Day 344 — December 10th 2021
Paradise Towers Parts One and Two
Paradise Towers — Part One
Blimey, there’s a lot going on in this one, isn’t there? This episode feels more dense than any of the 45-minutes ones from Colin Baker’s first season. It might sound like I’m complaining that there’s so much going on here but quite the opposite; I think it’s brilliant. I feel, after a single episode, like I completely understand the world of Paradise Towers, and I’ve seen plenty of it.
I think there might be more characters in this episode than in any other we’ve had for absolutely ages. You’ve got all the Red Kangs, the Blue Kangs, a loan Yellow Kang, the Caretakers and their chief, two Rezzies and Pex all thrown in there. Crucially they all feel distinct enough and I’ve got a solid handle on their places in this world. Where I spent yesterday wondering why I should give a toss about the Lakertians I totally know who I’m rooting for here, and just what Doctor Who needs to be fighting to protect.
McCoy feels on much surer footing here, too. Some of the eccentricities of Time and the Rani are still present and correct (I love the moment he takes off his hat to a piece of scrap metal in case it’s an alien life form) but he also feels far more grounded and sure of himself. We’re also seeing the first signs that he’s a very different Doctor Who to the ones we’ve been used to for a while now. I can imagine Patrick Troughton in the introductory scene between Doctor Who and the Red Kangs, but I’m not sure I can imagine any of the others diving into it with quite so much willing gusto. He walks a fine line between enjoying himself and being completely baffled, and it’s great fun to watch.
Fire Escape: ‘Red Kangs. Red Kangs are best. Who’s best?’
Red Kangs (in unison): ‘Red Kangs, Red Kangs, Red Kangs are best!’
Bin Liner: ‘So, who’s best?’
Doctor Who: ‘The Red Kangs, I gather.’
There’s something brilliantly fun about watching our two regulars step out of the TARDIS and into this world, and it’s surprised me. I could recall there being a TARDIS scene at the start of the story, but I’d got it down as being like all those ones in Season Twenty-Two, with Doctor Who and companion stuck in the Control Room for ages while the world is established ready for their arrival. I was genuinely surprised to see how quickly the TARDIS lands and they step out into Paradise Towers, and it works so well. Discovering this world through their interactions with it works so much better than dropping them in further down the line.
The story makes an interesting point about the way language evolves, and it’s surprisingly fun to copy along with the way the Kangs communicate with each other. I’ve been describing things as ‘ice hot’ for ages now, but I’ve also noticed something interesting about their choice of words in relation to the real world. They make a point of avoiding the word ‘dead’, or saying that anyone has been killed, instead substituting the word ‘unalive’. The algorithm on the video app TikTok blocks videos which talk about the subject of suicide, and so the generally accepted way of describing it on there now is to say that someone ‘made themselves unalive’. I don’t know if that’s going to catch on in the long run, but I think it’s an interesting point that some of these things which sound a little silly in 1987 are actually seeping into the language 34 years down the line.
All things considered this is one of the strongest episodes we’ve had in a while, and it’s an 8/10 for me.
Paradise Towers — Part Two
The direction in this one is a bit all over the place. There’s times when it’s really good — up there with the best work we’ve had this decade. There’s an especially nice moment when Mel and Pex are speaking to each other in the foreground of the shot and there’s a handful of Kangs moving around in the background, darting across the open spaces to find new places to hide. Their presence is a reveal at the end of the scene, but no attention is drawn to them during the conversation. It’s a little thing, but it feels like something which is crediting the audience with paying attention, rather than focussing in on it.
Elsewhere there’s a whole load of shots in this episode which I think of as being iconic to this story. My favourite is the silhouette of Doctor Who against the whited-out window at the end of a corridor. There’s something about that which feels really special to me, and it’s the first thing I think of when the direction of this story comes up. The lighting and the sets, McCoy’s pose… it all comes together in that moment.
Something else I’m loving about this one, although it’s not well shown in that shot, is how much they’re really pushing the use of colour throughout this story. There’s often shots of the corridors bathed in really saturated colours — greens and pinks and blues — which look incredible, and I wish the whole story was lit like that. The opening shots of Part One are awash with the blue lighting and it’s really striking.
Which brings me to the other side of the direction. When they’re not using colour and shadows to their advantage, the direction ends up falling a bit flat. All the scenes in the Rezzies’ apartment are a perfect example. There’s enough interesting incident going on in them (I mean they feature a pair of geriatric cannibal lesbians, which isn’t a sentence you often get to write) but those sequences are so lifeless. The design of the flat doesn’t feel like it’s part of the same world as the grimy corridors. It needs something a bit more interesting going on.
The same can be said for the main square, which is an impressively large set with a walkway over the top, but just isn’t as interesting as the corridors because it’s open and bright. I want to see it covered by the same brilliant coloured lighting as some of the other areas! It’s always a bit of a shame when we cut back.
One last thing to note for this one. It’s often noted that McCoy plays the role of Doctor Who much broader in his first series, and then tones it down a lot when he returns the following year. I think this episode gives lie to that idea, though, because he’s brilliant here, and he’s playing it totally straight in most places. The sequence in which he uses the Caretakers’ blind adherence to the rules against them is incredible — his best moment so far, and far better than any of the material Colin Baker was given to work with.
Deputy Caretaker: ‘Read out what it says.’
Doctor Who: ‘Oh, very well, but I find it hard to credit.’
Deputy Caretaker: ‘Read it!’
Doctor Who: ‘It says here about a three two seven appendix three subsection nine death, that after you’ve been guarding the condemned prisoner for thirty five minutes, you must all stand up.’
Deputy Caretaker: ‘But if we…’
Doctor Who: ‘Yes, I know, I know, I find it extraordinary. I don’t really expect you to do it. But it is in there. The Caretakers present must then move five paces away from the prisoner. Close their eyes and put their hands above their head.’
Deputy Caretaker: ‘How long do we do this for?’
Doctor Who: ‘For about a minute and a half. You see, that’s how long the prisoner needs.’
Deputy Caretaker: ‘To do what?’
Doctor Who: ‘Find the key card to the door and escape.’
It’s the first of several occasions on which McCoy’s incarnation will turn the tables on an enemy like this, and I’m already loving it. It’s a perfect sequence to show anyone who suggests that he’s not up to the job in his first year.
7/10
