YMMV / Doctor Who S24 E2 "Paradise Towers"

• Broken Base:
  • With a side of Critical Dissonance. The whole serial is somewhat divisive between those who think of it as part of the last "doldrums" season before "Remembrance of the Daleks" shook things up, or conversely the first story of that renaissance period. The latter opinion seems to be more prominent among critics, the former among casual fans, who seem to lump it in with the preceding years on the basis of camp alone.
  • Over whether the original musical score by David Snell or the ultimately used one by Keff McCulloch was the better one. On the one hand, Snell's score is often accused of being repetitive and suffering from whiny, high-pitched instrumentation, while McCulloch's benefits from better synthesizer usage. On the other hand, Snell's is at least seen to be in line with the intended tone of the story, whereas McCulloch's score seems like a bunch of stock cues hastily thrown together (which in fairness it probably was, given that he only had a few days to do it), which does little to enhance the mood.
• Growing the Beard: This is the first script Andrew Cartmel commissioned himself, and while the serial remains divisive among fans, its supporters cite it as the point where he really took the reins and started the series' gradual improvement to possibly the best it ever was. "Paradise Towers" is the first story in years (with the exception of "Vengeance on Varos") that's actually about something, in this case, the way the ideology that thought tower blocks were the future led to the collapse of communities, and the petty fascism of housing bureaucrats. It's got a proper pedigree like the Philip Hinchcliffe years, mashing up Brazil, A Clockwork Orange and High-Rise. It's the first story in years not to mention or rely on an older story for context. And more plainly, it's finally fun again, with a cast that look like they want to be there, and even when the performances are pitched at camp, it's deliberately so because it's a Black Comedy.
• Ham and Cheese: Richard Briers openly admitted that he took his role to have the opportunity to over-act.
  (John Nathan-Turner) was looking at me in a funny old-fashioned way, we were rehearsing it, and I thought this guy I was playing wanted to rule the world and is completely mad. So that's that way I was playing it. And he (John Nathan-Turner) was looking at me and looking at me and I thought, "He doesn't seem to like me very much". In the end the director, who'd had a chat with him, came to me and said, "He's very worried about you", I said, "I know, I got the vibes. What's wrong?" and he said, "He thinks you're over-playing it". I said, "Oh, I thought it was that kind of a part. I don't see how you can underplay Adolf Hitler, if you want to rule the world, you can't be very subtle about it". He said, "No, he's worried about it". But my sidekick (Clive Merrison) said, "Never mind what he says, you do it your way, it's very funny" and I said, "Okay" and in fact you know I think I nearly lost the job. I think he thought I was sending it up, but I was simply over-acting.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The Kangs replacing the word "killed" with "Unalive" seems almost oddly prescient of how teens raised on TikTok also started using "Unalive" to get around the sites censorship.
• Narm: The moment when the Chief Caretaker's body is revealed to have been taken over by Kroagnon was supposed to have been a horrific moment that signalled a darker tonal shift for the remainder of the story. Instead, his comically over-sized moustache and habit of randomly slurring and shouting his words make him far more reminiscent of the Gumbys from Monty Python's Flying Circus.
• Narm Charm: The story may be ridiculous in almost every way, but it's fun, and Richard Briers turns out a rather unforgettable villain, even if he manages to chew more scenery than the Daleks, as the John Cleese-esque Chief Caretaker.
• Retroactive Recognition: Maddy is played by Judy Cornwell, who would later be best known for playing Daisy in Keeping Up Appearances.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Even among people who love the serial and Briers playing the Chief Caretaker as a hammy tinpot Hitler , his performance as Kroagnon in the final part is widely disliked as he resorts to just gurning and shouting instead.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Its detractors argue that the story's biggest problem is that it's written as a grim and gritty satire, but the production team were pushing the show in a Lighter and Softer, more kid-friendly direction.
• Uncertain Audience: The plot has all the dark and violent elements of the Eric Saward era, but the execution is comical and childlike as in the Graham Williams era. It is not surprising that the serial is divisive among fans.

---