Girl Gangs, Cannibal Residents, Rogue Caretakers, Sinister Robots and a Monster in the Basement: PARADISE TOWERS

Paradise Tower isn’t an apartment complex one would want to live in: rival teenage girl gangs lock heads with each other, sinister robot cleaners clean up more than piles of rubbish, the residential older population are always on look out for a tasty meal, the Caretakers fail to keep law and order, people disappear under bizarre circumstances, and a powerful creature stirs in the basement.

Cast

Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Bonnie Langford (Bonnie Langford), Richard Briers (Chief Caretaker)

Clive Merrison (Deputy Chief), Brenda Bruce (Tilda), Elizabeth Spriggs (Tabby), Judy Cornwall (Maddy)

Julie Brennon (Fire Escape), Annabel Yuresha (Bin Liner), Howard Cooke (Pex)

Catherine Cusack (Blue Kang Leader), Joseph Young (Young Caretaker), Astra Sheridan (Yellow Kang)

Simon Coady (Video Commentary)

UNCREDITED CAST: Louise Clifford, Martha Stylianou Jennie Slade, Juliette Norde, Roberta Wells Elizabeth Gardner, Lottie Winter, Nisha Nayar Helen Fung, Christina Clark (Red Kangs), Rupert Clive, James Carrington Andrew J Bush, Barrimore, Don Weinstein William Perrie, Nick Santini, Sean Bowden (Caretakers), Leigh Funnell, Heather Mair Thomas Liz Wood, Tanya Davidson-Jones, Harriet Eedle, Suzanna Cardash, Iona Dean (Blue Kangs), Kathleen Bidmead, Muriel Wellesley Nancy Adams, Shelena Marshall (Rezzies)

Richard Briers (Voice of Kroagnon), Ellie Bertram (Stunt Double for Melanie)

Crew

Stephen Wyatt (Writer), Title Music Composed by Ron Grainer

Keff McCulloch (Theme Arrangement/Incidental Music), Dick Mills (Special Sound)

Ian Fraser (Production Manager), Ann Faggetter (Production Associate), Frances Graham (Production Assistant)Val McCrimmon (Assistant Floor Manager), Ian Dow (OB Lighting), Doug Whittaker (OB Sound)

Alastair Mitchell, David Hunter (OB Cameramen), Simon Taylor (Visual Effects Designer)

Dave Chapman (Video Effects), Richard Wilson (Technical Co-ordinator), Alec Wheal (Senior Cameraman)

Tilda and Tabby are not as grandmotherly as they seem. They are hungry and Mel is taking their interest

Shirley Coward (Vision Mixer), Hugh Parson (Videotape Editor)

Henry Barber (Lighting Director), Brian Clark (Studio Sound)

Janet Tharby (Costume Designer)

Shaunna Harrison (Make-Up Designer)

Andrew Cartmel (Script Editor)

Oliver Elmes (Graphic Designer)

Martin Collins (Designer), John Nathan-Turner (Producer), Nicholas Mallett (Director)

UNCREDITED CREW: Mark Collcutt (Visual Effects Assistant), Crew 11 (Camera Crew)

Jane Litherland (Floor Assistant), Tony Redston (Production Manager), Charlotte Palmer (Costume Assistant

Roy Scammell (Stunt Arranger), Phil Harvey (Design Assistant), Kate Esteal (Producer's Secretary)

Lena Hansen, Belinda Peters, Lisa Pembroke, Tom Reeve, Leslie Bingham, Liz Scammell, Bob Springett (Dressers)

Wendy Holmes, Sharon Walsh, Carol Elmes Jules York-Moore (Make-Up Assistants)

Bob Sutton, Steve Dolphin (Props Buyers), Dan Shaw, Peter Brown (Senior Studio Engineers)

Mike Weaver (Grams Operator), Derrick Perry, Len Hunt, Geoff Allen (Lighting Chargehands)

Stan Cresswell, Barry De Pile, David Rogers (Production Operatives), CAL Video (Computer Animation)

