A review of all 3 parts
It has been said by many Who fans that many of Sylvester McCoy's stories during his brief tenure were ruined by over reliance on a camp factor. The Happiness Patrol does indeed have it's camp elements but you will also find many references to the politics of the day, the most obvious being the character of Helen A as played by Shelia Hancock a heavy nod to the then UK Prime Minister Margeret Thacter. There is reference to totalitarian states like Chile, Argetina and South Africa with talk of large numbers of who have been disappeared and riots being brutally been crack down. When you look at it through the prism of today The Happiness Patrol is perhaps one of the most searing looks at the politics of the time, it is curious to think that at the time Doctor Who was officially a childerns programme made by the BBC's adult Drama department, such a shame that BBC1 was being run by the snob Jonathan Powell who did not take in such bravura story telling. For those who fancy a different take on late 1980's politics then The Happeniess Patrol is for you.
It has been said by many Who fans that many of Sylvester McCoy's stories during his brief tenure were ruined by over reliance on a camp factor. The Happiness Patrol does indeed have it's camp elements but you will also find many references to the politics of the day, the most obvious being the character of Helen A as played by Shelia Hancock a heavy nod to the then UK Prime Minister Margeret Thacter. There is reference to totalitarian states like Chile, Argetina and South Africa with talk of large numbers of who have been disappeared and riots being brutally been crack down. When you look at it through the prism of today The Happiness Patrol is perhaps one of the most searing looks at the politics of the time, it is curious to think that at the time Doctor Who was officially a childerns programme made by the BBC's adult Drama department, such a shame that BBC1 was being run by the snob Jonathan Powell who did not take in such bravura story telling. For those who fancy a different take on late 1980's politics then The Happeniess Patrol is for you.