The Happiness Patrol

I’m going to go out the loop a little here, doctor who is often maligned in this era for not stepping up to standards of competitors quality in terms of special Fx, camera work and sets.

But I felt S25-26 was at the least a step up for scripts and acting. This story is one of my guilty pleasures. It’s bound for divisiveness but I just can’t get over the little things. Like he creepy clown leader in the physic circus, the candy man is highly watchable in distastefulness! I love it!

Helen A is a great villainess and I’ve always wished we got more female foes in the show!

Watch it for the wackiness and perhaps you’ll enjoy it ! I might just be crazy but then I do also love the McCoy era a lot so ... I hope someone out there agrees ... this story has charm even if it’s ugly and offends some liquorice company ! 8/10

One of the things that bothers me is that Helen A's motivations are so nebulous. Apart from the bit at the end where The Doctor gives her a speech. There is also a small moment where reducing the population by 17% is explained to have prevented overcrowding: "No more queuing at the post office". So they culled 17% of the planet's population because somebody (presumably, Helen A) didn't want to queue at the post office? Also baffling is why anyone would want to make a robot out of sweets? From what I remember, Sophie Aldred gets virtually nothing to do. Escaping and being rescued performing merely as a plot device, at best. The sets are all very Tim Burton but without the dark humour often associated with his productions, which is a shame as it would have helped mask some of the deficiencies elsewhere. I wish I had one good thing to say about this, but I don't. Perhaps a different director could have gotten more out of it, but I don't think the writing is great either. Another valiant attempt at breaking the mould but apart from artistic ambition, there isn't much on offer here.

A very strange story and probably unique in classic Doctor Who. There isn't really a credible menace and the Doctor's role is almost that of a therapist. Worth a watch if you are a committed Whovian.

The Happiness Patrol is an odd story. It's a dystopian tale, but with bizarre elements such as the Kandyman and the pink-clad Happiness Patrol. Despite the bizarre nature of many elements, it never falls to the level of farce.

This is helped by a solid guest performance by Shelia Hancock as Helen A. This is also a great episode for the Seventh Doctor with an excellent scene in Part Two when he confronts a sniper in part two and then final confrontation with Helen A. While some of the bizarre elements didn't work, most of them gave the story it's own unique feel.

On the negative side, Ace isn't particularly well-handled, been given very little to do in the story. Whatever the intended context of the story, this does hold up as a thought provoking tale without understanding the political thoughts that led to its writing. It's not quite as good as prior great Doctor Who dystopian tales such as the Sunmakers or Vengeance on Varos, but it's a good story in its own right and a solid improvement over the prior year's dystopian adventure, "Paradise Towers."