The Happiness Patrol

153 - The Happiness Patrol
Cast
Doctor Sylvester McCoy (Seventh Doctor)
Production
Directed by	Chris Clough
Written by	Graeme Curry
Script editor	Andrew Cartmel
Produced by	John Nathan-Turner
Executive producer(s)	None
Production code	7L
Series	Season 25
Running time	3 episodes, 25 mins each
First broadcast	November 2 - November 16 1988
Chronology
← Preceded by Remembrance of the Daleks Followed by → Silver Nemesis

The Happiness Patrol is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from November 2 – November 16 1988.

Synopsis

The Seventh Doctor and Ace visit a human colony on the planet Terra Alpha where unhappiness is illegal and they must avoid the fondant surprise — the favoured method of execution of the Kandy Man.

Cast

• The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
• Ace - Sophie Aldred
• Helen A - Sheila Hancock
• Joseph C - Ronald Fraser
• Daisy K - Georgina Hale
• Gilbert M - Harold Innocent
• Susan Q - Lesley Dunlop
• Priscilla P - Rachel Bell
• Silas P - Jonathan Burn
• Harold V - Tim Barker
• Kandy Man - David John Pope
• Trevor Sigma - John Normington
• Earl Sigma - Richard D. Sharp
• Forum Doorman - Tim Scott
• Killjoy - Mary Healey
• Snipers - Steve Swinscoe, Mark Carroll
• Wences - Philip Neve
• Wulfric - Ryan Freedman
• Newscaster - Annie Hulley

Notes

1. Working titles for this story included The Crooked Smile.
2. Georgina Hale guest stars as Daisy K, and John Normington who played Morgus in The Caves of Androzani is Trevor Sigma.
3. In this episode, the Doctor's TARDIS was painted pink.
4. The production team considered transmitting this story in black and white to fit with its intended film noir atmosphere. A fan myth holds that the third episode was supposed to be animated, but this was never the case.
5. Bassett's threatened to sue over the similarity between the Kandy Man in this story and their trademark character. The BBC agreed not to use the Kandy Man again.
6. Helen A was originally a Margret Thatcher parody, although most of this element was eventually toned down.
7. In the story, the Doctor sings "As Time Goes By", the song originally sung by Dooley Wilson in the 1942 film Casablanca.
8. Some reviewers have argued (most notably in The Discontinuity Guide by Martin Day, Keith Topping and Paul Cornell) that there is a gay subtext to the story. This seems to be largely based on the gender role-reversal themes, the slightly camp male characters and the overabundance of pink. However, the example that is most cited in support of this argument, that of a Kandy Man victim allegedly wearing a pink triangle, is in error (it is a shirt ripped in a vaguely triangular shape that reveals a white undershirt that looks pink in the red lighting) [1]. On the other hand, the story ends with Helen A's husband abandoning her and leaving with another man.

External links

• Cast and Crew list on the BBC website