Doctor Who (TV Series) The Curse of Peladon: Episode One (1972) User Reviews

Great start to a great Doctor Who story.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 25 March 2008]

Doctor Who: The Curse of Peladon: Episode One is set on the distant planet Peladon which is trying to decide whether to become a member of the Galactic Federation, King Peladon (David Troughton) & his friend Chancellor Torbis (Henry Gilbert) are in favour of such a move but High Priest Hepesh (Geoffrey Toone) is set against the idea & reminds King Peladon about the 'curse of Peladon'. Meanwhile the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) has taken Jo (Katy Manning) on a test of the TARDIS which ends up on Peladon on the edge of a cliff, the TARDIS falls off the cliff ledge & leaves the Doctor & Jo stranded on the edge stuck. With only one place to go they seek shelter & help from inside the huge Citadel. Once there they are captured & taken to the throne room where they are mistaken for Earth delegates, also there are delegates from the planets Mars, Alpha Centauri & Arcturus but all are concerned about the curse & that someone may have already died because of it...

Episode 5 from season 9 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during January 1972 & was the second story from Jon Pertwee's third season as the Doctor. Only the second story from the Pertwee era to be set entirely away from contemporary Earth & the first of two stories set on the planet Peladon the script by Brian Hayles has started off rather nicely, the whole story of a culture deciding whether to give up it's individual status was rather topical at the time of The Curse of Peladon's original transmission since the UK was in the process of joining the European Community & it's a direct & obvious influence. The phrase 'art imitating life' comes to mind... There's nothing wrong with that in itself though & with a little Doctor Who magic & imagination it makes for a cracking little story complete with ancient curses, monsters, aliens, intergalactic diplomacy & a giant walking six armed dildo. Hayles had created the Ice Warriors for the Patrick Troughton second Doctor story The Ice Warriors (1967) during season five & were last seen in The Seeds of Death (1969) during season six & they make a return here & are seen in colour for the first time on the show.

The main thing of note in this episode are the aliens & there are quite a wide variety on show here, first we have Alpha Centauri who looks like a large green dildo with six arms. Looking at it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'one eyed monster'! Having said that it's quite cute looking as it glides along the floor & it's silly high pitched female voice just adds to the slightly surreal image. The Ice Warriors are back representing Mars although there's only one of them & a Slaar like Lord called Izlyr, it's obvious the production team just used an Ice Warrior costume from stock & it looks exactly the same although the Lord's costume seems a little different especially the helmet which covers more of the actor's face & the make up is now a green foam like covering instead of the flaky peeling skin look seen in The Seeds of Death. All the wheezing & rasping is still present though. Acturus looks pretty bad though, it looks like a small green weed with a face in an upside-down goldfish bowl & that's being kind to it. I also have to mention some of the very impressive model work of the cliffs & the huge Citadel, while they are obviously models they are very good models.

The Curse of Peladon: Episode One is an enjoyable start to a good story, it's nice to see Pertwee away from Earth & no sign of UNIT is also welcome. The story is also very watchable & a bit different from the usual alien invasion plots.

Gothic Intrigue

[Theo Robertson · 8/10 · 12 August 2010]

Review Of All 4 Episodes

Like Colony In Space from the previous season The Curse Of Peladon is atypical from the other proceeding Pertwee stories in that it takes place on another planet .. Along with its sequel The Monster Of Peladon it's also unique in the Pertwee era that there is no location work at all - everything is filmed inside a BBC studio . This means that much of the story appears static and theatrical and to a large extent this is true but shouldn't be taken as a criticism

What the story does concentrate on is creating an alien medieval planet that wishes to join an alien federation and the political divisions this creates amongst the Peladonians . A pro federation nobleman Torbis is supposedly killed by the ancient spirit of Aggedor which high priest Hepesh considers the first omen in a sequence of effects that heralds the end of Peladon if it joins the federation . Has Aggedor risen from the dead ? the Doctor tries to find out

Writer Brian Hayles reintroduces the Ice Warriors and amazingly they're not portrayed as villains . Both Ssorg and Ice Lord Izlyr are written as benign Martians who have now put their martial pasts behind them and now want to welcome the rest of the galaxy as allies . Most memorable alien in the story is Acrturas which is obviously a puppet head in a box whilst other fans will claim Alpha Centuari is the most remembered character from the story . Regardless of who is right both aliens are a great example of the charm that the show had over children from that period , something that the new show lacks despite its impressive production values

Lennie Mayne's directing might be rather flat but this is probably deliberate and this allows the audience to quickly grasp the intriguing story that's a combination of whodunnit and political drama . Interestingly Britain was about to join the Common Market when the story was broadcast which gave The Curse Of Peladon some current significance

Can a leopard change its spots?

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 9 March 2020]

The Doctor and Jo land on the rather bleak looking planet of Peladon, they land on the mountain side, and just escape the TARDIS before it falls off a cliff. The King of Peladon is leading the planet to joining The Federation, delegates from other planets arrive.

