Holistic Review: A handful of fascinating aliens, an intriguing mystery plotline and a strong role for Jo overcome a rather pedestrian setting to make this one of Pertwee's most memorable adventures.

The Curse of Peladon is another of those Pertwee stories that really lucked out with my decision to rewatch his era for this site. Time was, I thought both of the Peladon stories were just deadly dull. I kind of remember Gray liking this one when we were little, but I just didn't have any time for it. I think the cause of that reaction can be found in the opening scene, in which much Shakespearean-styled in-fighting takes place in the court of Peladon. Grand dialogue of that sort has never really interested me, and I don't find the scene or the local court machinations all that interesting, so I bet that just set the mood of the story for me when I was little. My surprise was great when I rewatched it, and found out that it's actually one of my favorite stories of the Pertwee era. Well, knock me over with a feather!

What does make this story interesting is the setup of a Federation council coming to evaluate Peladon for inclusion, and the mystery that results when someone wants to make sure Peladon stays completely independent, even if they have to kill off all the delegates to do it. The intrigue of who actually is behind the attacks, plus the interesting and distinct nature of each of the aliens, means that The Curse of Peladon is actually quite engaging all the way through.

Now, Peladon itself doesn't make for a particularly interesting setting. Between the young ruler who isn't ready to have the throne thrust upon him, and the overzealous religious leader who sentences people to death for unknowingly trespassing on holy ground, it just feels kind of tired and not all that unusual. What makes it interesting is the Federation angle, and the question of whether it's best for Peladon to join up or continue forging its own separate path. We never get the feeling that the alien representatives are trying to pressure Peladon into a deal, or lusting after the planet for its mineral wealth alone, but it's nice that Hepesh raises at least the latter point so that we get a sense of the complexity of the issues.

The story gets a considerable lift from its cadre of guest aliens. It's hard to say which is the most successful, really, because they're all wonderful. Writer Brian Hayles really does a great job with characterization, making all of the aliens (and the humanoid characters, too) seem like distinct and believable people. Arcturus has a wonderfully menacing look even before we know he's the villain - his modulated voice is unsettling, and he looks like a dessicated skull with weird tentacley antlers. I really like the way we can just barely see liquid trickling down inside his dome. As a way of making him seem like a genuinely alien creature, his design is utterly successful. His suspicious and hostile nature contrasts wonderfully with the nervous, meek Alpha Centauri, who bounces around excitably and twitters in his (hers? its?) high-pitched voice. Poor Centauri occasionally veers toward irritating - he's so frozen with uncertainty that you sometimes just want to slap him out of it (I love the scene in which the Ice Warriors basically bully him into agreeing with them) - but overall his pacifistic attitude and sweet disposition makes him highly likeable. I also really enjoy the fact that we're encouraged to think of Alpha Centauri as a "he" despite the fact that his voice is clearly feminine! (and Ysanne Churchman's voice is wonderful!) Then in the middle we have the Ice Warriors, making a welcome return - and of course we immediately assume they must be the baddies, so what a wonderful plot twist it is to learn that they have renounced their violent ways! This totally took me by surprise when I first rewatched it. Such a superb idea, taking one of the Doctor's most popular foes and turning them into forces for good. It's tempting to declare the Ice Warriors to be the winners of the monster challenge solely because of this awesome reinvention.

Of course, we don't want to forget about poor Aggedor, who has a most interesting arc from "vengeful divine spirit" to "savage wild ancient beast" to "sweet docile pet", and manages to be quite endearing in the process. I also note with relief the mention that there are other Aggedors living on a nearby mountain - hurrah! Nice to know that our Aggedor isn't the last of his kind.

