The final relic from the Graham Williams era, Nightmare of Eden is hardly regarded as a high point for the program. Dodgy special effects and wobbly walls abound and it also features the silliest accent ever witnessed since The Underwater Menace.
Nevertheless, the program is light fare and the last story to be released from Tom Baker’s middle period on the program when comedy and fantasy reigned (aside from the incomplete Shada).
Two spacecraft fuse in a hyperspace collision, and with the dimensional instabilities threatening everyone aboard, it’s fortunate the Doctor (Tom Baker), Romana (Lalla Ward) and K-9 arrive to help. But when a crewmember is found clawed by a ferocious creature, it seems there’s something even more frightening stalking the corridors. But what can this have to do with a zoologist, Professor Tryst, his CET projection machine, and a planet called Eden?
Special Features
• Commentary with actors Lalla Ward (Romana) and Peter Craze (Costa), writer Bob Baker, effects designer Colin Mapson and make-up designer Joan Stribling. Moderated by Toby Hadoke
• The Nightmare of Television Centre – A look back at a somewhat troubled production with three of the behind-the-scenes crew who worked on it
• Going Solo – Writer Bob Baker talks about The Nightmare of Eden
• The Doctor’s Strange Love with comedian Josie Long and writers Joe Lidster and Simon Guerrier
• Ask Aspel – LallaWard’s appearance on the popular BBC children’s show
• Radio Times Listings (DVD-ROM)
• Programme Subtitles
• Production Information Subtitles
• Photo Gallery
• Coming Soon Trailer
• Digitally Remastered Picture And Sound Quality
Due for release on the 2nd April from Amazon UK.
Two key adventures from the Seventh Doctor’s era are collected in this long awaited box set containing Dragonfire and The Happiness Patrol. Dragonfire bridges the light drama period of the program with the more sophisticated stories that were to come and also introduces new companion Ace (played by Sophie Aldred). A fan favorite character, Ace became one of the more popular companions of the classic series alongside Sarah Jane Smith, Leela and Joe Grant. The story itself is a bit of fun, a revenge story nested within a treasure hunt. It seems very innocent (the goofy monster helps) but you may be in for a shock in the conclusion, still one of the most memorable moments of the program. The model work of Ice World is also amazing.
In sharp contrast, The Happiness Patrol is a daring social commentary that is hindered by being studio bound and a very small budget. The hand puppet Fifi doesn’t add anything to the dignity of this one, but it remains one of my all time favorites from the McCoy period. The Kandyman, an impressive animatronic suit, is a monster that you adore or despise, but it made the press by presenting children’s sweets as evil (imagine!).
Ace Adventures Box Set (DVD)
In these two classic stories Ace joins the Seventh Doctor aboard the TARDIS where she’s soon battling a biomechanoid and liberating a world where just feeling sad can get you shot!
Dragonfire
On the planet Svartos, the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Mel unexpectedly encounter an old friend – Sabalom Glitz. Joined by Ace, a teenage waitress with a love for explosives, the group ventures off to find the fabled Dragonfire treasure.
• Commentary
• Deleted / extended scenes
• Trivia subtitles
• Video & audio restoration
• Coming Soon Trailer
• Radio Times Billings (PDF)
• Making-of documentary
• Photo gallery
• Danny Bang – documentary
• The Doctor’s Strange Love – documentary The Happiness Patrol
On the planet Terra Alpha, the population constantly displays happy smiles. Anyone feeling remotely glum disappears. Quickly. Having heard disturbing rumours, the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace arrive to topple the entire regime.