I am a big fan of this story, this first part is wonderfully atmospheric, The Doctor and Jo are in fine form sharing some nice chat in the first few moments.

David Troughton, no stranger to the show is very good as the softly spoken Peladon, but it's the arrival of the aliens that's most interesting, particularly The Ice Warriors, when they were last seen they were the villain, are they again?

Jon was wonderfully reassuring as The Doctor, The TARDIS drops off a cliff, is he bothered? No chance.

A cracking start, 8/10.

A very good story, among the best of the Pertwee era after season 7

[ametaphysicalshark · 13 November 2008]

There are certainly some gems to be found in the inconsistent Pertwee seasons which followed the phenomenal season 7, and "The Curse of Peladon" is among them. This is a wonderful, thrilling story with a superb cast of characters, a great location in the medieval planet of Peladon where the progressive vs. conservative debate is raging, and just some wonderful writing and one excellent fight scene towards the end of episode three.

"The Curse of Peladon" is one of the better politically-conscious Pertwee stories. The politics don't get in the way of the storytelling, which is certainly very politically-oriented in itself, I suppose, but there's little heavy-handed moralizing here, it's all presented rather fairly and simply. What's wonderful about Brian Hayles' script here is how excellent all the supporting characters here are. Not only do we get a return of the Ice Warriors, one of the all-time greatest Doctor Who monsters (who don't play a particularly villainous role here, but are still very entertaining), but also a couple of other amusing aliens (Alpha Centauri's unfortunately phallic appearance makes it hard to take the story too seriously, though). The really superb guest characters here are King Peladon (played superbly by David Troughton, son of Patrick) and Geoffrey Toone as Hepesh, who is doing all he can to fight off Peladon's joining of the Federation, which he perceives as something that would threaten Peladon's traditions and would essentially end with them becoming slaves.

Both Troughton and Toone are excellent here, and it helps that Katy Manning and Jon Pertwee are both on top form as well. Jo's given a fair amount to do here, and I think it's one of the best stories overall for her character (not that I buy into the whole 'Jo was useless' thing, I found her to be quite a good character and her relationship with the Doctor to be very interesting), even if what she's involved in is unlikely to please the ultra-feminist portion of the audience.

The episodes are directed very well, the scripts are very good, and while the story may not ever reach true greatness, it's both a fun romp and an interesting political/social allegory which is still surprisingly relevant today.

Episode 1: 8/10, Episode 2: 8/10, Episode 3: 8/10, Episode 4: 8/10

Average: 8/10

EU in or out?

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 9/10 · 29 September 2014]

Review of all 4 episodes:

The Doctor and Jo have a rare adventure away from contemporary Earth as The Doctor manages to take the TARDIS on a 'test flight' and they end up on the planet Peladon. The Doctor is mistaken to be the Earth delegate of a committee from the Galactic Federation and is made chairman of the committee. Jo is believed to be an Earth princess. The task for this committee is to assess Peladon's application to join the Galactic Federation. This is all an allegory for the UK's accession to the European Common Market (which became the EU) which was a big issue at the time.

A legend of a monster and strange incidents begin to threaten proceedings and there is a mystery surrounding who or what is behind the apparent attempts to stop Peladon from joining the Federation. The other committee members provide varying, interesting alien species. The efforts to create these unusual aliens is to be admired and it is surely the clear inspiration for a very similar scenario in the second episode after Doctor Who returned in 2005 'The End of the World'.

One of the alien delegates, Alpha Centauri, may seem slightly annoying and somewhat lacking in credibility to a modern viewer but the effort to make it a very different life form (as they tried valiantly but unsuccessfully in 'The Web Planet') is highly commendable. The other aliens are interesting and well realised with the Ice Warriors providing a nice twist on previous stories where they featured.

The script from Brian Hayles is very well written and intelligent with nice political undertones. There is plenty of fun and action and some very good performances, particularly from previous Doctor Patrick Troughton's son David as King Peladon who is excellent.

Jon Pertwee is superb as the Doctor and Katy Manning is very strong in this story as Jo. Ice Warrior delegate Izlyr is very well performed by Alan Bennion.

It is not perfect with the hypnotism and its effects being my least favourite aspect but it is all highly entertaining and intelligently written with plenty of fine acting.

My ratings: Episodes 1 & 2 - 9/10, Episodes 3 & 4 - 8.5/10, Overall 8.75/10

A fine tale.

[wavybracket · 10/10 · 29 September 2016]

The Doctor and Jo find themselves on the medieval world of Peladon just as there are negotiations going on concerning the planet joining the galactic federation. Within no time they're posing as Earth representatives, running into superstitious reactionaries and Ice Warriors, and stumbling over a plot to sabotage the planned treaty.

This is Dr Who at its most sophisticated, a tale of murder, intrigue and a romantic sub-plot. In fact it wouldn't be out of place in 21 century Dr Who. The aliens are treated as characters rather than simple monsters, the Ice Warrior commander being especially good. What with strong performances from the visiting cast, a superb-looking backdrop and a brisk pace this is an all-time great.