Hurrah for Brian Hayles, who writes a story in which Jo not only gets to be intelligent, and capable, and inquisitive, but also manages to move the plot along and is quick-thinking enough to cope on her own without the Doctor. She does have a bit of a rocky start, when she seems to utterly fail to grasp that a "time" machine could potentially put her back on Earth before she'd even left, but she quickly makes up for this mental lapse when she finds a mountainside tunnel and takes the lead in exploring it (even though she isn't "exactly dressed for mountaineering"), and then most especially when she picks up on Hepesh's loophole in the "penalty of death" situation and immediately declares herself, in plummy tones, to be an Earth princess, before the Doctor even has a chance to leap to her defense! Very very nice. And it provides some amusing comedy throughout the story, as the Doctor continually has to send Jo subtle reminders that her usually chummy attitude does not exactly befit royalty. (One does wonder, though, how the Federation commission would have reacted if Hepesh had immediately put the Earth delegate's female companion to death!) Maybe it's the princess persona, but when put side-by-side with Alpha Centauri, it's clear just how steely and capable Jo is by comparison. She later sets off to investigate the Ice Warriors on her own, breaking into their room and later taking the initiative to escape after she's locked in. Then she gets stroppy with Izlyr, and manages to chase Aggedor away from the Doctor... great stuff, and so nice to see Katy Manning get some good material to work with. Jo even shows glimpses of her usual self, as she's easily hypnotized when the Doctor puts Aggedor to sleep, and continues her tradition of ruining promising experiments through her well-meaning actions. Much praise to Katy Manning, who's also quite convincing in her earnest scene with King Peladon.

Pertwee comes across as quite likeable in this story, too - it feels like his comic side comes through a bit more, but he also gets to keenly sniff out the root of the mystery. His relationship with Aggedor shows off his tender side, but he also gets a rollicking fight with Grun that makes good use of his aikido skills. He gets to play the skilled diplomat, and he even gets to sing. Pertwee certainly must not have been bored filming this story, and it's nice to get a reminder of just how versatile he is.

Poor David Troughton. I want to say that acting skills must run in the family, but I'm not at all sure that our dear Pat's genes were thoroughly passed on. Not that he does a bad job; he just seems kind of flat, and astonishingly (considering his father), he doesn't seem to have mastered facial acting at all. So, I would have to say that King Peladon is probably the least successful part of the story. I do think he's scripted very well though; I like that he carefully considers his actions, and wants to do the right thing, which is certainly proven when he doesn't even punish the guards who had been holding swords on him. Geoffrey Toone is, however, much better as Hepesh, even if he doesn't get a whole lot to do besides scheme and rail against the Federation. His relationship of mutual trust and admiration with Peladon is still clear, despite his unsavoury actions, and his desire to see Peladon avoid modernization is certainly a relatable one, which makes him a fairly sympathetic villain.

Nice effects here, including the very nice modelwork of the citadel, the gun that Arcturus uses (I love the effect of the vase turning to cinders), as well as the sounds of the storm raging outside the citadel, and the heartbeat noise of Arcturus' machinery. I am scratching my head, however, wondering why they loop the TARDIS' materialization noise three times before it finally settles in. The costuming's very nice here too, seeming very lush - the purple of Peladon's robes and Hepesh's tunic is very nice. The king's short-shorts are, however, rather unfortunate, and the Peladonian badger haircuts really have to go. Whoever thought that was a good idea? A bit of a shout-out to set design, too, who do a lovely job with the citadel interiors with their interesting textures and angles, and the cool pit in which the Doctor fights Peladon's champion.

Lennie Mayne does a pretty nice job directing; there are some interesting angles throughout, thanks in part to the very interesting layout of the Peladon citadel. I particularly like the shot of Jo's shoe breaking off a bit of the ledge beneath her as she clambers between rooms on the citadel wall. He does, however, fit in a classic example of that 1960s favorite, the extreme close-up. Here, when Jo is complaining about King Peladon using her as nothing but a political ally, the camera is zoomed in so close to her face that her lower lip often disappears from the frame!

