UNADULTERATED BOORISH OPINION: UNSUNG CLASSICS - PART 1

Well, I wasn't sure how this new category was going to go but the response to it was quite positive. We're nearing the end of the month, again, and my essays have been taking longer than usual to complete (writing that's actually paying me just keeps getting in the way of things!). But spewing out a quick rant takes little or no time time to accomplish so I thought I'd compose another opinion piece. I refer to it as "Part 1" because I will definitely be returning to this topic again... 


UNSUNG CLASSICS:

The stories fandom, sometimes, label as "Classic" can seriously boggle me. Genesis of the Daleks, for instance, is a story that works far better in theory than it does in actual execution (far too many captures and escapes - even by Classic Who Standards!). I've never understood all the fuss about Talons of Weng Chiang, either. I mean, it's a fun story - for the most part (that dumbwaiter sequence is four minutes of my life I'll never get back!). But I certainly don't think it's this amazing piece of television that so many other fans believe it to be. I know it's to be viewed contextually, but it's still pretty hard to get over the fact that they've cast a white person as an Asian. It's a bit like that discomfort you feel when you see old footage of actors performing in blackface. It's awkward.

What confounds me even more is the fact that there are some excellent stories that fandom seems to completely overlook. In some cases, minor quibbles have been found with them ("Kinda is an incredible exploration into the human psyche and an extravaganza of rich subtext - but I don't like it cause the snake looks fake!"). Or, for whatever reason, they just don't seem to resonate with the audience. Even though, to all intents and purposes, they're as well-constructed (or even better) than "classics" like Genesis of the Daleks or Talons of Weng Chiang.

My Unsung Classics Series will explore these stories. I'll not only look at what it is about them that I think makes them so great - I'll also try to figure out why they didn't go over as well as they should have. I'll probably also stun you a bit with what I consider to be a great story. Try not to be too shocked. Remember: The Sixth Doctor is my favorite - so I'm bound to have some weird views!


PART 1: PARADISE TOWERS

Yup, you read that right. I consider Paradise Towers to be an above-par story. How can I believe that?! Don't I know that Season 24 was considered one of the worst seasons in the history of the show and that Paradise Towers is the turd that sits in the middle of it all?!

First of all, let's get this out of the way: Rumors of Season 24's death have been greatly exaggerated. It is bookended by two less-than-stellar tales (Dragonfire is one of my least favorite stories, ever). But Delta and the Bannerman is fairly decent and Paradise Towers is, in my view, quite brilliant. Considering the behind-the-scenes nightmare that was going on as the season went into production, it becomes even more impressive. When it comes to weak seasons, I'm far more disappointed in something like Season 17 - where there weren't a whole lot of obstacles in place but there were some hideously poor choices made throughout most of the stories.

Okay, Negative Stigma About Season 24 is out of the way. Let's move on to Paradise Towers, proper. There's a lovely opening sequence, here. Worthy of any pre-title we see in the New Series, nowadays. Someone gets horrifically murdered - which is a vital ingredient of any good pre-title. But there's a nice sense of intrigue built as we're trying to figure out what's going on with the Yellow Kang and all these other Kangs yelling at her from somewhere off-screen.

I'm particularly in love with the TARDIS scene that then ensues. I had fun watching Sylvester McCoy bumbling about in his introductory adventure, but it was so nice to see that he wasn't just going to be silly and fun. That he also appears to have kept some of the more cantankerous traits from his Sixth Incarnation. He's not in a very pleasant mood in this scene and almost seems to be berating Mel a bit. And that actually delights me. Six and Seven were both quite similar to each other in that they were equal parts Dark and Light. And we see the first real hints of Seven's darkness in that console room sequence. It's gorgeous.

A short while later, we hit the first scene showing the Caretakers. This is the moment that truly sets the tone of the story. The Caretakers' use of over-elaborate coding for everything is completely banal. Particularly in the way they still make it all flow like a normal conversation. There's definitely some campiness happening, here.

This, I think, is the first real roadblock that Paradise Towers puts in the path of fan appreciation. Particularly during the period it was being shown. Many had forgotten that, in its early days, Doctor Who would do comedy episodes from time-to-time (The Romans, The Mythmakers). The New Series would also indulge in similar sorts of bally-hoo (Love and Monsters, The Lodger). But 80s fans wanted their Who to be intense and dramatic. I suppose you can't blame them. The show had taken itself quite seriously throughout the 70s. Even with Tom's piss-taking in the latter part of his era - the stories, themselves, were not meant be comedies. But now, suddenly, Paradise Towers comes along and wants to goof off a bit and be fun. It's not just an actor or two that has decided to take certain liberties - the script is intentionally written to be funny. By no means do I feel it's going too far. But its tongue is very firmly in its cheek.

And thus, Paradise Towers becomes the first of the notorious Oddball Stories.

The first scene with the Red Kangs is where I truly decide that Paradise Towers is a thing of beauty. It's a fairly long sequence, really. It takes up a major chunk of Episode 1. But we don't care one bit. Our interest is held the whole time.