• Commentary
• “Ace” wishes Blue Peter Happy Birthday (archive clip)
• Isolated score
• Deleted / extended scenes
• Trivia subtitles
• Video & audio restoration
• Coming Soon Trailer
• Radio Times Billings (PDF)
• Making-of documentary
• Photo gallery
• Politics In Doctor Who – documentary
Story 21
Written by Mike Tucker
Released June 2001
Deuchamp 331, a planet where swirling dust constantly whips throughout the landscape, the deafening howl of the wind broken only by a horrifying scream, is an unlikely location for an art gallery. Nevertheless the eccentric Madame Salvadori is engaging an exclusive art show where, according to the Doctor’s diary, Edward Munch’s the Scream went missing. Deep inside the TARDIS, the Doctor has the most deluxe gallery of ‘lost’ masterpieces, saved from the disasters of history. Seeking to ‘rescue’ another painting, the Doctor and Ace arrive to find that an old friend Bev Tarrent is already on Deuchamp 331 looking for a new outlet for her merchandise. Another old friend of the Doctor’s is also on hand, but his intentions are both insidious and insane.
Dust Breeding is a clever and traditional-style adventure in the murder mystery turned mad scientist/monster style. I quite like the genre mix and have enjoyed the televised attempts at this kind of thing. Mike Tucker clearly understands the trapping of Classic Doctor Who as all the trappings are there; the strange setting of a screaming planet joined with the absurdly contemporary art snobs, the masked villain, the mysterious deaths, and of course a deadly ravenous monster.
The voice acting cast is superb and deliver an impressive job when faced with so many over the top characters I strained my eyes checking and re-checking that Caroline John (Liz Shaw from Doctor Who in 1970) as the cartoonish German accented Madame Salvadori. Of course the real star is Geoffrey Beavers as the mysterious masked man Mr. Seta. Dust Breeding isn’t a game-changing story or an over-ambitious adventure that challenges the restraints of what Doctor Who can do. In fact, it’s actually a celebration of a typical Doctor Who story and is all the better for it. McCoy revels in his part once more as the charismatic traveler, long before he became the cosmic trickster. I appreciate the many facets of the 7th Doctor, one of the few (perhaps the only one, actually) of the classic Doctors to develop and change over his three-year period. But if given a choice, I prefer the more stripped down traveler/adventurer from McCoy’s first two years on the program.
Mike Tucker’s script is paced quite well and feels just like a traditional radio drama, utilizing the audio landscape well to tell a cohesive story without losing the audience. From time to time, the Big Finish audios can dissolve into screams and explosions, making it impossible for the listener to understand quite what is going on. Luckily, that’s not the cae here. There are some dodgey moments as McCoy’s stilted accent gets away from him and Aldred’s voice cracks as she screams in shock and anger (something that sadly happened on screen from time to time). McCoy and Aldred are limited in their acting range, it has to be said, but that doesn’t stop them from being vastly entertaining thanks to their genuine chemistry and personal quirks. The Seventh Doctor and Ace remain one of the best pairings in Doctor Who and they continue that relationship in the audio format.
Without giving too much away, Dust Breeding does challenge the canon of the established (if dubious) continuity with the ‘surprise’ return of a long departed foe. I’m unaware of the inconsistencies myself (I read the Virgin New Adventures when they first came out and stopped just short of New Frontier) and I’m just grateful for the return of a much loved character from the classic program. I hope that we get to see (hear?) him again.
Story 151
1988, Dec 14 – Jan 4 The Doctor urges Ace to confront her fear only to find a greater evil than he could ever expected on the planet Segonax. Under the big top of the Psychic Circus lays a sinister force that demands to be entertained.
Throughout the 1980’s, Doctor Who had become formulaic and predictable, each plot very similar to the last in an attempt to recapture the magic of the hey-days of the 1970’s and introduce something modern and new. In 1988’s 25th anniversary series, Doctor Who was in the midst of redefining itself as a program. The Doctor was again an explorer and champion of justice, facing his enemies head on. While it was mainly a pantomime show in its 24th series, the 25th saw a return of not only classic monsters but high quality scripts and unusual ideas. With only four adventures throughout the year, the series was split between the straight forward action dramas Remembrance of the Daleks and Silver Nemesis and the off-beat stories Happiness Patrol and Greatest Show in the Galaxy.