I also have to speak up here about my most major irritant with this story: the torches that are used to open and close the passageway doors are used in an extremely inconsistent manner. It irritates me in the same way that a light bulb controlled by two switches irritates me - sometimes it gets stuck so that it's off when one switch is up and on when the switch is down. In this case, the Doctor usually just leaves the torches lying unanchored against the wall, when it would make so much more sense to put them back in their fixtures. Now, if re-attaching them meant that the doors would close, then I could understand him leaving the torches down; but no, the doors open and close just fine even if he doesn't lift the torch back up. Which means that, on the other side of that closed door, there's a poor pitiful torch lying unloved and unattended against the cold stone of the wall. Of course, when the Doctor goes back through that door, the torch is miraculously propped up in its holder again. And what's even more frustrating, the Doctor's not even consistent about this! Most times he lowers the torch and leaves it; once, he lowers the torch on the opposite side of the door to close it; and once he raises and lowers the same torch (just as I wish he would always have done!). I don't know why it bothers me so much, except that it really rubs the perfectionist part of me the wrong way - it's like characters who always leave doors open or take one bite of food before rushing off someplace else and leaving the rest of their plate untouched. Finish what you start, people!

Minor points:

• Hooray to taking the TARDIS out for a test flight! I'm kind of astonished the Doctor managed to get anywhere, actually, but it is nice to see him managing to get off-world at least once per season. The Doctor's later implication that the Time Lords were involved makes quite a lot of sense - although if it wasn't the Time Lords' doing, then that might imply that it's actually the TARDIS who knows exactly what time and place it needs to take the Doctor to. Which makes equal sense, all things considered. Possibly even more. Time Lords, Shmime Lords!

• If the TARDIS is rocking back and forth so violently, and clearly teetering on the edge of a cliff, then why on earth does the Doctor jump out of it? If it were me, I'd slam the door shut and dematerialize the thing as fast as possible. On a related note, the Doctor really needs to get the interior dimensions severed from the exterior ones. Maybe the reason he didn't shove Jo back inside is that he knew she'd be tossed around like dice in a cup when the TARDIS fell down the mountainside.

• I love how confident King Peladon is that, even though his counselor just died under "mysterious circumstances", it can surely pose no risk to the others! Yeah, 'cause serial killers only stick to locals, everyone knows that...

• Ha! What a way to turn the tables! Instead of the Ice Warriors claiming that the Doctor is the one who will bring peril and tribulation to Peladon - which is really what you'd expect in a situation like this - they welcome him as the Earth delegate!

• In the background, the Doctor's expression is subtle but priceless (and entirely expected):

  "Princess Josephine": "The whole affair was most deplorable. The pilot was exceedingly inefficient."

• Hmmm, casting suspicion on himself early on, Hepesh is the one who suggests that they all leave the throne room... and straight into the path of a toppling statue!

• Nice bit of understated comedy:

  Jo: (casual city!) "Phew! That was a bit close, wasn't it?"
  Doctor: "Are you all right, Princess?"
  Jo: (catching herself) "Yes, thank you. I think so."

• Gosh, Peladon tries this lame chat-up line before the classic "Hey baby, I'm royalty"?! (This one's even worse than people who ask things like "Oh, my friend Joe was from Cheboygan! Do you know him?")

  Peladon: "My mother was an Earth woman. So, you see, there is a bond between us."

• I like that the Doctor doesn't automatically assume that the Ice Warriors only want to conquer Earth. After all, it makes sense that some other planets out there would have strategic value too!

• Cute dialogue, nice delivery from Katy, and I love the little nose-wrinkle Pertwee does after his last line:

  Doctor: "I didn't really have any choice, did I?"
  Jo: "Oh, come on, you love all that chairman delegate stuff! Admit it!"
  Doctor: "Well, how do you like being a princess, Princess?"

• Ha! When Grun is trying to tell the Doctor that he saw Jo, through an elaborate pantomime routine, he seems to think that Jo is only as tall as his waist!

• Meanwhile, having only just escaped what she thinks are the dastardly murderous clutches of the Ice Warriors, Jo gets spooked by Aggedor and runs straight into them again - but is she horrified to be trapped between a bloodthirsty rock and a bestial hard place? No! She practically clings to Izlyr for safety while gesticulating wildly down the corridor. Why so relieved to find them, Jo?

