Paradise Towers (TV story)


 * You may be looking for the titular domicile.

Paradise Towers was the second story of Season 24 of Doctor Who. After a much-publicised falling out with Eric Saward, John Nathan-Turner was keen to find a writer who hadn't worked on the show before. At the BBC's script unit, he met Stephen Wyatt and asked him to submit a script for Doctor Who. At first the script lacked a traditional "monster", and so the robotic Cleaners were added into the script to fulfil this role.

Synopsis
According to the sales brochure, Paradise Towers is a utopian blueprint for community living, with its fabulous architecture and state-of-the-art facilities. The perfect place for Mel to take a leisurely swim, in fact. But when the TARDIS arrives, the Doctor and Mel discover that the futuristic tower block has fallen into ruin, and a series of unexplained disappearances have the tenants living in fear. As gangs of teenage girls run wild in the hallways, a squad of bureaucratic Caretakers struggle to retain control. To keep the citizens of Paradise Towers safe, the Doctor must confront the resident evil lurking in the basement...

Part one
A teenage girl hide in a corridor, while the voices of her pursuers announce they have given up looking. Relieved, she turns to find something bearing down on her and screams. In the Doctor's TARDIS, Mel looks longingly at the swimming pool displayed on the TARDIS scanner. They've arrived at Paradise Towers and Mel is looking forward to taking a swim. However, upon leaving the TARDIS, they find the place in disarray. The surfaces are filthy and rats scuttle around underfoot.

Caretaker 345/12, subsection 3 reports in to the Chief Caretaker, telling him he has found evidence of "wallscrawlers" on Potassium Street. As he continues his inspection, he finds a bloodied rag and tells the Chief that he is scared. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Ace find themselves threatened by a group of teenage girls calling themselves the Red Kangs. The Doctor manages to please them and they take a liking to him. Two of their number introduce themselves as Fire Escape and Bin Liner. They tell the Doctor that they are rivals of both the Blue Kangs and the Yellow Kangs, though only one of the latter is still alive.

A Blue Kang is following Caretaker 345/12, subsection 3 and uses a telephone to report that the Yellow Kangs are no more. After she leaves a robot drives past with the leg of the last of their number sticking out of a rubbish contained trailing behind it. Back with the Red Kangs, the Doctor is asking questions. He finds that there are three types of people present in Paradise Towers: the Kangs, the old ones and the Caretakers. There seem to be more, but before Fire Escape can tell the Doctor of these group, Bin Liner gestures to her with a warning to keep silent regarding such things. With that they take the Doctor and Mel capture, having become interested in them after heaving their conversation about "the pool in the sky".

Caretaker 345/12, subsection 3 finds himself facing one of the robots, with a second sneaking up behind him. He manges to get through to the chief who tells him not to panic. One of the robot then grabs him with a mechanical claw and kills him. The Caretaker watches on a screen as one of the robots takes the body away and says "a nice little present coming up for you my beauty". He then puts out a message for all Caretakers to seize every "red wallscrawler" in Fountain of Happiness Square. As the Red Kangs are taking Mel and the Doctor to a new location, the Caretakers move in. The group flees but the Doctor falls and is taken prisoner.

Separated from both the Doctor and the Red Kangs, Mel comes across Tilda and her friend Tabby and is welcomed into their home. Mel asks them what group they belong to and they tell her they're Rezzies. They present Mel with both tea and cakes and invite her to dine. The Doctor is being escorted by the Caretakers, including the Deputy Chief Caretaker, who allow him a short rest. He finds a "wallscrawl" depicting a Kang being attacked by a mechanical claw, with other mechanical objects surrounding this centrepiece. The Deputy shrugs it off as made-up imagery. One of the robots turns the corner as they converse and the Doctor identifies it as "some sort of robotic Cleaner". As it readies its claw, they run away from it.

Back in Tilda and Tabby's house, Mel is encouraged to stay a while and eat to her hearts content. Just as Tabby comments on the peacefulness of her home, the door is broken through and a man steps in asking if Mel is either in or causing trouble. When he finds she is not, he introduces himself as Pex telling her he "puts the world of Paradise Towers to rights". Mel stands amazed at his immodesty. Elsewhere, the Doctor and his Caretaker accompaniment manage to escape the Cleaner by taking a lift.

Mel decides to leave Tilda and Tabby and once outside, Pex tells her he will help her find the Doctor, acting as a guide. They come across some Blue Kangs engaged in a form of worship. Meanwhile, the Doctor is brought before the Chief Caretaker who takes him to be the original architect of Paradise Towers. The Deputy asks what is to be done with him and the Chief orders that the Doctor is to be killed.

Part two
The Doctor tried to convince the Chief that he is not this "Great Architect", but to no avail as the Chief orders his deputy to organise the execution. He then receives a phone call from Caretaker 579/14, subsection 8, in regards to the death of 345/12, subsection 3, and is required elsewhere. Until his return, the sentence is postponed. Elsewhere, Mel and Pex are still looking for the Doctor and the Red Kangs find one of their number, No Exit, has been killed by the Cleaners.

The Deputy and another Caretaker are guarding the Doctor, he asks to see the rulebook by which the run their lives and they oblige, treating it as his last request. Then, pretending he is reading rules from the book, the Doctor tells them to step away from him, close their eyes and put their hands on their heads. They do so and he takes the key card from the Deputy and escapes. Mel and Pex narrowly miss the Doctor as they continue on their way. Much to their dismay, they find themselves back at the Fountain of Happiness Square. Mel asks Pex who he really is and he replies he had power invested in him by those he cannot name. As they move out of the square, they are followed by the Blue Kangs.

