TV Club: The Curse of Peladon

Television TV Club
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The Doctor and Jo make a test flight in the TARDIS and arrive on the planet Peladon. Seeking shelter, they enter the citadel of the soon-to-be-crowned King Peladon, where the Doctor is mistaken for a human dignitary summoned to act as chairman of a committee assessing an application by the planet to join the Galactic Federation.

Rate and review below:

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TV Club Backlog
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I just love this one. Alien politics that felt like a refreshing change of pace after the Third Doctor was grounded to Earth for a while.

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The Curse of Peladon is one of the most mature, interesting and immersive episodes of the whole Classic Era.

A simmering political undertone partnered with one of the best alien worlds Who’s ever visited make for a distinctly arresting watch. The effects are incredible for the 70s, the direction is awesome and the script is a tightly plotted murder mystery that grips you from beginning to end, with unstable holy leader Hepesh making for a surprisingly engaging antagonist.

It also features one of Classic Who’s only good fight scenes.

9/10

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A quick review I wrote a while back:

Which was part of my little Peladon journey, detailed here:

Peladon Tales

And don’t forget there’s a badge for doing all the Peladon-set stories too!

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I love this one a lot. The politics are great and I love that Ice Warriors aren’t the bad guys this time! They are just doing their best. Michael Troughton is a fun addition to the series and I loved Aggedor and their introduction. It was a great episode to watch, and Jo’s side story is interesting. Her and the Doctor’s interactions are fantastic!

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Do you mean Michael Troughton?

This was a pretty enjoyable story, I wouldn’t place it very highly in my rankings but it was solid.

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Curse is pretty good. I gave it a 7/10. Just feels like a 7, although probably a high 7. Good political story, love the setting, nice to see Pertwee and Manning together away from Earth for a full story. Lots to enjoy here.

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Yup. I did. I’m not the brightest crayon in the box sometimes

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Every time I’ve watched this story I’ve felt like I wanted to like it more than I have. Maybe it’s the collection of especially ridiculous costumes/voices, but I just can’t really get into it personally. I rate it a 3/5 (6/10), which translates to “not too bad” for me.

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I re-watched this one recently. It was a story i never really clicked with, I must say I used to find it a little bit dull and just didn’t think there was much to the story.

That was until I rewatched it. Whilst I still can’t say it is the best story, or that I loved it, I found it much more entertaining this time round. It feels a bit more special as a Three and Jo story set away from Earth, and it was just a good political story. I like the Ice Warriors, and they are more interesting to me when they aren’t the enemy.

Plus Aggedor is great!

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Used this thread as an excuse to rewatch the episode haha!

The Venusian lullaby really bought it for me the first time I watched (a long time ago).

Today, obviously it did it again, but apart from that, I really liked the Ice Warriors and the fact that they aren’t being evil/argessive/antagonists of the story.

Aliens in this story aren’t “monsters” as they often are; they’re reasonable and intelligent. While the actual antagonist is not technically an alien at all, because he’s native to the planet.

I wrote a little review if that’s alright to share.

Review of The Curse of Peladon by tardis2snej · TARDIS Guide

AND. Finally. Learned. That it’s Peladon, not Pleadon. (I might forget that in a day tbh)

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Absolutely okay to share your review - it’s what we do all the time!

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Used to find it very dull but I appreciate it more now.

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As with much of this era, my memory of this story is a little hazy (though stronger than that of the last couple of stories). But I don’t think I liked it… Still, I’m excited to get off world. Here goes nothing…

Part One

  • The castle certainly looks cool.
  • And so does King Peladon. Flipping heck, Troughton was quite the looker once upon a time.
  • The set-up scenes walked so the Hinchcliffe era could run.
  • I love the design of Alpha Centauri. But I can’t see how anyone can put up with that voice for more than a couple of scenes.
  • Fun outfit for the Doctor here. If you’d asked me whether Three ever wore tartan, my answer would have been a firm and incorrect no.
  • Trying so hard to stay open-minded with the ice warriors. I just find them so disengaging.
  • I do love a story where we see a selection of representatives from different alien species in one place though.
  • Okay, Jo jumping in with the royalty impression while the Doctor is dumbstruck is brilliant. First time I’ve been really on board with her character.

