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Terra Alpha- a happy planet, full of happy people being happy. So why does the Doctor want to bring it down in one night? What sinister secrets are being kept by ruler Helen A? Just what is in the Kandy Kitchen?
What do you think of The Happiness Patrol?
One that has grown on me over the years.
I hated it on transmission and thought it silly and childish especially once the Kandyman appeared. I remember sitting there with my head in my hands.
However, I have grown to like it. The cliffhangers are good, and the Kandyman and Helen A are great too. I like the premise of everyone being forced into being happy, yet all they want to do is to sometimes be melancholy.
7/10.
Time for bed, so more thoughts later. But just to say, after Remembrance of the Daleks finished I remember clearly thinking, "Can the next story possibly be as good?" And the next week, after THP 1 had aired, I remember clearly thinking that in a totally different way, it could! It's a story which could have probably done with a bigger budget, and yet in a way its cheapness adds something to it. A real favourite, and one I've not seen in far too many a year.
As I've not seen this since transmission (and I was in exactly the same position as Duncan, looking on in abject horror) it's about time I re-visited it too.
I can't believe you've not seen it since transmission!
The big scary thought for me is that these stories are as old as An Unearthly Child was when they were first broadcast.
Anyway, I have a lot of fondness (fondant fondness of course!) for The Happiness Patrol. I think that the Kandyman isn't far away from being utterly terrifying. With better lighting it would have been truly horrific. The cast is superb, especially the older members.
But the unsung star of the show is Daisy K. Georgina Hale starts off giving it her all and then ramps it up from there. As the episodes progress she becomes steadily more unhinged and finds more and more bizarre ways to deliver her lines. She's a great counterpoint to Sheila Hancock's self-control as Helen A.
The basic concept is such a good idea that I'm surprised it hasn't been done more often outside of Doctor Who.
One thing I rather like about it, in an odd sort of way, is how they sketch in a whole world beyond what we see, just like they did in (particularly) the Hartnell years through, mainly, lack of money. So although we only see a few dim streets, Helen A's office and the Kandy Kitchen, there's some wonderfully expansive and evocative talk about 'factories' and the Pipe People getting back to 'the sugar fields'.
And McCoy sings! I can't really imagine any other Doctor doing that (please nobody mention Tom's turn in The Pescatons!!)
I remember watching this some time after broadcast. I like many was originally appalled. It wasn't help by the papers saying "what a crap idea - an evil Bertie Bassett".
But on rewatching, I found it a different story, quite dark and with a real nasty streak in it. Helen A is supposed to be a satire on Thatcher isn't she? Alas I don't think you can really satire Thatcherism in the 80s any better than with the villain of Caves of Androzani. But it gave it a good go.
This is definitely one I should think about hunting down to rewatch though. Based on my last watch I'd give it an 8 - but this was back in 1992 - eeek!
The depressing thing is, this story is like a number of McCoy stories eg. Paradise Towers, Battlefield, Ghost Light, the idea looks good on paper; it just all goes wrong in the execution. The overall thing looks incredibly cheap - it begs for a bit of OB; Wulfric and Wences' masks muffle the characters' lines; the concept of drowning someone in strawberry fondant as a form of execution is, erm...; and to this day, the appearance of the Kandyman is still too stupid for words.
4/10