This may be the a controversial statement, but I think that the mixture of pantomime and absurd adventure was the greatest strength of the 7th Doctor. With bright colors and cartoonish characters, the adventures appeared to be a children’s program but underneath were darker concepts, fairy tale violence and sinister monsters. It was a post-modern tale on the concept of Doctor Who modernized for TV audiences, giving the BBC what it wanted on the surface while also producing some of the most sophisticated plots that viewers had seen.
Trailer by biggerbaddaddy
I hate to apologize so early in the review, but in my opinion any Doctor Who program is an uneven experience. Quality varies, the plot gets lost, special effects get sloppy and the acting is over the top in one place only to be far too under-stated in the next. Doctor Who was a program that was created with very limited resources, time (ironically) being one of the least abundant. In crafting the 25th series, script editor Andrew Cartmel brought back one of 1987’s better script writers, Stephen Wyatt.
Wyatt’s script for Paradise Towers was innocent and bloody all at once, featuring a cast of characters who seemed straight out of a children’s book and situations that were both weird and wonderful. A less than impressive cast, poor direction and bright lighting that removed any attempt at mood somewhat ruins the finished effect of Paradise Towers, but it was still deemed good enough to warrant a return.
The plot involves a famous circus that has gotten tired and desperate to attract audiences. Operating from the back water planet Segonax, they are drawing customers in with the added bonus of making them part of the show (how ahead of its time is that?). The Doctor is hardly impervious to this offer and yearns to show off his skills in the ring. Ace, however, is less enthusiastic and admits to a fear of clowns, a quality that drives her through nearly the entire adventure as she is determined to prove she isn’t scared of anything.
On their way to the Psychic Circus, the Doctor and Ace meet an array of colorful characters, from Nord to Captain Cook and Mags. The Captain is clearly a caricature of the Doctor, an egocentric wind bag who looks at others as specimens under glass. It soon becomes apparent that there is some evil force operating under the big top, an entity that the corrupt performers have vowed to serve. But no sooner does the Doctor realize this threat than he becomes one of the performers himself and has to fight for his own survival.
Wyatt’s script is full of these moments where the program makes reference to itself, from the Captain to Whizkid, and even the very plot in which escape from the center ring is impossible, only a longer life is granted as reward for entertaining the audience. These ideas are a bit overbearing at times, however. Whizkid’s diatribes are a bit distracting as it is obvious that when he talks about the Psychic Circus being much better in the old days, it is clear the program is taking a stab at itself on the audience’s behalf.
At this point in time, Doctor Who was still soul searching after the loss of both Tom Baker and Peter Davison and while in my opinion it was onto something here, hardly anyone was watching anymore. Doctor Who had been placed against much more successful programs such as Coronation Street and its ratings suffered greatly.
Doctor Who was known as a program that had family appeal, weird visuals and memorable monsters. Additionally, it featured some of the sharpest scripts on TV from time to time only to be undone by some of the worst. Operating as a 25 year-long program with various script editors, producers, actors, etc can of course introduce a variation on what the program is about and result in a schizophrenic idea of what the program is about.
No matter what else has been said about him, many have stated that producer John Nathan-Turner was a magnificent showman and skilled at promoting Doctor Who. Even so, it was clear that he was becoming weary of the mantle of producer after eight years. Along with other members of the production crew, JNT had essentially given Andrew Cartmel free reign to find out where Doctor Who could go in the future in 1988 and this is one of the steps he took on that journey.
Greatest Show in the Galaxy was beset by problems, most notably an asbestos scare that force the production into filming on the actual parking lot of the BBC, a move that frustrated the crew and talent to the point of numerous outbursts. McCoy himself was said to erupt into fits when a take was ruined by the sound of passing traffic. As such, the performances are mixed, with McCoy himself varying greatly from magnificent to downright woeful. However, the innovation led to the filming taking place both on location and inside of a massive big top which lent to the atmosphere of the adventure.