The Red Kangs are fun on all kinds of levels. The actresses portraying them clue in beautifully to the strange mix of savagery and absurdity that their characters are meant to have and play it all to perfection. They're just great to watch. But Stephen Wyatt also does some excellent world-building, here. Lots of expository comes out about Kang culture and the ways of Paradise Towers without having to hit us over the head with it.

And then, finally, there's the lexicon. Figuring out just exactly what the Kangs are tying to say is the real pleasure of these scenes. These teenage gangs express themselves' in a very colorful manner that gets us to pay all the more attention to what they're saying. Which, in turn, gives us some great dialogue to relish. In fact, there is no other story in the history of the show where language becomes a key component of the entertainment value. Again, Mister Wyatt deserves huge kudos for his massive writing skills.

The rest of Part One moves on at a nice smooth pace. We meet the rest of the key characters of the adventure. The Rezzies, Pex and the Chief Caretaker all help solidify the fact that Paradise Towers is meant to be just a bit silly. All these characters are ever-so-slightly chewing up the scenery.

With all the ludicrous players now in place, the next two episodes take on a great little symmetry. Mel and the Doctor just bounce around between the three opposing cultural groups and keep learning more and more about the mysteries of the Towers until things come to a full head at the end of Episode Three. It's all put together quite seamlessly. Hints get dropped here and there of Kroagnon. There's even a red herring or two so that we don't truly figure out that he's the horrible thing in the basement. The narrative is woven together in a near-seamless manner. Instead of being slapped in the face with a central premise, we really just feel like we're given a tour of the Towers. The plot just, sort-of, happens along the way. It's some truly amazing story-telling. I was really glad that Wyatt was commissioned again the next season. He deserved more work.

Of course, we can't get to Episode Four without first mentioning the Doctor's controversial escape from the Caretakers in Part Two. The sequence is completely absurd, of course. It's the moment in the story where we must truly accept that we're watching a bit of a comedy (only a bit, though - not too much). It's probably also the moment where fans that want their Who to be totally serious shut off once and for all.

Personally, I find the sequence delightful, Yes, no guards would truly be that stupid. But that's not really the point of the scene. The point is to have a bit of a laugh and to see the Doctor doing what he does best - outwitting his enemies with the resources they provide him with. It's probably among my top ten favorite scenes in the whole Classic Series (were I to compile a list of favorite scenes in the show, of course - which just might happen, someday). It's also another moment in Season 24 that helps establish that this particular incarnation of the Doctor will use deceit far more frequently than he has in the past. Yes, he doesn't really start becoming a master-manipulator til the next season -but we see the seeds blooming in sequences such as these.

The other big controversial issue of Paradise Towers is the decision Richard Briers takes once he's being possessed by Kroagnon. Yes, if he had played it straight and made Kroagnon horrifying it would have been a fun twist. But I found it just as enjoyable that he went a bit camp with it. It's another aspect to the tale that solidifies the fact that this is something of a comedy.

If you've been paying close attention, you'll have noticed that I've been phrasing myself carefully. I keep using terms like "a bit of a comedy" or "slightly silly". This is one of the key issues that differentiates me from a lot of other fans in the way I appreciate the story. I never felt things went too far with the comedy. Whereas I think a lot of other fans, at the time, did. Admittedly, Time and the Rani had scared a lot of us. McCoy was very silly in that one. So the fact that the entire script of Paradise Towers takes a bit of a silly tone threw a bit of gasoline onto the fire. But even McCoy, himself, becomes more subtle in the way he approaches the humor in this tale. Yes, there's still the occasional prat fall here and there but he's relying more on the way he delivers his lines than on general buffoonery to get his laughs. I love, for instance, the way he completes a sentence for the Kangs during his first confrontation with them. "Who are, of course, the best." - cracks me up every time!

Are there any shortcomings to Paradise Towers? It doesn't handle Mel all that particularly well. Up until Towers, Pip and Jane Baker had written most of the episodes she was in. They were doing their best to keep her interesting. But, sadly, in Wyatt's hands - she reverts to a 60s female companion. She gets into trouble and screams a lot. I'm amazed she doesn't trip and twist her ankle, at some point. Yes, she does manage to take out the mechanical crab in the swimming pool - but even Vicki could be useful once in a while. Just look at how she gets the armory open in Space Museum. It doesn't mean, however, that the character wasn't hugely slated to just react in fear and fall into traps. Mel suffers the same fate during most of her era. Particularly in Paradise Towers.

About the only other issue I might have with the story is that it seems blatantly obvious fairly early on that Pex won't be alive by the time the closing credits of Episode Four start rolling. But that doesn't stop his death from still being very touching. Nor does it reduce the inspirational quality of his final choice to be a hero after a life of cowardice. The words "PEX LIVES" being scrawled on the wall behind the TARDIS after it fades away is a gorgeous final image. While it is, for the most part, a silly story - it still remembers to pluck a few heartstrings on the way out. An excellent ending to a most formidable of tales.

If you were actually around when Paradise Towers first came out and reacted the way most fans did, I recommend you re-visit it. Give it another chance. Just make sure the stick is out of your ass, this time. Enjoy it for what it is: a bit of a comedy that still remembers to be Doctor Who, in the end. You'll see its true brilliance shining through...