Doctor Who: The Curse of Peladon: Episode Two starts as the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) & the Galactic Federation delegates Alpha Centauri (Stuart Fell), Arcturus (Murray Grumbar) & Izlyr (Alan Bennion) narrowly avoid being crushed & killed by the falling large granite statue of Aggedor. High Priest Hepesh (Geoffrey Toone) says that it is part of the ancient 'curse of Peladon' while the Doctor feels deliberate sabotage is a more likely cause. With the committee in disarray the servo junction unit from Arcturus life support systems is removed & taken, the Doctor manages to bypass the circuits & save him but is implicated as a traitor. With his plan failing Hepesh orders the King's champion fighter Grun (Gordon St. Clair) to kill the Doctor whom Hepesh sees as the biggest threat to his plans...
Episode 6 from season 9 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during February 1972, directed by Lennie Mayne I am really enjoying The Curse of Peladon so far. It's nice to see the third Doctor Jon Pertwee away from contemporary Earth if nothing else. The script by Brian Hayles is obviously a allegory to Britain entering the European Community & as such sets out to have two distinct sets of character's with opposing views. There is King Peladon who is for joining the Galactic Federation for the benefit of his people while High Priest Hepesh who is against it & is using underhand tactics to get his own way. This is one aspect of The Curse of Peladon which could have worked better, the fact that it's Hepesh who is the traitor & behind all the violence has come a bit too early & the makers could have prolonged the mystery elements a bit & kept the viewer guessing as to who they can trust. With only Jo as the one human being in the cast of character's it's nice to see that Hayles has given all the alien creatures & races their own distinct personalities from the shy & timid Alpha Centauri to the agitated Arcturus with the Doctor as the middle man trying to keep the peace. The character of Jo is also given more to do than has been the case in past stories with the romantic subplot involving her & King Peladon along with her efforts to try & help find the saboteur.
With the six part action packed story The Sea Devils (1972) expected to be very costly the production team had to make an entirely studio bound serial & The Curse of Peladon is it, in fact The Curse of Peladon is the first Jon Pertwee story not to feature any 16mm film outside location shooting although the model work & the fight at the end of Episode Three between the Doctor & Grun shot at Ealing studios was captured on film. The sets are very good actually & were obviously inspired by ancient Rome with stone statues, huge concrete pillars, corridors lit by flaming torches & the leather strap style clothing of the local inhabitants. It's an effect that works very well especially as director Mayne keeps a lot of things darkly lit with only the light from the flaming torches to illuminate scenes & as a consequence there's lots of atmospheric shadows as well. Is it just me or has Jo's hair which started off curly in the TARDIS magically straightened out? Episode Two also sees our first proper look at the monster Aggedor, well it's not as bad as some Doctor Who monsters but it does look like a guy in a bad monster suit. Luckily Mayne hides it in the shadows & only show's glimpses of it.
The Curse of Peladon: Episode Two is another fine episode in a fine story, it's Doctor Who with a message. What more do you want?
Episode 6 from season 9 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during February 1972, directed by Lennie Mayne I am really enjoying The Curse of Peladon so far. It's nice to see the third Doctor Jon Pertwee away from contemporary Earth if nothing else. The script by Brian Hayles is obviously a allegory to Britain entering the European Community & as such sets out to have two distinct sets of character's with opposing views. There is King Peladon who is for joining the Galactic Federation for the benefit of his people while High Priest Hepesh who is against it & is using underhand tactics to get his own way. This is one aspect of The Curse of Peladon which could have worked better, the fact that it's Hepesh who is the traitor & behind all the violence has come a bit too early & the makers could have prolonged the mystery elements a bit & kept the viewer guessing as to who they can trust. With only Jo as the one human being in the cast of character's it's nice to see that Hayles has given all the alien creatures & races their own distinct personalities from the shy & timid Alpha Centauri to the agitated Arcturus with the Doctor as the middle man trying to keep the peace. The character of Jo is also given more to do than has been the case in past stories with the romantic subplot involving her & King Peladon along with her efforts to try & help find the saboteur.
With the six part action packed story The Sea Devils (1972) expected to be very costly the production team had to make an entirely studio bound serial & The Curse of Peladon is it, in fact The Curse of Peladon is the first Jon Pertwee story not to feature any 16mm film outside location shooting although the model work & the fight at the end of Episode Three between the Doctor & Grun shot at Ealing studios was captured on film. The sets are very good actually & were obviously inspired by ancient Rome with stone statues, huge concrete pillars, corridors lit by flaming torches & the leather strap style clothing of the local inhabitants. It's an effect that works very well especially as director Mayne keeps a lot of things darkly lit with only the light from the flaming torches to illuminate scenes & as a consequence there's lots of atmospheric shadows as well. Is it just me or has Jo's hair which started off curly in the TARDIS magically straightened out? Episode Two also sees our first proper look at the monster Aggedor, well it's not as bad as some Doctor Who monsters but it does look like a guy in a bad monster suit. Luckily Mayne hides it in the shadows & only show's glimpses of it.
The Curse of Peladon: Episode Two is another fine episode in a fine story, it's Doctor Who with a message. What more do you want?