This story is also memorable for its ‘creepy clowns,’ an army of robotic creations all bearing painted variations of the Chief Clown’s face. I imagine that this was a massive hit at the time for viewers and robbed many children of sleep for weeks.
Fantastic.
Ace is terrorized by creepy robot clowns
The guest actors are mainly young and nominally experienced in dramatic
performance, a common trait in 80’s Who, with two exceptions. Both T. P. McKenna as Captain Cook and Ian Reddington as the sinister Chief Clown absolutely shine in this story.
T.P. McKenna as Captain Cook
McKenna was already a well-known actor from his performance in the 1967 adaptation of Ulysses and his various appearances on TV in anything from the Avengers to Blake’s 7. It is said that guest actors in Doctor Who have trouble gauging their performance and that is clearly the case here. With a larger than life cartoon character such as the Captain, it must have been difficult to know where to draw the line as to what could be ‘over the top’ and McKenna does cross it at times, but he gains back his credibility in the final episode where he delivers some notably villainous lines. It’s a shame that this was his only appearance in Doctor Who.
Ian Reddington as the Chief Clown
Former musician and RSC alum, Ian Reddington was voted as one of the most sinister villains of Doctor Who in a fan poll. His role of Chief Clown is bitingly sharp and dangerous, the actor’s face becoming both frozen and animated at key moments, hinting at a heart of darkness beneath the white face paint. When a character is torn to bits by marauding robot clowns, Reddington seems horrified to immobility only to breal from the spell and smile his showman grin, waving a welcoming hand, ‘the show must go on!’ he seems to say.
The late 80’s was a time of rebirth and redefinition for Doctor Who, but it all came too late some say. Greatest Show in the Galaxy is hardly a top notch story due to its many flaws and its seeming difficulty in finding a strong dramatic tone, but it remains one of my favorites. Still unreleased on DVD, it is one of four remaining McCoy adventures still unavailable from 2 Entertain. When it is released, make sure to give it a viewing.
Previously available only as part of an exclusive and rare Dalek set, the 7th Doctor wearing his cream-colored jacket will be released on his own in action figure form this month. To pre-order in the US, click on the image below:
Doctor Who was a national institution, a source of groundbreaking science fiction and ingenuity in the audio/visual medium. After 22 years on television, the unthinkable happened and it was put on hiatus. The series had become very violent and garish to many and while it was still popular, it was plain to many that this simply was not the program that they had grown up watching as children. The sixth Doctor as played by Colin Baker was alienating and off-putting to many after the comforting and noble ‘vision in beige’ Peter Davison.
After a stay of execution, Doctor Who returned to the airwaves, a shadow of its former self. With provisions in place to downplay violence and upsell comedic and family-friendly elements, the series that had dared to film an episode about the complacence of a society doped on television delivered candy-colored floss that dared nothing at all. With the announcement that former children’s entertainer Sylvester McCoy was to be the seventh Doctor, fans feared for the worst. McCoy’s first season is full of new ideas and new directions such as a story based largely on the J.G. Ballard novel High Rise, but it was not quite there yet. Andrew Cartmel got a second chance at delivering the program he wanted in the 25th Anniversary season with four stories… only one of which was dreadful. Not bad.
The strength that the 25th season has, in my opinion, is that it is daring intelligent social commentary disguised as children’s entertainment. Everything from the sets to the acting to the music screams that what you are watching is candy-colored drivel, but if you look under the veneer you will find some startling ideas. The best example of this approach is the second story of the season, The Happiness Patrol by Graeme Curry.
