The Doctor and Jo travel in the TARDIS to the planet Peladon, where delegates of the Galactic Federation have assembled to discuss the planet's admission into their government. There is evil afoot, and the spirit of the great Peladonian beast Aggedor has awakened. The Doctor, however, thinks there's a different culprit working behind the scenes.
With "The Curse of Peladon" Brian Hayles created not a simple location for an adventure but an entire world. His characters have traditions, religion, politics and personality. They have an entire culture and a history. It may not be the most original or fully developed culture, but in the context of 1970s childrens television it's pretty exceptional stuff.
There's also a wonderful imagination put to the serial's various alien delegates. There's the tiny Arcturus, and most memorably the hermaphroditic hexapod delegate from Alpha Centauri (most famous for pretty much looking like an enormous walking penis). Most impressive of all are the Ice Warriors: Hayles had used them twice before in serials starring Patrick Troughton, and their appearance immediately pointed to them being the villains of the piece. It's a master stroke that they turn out to be the good guys: it's a twist you don't see coming and one that extensively develops them as one of Doctor Who's best monsters.
Ever since childhood I've found "The Curse of Peladon" to be one of my favourite Doctor Who stories. It's cheap and cheerful, with design and costume choices that are both unfortunate and hilariously tacky. At its core, however, it's a deeply earnest story with some absolutely stunning elements. It's no surprise that the series revisited the setting and some of its characters two seasons later; it's a planet the audience was keen to see again.
I remember well that moment where Sarah Jane and Jo Grant meet at the Doctor's "funeral" and start reminiscing about their adventures in the TARDIS until they get to Peladon and its, "OH! You've been there too!"
ReplyDeleteLove that moment. And those two adventures are absolutely on my favourites list. I'd love to see either the Ice Warriors or the planet Peladon make a return some time.
I think, asides from Earth and Gallifrey, Peladon's the only planet that Doctor Who goes to more than once.
DeleteI think you're forgetting Skaro, Metebelis III (briefly in the Green Death and then the Planet of the Spiders) and Mars.
DeleteOh probably. That's the beauty of nerdy Doctor Who trivia: you can put a half-formed thought out there and someone can complete it for you.
ReplyDeleteAnd Face of Evil, where the plot revolves around the fact the Doctor has previously visited the planet in his 4th incarnation: not televised, but inherent.
ReplyDeleteI think where I was coming from was that Peladon is the only planet we see twice which has an actual visible culture, and which changes from one visit to the other. We never see the Xoanon expedition from the Doctor's first visit, and his first visit to Metebelis III is a strange little segue rather than a proper look. And Skaro is Skaro. Peladon really is the only time (with the possible exception of New Earth in NuWho) where we see the place twice, and see the Doctor's influence on it.
DeleteYes, the mosaic reveal is a nice moment, too.
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