User Reviews

Part 3 kicks off with the resolution of Episode 2's cracking cliffhanger, we see more of Mel being menaced by Tilda and Tabetha (very much Arsenic and Old Lace.) We witness the destruction of the two nasty neighbours, and the Doctor gearing up to take on Kroagnon.

The trouble is that when the episode loses Tilda and Tabetha, (played very well by Brenda Bruce and Elizabeth Spriggs) it loses a lot of its interest for me. They represented the true threat, a very real menace, whereas the cleaners and caretakers were just ridiculous.

The whole Nazi theme in Sylvester McCoy's era was done to death, giving Briers that Moustache and the cleaners those uniforms seemed like we were given comedy Nazis. It could have been done in a much more subtle way. The Kroagnon monster was absurd, cheap and utterly awful.

They got a lot of mileage out of Mel and Pex going up and down in the lift, although it felt like they were taking liberties.

Bonnie I find very likable as Mel, into her stride, whereas Sylvester still feels uneasy, being only his second story, with a script that wasn't written for him, although he does inject a certain charm and quirkiness to The Doctor.

Watching this again, I'm drawn to the parallels of 'Smile,' the second episode of Series 10, a beautiful building that isn't exactly all it's made out to be for its residents.

I do like the images of the bodies being carried by the cleaners, with all manner of limbs sticking out of the back.

It's far from vintage, but has a certain watchability. 6/10

Doctor Who: Paradise Towers: Part 3 starts as Mel (Bonnie Langford) manages to escape the clutches of Tilda (Brenda Bruce) & Tabby (Elizabeth Spriggs) the old age cannibals... Meanwhile the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) who has been mistaken for Kroagnon the Great Architect who designed Paradise Towers has rallied the Red & Blue Kang's together to try & put an end to the indiscriminate killing within Paradise Towers by the robotic Megapodic Mark Z7 cleaners, the Doctor realises that the answers to what's going on lies within the basement...

This Doctor Who adventure was episode 7 from season 24 that aired here in the UK during late 1987, directed by Nicholas Mallett Paradise Towers is growing on me & this is probably the best episode so far. The script by Stephen Wyatt is still just plain daft, there's still some very silly scenes, there's the annoying Kang's & a couple of old age cannibal women who are frankly ridiculous. To be fair to it things are starting to get going in this episode, there's more action, intrigue & incident than the previous two put together. I'm actually quite interested in seeing what the 'thing' in the basement is although it currently looks like four neon tubes which light up when it 'speaks' shaped like ovals, I kid you not. I didn't like the campyness or just how silly it was to begin with but it's grown on me a little bit & overall I'm actually starting to enjoy Paradise Towers.

The production design has been cheap looking as the budgets for these Doctor Who stories became lower & lower, I have to mention the costume worn by Mel during this story which consists of a horrible blue & white dotted trousers & shirt number which really does look hideous.

Paradise Towers has a certain campyness about it which I didn't like at first but it's grown on me a little bit & at least there's only one episode left to go.