9. Pex
Paradise Towers is not beloved by many but if the pantomime performances and poor production values are stripped away, there's a witty and edgy story to be found at its heart. The titular tower block with its cannibal grannies, street gangs and jobs worth caretakers is an imaginative concept, as is the character of Pex, the sole young man desperate to be a hero but mocked by the Kangs as a 'cowardly cutlet'. When the mysterious war forced all the younger males to go, Pex hid and has been trying to atone for that ever since. As played by Howard Cooke, Pex was not the muscle-bound Stallone type that writer Stephen Wyatt had wanted but he still does well and makes a winning companion to Bonnie Langford's Mel for the story. After three episodes of Mel having to step in when Pex had been too scared to act, he goes to run off when the Chief Caretaker (Richard Briers in one of the shows most infamous turns), possessed by the malignant spirit of the Towers' architect, has the Doctor at his mercy. However, Mel's disappointed look is enough to prompt Pex to be brave for the first - and last - time, throwing the Doctor to one side and pushing the Caretaker, and himself, into an explosives filled room to die. It's one sacrifice among many in the show yet the redemptive nature of Pex's sacrifice and his posthumous recognition by the remaining Kangs makes this a memorable death indeed. The newly sprayed graffiti, proclaiming 'Pex Lives!', is the icing on the cake.