I've Been Watching...

Random disc from my (large) pile of DW DVDs... Paradise Towers! I'm not sure I've watched it since it first screened...

And yet, I remembered the story without issue. [Did I see it on the VHS release??] Possibly because of reading the books, the summaries, reviews of it, discussion, a certain comic series... This time, with the production notes, I found out all about the High Rise connection. Possibly also because I knew it fairly well, I thought it flowed well, not at all padded... and yet, when I think back, there's a lot of wandering around, getting captured by the Caretakers, meeting the Rezzies, encountering the Kangs over and over... how is it not padding? It's only until the last episode that actual plot occurs. We've spent three episodes on character building... which is the point, really. We get character building, a building sense of menace, a building of... the building, and then episode four its off and running. It's a good thing! (And Cheetah is woefully underused, although I like it.)

Extra-wise, the main people in this are relevant to the story, but neither of the two actual leads. Extending even to the '1980s girls' feature - what? Is no other story coming out with Nyssa, Tegan or Ace on it that we needed it to be on this disc when Mel's not in it?? The commentary gets a bit drony, and Stephen Wyatt sounds like a Rezzie at many points (in his voice).

I don't think this story rates high, generally, but it's still enjoyable.

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