Following the explosive Remembrance of the Daleks, The Happiness Patrol looks even weirder than it already is. An adventure set on an off-world human colony Terra Alpha in the distant future, it is a very thinly veiled attack on Margaret Thatcher and her regime. The head ‘baddie’ Helen A is a saccharine-sweet glammed up trollop beaming a smile that looks like it could eat you alive. After seizing control of the colony, she has declared sadness illegal. As if that doesn’t sound insane enough, she has a platoon of glamorous women bearing rayguns walking the streets on the lookout for a long face. Her majordomo is an android made up of sweets called the Kandy Man. He tortures political prisoners in his lab until they dissolve in his grasp. With the deck stacked against him, the Doctor is determined to bring the blues back to Terra Alpha and end the tyranny of Helen A and her Happiness Patrol.
Doctor No. 7 - Sylvester McCoy
Part of the major success of the story is the chemistry between new companion Sophie Aldred and Sylvester McCoy (my wife is convinced there was something going on there). Both actors have a history in children’s television and an eagerness to perform to their utmost. This eagerness does lead to some unfortunate cringe-worthy moments that should have been addressed by the director, but looking at where the series was in 1985 and where it ended up in 1988, it is a massive improvement.
With little to no guidance and no time to prepare, McCoy had gingerly stepped into the shoes of the high profile lead role of Doctor Who. A bizarre looking and sounding man, he exudes an alien-ness that had been lost as the series had become comfortable in waltzing from one Dalek story to the next. In his second year, the production team had taken the time to draft out a direction that they wished to take the program in, something that had been lacking since… the Hartnell era? Rather than simply plotting the series from one week to the next, Cartmell had sculpted an intricate structure that over-arched from year to year as the Doctor and Ace matured.
It’s a shame that Cartmel’s masterplan never got a chance to reach fruition, but I’m happy for what I got.
The animatronic Kandy Man caused quite a fuss at the time since his body parts resembled so many candies on the shelves aimed at the same kids who may be watching. The most unique and chilling of villains in modern Doctor Who, he is a joy to watch. One sequence where he finds himself cornered by Ace and the Doctor in his lair, he seethes with fury. Tossing a nearby coin for who to kill first, the Doctor asks what the result is. Gritting black teeth with hatred, the Kandy Man growls, ‘that would be telling!’ There are many fans who view the Kandy Man as simply goofy and a sign of the waning budget of Doctor Who in the 1980’s, but I just cannot agree. My jaw dropped when I saw it the first time and I found myself unsure of where the program was going for the first time since Doctor No.6 attacked Peri. New ideas often grate fandom, I understand, but this was a very daring and bold move on the part of the production team.
The visual design of The Happiness Patrol is remarkably inspired and makes the most out of what limited space and money the production team had to work with. The harsh black wooden surfaces suggest the very sound stage that the story was filmed on, making the entire production terribly post-modern. I recall reading that the director badly wanted to film in black and white and that the setting was intended to be Portmeiron (the setting of the 1960’s Prisoner program) before the budget fell through. The costumes are simple and look more at home in a department store than anything else. The painted faces of the citizens are evocative of nobility attempting to cover the effects of illness and other faults. I could go on, but you get the point. The production team put their hearts into this one.
For a program that was seen as being on its last legs, The Happiness Patrol was one hell of a death twitch before the end. This is definitely an adventure that divides fandom. You either love or hate The Happiness Patrol, but for me I’m glad that it was made.
One of the younger men to work on Doctor Who, Andrew Cartmell was inspired by the comic books of 2000 A.D., The Ballad of Halo Jones by Alan Moore in particular. In regards to his political leanings and the undertones of his era on the program, he gleefully admitted: “I’d like to overthrow the government. I was very angry about the social injustice in Britain under Thatcher and I’m delighted that came into the show.” At the time, Doctor Who was under attack not just for falling ratings and the close eye on violence, but for its Communist influence. Looking at previous stories in which bumbling civil servants nearly destroy all life or are in fact really alien invaders, I’m surprised it took anyone that long to notice.
Currently The Happiness Patrol is not available on DVD, but after the recent surge in publicity over this adventure as being political, I suspect we will see it announced shortly.
The Daily P.O.P. 