PARADISE PROPS Part 1

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I recently recorded a podcast all about the season 24 story, Paradise Towers. That inspired me to take a look at props of this underrated McCoy tale. Set in a Dystopian tower block this one features a lot of junk which makes it perfect for prop hunting. This will be the first of two, possibly three posts, about the props of this story. Including some stuff with an exciting pedigree. This post features a couple of props from the Fountain of Happiness Square set. Build high for happiness!

PARADISE TOWERS, 1987

In the opening scene in the Fountain of Happiness Square McCoy ad-libs an encounter with this tall silver prop.
DESTINY OF THE DALEKS, 1979

Part of that silver prop can be seen here. The top is different but the corkscrew section is a definite match.
THE LENNY HENRY SHOW, l985

And here it is again. This time the top section is a match for the one in Paradise Towers.
Hanging high above the Square set is a bit of set dressing that appeared a few times during the Eighties. It’s a bit hard to see as this scene is quite dark. But if you look at the top of the image you can make out a metal beam with regular circles cut out of it. 
TERROR OF THE VERVOIDS, 1986

Here you can see two of the beams, one grey and one red. I’ll come back to the red one in a bit.
DRAGONFIRE, 1987

Another appearance in Season 24.
THE GREATEST SHOW IN THE GALAXY, 1988

And here we have a bunch of red ones. As far as I can tell these do not actually appear in this story. If you look very closely, these red beams have BBC stamped on them. Bearing that in mind, and also the troubled nature of the production of Greatest Show, leads me to think these beams actually have a practical use in set building and are not just a bit of design. If you know any more about these beams please let me know. 

As I said at the top, this is the first in a series about Paradise Towers. So I shall be back next week with more props from this story.

UPDATE - parts 2 and 3 can be found here and here





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