Paradise Towers by: Stephen Wyatt

 

Paradise Towers was written by Stephen Wyatt, based on his television story of the same name.  It was the 138^th story to be novelized by Target Books.

 

Stephen Wyatt contributed two serials to Doctor Who between 1987 and 1988, returning to pen a third audio drama for Big Finish Productions in 2020.  His first, Paradise Towers, has the distinction of being the second serial of Season 24, a season that is often at the bottom of lists when ranking seasons.  Each of the serials are often mocked and ignored as not worth anyone’s time but I say that when regarding Paradise Towers at least, that is nonsense.  At the heart is a brilliant script and nowhere does that come out more than the 1989 novelization done by Wyatt himself.  This is the era where the novels were preparing for the possible jump to full original novels which would eventually become the New Adventures so it benefits from a slightly lengthened page count, with Wyatt taking advantage of every word to expand the script and explore the characters.  This era of the show was one where serials had a tendency to run long so they would be cut down for broadcast, with some of them only receiving extended editions with the Blu-ray releases bringing out new footage.  Many of these scenes have been integrated into the novelization, with worldbuilding to explain just what Paradise Towers is: while there is still the backstory of the elderly and the young being put in the tower during a war, the Great Architect Kroagnon is actually given some more backstory and explanation as to why he was trapped as a spirit of the building and what he wants.  It’s not some deep motivation, but it ties into Wyatt’s general commentary on the failing infrastructure of the late 1980s and Thatcher’s Britain even more.  The themes of class become even more apparent in the novelization while they were already there, giving the characters inner thoughts new life.

 

The Chief Caretaker as well as the Caretakers as an organization also benefit from the expansion.  While the Chief still maintains the over the top mannerisms and camp from the Richard Briers performance on television, there is an added layer of depth as he obsesses over his pet in the basement.  The pet is such a project that he gets this almost sick pleasure from feeding and controlling it.  This is used as a way to keep the Kangs and the Rezzies all in line throughout the Tower and when it eventually spirals out of control as Kroagnon eventually takes over his mind and the tower into its own hands, metaphorically speaking.  The insanity as the Chief realizes just how his fascist takeover is being ripped from under him by an even worse fascist becomes the leader of the tower.  The two factions of Kangs also feel like there is more explanation as to why they exist the way that they are and more of their dialect can be explored.  Their first few scenes have the added bonus of peeking into the perspective of Mel and then later the Doctor.  This also characterizes Mel a lot better, making her screams become a dialogue tag, and her emotions make more sense as Wyatt can include more backstory and motivation.  She feels more explicitly confident in her travels and understanding how to react to a situation, something that will become standard for the character in the Expanded Universe.  The Doctor also has some of his later characterization sneak in in a few scenes, not by changing much, but by establishing just a little bit more.

 

Overall, Paradise Towers was already a great story on television, but giving it the novelization treatment it is allowed to excel in this format by reflecting on what the Seventh Doctor’s era would become without losing sight of the optimism and whimsical nature of Season 24.  Everything has time to be established and the pace is perfected to include things deleted from the television version while Wyatt brings the characters to life splendidly.  10/10.