• I like the fact that Izlyr is the one who first notices (or mentions) that the sabotage on Arcturus' systems wouldn't have killed him. Why didn't the Doctor notice that, I wonder?

• Sheesh, here we go, sacrificing the unbelievers again. Did anyone bother to tell them that the inner sanctum of the temple was off-limits? No? Then I don't think we have any legs to stand on when we try to execute them, Hepesh. Ignorance of the law is too an excuse! And, please, why can't the Doctor just show King Peladon the tunnel entrance to prove that he's telling the truth? The same thing happens later when the Doctor claims to have seen an actual Aggedor in the tunnels. Peladon just waffles about "oh, we'd have to search a whole lifetime before we could ever find these mythical tunnels". Why couldn't the Doctor just say "Actually, your majesty, I can take you straight there"? What would have been the harm in taking a quick look to verify the Doctor's story - either of them?

• The revelation of the Doctor's opponent is built up like it's going to be a great surprise, but - Grun?! Come on! He's about the least shocking opponent the Doctor could have had. If you really wanted to surprise us, story, how about Hepesh? Or Peladon? Even Aggedor! Or, ooh, Jo!!! Or, that fiery brazier sitting in the corner of the throne room! I bet that would've put up a great fight.

• Now, surely if the choice is (a) interfere a bit with local culture, or (b) watch an entire planet be wiped out by the Federation... surely option (a) is preferable? It might be meddling, but at least said local culture would still exist afterwards! So I'm really not sure I get the delegates' logic here.

• My Amusing Mishearing of this story. (Ssorg actually says "Or... he has been eliminated!")

  Izlyr: "It seems that the Doctor has escaped without our help."
  Ssorg: "Awww."

• I love the Doctor's Venusian lullaby! (For some reason it always sounds like a Welsh song to me. It must be in how Pertwee sings it. Did the Welsh ever use the melody of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen for anything?)

• Gosh, rub salt into the wound, huh? They tell the Doctor he's going to be "lowered" into the pit, but it turns out this is just a fancy way of saying "we're going to lower a rope into the pit, and you have to climb down it."

• From the "well, hurry up then!" file:

  Peladon: "If you can assure me of your support, then I shall act."

• Love the directing when the Doctor confides in Jo, "Officially, we don't even exist. We're just a couple of impostors." And then they move away, and we see that... the torch has overheard everything! No doubt in the next scene, it will run off to Izlyr and spill the beans.

• Why do Hepesh and his men bother smashing the communicators, when there were perfectly good windows mere feet away? Just chuck them down the mountainside - no fuss, no muss, and it gets the job done just as efficiently! Plus then they'd stand no chance of being repaired.

• Gosh, it sure is good that the residents of Peladon spell their language with the Latin alphabet:

  Doctor: "Grun! Grun, what happened, who attacked you? Who? H? What, Hepesh? And a soldier!"

• Amazing! Aggedor truly is a legendary beast! He manages to mortally wound Hepesh without either spilling a single drop of blood, or severing a single fiber of Hepesh's tunic.

• Well, I'm not exactly sure how Peladon can weep over the corpse of the man who just threatened to murder him, but whatever. I guess he's a softie.

• One hopes he didn't mention to them who he was:

  Doctor: "You know, I haven't seen a coronation since Elizabeth I's. Or was it Queen Victoria's?"

  And then King Peladon appears, looking just like Elizabeth herself. (I wonder if they do actually make it to Victoria's coronation at the end?)

• Man, people sure propose to Jo awfully fast! What kind of perfume does she wear? And Jo doesn't even tell poor Peladon that she's shortly going to leave the planet (although, in her defense, at the moment she doesn't know for sure that she is leaving...)

• Love the scene at the end with the actual Earth delegate! I'm glad they didn't overlook that little detail, and it's a nice comedic moment to close with.

Yup, good story, from beginning to end. It's essentially a nice little murder mystery that just happens to be cast with a bunch of exotic aliens in the supporting roles. That hook, plus great characterization, is essentially why The Curse of Peladon overcomes its shortcomings and stands as an excellent example of Pertwee-era Doctor Who.