Kandyman
The Kandyman was a robot created by Gilbert M and employed by Helen A.
Biology and Personality
The Kandyman (or Kandy Man) was a pathological, psychopathic robotic killer who was employed as an Executioner by the egocentric Helen A. The Kandyman delighted in creating methods of torture and destruction using confectionery, one of its favourite methods being drowning people in pipes filled with its "Fondant Surprise", a thick solution composed of boiling liquid candy.
It was a sadistic executioner with a very warped sense of humour, speaking with a squeaky and almost child-like metallic voice and producing a variety of deadly sweets to suit its role of execution for sadness. These sweets were supposed to be so delicious that humans were unable to cope with the pleasure, overloading their senses and killing them. The Kandyman claimed most of its victims in this manner — "with smiles on their faces" — but this did not mean it was not perfectly happy to throttle them if they refused to co-operate.
Its external shell composed of recognisable sweets like Liquorice, Sherbet, Marzipan and Caramel, Kandyman was created by Gilbert M, with whom it shared an almost symbiotic relationship.
With the Happiness Patrol
The Doctor encountered the Kandyman after escaping from the Happiness Patrol. He outsmarted the Kandyman, causing it to accidentally break open a bottle of lemonade and stick itself to the floor — as a result, it was forced to keep moving on the spot to try and get away from the spilled Lemonade, or its external candy shell would dissolve or stick to the floor. The Doctor escaped, but later returned to the Kandy Kitchen to confront the Kandyman, forcing it to retreat into the pipes. The Kandyman was killed shortly afterward when its external candy shell was dissolved in a pipe by a large flow of its own Strawberry Fondant Surprise, released by the oppressed Pipe People. (DW: The Happiness Patrol)
Rebuilt
The Doctor encountered the Kandyman again on the planet Tara. Count Grendel rebuilt the Kandyman after its charred remains crash landed on Tara. (VD: The Trials of Tara)
Behind the scenes
- Steven Moffat jokingly said that The Kandyman was to return as the main villain and marry Samuel J Furdy in Matt Smith's first series
- After the second episode aired HB Stokes, CEO and Chairman of Bassett Foods, wrote to complain about the resemblance between the Kandyman and their mascot Bertie Bassett. Upon investigation, it was determined that no copyright infringement had been committed but assured him that the character would not be used again.
