One of the best Doctor Who’s ever — fascism is still fascism even if it’s hot pink, and sometimes it’s nice to have a good cry. Like the best Doctor Who stories, no matter your age you’ll get something out of this one. For a story with the silly Candy monster; it’s shockingly mature. The petulant nature of the Happiness Patrol really struck me this time around. Not only are they in a world on fire insisting that everything is fine, they’re also begging for everyone to please, just like them. They think that popularity justifies genocide. The empty streets in this special edition are so chilling. The set design is so evocative, so bleak.

It’s glorious sci-fi political satire, magnificently gloomy, kitschy and oppressive. It’s just camp enough that you recognize both the fun stupid aspects and the tragedy behind them. The lame pun after a man has been shot to death isn’t just a joke for the audience but a perverse taunt and a command to obey all in one.

Helen A is what it all rests on, and the performance that Dame Sheila Hancock gives is electric. If you don’t believe how much she cares about the unconvincing puppet’s death at the end, the whole thing falls apart, and she more than delivers. The whole typical ending liberation in this story, an ending in most government toppling Who stories, feels really different. It’s actually somber. Doctor Who’s done the right thing, convinced everyone to feel again, and the first thought that Helen A and the Happiness Patrol has is how much it hurts.

There isn’t a single part of this that isn’t some of the best Doctor Who can be.