Len Hunt, Les Runham (Production Operatives Supervisor), Peter Hales, Dave Roll (OB Sound Assistants)

Barry Milne (OB Vision Supervisor), Dave Lees (OB Videotape Engineer), Mick Keates (Rigger Supervisor)

Broadcast

EPISODE	DATE	TIME	VIEWING FIGURE	CHART POSITION	APPRECIATION INDEX
1	05/10/1987	7:35-8:00pm	4.5M	88th	61
2	12/10/1987	7:35-8:00pm	5.2M	84th	58
3	19/10/1987	7:35-8:00pm	5.0M	79th	58
4	26/10/1987	7:35-8:00pm	5.0M	93rd	57

Connections in the Who-Niverse

Caretaker extra William Perrie was a the back-half of the Myrka in Warriors of the Deep and a Verevoid in Trial of a Time Lord: Terror of the Vervoids. Red Kang extra Nisha Nayer was later the Female Programmer in Bad Wolf/The

Parting of the Ways. She was the second person to land parts in both classic and new Doctor Who.

Maddy's not too sure if she should cooperate with the Chief Caretaker. Would you trust him? With that moustache? I dont' think so.

Clive Merrison was previously in Tomb of the Cybermen as Jim Callum. Rezzie extra was an Elder in Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet and she was later Mrs. Smith in Remembrance of the Daleks and a Tourist during SIlver Nemesis, she has a small credit part in Survival. Rezzie extra Muriel Wellesley was also an Elder in The Mysterious Planet she too later landed a small credit part in Survival.

Death the Constant Companion

Robot Cleaner is on the move looking for something messy to clean up. A pretty cool design if a little flashy.

The last surviving Yellow Kang meets her end at the claw of one of the Robot Cleaners. The cannibalistic old ladies of Tilda and Tabby are also killed by a Robot Cleaner, both of whom are strangled and dragged down a garbage shot. The Young Caretaker is led into a deadly trap by the Chief Caretaker, where he is killed by a Robot Cleaner. One of the Red Kangs called No Exit is also killed by a Robot Cleaner, as well as several other Caretakers. The Chief Caretaker is possessed by Kroagnon; Kroagnon himself is killed in an explosion (whilst inside the Chief Caretaker's body). Pex sacrifices himself to save Paradise Towers. There appears to be many other casualties, with Rezzies, Caretakers and possibly others(?) killed by poisonous gas released by Robot Cleaners. Tabby and Tilda feast on the flesh of two unknown individuals - possibly animals or people.... And many of the robot Cleaners are destroyed, do robots have souls? let's count them anyway.

Episode Cliffhangers

(1) The Doctor is brought to the Chief Caretaker of Paradise Towers and is greeted as someone called ‘The Great Architect’. The Deputy Chief Caretaker asks what they should do with The Doctor. The Chief Caretaker tells the Deputy to kill The Doctor.

Red Kangs, Red Kangs, Red are BEST! So don't you think about liking the Blue Kangs - or even the Yellow Kangs

(2) Mel has just about finished her second visit to Tilda and Tabby and goes to leave, but she is told that she can never leave. Mel laughs at the supposed joke before Tilda throws a shawl over Mel, and Tabby holds Mel at point a with toasting fork.

(3) The Chief Caretaker’s pet in the basement turns out to be Kroagnon, the architect of Paradise Towers. Kroagnon possesses the Chief Caretaker’s body, as The Doctor, Bin Liner, Fire Escape, and the Blue Kang Leader watch on. They turn to leave, but The Doctor is grabbed by one of the cleaner robots, which begins to throttle him to death

(4) Kroagnon has been defeated but at the cost of Pex’s life. A memorial ceremony is held in the square with Caretakers, Rezzies, and Blue and Red Kangs in attendance. The Doctor is presented with a blue and red scarf which makes him an honorary Kang. The Doctor and Mel leave in the TARDIS which reveals a message written on the wall: ‘Pex Lives’.

