The Season 25 Collection- The Happiness Patrol

 

Its curious how time can alter one’s opinion of things. For example, if you’d asked me twenty years ago to compare the opening two stories of season 25 I would have placed `The Happiness Patrol` above `Remembrance of the Daleks`. Now, I would reverse that ranking after recent watches. `Remembrance` has not only stood the test of time but seems stronger now. On the other hand, there’s something odd about `Happiness Patrol`, something suggesting that not everyone is on the same page.  In isolation each element of the story is interesting; the stage flats providing an atmospheric backdrop, the idea of not being happy a crime, a creature made of confection yet subject to mood swings, people living in the pipework underground, the idea of the blues as a salve for life’s problems and a revolution taking place over night. Yet put all these together and they don’t quite gel. That’s not to say this isn’t a good story, it is very good, it’s just that the visuals sometimes get in the way of what the story is trying to say. 

This Special Edition does go some way towards solving some of this. The vista just above the dark sets is lit up with skyscraper neon slogans giving a better idea of a society where happiness is being forced to prevail. Perhaps this is what the lower levels would look like during daytime? These plus new effects shots of a factory exploding in the distance, the planet itself and the shuttle’s escape at the end give a scope that helps broaden Terra Alpha. I’ve also concluded that the planet’s night time is much longer than ours even if this is not stated in the narrative. There is just no way all of the events depicted could take place over one standard length night. Look at Fifi for example, she is injured, bandaged and then the bandages are removed. Or Trevor Sigma’s survey; one minute he’s in the middle of it, the next he’s done. My theory is that night time here takes place over a week or so, still a tight schedule but more believable. Otherwise, why would someone be carrying out a survey in the middle of the night?

Sometimes I wish the production team had gone with one of the original ideas; a film noir presentation with everything in black and white and a full-on blues soundtrack. Admittedly this could detract from the story but this is heightened narrative never striving for realism in the way that `Remembrance` is. That approach would likely cover up some of the more garish visuals though I retain a fondness for the Kandyman. On the Behind the Sofa extra he is the source of amusement from the guests but perhaps if the lighting had been as low in the kitchen as it is in the walkways beyond, he would look more effective. Even so I like the voice and the fact he is subject to the co-operation of Gilbert M, his handler and sometimes grouchy helper. If the tin foil across the Kandyman’s head betrays its cheap origins on a modern tv, the rest of him looks exactly like the sort of bizarre creature that works in the show. The spinning eyes are a touch of genius; I’m sure kids would revel in this character. David John Pope does a sterling job in there.

For a planet intent on maintaining happiness, it’s rulers don’t look especially happy; the story suggests that even their joy is false, their true feelings hidden behind heavily applied make up and garish hairdos. Mind you at the time these styles were not that far removed from any you might see in town on a Saturday night.

Helen A has been compared to Margaret Thatcher, and Sheila Hancock has spoken of her loathing for and intepretation of the Iron Lady. in this role.  She uses that same lilting voice that presents even the most draconian measure in a soothing tone. Helen A’s motivation seems to have started as a genuine attempt to make people’s lives happier but she failed to realise you can’t force people to be happy as the Doctor points out because without sadness happiness doesn’t mean anything. In the end we see that she only really seems to care about Fifi and when she finds hm dead her happy façade crumbles.  I always find this scene rather moving despite what she’s done and as the camera pulls backwards it's like the end of a film. Yet this may be because the deaths never quite seem realistic. Someone smothered in gooey red fondant sounds odd but do they make all this candy solely for execution purposes? Also, the Thatcher allusion is exaggerated taking away any subtlety as Thatcher, whatever deeds she did, never went this far though some might argue the results of her polices were effectively a death sentence for some communities and jobs.

There could be a debate about female and male roles in this story as they are reversed form the usual. The women are in charge, the men their companions even the two more powerful ones who in a twist run off together at the end. Another interpretation of this story, especially when it was first shown, is of it being an allegorical tale about minorities. The talk of secret places, the undercover agents, the need to put on an acceptable (happy) front. These could all be applied to several scenarios. It looks to me though that what Graeme Curry was writing about was a totalitarian regime, though does the idea of sweets and candy undermine the impact? In the end it feels like too many well- meaning ideas became muddled in the telling. It is even more difficult to believe adults would use confectionary in this way.

