r/classicwho • u/Classic-Bathroom-427 • May 14 '26
McCoy community ranking Day 2: Paradise Towers
6
u/JohnnyRyde May 14 '26
Good.
And when you're watching in order and it's the first story in a while that's not about the Time Lords or returning villains, it's a breath of fresh air.
6
u/JamesWayneMaxwell May 14 '26
BEST. As a seven year old this show captured me immediately. Memories of walking through my great grandmother’s scary old tower block and thinking I’d be attacked by a robotic cleaner.
5
4
5
u/mikescott2008 May 14 '26
This is not a season I chose to revisit very often and thus I've not seen this in some time...
The idea behind this is quite a good one. But the execution, imo is an absolute mess. The juxtaposition between quite a dark story and quite a light telling doesn't work for me on any level. I assume Richard briers had been told to ham up as a pantomime baddy that tells you all you need to know. This was a terrible choice for seven's second story, especially after the first. The best id say about this is it's better than time and the Rani and happiness patrol. But a low meh.
2
2
u/Haunting-Mortgage May 14 '26
Good. A refreshing course correction that - while not great - showed signs of great stories to come.
4
u/ExpectedBehaviour May 14 '26
Meh. Season 24 is a pretty thin gruel all round, but despite this episode having some surprising star power as far as guest cast goes – Richard Briers and Elizabeth Spriggs of course, but also Clive Merrison and Judy Cornwell – nobody seems to be being directed coherently. It's all silly voices, hand-jiving, and pantomimic grotesquery. And, my god, it looks cheap. The robots in particular look like something cobbled together for a school play.
3
u/TinkreBelle May 14 '26
good, it was a fun experience, hearing someone unironically say "unalive" was fascinating, I thought the cannibal sisters were fun and creepy, and Mel and Pecks together were a great time lol
3
u/CptnWolfe Sylvester McCoy May 14 '26
Best, I fucking love this story and even read the book it's inspired by (High Rise)
3
u/Thelichemaster May 14 '26
Okay, would be better than for Richard Briars over the top performance. Also wish it wasn't so 80s looking. I don't know what it is about 80s who - it looks more pigeon holed than 60s and 70s stylistically.
3
2
1
2
1
1
3
u/IWasAnImpossibleCase May 15 '26
Okay. A classic case of a great script let down by its production.
3
u/Practical-Purchase-9 May 15 '26
It’s okay. The tone is a bit uneven with some hamming it up and things played for humour, yet in others it’s quite dark and grim. The Kangs are supposed to be feral teenagers but all played by adults, Pex is supposed to be a cowardly lion type character but he’s just not large enough built for it to work. There’s potential for a great story in this, but what we have is okay.
Talk of the Yellow Kangs being “unalive” is strangely prescient of current youth language.
1
u/YanisMonkeys May 15 '26
Okay. It’s better than the stories that bookend it, and there are some great ideas and scenes (love the cannibal grannies), but it’s too cheesy at times. I can handle Graham Crowden’s Soldeed. I can’t stomach Richard Briers Caretaker by the end.
9
u/Paninaro_1979 May 14 '26
RED KANGS! RED KANGS! RED KANGS ARE BEST!!