took the coin - and is now desperate to escape. The Doctor looks at the mark of that coin on her hand and sees that she is beyond rescue: "Your debt to Kane? I don't think you'll be able to pay it off, ever." A couple of scenes later, the woman lies dead at Kane's feet.

This being Season 24, there are also some poor and even bizarre choices. It's impossible to discuss Dragonfire without bringing up the infamous Episode One cliffhanger: The Doctor, climbing over a railing in order to dangle at the edge of a sheer cliff or no visibly apparent reason. Writer Ian Briggs intended that the Doctor was trying to lower himself to the next level and misjudged... but the staging doesn't reflect that, leaving the Seventh Doctor - who has been mostly been portrayed as a clown onscreen - looking like an imbecile.

Another issue is the weakness of Kane's prison. Kane is portrayed as intelligent and ruthless. Defeating the dragon is portrayed as being extremely possible, if not downright easy. So, um, how did it take him three thousand years to come up with the brilliant idea of sending a couple guards to gun down the creature? The entire story would make more sense if he didn't know the dragon was the key to his escape - but the evidence on screen indicates that he does know, or at least is not surprised to find out. It's incomprehensible that this "prison" would hold him for more than a year or so, let alone three thousand years!

For all that, I don't dislike Dragonfire. There is good material here, some of it hinting at the reocvery to come. But With a gaping hole in the story's center, a painfully bad first episode, and the desperately frenetic atmosphere that brands all of Season 24, it's far from actually being good.

The best I can say is that (thankfully!) better was soon to come.


Overall Rating: 4/10.

Previous Story: Delta and the Bannermen
Next Story: Remembrance of the Daleks


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