Did anyone else like the Candyman character, from the Happiness Patrol adventure in the 80s? The figure could easily have been totally laughable. He looked like Bertie Bassett and had a high helium-squeaky voice. Yet I found it curiously creepy and effective the way these attributes were juxtaposed with his brutal and aggressive manner to his underling, and to the Doctor and Ash, as well as his role as a public executioner, drowning people in hot sugary liquid. I recall the title beings in Planet of the Spiders had an impact that was not dissimilar.

It was totally laughable as was the story. If it wasn't for Paradise Towers, The Happiness Patrol would be the worst story in the programmes history.

Verity Lambert despised it, which is another good reason for me to hate it.

Well, I agree on Paradise Towers being the low point in Who history. That one was truly dire!

Candyman - great character poor visual design (I actually think the whole story has substance, but the style is horrific).


I'm not as down on Paradise Towers as most people either.

No. It was the nadir of Classic Who. As someone who had watched, and been a fan, since the 60s, I recall watching that and being embarrassed by the show I once loved so much. It was actually a relief to me when they put the show out of our misery - and brought the disastrous McCoy era to an end.

The Happiness Patrol and Paradise Towers probably seemed like great ideas on paper. Paradise Towers has cannibal grannies, pompous bureaucrats, girl gangs, sinister cleaning robots and a cowardly Rambo character. The Happiness Patrol has a shameless parody of Mrs Thatcher and a psychotic robot who is superficially a giant sweetie.

Unfortunately, these productions were cheaply made, poorly directed and performed as pure pantomime.

Even on paper The Happiness Patrol was ropey. By the time it was produced, Thatcher parodies had been done to death. It would take someone of far greater wit and intelligence than anyone then currently working on the show to make a new parody stand out.

With a bit more wit, or a writer with a more satirical bent, it would have been something great. Probably would have had to get rid of the sub-Max-Headroom, 6th-form drama project production style though...

I remember as a kid being scared watching Happiness Patrol. I would have been 10 at the time....

I can imagine if you were young the Kandyman could've been quite freaky. I was 19 at the time and involved to an extent in fandom and was aware whilst watching it that the story would get a kicking....and it still is!

I like it. I could see what it was trying to do on a budget, and think there have been duller, less inventive stories in the programme's run. The Doctor brings down a tacky, corrupt and murderous government in one night. I find it enjoyable.

(legs it our of thread to avoid the pointing and laughing.)

I absolutely HATED this story. It was the beginning of the end for me. It was a bad joke from beginning to end (Yes, I did give it a chance!). The only story I watched after this was 'Survival' 'cos it was the last one....and I wasn't keen on that either.
I think the whole McCoy era was disappointing really - only enjoyed three of his stories in all.

Interesting post Phoenix Lazarus, but I'm curious - why do you keep referring to Ace as Ash?

Ah, I've just realised I've done that again. I may be mixing her up with another character from fiction I have consumed, as I vaguely reading about someone of that name, once.

I'll try and get Ace's name right if alluding to her again-and look, I've got Ace's name right twice, already!

I have to agree, there a number of Seventh Doctor stories that I feel were good ideas, but it was clear that the production behind them was not as good as it could have been.

"The Happiness Patrol" in particular should have had horribly bright and colorful sets, trying to enforce feelings of happiness where none existed, instead of the horribly dark and dreary sets we had gotten. I felt that sort of went against the point of the story, about forcing people to be 100% happy all the time. The Kandyman could have been something more robotic, I'm not entirely sure what I would want out of this, but I do know that the original cobbled up suit wasn't very good.

EDIT: Actually, this looks good. http://willphantom.deviantart.com/ar...man-265308695#

I agree that Happiness Patrol and Paradise Towers were very Pantomime! But in a bad way.....as in cringeworthy!

Tom Baker's 'Horns of Nimon' was very panto too - but done with subtle humour, a bad villain with all the works and the dastardly costume. Plus the minotaur-aliens who walked like they had pooped in their pants! But it was good fun - not embarrasing to watch!!

i adore the kandyman. anyone who disagrees can feel the back of my candy hand....

The candyman in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory would have been a better baddie, in fact he was.

I've always found Horns of Nimon to be very embarrassing indeed. Tom Baker had been allowed way too much control and in general the guest cast were playing up the ham for all they were worth. An actor the calibre of Graham Crowden comes across likes he's simply taking the piss, or drunk. Paradise Towers allows Richard Briers to deliver a similarly misjudged performance. This is simply bad direction and control.

Happiness Patrol on the other hand was meant to be the way it was, all stagey and garish with heightened reality performances. I still don't like it personally, but I can appreciate that it was a bold experiment, and one that very nearly works. If anything perhaps it needed to be pushed even further, into a pseudo cartoon like landscape with even more exaggerated characters.

The Horns of Nimon was screened over Christmas 79 so its panto feel was, imo, quite deliberate.

The Kandyman and the Happiness Patrol however, sunk to depths I never thought the show would go to!

So true! Never thought of that! What excuse have the other two stories got then??