Fun Facts

(1) Stephen Wyatt was brought to the attention of the Doctor Who production office which hit play 'Claws (1987) which had been at the BBC. Stephen Wyatt was also inspired by the dystopian novel High Rise when coming up with his idea for his Doctor Who scripts; (2) The original storyline featured a large tentacled creature living in the basement of the apartment block, which used its tentacles to drag people down disposal tunnels and service ducts. This idea was dropped, as previous creatures with tentacles had already appeared in the show, to less than impressive result; (3) Pex was originally going to survive the explosion which supposedly killed him. He was to climb out of the ventilation shaft alive and well; however, the credibility of this was brought into question, so he was killed-off; (4) Originally the corridor leading to the creature in the basement was to have been littered with blood-stained clothes. Discarded clothes did make it into the final programme, but any traces of blood were

What is the creature lurking in the basement? And why is it always hungry? What does it need bodies for? Or who is the creature?

omitted from the final programme; (5) Two character who were considered for the part of the Deputy Chief Caretaker were Philip Jackson and Roger Daltery of The Who; (6) Pex was originally written as a musclehead kind of character, and several well-built actors were auditioned. Howard Cooke who was smaller and less-built was eventually given the role; (7) Live rats were brought into the studio for the recording of part one, for the scene when The Doctor and Mel first set foot in Paradise Towers; (8) To save money on sets, different corridors were created in the studio by the way of lighting scenes different colours, taking down signs and putting new ones up, and setting up different set dressing and props all created the illusion; (9) The soundtrack was originally composed by David Snell, but after delivering his music, the office dropped his services, and Keff McCulloch was hired instead of composing the music; (10) During production actresses Brenda Bruce and Elizabeth Spriggs would apparently spend time trying to one up each other, with the Shakespeare roles they had had during their careers.

Recording Days

Paradise Towers are not as they seems or advertised for that matter. And is that a message from the future or present or past.... ah time travel can be confusing.

Filming took place over 7 days between Thursday 21 May - Friday 19 June 1987. Two days were spent at Elmswell House, Bucks to capture all scenes requiring the swimming pool. The scenes were shot on Thursday 21 - Friday 22 May. Studio sessions took 5 days to complete, with recording being carried out between Tuesday 4 - Friday 5 and Wednesday 17 - Friday 19 June 1987. The recording sessions took place in Studios 1 and 8 in Television Centre.

Verdict

In what is a unique world-building exercise, Paradise Towers was the first serial to be commissioned by Andrew Cartmel, the person responsible for re(fining) and re(shaping) Doctor Who which was falling apart and in need of direction. The scripts remain as amongst the most creative, in what is arguably one of the ‘least’ wholly creative eras of the show. The scripts from newcomer Stephen Wyatt displays levels of intelligence, ingenuity,

and incredible understanding on how language and jargon differ between different age groups who all live within the confines of the same building; there has rarely been a writer for the show who created their own language and somehow made it credible. It is nice to see Sylvester McCoy more grounded as The Doctor; the childish antics and misquoting phrases are nearly gone, remnants of these characteristics are still present, but they’re more tolerable and they create a better fit for the Seventh Doctor throughout his era.

The Kangs Gang (get it?) up on Pex. Who would have thought teenage girls could be so cruel.

The world of Paradise Towers is also very relatable, a world of decay and ruin where social isolation can literally be felt. Many of the characters represent real-world problems people are experiencing. It’s also a unique take on the classic base-under-siege narrative where the danger is homegrown and attacks from within, and a unique disembodied identity lurks in the basement just waiting to attack. The camerawork, impressive sets and contrasting harsh lighting design help create this world on many levels: the camera continually swings back and forth as new storylines are introduced, developed, finished, and then move onto the next one. Underneath the grounded narrative are several political overtones which on the whole are quite obvious, and the subtlety does wear off eventually, but the creativeness of everything else makes up for these setbacks. Paradise Towers is a creative romp and remains as a highlight during the final years of Doctor Who. ****

Independent, non-commercial Doctor Who review and analysis site. Not affiliated with the BBC. Images and media are used under fair dealing for commentary, criticism, review, parody, and analysis. All rights belong to their respective owners.