THIS is what an alien planet looks like. Those castle model shots and beautiful adrenaline filled mountaintop/ windowsill scenes with Jo have almost made me able to scrub the drab Colony in Space from my brain. The Curse of Peladon is far from a masterpiece but it has a hell of a lot going for it and is a mission statement in terms of where the current producers of Doctor Who would like to take the show.

Talking of those vertigo inducing adventure scenes; it was wonderful to see the TARDIS out and about. It even got the chance to fall from a great height and go missing. Whilst the Third Doctor's time is in so many ways more varied in tone and feel than the show ever was in the 1960s, my excitement over seeing the TARDIS in these well-crafted action scenes revealed how limited the machine's role has been in the show over the last two and a half years. The initial moments on the mountainside may be my favourite moments of the entire story.

The menagerie of monsters is also a unique aspect to this story. There really are not many Doctor Who stories that have this many non-humanoid aliens: Aggador; the Ice Warriors; Blinky Eye Thing; and Proto-Davros. It gives the show an exciting look and feel.

The union's discussion over whether to accept Peladon into their ranks is an interesting political allegory. The fact that this idea is not popular among all Peladon citizens makes it a brilliant basis for the plot and one that feels particularly relevant in post-Brexit Britain. The Ice Warriors come off particularly well from this pseudo-EEC, feeling more fleshed out than their Troughton incarnations (but not quite as exciting as their debut episode). It is an enjoyable running theme of Pertwee's tenure so far (we are almost half way) that aliens can have complex and developed societies, more importantly, we should not presume them to be evil.

Surprising then that the half human character, the young King did not feel as well served. There was not enough character development, this is combined with what I felt was a wet and mawkish portrayal. I was not sure why I was supposed to find him interesting. I would have enjoyed seeing him more easily swayed by his advisors, then realising over time what he felt was right. In fact, I think it would have been intriguing if his opposing advisor had not died so early in the story. I would have enjoyed seeing the tension of this played out over all four parts.

Most jarring of all for the young King was the romance he builds with Jo throughout the story. I loved the idea (it helped shake off some of the stories' more formal feel) but the actual scenes themselves felt very forced to me. The whole relationship begins, turns sour and then lifts again in as little four scenes. The final scenes of Peladon begging Jo to stay would have made sense if they had dedicated a little more screen time to this.

I don't think it would be hugely unfair to compare this story to The Phantom Menace. Whilst the initial idea surrounding these alien's politics and religion and had some intrigue, it is always hard to relay this kind of otherworldly administration to a mostly human audience. What makes The Curse of Peladon a more enjoyable piece of fiction is that it is only a four part story in a series that has a huge amount of variety, this story is a different genre from what immediately has come before it and keeps the show fresh.