In a (for once) dimly lit BBC studio, Silas P entraps a "kill joy"; he works for #TheHappinessPatrol, and sadness is illegal!
The Doctor & Ace arrive to some lift music, with the Doctor telling Ace about #InvasionOfTheDinosaurs.
As with a lot of McCoys, the production values fall far short of some great ideas on paper.
They bump into a census taker & the Doctor recalls his nickname of Theta Sigma from #TheArmageddonFactor.
That's two continuity references in quick succession, but actually rather deftly done.
#TheHappinessPatrol paint the TARDIS a horrendous bright pink. Meanwhile Mrs. Thatcher-alike Helen A exercises the grip of an iron lady..
Dennis Thatcher watches some of her private execution videos. Presumably she flogs them to Varos.
The Doctor & Ace encounter the miserable Harold V, who was demoted from being Harold F.
Dennis oversees an execution; seems Helen A's section 28 is a lot more brutal than Mrs. T's...
Now we get our first mentions of the Kandyman...
...who soon appears in all his gooey "glory" to administer a fondant surprise!
Helen A zaps Harold V. "I think he got a buzz out of that."
Real shift in character from last season as the Doctor talks about having 'a night's work ahead of us'.
I nicknamed some 'teaching assistants' at my first school 'The Happiness Patrol'.
was discussing with Who friends once about a Doctor Who movie, i actually suggested #TheHappinessPatrol remake
That's a really interesting idea (what stories would make great standalone movies and what wouldn't!)
"What time do you call this?" The Kandyman, for all his obvious Bertie-Basset ripping off and naffness, is hilarious.
#TheHappinessPatrol forces Earl to change his tune.
It's a massive bugbear of mine in Who. If you can walk away from it, cut it from the script. See also Varos & Paradise Towers!
Ace has picked up a very bad habit from the Doctor - playing the spoons.
Suzie Q allows Ace to escape. Anything except those ruddy spoons.
Silas P tries his schtick on an unsuspecting Doctor.
The Kandyman is next on the Doctor's list. Silas P advises him to cross him off. Don't worry, Silas, he will.
The Doctor is saved from #TheHappinessPatrol by Earl Sigma...
but it's out of the corridor and into the Kandy kitchen!
The Kandyman likes his victims to die with a smile on their face. Such a considerate tool of the regime.
I forgot how good this story is.
Always used to hate it, but I've come to really appreciate what a clever script it is. It's just hamstrung by the studio setting and unforgiving glare of being shot on video. If it was shot in B&W as mooted, on film, in a proper location, people would be raving about this. It's definitely true that the acting is miles better than most of the performances in season 24.
The Kandyman, who sounds like the Silurians in Warriors of the Deep, makes a classic villain error... by spilling the entire workings of the pipes and his weakness all in one speech. Berk.
I had a black and white TV for years and Happiness Patrol (and the 6th Doctors) era looked great. Series 25 was wonderful, a last hurrah for the classic series (i even like silver nemesis!)
I do enjoy season 26 though.
"I am what I am!" Subtle.
Earl nearly brings the house down.
The Doctor & Earl encounter the unintelligible pipe people.
Mrs. T's propaganda is more sickening than the Kandyman's sweets.
The pipe people rescue Ace.
Trevor tries to categorize him again, but the Doctor gets the info he wants.
The Doctor and Trevor go to see the organ grinder.
"I ask the questions!" is a pretty good summing up of the Doctor.
Helen A's whining dog puppet pursues Ace down the pipes, so she blows it up a bit.
Mrs. T has some protesters pinned down by a couple of snipers.
One of the defining moments for McCoy's Doctor here."Why should you be scared, you're the one with the gun."
He needed a moment like this in his very first story to really establish him.
Not surprised Ace can't understand the pipe people, their masks are awful.
The doctor agrees to free the kandyman in exchange for diverting the gloop that would kill Ace.
The Doctor reneges & re-sticks the kandyman. All a bit silly this bit, lets down the otherwise strong story.
Helen A is thwarted by her own bureaucracy & must find an alternative execution method so Ace has to appear in the big show, where a poor reception means death!
Surely a good thing the running order was changed then, otherwise the similar perform-or-die element of #TheGreatestShowInTheGalaxy would have been a bit too samey straight after #TheHappinessPatrol.
Mrs. T's dog's all mended, but still seems to have a hand up it's backside. #ItsAPuppet
In the 6 months since Trevor's last census, Helen A has disappeared half the population it seems...
The Doctor gives us his "As Time Goes By." Surprised Helen A doesn't just surrender there and then.
How come the sound FX chaps have Fifi miaow like a cat & the cat-like Master of #Survival howl like a wolf?
The fake happy demonstration is a bit cringy, sadly. Not Sylv's finest moment.
Thank God they never let Mrs. T. broadcast live at will. She bloody would have done given half the chance.
The Doctor & Earl plot to bring the house down with good vibrations.
With Fifi buried under an avalanche of crystallised sugar, Dennis starts to think the writing's on the wall.
Once again the Doctor goes to the kandy kitchen for a pointless exchange of insults with the Kandyman.
After early promise from its great concepts, #TheHappinessPatrol's plot completely goes off the rails in episode 3.
The Kandyman escapes into the pipes, but his pipe dream turns into a nightmare & he's boiled by his own goo. Disgusting.
Dennis has left Mrs. T for Gilbert & they're off in her escape pod.
With her regime crashing about her ears, Helen A tries to do a runner, and cries when she leaves office. Now there is a happy memory!
Sheila Hancock is amazing in this final scene and shows other guest starts a thing or two about acting in Doctor Who
Job done, the Doctor & Ace prepare to leave, once the TARDIS has been repainted that is!
Though it's a horrible light blue when next we see it. Thanks, JNT.
TTFN! K.
Coming Soon... The Dominators
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