By John Toon

Obverse Books, out now

Obverse Books’ ongoing series of monographs focusing on a Doctor Who serial or story hits 1987’s Season 24 story, Paradise Towers. 

Author John Toon’s study of Stephen Wyatt’s four-parter sets its stall out early by stressing that this tale, which was voted 230 out of 241 in the DWM 50th Anniversary poll, has discovered some love in recent times. An issue of DWAS magazine TARDIS reassessed what Wyatt was trying to achieve, and the story has also generated a spin-off comic book sequel and a book of stories inspired by it. And whether or not you believe that this ugly duckling has become a swan, the Season 24 Blu-ray set has added some insight so that we have a greater understanding of the story.

We discover that this was incoming editor Andrew Cartmel’s first commissioned script, and that the genesis of the story was a discussion about mutual admiration of J G Ballard’s High-Rise and the idea to write a story about a block of flats. Wyatt feels that the importance of the Ballard novel has been overstated, and we get some interesting insight from the original writer courtesy of email correspondence with Toon. We also find out about the challenges of the rushed production and Keff McCulloch’s eleventh-hour replacement score.

The remainder of the study takes a look at the post-War anxieties associated with new housing as well as the inspiration behind the female gang of Kangs and the great architect Kroagnon. It’s a solid entry in the Black Archive series that adds details to what we mostly already knew, rather than adding any great big new idea. Maybe that’s because the story itself is pretty straightforward to begin with?

Verdict: A neat summary of the inspirations and story behind the McCoy serial. I’m afraid that I’m not convinced that it was an underrated gem waiting to be rediscovered. 7/10

Nick Joy

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