Product Details

• Actors: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Georgina Hale, David John Pope
• Directors: Chris Clough
• Writers: Graeme Curry
• Producers: John Nathan-Turner
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: May 8, 2012
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B007AAF1FW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,662 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

On the planet Terra Alpha, bright fluorescent lights and garish candy-striped colors abound. The population constantly displays happy smiles. There's no sadness on Terra Alpha. Anyone feeling remotely glum disappears. Quickly. Having heard disturbing rumors, the Doctor and Ace arrive to topple the entire regime overnight. But they haven't reckoned upon the varied punitive measures enforced by colony leader Helen A. There are many delicious ways in which to vanish on Terra Alpha: you can be hunted down by the omnipresent Happiness Patrol or mauled by Helen A's ravenous pet Fifi. But those especially unlucky few will find themselves entertained in the sweetie factory manned by Helen A's psychotic henchman... the Kandy Man. This time, Happiness will prevail.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Cool serial, nice DVD package May 7, 2012

By Little Roy Blue

"The Happiness Patrol" comes from an unpopular and often-neglected era of Doctor Who -- the end of the original series, when ratings were poor and internal BBC support for the show was practically nonexistent. But in spite of all that, this is a pretty cool serial that deserves a charitable reassessment.

The basic premise is that the Doctor and his companion Ace arrive on a planet where sadness has been banned, and is punishable by death. The planet is ruled by the insane dictator Helen A, who is an obvious parody of Margaret Thatcher. (Amusingly, British journalists didn't notice the Thatcher parallel until 2010, when "The Happiness Patrol" was exhumed and re-examined by the media, and became briefly controversial.) Helen A's chief henchman is a robot, made of candy, who kills dissidents by drowning them in syrup.

Does all this sound a bit grotesque, perhaps even ridiculous? Well, it is ridiculous, of course. But for those who agree with the left-wing politics of this serial, and can enjoy its peculiar brand of dark humor, there is much to appreciate here. Indeed, I quite like the gutsy social commentary in the script, and I think it's still very relevant. Meanwhile, some of the serial's perceived weaknesses -- false-looking sets, over-the-top acting, and a general campy atmosphere -- become more acceptable, and perhaps even appropriate, when you view them through the lens of political satire.

As for the DVD itself, it's one of the best single-disc Doctor Who editions to come along in a while. It includes a making-of special that intelligently examines the serial's politics and production strengths/weaknesses, as well as an extensive collection of extended and deleted scenes (the highlight of which is a much better introduction scene for the character Susan Q).... The DVD also includes a fairly long featurette on the politics of Doctor Who, which covers the show's entire decades-long history, touching upon all of the obviously political stories. This is a really interesting, substantive special feature of the sort that I particularly enjoy, since it goes beyond surface analysis of stuff like sets and special effects in order to unpack what Doctor Who is actually about. Good times.

So, in the end, I recommend both this serial and the DVD. This isn't exactly classic Doctor Who -- other serials have better writing and better production -- but still, this is an intelligent and underrated story, not a goofy camp-fest that deserves to be written off. The Kandyman alone makes this worth watching again; his costume is so demented that it must be seen to be disbelieved. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Doctor and Ace must stop the leader of a colony in the future with a smile on thier faces July 20, 2012

By Jacob

In the Sylvester McCoy era of Doctor Who epsidoe entitled "The Happiness Patrol" The Doctor and Ace have come to the colony of Terra Alpha a colony set in the early days of the Earth great expnasion into the stars. What the Doctor doesn't know is the leader a woman known as Helen A has institued a no saddness policy within the colony. Anyone not smiling or even being happy is sentenced to death. With her all female sqauds known as the "Happiness Patrols" they enforce her rules on the colony. However force of arms is not the only thing at her disposal she also has her candy kitchen and within is the being called "The Candy Man" a being who loves to make sweets. Sweets that kill that is and of course when all else fails Helen A has her faithful pet Fifi a creature that only Helen A could love.
Meanwhile on the planet itself the Doctor encounters Trevor Sigma a Terrian census taker is on the colony to see the numbers of those on the planet are kept up and also to ensure that proceduers are kept up to regulation. A visting medical student who enjoys the harmonica and is trapped on Terra Alpha until he can find a way to escape and get back to Earth. Ace also meets a young happiness patrol memebr who wants nothing more then to be sad, but fears what would happen if the rest of her sqaud ever finds out the truth. Also strange beings seem to be watching from the shadows and seem to be waiting for something to happen.
Can the Doctor stop Helen A, her spies, the happiness patrols, The Candy Man and even Fifi and try to sort out the colony so no one has to keep smiling forever? Or will those that are on Terra Alpha live in the grip of fear if they show anything but happiness? So check out "The Happiness Patrol" to find out.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Quality writing will prevail. January 24, 2013

By Patrick Correa

Having fallen in love with the Seventh Doctor during Remembrance of the Daleks, I got his next story, and it's another excellent episode. It's very strange too; if it weren't for all the bright colors, I could've sworn that Tim Burton had worked on this one. Still, this has some memorable characters like the Kandy Man, Helen A, and my favorite the blues player Earl (SPOILER I can't tell you how glad I am he didn't die); awesome moments (the Doctor overthrowing a regime in one night is already cool, but with scenes like him talking the sniper into dropping his gun and tricking a Happiness Patrol squad into being arrested, this is just gold), and great music, this is one of the more memorable Doctor Who adventures.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great April 22, 2013

By Robert Mixdorf

Amazon Verified Purchase

I enjoyed this episode of Dr. Who. It was fun to watch the old-time doctors at work. Fun to watch.

5.0 out of 5 stars The happiness Patrol November 30, 2012

By Ja

Amazon Verified Purchase

The seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy is as mysterious and innovative as ever within this episode. Lots of action and good times.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's here! May 15, 2012

By MetropolitanJ

This episode certainly is an interesting entry into the Doctor Who series. It has been a while since I last saw this episode but I remember it being on the lines of "The Liquorice Allsorts" man is the main villain (to my recollection).

This episode is the point of no return for Doctor Who.
The Doctor has dealt with the Daleks, shook off The Sontarans, clashed with the Cybermen and fought off the Ice Warriors (Also: A green bubble wrap alien). Now he goes toe to toe with a monster whose weakness is lemonade.

Next Episode: The Doctor fights the cool-aid guy. Can the TARDIS sustain his wall breaking attacks?!

But being a fan of Doctor Who, I kinda liked this episode. It brings back Nostalgic memories.
I was 13 when I watched this and I thought it was ridiculous back then. But, it has a certain charm to it which I feel that the post 2005 era of Doctor Who cannot capture. There's more to the storyline but I cannot quite remember. I know it was entertaining and certainly DVD Worthy.

Here's to the Oldschool Doctor Who. We'll love it no matter how ridiculous it gets...
Except for the episode "Ghostlight". It knows what it did...