The idea of an Earth colony where depression and sadness are outlawed and order is kept by a ruthless happiness patrol is both a great and a creepy one. It's like Orwellian science fiction given a coat of pink paint. It's all there: the charismatic leader and her gang of soldiers, the forgotten species living underground and the executioner who everyone should be afraid of. There's a dine little twist at the end and the story is brought to a satisfying end. It's a great mix is deep storytelling with an actual.message and an engaging science fiction adventure.
The regulars are great once again, but Sylvester McCoy draws the longer straw this time around. Sheila Hancock is creepy, vile and fantastic as the iconic Terra Alpha leader Helen A. David John Pope is creepy as the Kandyman. Everybody is on form here, and I'm really to see so many female actors among the cast.
Another great story for the Doctor, who is dark here, almost to en extent bit all for a good reason.
Ace isn't as good here as in her previous stories, but she doesn't fall for the typical Who girl trope at least.
Helen A is like Cruella de Vil and Dolores Umbridge combined into a horrific package of forced happiness. She's brilliant as well as terrifying. I don't know either the Kandyman ha a brilliant or a horrible idea. A walking man made out of Licorice All Sorts is the stuff out of nightmares. The Kandyman is the most disturbing monster the series has presented. The main problem is that the Kandymam is played for a fool as he's never a real threat to the Doctor.
The production is simple, but I like the contrast between the dark and grey set a and the colourful people. The Kandyman has been well realized.
This story has a bizarrely dark atmosphere over it, strengthened by the characters with pink clothing and painted faces and the hideous Kandyman. It paints one of the darkest societies in all of Doctor Who. Despite the ominous atmosphere, the ending of the story is actually very sad at the same time as its satisfying.
By this story, Andrew Cartmel proves he knew exactly what he was doing, taking the show into a new direction by combining what has worked in the past with new and fresh ideas.
This is a wonderfully dark political allegory with a great Doctor and a creepy atmosphere so I'll surely watch it again.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
The 2017 episode Smile has a similar premise to this story.
The "happiness will prevail" mantra is very creepy and makes me think of "may the odds be in your favour" from The Hunger Games.
Review by Theo KallströmVIP 6BlockedParentSpoilers2020-07-15T06:24:48Z
The idea of an Earth colony where depression and sadness are outlawed and order is kept by a ruthless happiness patrol is both a great and a creepy one. It's like Orwellian science fiction given a coat of pink paint. It's all there: the charismatic leader and her gang of soldiers, the forgotten species living underground and the executioner who everyone should be afraid of.
There's a dine little twist at the end and the story is brought to a satisfying end. It's a great mix is deep storytelling with an actual.message and an engaging science fiction adventure.
The regulars are great once again, but Sylvester McCoy draws the longer straw this time around.
Sheila Hancock is creepy, vile and fantastic as the iconic Terra Alpha leader Helen A. David John Pope is creepy as the Kandyman. Everybody is on form here, and I'm really to see so many female actors among the cast.
Another great story for the Doctor, who is dark here, almost to en extent bit all for a good reason.
Ace isn't as good here as in her previous stories, but she doesn't fall for the typical Who girl trope at least.
Helen A is like Cruella de Vil and Dolores Umbridge combined into a horrific package of forced happiness. She's brilliant as well as terrifying.
I don't know either the Kandyman ha a brilliant or a horrible idea. A walking man made out of Licorice All Sorts is the stuff out of nightmares. The Kandyman is the most disturbing monster the series has presented. The main problem is that the Kandymam is played for a fool as he's never a real threat to the Doctor.
The production is simple, but I like the contrast between the dark and grey set a and the colourful people. The Kandyman has been well realized.
This story has a bizarrely dark atmosphere over it, strengthened by the characters with pink clothing and painted faces and the hideous Kandyman. It paints one of the darkest societies in all of Doctor Who. Despite the ominous atmosphere, the ending of the story is actually very sad at the same time as its satisfying.
By this story, Andrew Cartmel proves he knew exactly what he was doing, taking the show into a new direction by combining what has worked in the past with new and fresh ideas.
This is a wonderfully dark political allegory with a great Doctor and a creepy atmosphere so I'll surely watch it again.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
The 2017 episode Smile has a similar premise to this story.
The "happiness will prevail" mantra is very creepy and makes me think of "may the odds be in your favour" from The Hunger Games.
Score: 88/120