The regime’s methods seem fairly unlikely to quell any large-scale dissent, as later events prove. There is a surreal quality to some of the scenarios; for example, the waiting zone being cordoned off by no more than a coloured stripe on the ground. There are some excellent visual moments- the shadows of turning cogs in the kitchen, the camera work in the pipes, the long shots of the alleyways of the planet and especially the low lighting outside which in those days wasn’t always something directors would do. It reminds me of the opposite issue with a story like `Warriors of the Deep` which would have been twice as good in low light like this. The musical cues incorporating harmonica are excellent and when combined with the subtle lighting give the story its own look.

The joy of this story partly lies in Sylvester McCoy’s performance. Whimsical though strong, funny yet serious, he gives a lot to this serial as the Doctor helps events move to a dramatic conclusion. Modern showrunners might learn from the manner in which McCoy progresses through this story interpreting Curry’s material with a finesse that looks deceptively easy and yet too simply dismissed as eccentric. There is a purpose to everything he does and says.  I think this could even be his best performance as the Doctor, it’s certainly one of them.  Sophie Aldred too is a great foil for him but also makes Ace interesting when they are apart. Her scenes with Lesley Dunlop and Georgina Hale are excellent. Sheila Hancock gives everything to her portrayal of Helen A.

Richard Sharp as Earl Sigma adds a knowing casualness to proceedings whilst Ronald Fraser’s secretly bored Joseph C is an interesting character. I feel the story would have benefitted from four episodes if only to better convey the full extent of what is happening and draw out some of the supporting characters a lot more.

There’s also the age-old issue of movement. Despite the improved production and script standards the series still can’t seem to escape the fact that the Doctor goes here and there and back again several times! Sometimes it’s difficult to tell why he revisits places he’s been the previous episode to finish a conversation. I’m not really sure the Pipe People need to be there without enough time to explore their origins and unfortunately the new version can’t make their speech any clearer. 

You could argue the story might have gone further in its presentation and it could certainly benefit from fewer events but under the helm of Chris Clough is nonetheless an intriguing, bold, inventive production that demonstrates, whatever the mood music beyond, the show was in rude creative health in 1988.

 

In conversation with Chris Clough

Few of these In Conversation with strands have talked with someone for whom Doctor Who is a relatively brief period of a long, distinguished career. His cv both as a director and producer includes a number of significant productions including Granada Reports, Brookside, EastEnders, Skins and just recently Mr Bates vs the Post Office. As interviewer Matthew Sweet suggests in amongst all of these and many more as well as his declared interest in contemporary social issues, Doctor Who was something of an outlier. Clough agrees saying he was initially a reluctant recruit to the show yet found it fun and challenging in many ways.

The interview is certainly expansive taking in his unhappy boarding school days which gave him a dislike of authority and an interest in social issues. Chris Clough was born in Harrogate and still possessing that directness we recognise from Yorkshire folk meaning he is a great interviewee answering honestly yet modestly pointing out the problems and successes across his career.
It is an impressive cv starting as a director in non-drama productions like Granada Reports and Go with Noakes. He was in at the start of the development of Brookside helming 44 episodes in all including the first one. He worked on EastEnders when the soap was getting viewers of twenty million and his work on that series overlapped with the eighteen Doctor Who episodes he directed.  After this he went on to The Bill which is where he moved on to become a producer. He was thus a key figure in the development and launch of Skins and also its polar opposite Born and Bred. More recently he has specialised in producing dramas based on real life such as Lucan, Killed by My Debt (the heart-rending story of which he relates in the interview), World on Fire and Mr Bates vs the Post Office.

These later works- as well as many of the drams he helmed earlier- support his interest in social values and fairness. Throughout the interview he is straight forward in his answers but proves an amenable interviewee without grudges but with strong opinions on right and wrong which support many of the productions he has worked on. To be fair he probably didn’t always get the best scripts on Doctor Who but it is noticeable that however variable some of these stories may have been it is his direction that makes the best of them.