| THE HAPPINESS PATROL by Graeme Curry |
| Story 152 Synopsis: Terra Alpha is a colony world ruled with a rod of iron by Helen A. The Doctor arrives deliberately because he has heard rumours of what goes on, and is out to stop it. Helen A rules with a rod of iron, thanks to her police group, the Happiness Patrol, and her executioner, the Kandyman. The Doctor and Ace split up, the former pairing up with an offworld musician, Earl Sigma. The Doctor and Earl run into the Kandyman, but escape into the pipes. There they meet the Pipe People, who lived on the surface until Helen A drove them underground. Ace foments dissent, but remains a prisoner. The Doctor thwarts the Kandyman to save Ace from execution, and organises a concert to stifle the Happiness Patrol. Helen A's partner, Joseph C, leaves in her personal spaceship, with Gilbert M, the Kandyman's creator. The Kandyman becomes a victim of his own confections. Helen A remains resolute, despite wide-scale revolution. When her beloved pet Fifi dies in her arms, her facade crumbles. |
| Review:- Few stories have been as over-analysed, and discussed as this one. Is it an oddball, unrepresentative of the series as a whole? Is it a tawdry lot of nonsense, with a baddie resembling Bertie Bassett (tm)? Is it a parable attacking Margaret Thatcher? Is there a message about gay pride? Possibly a bit of all of them, really, although I suspect most people have put their ideas onto it, because its own ideas are too straightforward. The final years of Doctor Who were notable for the ethos engendered by several new authors who tackled and spun out what became known as the Cartmel Masterplan. It's not so overt here, but one notion from that sets up the whole story, and for me, is the reason it's not as good as it could have been. The wandering traveller of decades before has now become a pro-active force for destruction of evil. Here, the Doctor arrives with all the cards. Terra Alpha's domination by Helen A is one of his smaller scale salvations, but he seems to have done all his preparation, and as such, it is hard to believe in the drama of the situation. Every dalliance with the Kandyman, or dangling Ace amongst the Happiness Patrol is a diversion, a bit of box-ticking, as he nudges the people involved towards their doom. The pace is so even, that the feeling is of a gentle stroll towards the end of the story, with little thrust to suggest things might turn out to be surprising. As for the Thatcherisms - well, I see what this is supposed to suggest, but I don't believe it is overt enough really. Saying that Joseph C is representative of Denis Thatcher is about as accurate as saying that Earl Sigma was representative of Margaret Rutherford. Anyway, on the whole, it's a slight story with allusions tarted on to distract from the gentle pace. As a footnote, I would like to say that as I watched the climax of part 3, with the Doctor talking to Helen A as she tries to walk away from the chaos, I was reminded of the lyric "everyone I know goes away in the end", from the song Hurt (in particular, the memorable cover by the late Johnny Cash). It may not be an exact example, but it made for a perkier and more entrancing moment than before. Anyway... |
| Disclaimer: I've seen the video, and read the book. |