The Doctor comes across a wallscrawl while looking for Mel, takes out pen and paper and makes notes. Elsewhere, the Chief Caretaker is reassuring his team. He tries to quell any fears they have that the Caretakes are responsible. IIn their home, Tabby and Tilda are visited by Maddy who tells them about the death of yet another Caretaker. She tells them that people cannot simply be disappearing, and the agree, covering up their dinner.

Meanwhile, the Doctor comes across and telephone and manages to break it, resulting money flooding out. As he collects it in his hat, two Cleaners move in on him and he is forced down a hole. He wakes from unconsciousness to find himself in the Red Kangs' "brainquarters". He confronts them about the Cleaners, only to find they no less than he does, nor do they know what the create their own wallscrawls depict is. The Doctor attempts to use another phone, but it is no in use. He turns the cabinet attached to it around to reveal that it is a vending machine. He buys a can of Fizzade and shares it out amongst the Kangs.

The Chief Caretaker visits the creature and refers to it as "my pet", and himself as its "daddy". He asks the creature if it enjoyed its Caretaker snack and then questions it as to who else has been feeding it, but it simply replies that it is "hungry". The Chief leaves, promising to feed it the Great Architect. Meanwhile, Mel and Pex find themselves taken prisoner by the Blue Kangs. Mel asks them if they know who Pex is and they tell her he's the "musclebrain", an inbetween - a term for those who are middle ages - who went with the Kangs by hiding aboard their ship, rather than fight in a war with all the other inbetweens. Mel is allowed to leave, with Pex being taunted by the Kangs as a "scaredy-cat".

The Chief orders that it is time to seek out the Great Architect and, at the same time, teach the Kangs a lesson for their recent defiance of Caretaker authority. Elsewhere, Mel finds herself back in the company of Tilda and Tabby after she is invited in for tea.

In their brainquarters, he Red Kangs are all drinking the Fizzade now, and the Doctor tries to side with them. However, an alarm blears and Bin Liner warns that the Caretakers are moving in. On the other side of the door, the Caretakers begin to brake it down. Back in their house, Tabby and Tilda agree that they can't afford to miss this opportunity. They throw a net over Mel and Tabby brandishes a toasting fork at her neck.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
 * Mel - Bonnie Langford
 * Chief Caretaker/The Great Architect - Richard Briers
 * Deputy Chief Caretaker - Clive Merrison
 * Tabby - Elizabeth Spriggs
 * Tilda - Brenda Bruce
 * Maddy - Judy Cornwell
 * Pex - Howard Cooke
 * Fire Escape - Julie Brennon
 * Bin Liner - Annabel Yuresha
 * Blue Kang Leader - Catherine Cusack
 * Yellow Kang - Astra Sheridan
 * Red Kang - Nisha Nayar
 * Young Caretaker - Joseph Young
 * Video Commentary - Simon Coady

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Val McCrimmon
 * Costumes - Janet Tharby
 * Designer - Martin Collins
 * Incidental Music - Keff McCulloch
 * Make-Up - Shaunna Harrison
 * OB Cameraman - Alastair Mitchell, David Hunter
 * Producer - John Nathan-Turner
 * Production Assistant - Frances Graham
 * Production Associate - Anne Faggetter
 * Script Editor - Andrew Cartmel
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Henry Barber
 * Studio Sound - Brian Clark
 * Theme Arrangement - Keff McCulloch
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Simon Taylor

Story notes

 * This story had a working title of; Paradise Tower.
 * Julie Brennon, who played Fire Escape, was at the time married to former companion actor Mark Strickson.
 * This music score for this story was originally made by freelance composer David Snell. John Nathan-Turner rejected the music after it was completed on grounds of it being too repetitive. Keff McCulloch provided the replacement score in a very short timeframe.

Ratings

 * Part 1 - 4.5 million viewers
 * Part 2 - 5.2 million viewers
 * Part 3 - 5.0 million viewers
 * Part 4 - 5.0 million viewers

Myths
to be added

Filming locations

 * Elmswell House, Nightingales Lane, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire (Location of the pool)
 * BBC Television Centre (TC1 &amp; TC8), Shepherd's Bush, London

Production errors
to be added

Continuity

 * The Doctor is once again called an "Old One" by locals, as he was in DW: The Mysterious Planet.
 * The TARDIS is graffitied again in DW: Aliens of London.
 * The TARDIS pool last appeared in DW: The Invasion of Time. It was later rebuilt by the Doctor some time between this episode and The Eleventh Hour, but was once again ejected in The Doctor's Wife.

Timeline

 * Paradise Towers occurs after: BFA: Red
 * Paradise Towers occurs before: DWM: Plastic Millennium

VHS
Paradise Towers was released onto VHS on the following Dates;


 * UK (October 1995)


 * Australia (January 1997)


 * United States (June 1997).

DVD
Paradise Towers was released on Region 2 DVD in July 2011. it included commentary with Judy Cornwell, Stephen Wyatt and Dick Mills. Other special features were:
 * Horror on the High Rise - the making of this serial.
 * Casting Sylvester
 * ''Girls! Girls! Girls! - The Eighties
 * Deleted and extended scenes
 * Alternative soundtrack
 * Photo gallery
 * Comic soon trailer
 * Radio Time listings

Novelisation and its audiobook

 * Main article: Paradise Towers (novelisation)


 * Novelised by Stephen Wyatt in 1988.