BFI Southbank: The Happiness Patrol Second Screening & Guests Report

Are you happy? That could be a loaded question if you live in Earth colony Terra Alpha but I felt fortunate to be able to attend this last weekend the British Film Institute (BFI) The Happiness Patrol screening. There was, as people may be aware, a screening in August of the story as part of the upcoming Doctor Who classic Blu-ray release of Season 25. However, the wrong print was delivered to the BFI.

It wasn’t the newest version updated for the Blu-ray but the original 7L production code serial broadcast in November 1988. Thankfully the BFI were quick to acknowledge their mistake and quickly scheduled a second event to screen the story as intended. More guests were guests from the production and era to talk more about the making of the story.

With BFI hosts Justin Johnson (Lead Programmer for BFI) and Dick Fiddy (BFI Archive Television Programmer) leading the event we settled in for a second take at a screening.

New Special Effects

All four stories on the Blu-Ray feature Special Editions, unseen footage, updated special effects, and immersive surround sound. Pete McTighe, screenwriter and executive producer was invited to the stage to discuss The Happiness Patrol updates. One of the acknowledgements of the original broadcast that emerged is so much footage had to be cut out for the running time and the money they had spent didn’t allow realising the planet as intended. As Pete McTighe disclosed all the content has been reviewed, footage added back and some “polishing” made to the look of the serial.

Stephen Mansfield, the puppeteer for Fifi, Helen A’s pet was brought back on stage as he had attended the original event. One of the revelations from the first event was Stephen explaining how he scrabbled around under the desk where Sheila Hancock as Helen A sat controlling the puppet. Building on that he thought the most successful scenes with Fifi are when Helen A is interacting with her pet which allows the audience to imagine it’s a real thing and feel sadness when it dies. He did acknowledge there is more work required to realise the characterisation when Fifi is functioning on its own.

I’ve always thought The Happiness Patrol was a terrific script, very dark and funny which visually wasn’t fully realised on screen due to the limitations of money and time. I think looking at the visual changes they have made it will please fans as there is a greater sense of cohesiveness for this story set on an alien planet and some of the characters feel more developed. There is an opening shot as the episode begins with a skyline shot with a horizon of skyscrapers and city lights and this drew a whoop from the audience and applause.

There are establishing shots of the city aka Blade Runner style at various points in the story to enhance and add context to the studio scenes. The shots include neon signs reinforcing the planet’s happiness messages or images of Helen A talking and smiling.

I liked that there were new shots inserted of public areas with TV screens showing Helen A as she gave her speeches. I can’t remember if this shot is in the original version but there is a scene of Trevor reviewing the disappearance video and he sees the woman killjoy in shock as she faces death who was captured by Silas P from the opening scene.

It was an effective add-in to emphasise the horror of what Helen A is doing in population control. To counterbalance the horror there are some lighter moments added. At the end of Helen’s speech in Episode 1, there is a “Twinkle smile” where she flashes a toothy smile and her teeth have stars which made the audience laugh.

Deleted and extended scenes are added back in

The broadcast episodes originally suffered lots of cuts and so the special edition has remedied that to create an attractive version of the story. In episode one the Kandy Man slices off his finger only to calmly reattach it. There are others which expand on the characterisations of Susan Q and Priscilla P and are better for it such as Susan Q revealing that she was demoted from Susan L because of having a smuggled blues record. It shows how her friendship with Ace grows a bit more naturally.

Also, the Doctor is fleeing the Kandy Kitchen at the start of Episode Two but returns to rescue the captive Earl, and Ace and Susan Q using sniper fire to affect an unsuccessful escape from Daisy K.

In episode three a scene causes much laughter from the audience when Daisy K confronts Helen A as chaos is ensuing and has returned to the palace. The actress Georgina Hale yells her delivery of lines that the “factories are crumbling and the Kandyman is Deaaaaad” at Sheila Hancock. By this stage, Helen A’s husband and Gilbert M have escaped in a very nice-looking orange shuttle (another additional scene showing the shuttle leaving the atmosphere of Terra Alpha). More on that later.

Interview with Dominic Glynn (Composer) Adam Burney (Harmonica Session Musician) and Mark Ayres (Remastered Composer and Audio Engineer)

Concentrating on the sound of the serial there were three people invited for this panel. Dominic Glynn was a prolific composer during the late1980’s composing themes for all of season 23, Trial of a Timelord, then Dragonfire, The Happiness Patrol and Survival (Dominic joked he had killed off Doctor Who which Sylvester McCoy then piped up was his job!) Speaking specifically Dominic was originally very excited by the dual demands of creating the horrible cheery “muzak” played all over Terra Alpha and the bluesy sound of the harmonica for The Happiness Patrol.

