Day 658: Paradise Towers Part 1

I'm always surprised that this story doesn't particularly bode well in fan polls, for example it was recently voted the 230th best story out of 241 in a recent Doctor Who Magazine poll, right in between Meglos and The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. This last fact irks me quite a great deal, because it places Arc of Infinity above Paradise Towers in terms of quality. More people like a story that has no redeeming features whatsoever than they like Paradise Towers. Why else does this irk me so? It's because I actually think that Paradise Towers is one of the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time, because it manages to create compelling characters, give us a weird and interesting setting, and above all else, be incredibly funny.

I'll give an example of what I'm talking about. The story is set in a futuristic apartment building that has become a dystopia, with the building's caretakers acting as a fairly useless police force, while groups of street gangs known as Kangs roam the corridors, and the elderly, who are known as the Rezzies, live safely within their apartments. We meet two of these Rezzies, Tabby and Tilda, who appear to be fairly nonchalant about their situation, if a little bit creepy towards Mel. Then, partway into their conversation, they are interrupted by Pex, an action hero type, who breaks the door down and attempts to save Mel from her tormentors. This is despite the fact that Mel isn't feeling particularly tormented at that particular moment.

The other major problem that Pex has to face is that he is resolutely not an action hero type of person. People occasionally complain, and say that the role should have gone to someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone, but they're missing the entire point of the joke that is Pex. He is desperately trying to be an action hero, but he fails completely, not least because his entire body type is wrong for the role. This is backed up in the story, as Mel repeatedly turns down his attempts to help her, and Tabby and Tilda are quite miffed that he has broken down their door again. It's a very funnily created character, and is one that we shall get back to as we continue our look at this very underrated Doctor Who story.