Verdict after Part One - I can already tell (or maybe I remember) that pacing is going to be the main problem with this story. Still, as an opening segment, it’s pretty decent.

Part Two

  • Woah things got kind of intense with that shrine and curse and whatnot, kind of came out of nowhere after all the frivolous goofy green folk.
  • So woke with the hermaphrodite hexapod.
  • Knowing the ending, this is actually pretty well plotted.
  • There’s some really nice direction in this one. It is a little slow overall, but scene by scene, there’s some really good stuff.

Verdict after Part Two - It’s definitely getting slower, but there are also some really nice, subtle moments, particularly in the cinematography. I can really see why some love and some hate this story.

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Part Three

  • I don’t think Jo will ever be close to a favourite companion for me. But she is pretty good in this story.
  • I like the turn this has taken. I’m just not convinced they can drag it out for six parts.
  • Wait, has he always been in those tights and I’ve somehow been oblivious??
  • Aggedor really goes a long way to bring this story down, I can’t lie. It’s unfortunate.
  • BUT the Doctor singing and hypnotising him lives in my head rent-free and I’ll now be singing that lullaby for weeks.
  • Oh, just when Jo was growing on me, she starts being a right prat.
  • These combat scenes are quite something, they’r- OH MY GOSH THAT’S ACTUALLY QUITE GRUESOME
  • Fully lost on that cliffhanger, not entirely sure what happened…

Verdict after Part Three - This really is an incredibly mixed bag. It smacks of so much potential, but something doesn’t quite click. I’m not sure if it’s the pace or the script or something in the performances, it just feels a little bit awkward…

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Well that’s okay then…

…because it’s only four parts.

(The Monster of Peladon is six parts)

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Oh would you look at that, I made the opposite mistake to what I did with The Mind of Evil. That’s interesting, looking forward to a potentially tight and jam-packed finale episode in that case…

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Part Four (the final part? Who knew?!)

  • Pretty wild to open the final episode with an explanation and solution for everything, but okay.
  • Many, this hurts so much after Brexit.
  • Ice warriors are a little clumsy at the best of times. But there’s something even goofier about them when they’re not the villain.
  • Okay fine, I’m willing to join the Alpha Centauri fan club. Genuinely precious. Against all odds.
  • This has all descended into slightly confusing anarchy. I can’t decide if this works in the story’s favour or not.
  • Naroon naroon naroooooon
  • It’s such a shame the design of Aggedor is what it is, because conceptually, he’s a great time.
  • I’m never totally sure how I feel about the Third Doctor, but I think maybe it’s that he’s much more suited to the earth-based stories he was ‘invented’ for than the off-world ones. It’ll be interesting to see whether that theory sticks as I go on through this era (the first time doing so in order).
  • The Earth delegate showing up is such a great punchline - but you’d think the others would have been at least aware that the invited delegate was a woman?

Verdict - Considerably better for not being six parts after all! :rofl: No, still very much a mixed bag and one of my least favourites so far through this run of Three’s era. But that doesn’t mean it’s bad by any stretch of the imagination. A bit of growth for Jo, some really great supporting characters, and probably quite a fun mystery if you don’t already know the ending. I’m a little nervous for when the exile ends properly as I’m not convinced I can stick loads of this vibe. But as a one off, it’s pretty decent.

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Welcome to the Alpha Centauri fan club :rofl:

I’m going to explain it as aliens aren’t very good at telling genders :grin:

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First thoughts: wowowow how can this serial be THAT good?? The ending made me laugh a lot! 10/10

On a more serious note, this is a strong contender for my favourite Season 9 story. Political commentary is really well-done, but also a little saddenning (in a sense that the metaphor of Britain joining EU leaves a bitter taste after Brexit), and I will write an essay about anti-monarchism in Curse of Peladon when I have the time (or courage, really)

Maturing is realizing that the titular ‘Curse’ is elite’s conservatism and Peladon’s (the character) inner inability to oppose it (and really just inability to fully allign his personal values/feelings with what is right - look at the dialogue with Jo! It can be argued that this shows monarchy’s inability to be fully moral)

Alpha Centauri is… very cool! ALWAYS down for a 70’s representation of LGBTQIA+ people, even if the Doctor calling them it is very obviously poorly-aged

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