Dominic was very pleased with the musical score of the serial and expressed appreciation for the way that Mark had used the score for the special edition and the scenes that were added back in. As Mark explained there were lots of tricks used to fit the scenes including stretching the score and using some notes backwards. Mark felt very proud of how cohesive the new special edition is

Regarding the harmonica playing required by Richard D. Sharp, Dominic Glynn joked he realised quite quickly after visiting the actor to discuss the music that he couldn’t play the instrument. Luckily Dominic knew Adam Burney as an excellent harmonica player and aged 19 he was drafted in. Adam explained how he came into the studio after all the recording had been done with a dummy harmonica and had to synch his playing to the movement of the actor.

Interview Pete McTighe (Screenwriter and Executive Producer) and Chris Thompson (Special Effects Artist)

Chris Thompson responsible for the special effects for the special edition came up to the stage. Justin Johnston joked that he had come from Belfast last time for the screening and none of his work was shown. This time Chris Thompson brought in the model shuttlecraft that was used when Harold P and Trevor Sigma escaped the planet. It was created from two Star Wars Y wings and Chris revealed he had created a shopping list of effects for Pete McTighe he wanted to tackle from the original version.

Pete McTighe decided to “throw everything” at the new version. As there was so much material added back in the pacing of the story changed. It needed new establishing shots, there were lots of opportunities he explained to open the world of Terra Alpha up.

There is a new sequence added in for the Kandyman’s death where he is swept away by the fondant surprise, but Pete revealed there wasn’t a budget for creating the effects, but it had been something he wanted to do for a long time. In his mind, he felt that if Chris Clough, who originally directed the story, was happy with this version then the writer Graeme Curry would have also been happy.

Main Panel Interview with John Ashbridge (Production Designer), Chris Clough (Director), Andrew Cartmel (Script Editor), Actors Rachel Bell (Priscilla P), Sophie Aldred (Ace) and Sylvester McCoy (The 7th Doctor)

The star-studded panel with production staff and actors was full of praise for the updated special edition version of The Happiness Patrol with Rachel Bell very impressed and John Ashbridge thought this version was “absolutely stunning” and made the original “pale by comparison”. Andrew Cartmel praised it as still having John’s original design but within ” a new frame”. There’s a little more humour and characterisation he commented.

Andrew Cartmel felt the new version served the original story and added more depth to the characters including the Kandyman. Sophie Aldred highlighted what she thought was Dominic Glynn’s musical fantastic score especially the sinister fairground score for the Kandyman. Discussing the design of the Kandyman Andrew thought it was an impressive piece of design.

One of the highlights is the number of female roles within the story. Rachel Bell recounted this acting job as a “real joy”. Her children aged seven and nine, came to the studio and were able to meet Fifi and hold one of the big Happiness Patrol guns. She recalled knowing “Sylvest” for many years. Sylvester McCoy also recounted how some of the male actors were drinking pals and people he knew from previous productions.

Designer John Asbridge worked on four stories, Dragonfire, Delta and the Bannermen, The Happiness Patrol and Silver Nemesis. He very much enjoyed the “comfort zone” of the studio in terms of controlling the look of his stories. and cited The Happiness Patrol as probably his favourite story He knew the limitations of the show in terms of resources and technical ability but he enjoyed the realisation of the story. It was based on a model he made which was very operatic, dark and Venetian designed to create spaces in the studio.

John Nathan Turner disclosed was slightly critical of the look as JNT wanted crumbling walls and Greek frescos, but John Ashbridge felt very happy with what he created. He describes the BBC as a sausage factory in terms of speed of production, but it was also he felt the most incredible place with a hive of activity as scenery was built up every night, the hard work of everyone including the costumes and make-up department.

Chris Clough, who is now a producer and was recently part of the high-impact drama Mr Bates versus the Post Office, directed The Happiness Patrol and worked closely with the actors. Sylvester was allowed to be quite creative diving down the tunnel hole from the Kandy kitchen or working upside down on the go-cart. Sophie Aldred thanked Chris Clough for hiring her but he said he just knew very quickly she was the right character with the 7th Doctor and was just Ace.

The reaction originally to The Happiness Patrol created some negative reviews at the time as people didn’t like the Kandyman. Sophie Aldred and Sylvester McCoy discussed this. Sylvester defended the story as he felt the negative reaction came from a particular section of fandom who had created their own magazine and voice and didn’t like John Nathan Turner.

From everything the panel said the impression is that this was a very happy time for the cast and crew who just put their heads down and worked hard on the story.

The event concluded with a signing and there was a special postcard just for this second take event. Well done to the BFI staff for arranging another date so we could see this fresh version of the story. Thank you to all the guests who made this another fascinating and enjoyable afternoon on the Southbank for Doctor Who fans. Pete McTighe joked he brought a DVD this time just in case, but it wasn’t needed.

Doctor Who The Collection – Limited Edition Season 25 will be released on 28th October 2024 and available at your usual retailers.

What are your thoughts on The Happiness Patrol Where does it rank for you? Post your thoughts here, on the Big Blue Box Podcast Discord Server or Twitter. Let’s talk.