Big Gay Longcat and Scary Cat review Doctor Who: Paradise Towers Part Three

Part three takes us into the second half of the story, and the Doctor, Mel and Pex are all separated, with the Doctor and Mel both in danger but facing different perils.

Mel is saved when a Cleaner's arm grabs Tabby and takes her away through the wall. Pex breaks in through the door (again) and rescues Mel as the Cleaner's arm grabs Tilda as well. They wanted to nom Mel but ended up getting nomed themselves, this is a form of poetic justice. Pex is happy at having really rescued somebody at last. He doesn't realise that this is the second time he has saved Mel from becoming noms.

So that the Red Kangs can escape, the Doctor stays behind and gets captured by the Deputy Chief Caretaker, who has a name that reminds me of Stevens from The Green Death Peele from The Sandbaggers. The Chief Caretaker wants to talk to the Doctor before killing him, as he is now not sure if the Doctor is really the Great Architect or not. His confidence has been shaken by the recent events and he feels he is losing control, which the Doctor picks up on as they have a confrontation scene.

"Like everyone else you seem terrified to face up to the reality of what's happening in Paradise Towers. I mean, killing me won't help you find out who's sending out those robotic Cleaners to kill people. And that's a problem that isn't going to go away, unless, of course, you're giving the orders yourself."
"What a ridiculous idea."
"Perhaps. But I do have a better one."
"And what is that?"
"No doubt you've been allowing the Cleaners to kill off some of your people as well as the Kangs, for reasons which are at the moment beyond me but then I'm not a power crazed psychopath."
"What did you say?"
"Listen, you're going to kill me anyway so you may as well make use of my brain. What I also think is happening is that, besides your activities, is that the Caretakers, the Kangs, Red, Yellow, Blue and everyone else are being killed off without instructions from you. And that's why you're worried. You don't know who's doing it."
"Oh, don't I?"

The Doctor has rattled him even more, causing Richard Briers to start overacting badly while the Doctor stays cool, and the Chief Caretaker is only saved by the other Caretakers interrupting with the news that Tilda and Tabby have been nomed, giving him an excuse to deal with something other than the Doctor. This is the opening skirmish in an acting battle between Sylvester McCoy and Richard Briers that will slowly but surely take over the rest of Paradise Towers, and while there can only be one winner, there will be many losers.

Richard Briers is quite good when being funny, such as when reassuring the residents that "there is no cause for panic" and "there will be no cover up, no cover up whatsoever" in a not-at-all convincing manner. But he is not good at playing the serious side of the story - the character needs to be sinister to work dramatically, but he is too... sitcommy.

The Red Kangs rescue the Doctor while the Chief Caretaker is away and go back to their base, where they watch a video about Paradise Towers and from it the Doctor finds out about Kroagnon and "Miracle City", which the Doctor has heard of before and so he knows Kroagnon is a baddy. He thinks Kroagnon is here, in Paradise Towers.

The Blue Kangs arrive in the Red Kangs base and say

and then they team up. The Doctor, Fire Escape, Bin Liner, Air Duct and one of the Blue Kangs (maybe their leader, I don't know if she has a name) all go to the basement to investigate.

Meanwhile, Mel and Pex have been busy being chased down carrydoors by Cleaners, getting stuck in lifts, and presenting baking themed TV programmes. These bits have just been padding though, they have not really helped advance the plot at all.

Now they go to the roof where there is a pool of water with a robot in it. Pex thinks this is where "the unalive" live and that they don't belong there, but this is obviously just some silly manny religious belief. Even though they are at the roof there is no sign of Ceiling Cat.

The Chief Caretaker gets chased to the basement by a Cleaner. The Doctor and the Kangs see the Chief Caretaker talking to his pet. At last all is made clear: who else could it be that lives in the basement and is in league with an army of Hoover-like Cleaners? It can only be... Basement Cat!

No, it is Kroagnon.

Kroagnon decides to nom the Chief Caretaker, and Richard Briers disappears in a moment of such incredible overacting that it is as if he is competing not with Sylvester McCoy but with Colin Baker and Paul Darrow in Timelash.

However, Sylvester McCoy is not to be written off yet, as the Doctor gets caught by a Cleaner and the episode ends on him overacting enough to match anything Briers has thrown at him.

Paradise Towers has started to go a bit wrong, and has been totally taken over by this contest between the Doctor and the Chief Caretaker. A last-second equaliser from McCoy sees this episode end on a draw. Who will win the war and, more importantly, will the story be irreparably damaged as a result? Find out next time...