Day 660: Paradise Towers Part 3

The other supporting characters in this story, by which I mean the Caretakers and the Kangs, are some of the most wonderful social groups within Doctor Who, both in the way in which they have been written and the way in which they come across on screen.

Looking at the Caretakers, to start off with, these men roam the corridors of Paradise Towers and try to stop people from breaking the rules. However, they are quite clearly massive jokes, as can be seen by their ridiculous salute in Part 1 (which comes across as an imitation of John Cleese's Hitler impression from Fawlty Towers) or the fact that the Doctor is able to escape from them by telling them to stand up and put their hands on their head, on the grounds that it's apparently in the rule book. But beneath that jokey exterior, there is still a feeling of palpable menace behind them. The Chief Caretaker seems to have the power to make people 'disappear', leaving a trail that leads to somewhere in the basement. There's also the Deputy Chief Caretaker who, although he's an imbecile, is played with a degree of ferocity in his hunt to find the Doctor, as can be seen by him breaking down the door which the Doctor is hiding behind, it would seem purely for the pleasure of this visceral action. It all makes for characters that are interesting to watch as the story continues.

Similarly, the Kangs are interesting, although for different reasons. They are gangs of young women who have divided themselves into three main sections: The Red Kangs, The Blue Kangs, and The Yellow Kangs (the last of whom is summarily dispatched of at the start of the story). What makes the Kangs interesting is their social structure, which has quite clearly evolved out of the few years that they have lived within Paradise Towers. They have their own lingo (such as through sayings like "Ice Hot!"), their own way of greeting people (through a series of movements similar to an adapted version of Pat-a-Cake) and even their own mourning rituals. It shows a clear attempt to make a society, but also one that feels as if it could have naturally evolved from what a group of young teenage rebels would want within their world. It all adds to the excellent nature of this story, and continues to make me excited to watch it as the story continues.