It’s better then I remember but not by much

The Curse of Peladon is an extremely atmospheric story.  The faux-medieval trappings really work to build a picture of an alien and yet familiar society.  The dark torchlit corridors and almost stifling atmosphere really draw you into the story.

I've always loved Alpha Centauri and the collection of alien delegates are good value (even if Arcturus is a little silly).  Having the Ice Warriors turn out to be 'good guys' is a good twist and allows the Doctor to be seen as just as prejudiced as anyone can be.  It's a good choice for one of the most arrogant Doctors.

Less successful, maybe, are the rather cuddly-looking Aggedor and Grun, the King's Chamption, who I've never been able to take seriously (especially that silly up camera shot of him when the Doctor finds out it is Grun he'll be facing in combat.

It's a good story for Katy Manning too.  Jo gets loads to do including bossing the delegates around, throwing shade at the Doctor while pretending to be a princess and an actually pretty well written romance between her and Peladon.

Good, comfort Doctor Who.

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.

I think The Curse of Peladon is a spectacular outing for the Doctor and exactly the sort of thing I was hoping for after the Doctor was no longer stranded on Earth in then contemporary times. It's full of aliens but also continuity - using the Ice Warriors in a then new and creative way to show a great side to the aliens that would persist in the years to come, while also introducing us to important new characters like Alpha Centauri and even the setting of Peladon itself.

I really like the story and it felt very Doctor Who to me. More about politics and diplomacy than adventure or action. It was great, and better yet I never really found myself bored or at a loss for something to enjoy. The Curse of Peladon is full of cool effect and it feels like they were throwing every trick in the filmmaker's tool kit available to them at the time - lots of green screen, miniatures, and prosthetic are used here to remarkable effect. Sure, not all of it looks totally amazing and the music can be a bit generic, but the serial is full of a feeling of effort to it that I very much appreciate overall.

I will say, The Curse of Peladon does lack a lot for Jo's character to do, and it feels like she doesn't get any of the character moments I found other Third Doctor stories would ensure she got in lesser serials. It's a pretty clear weakness to me of an otherwise pretty outstanding piece of Doctor Who fiction. This is definitely one of the more impressive Third Doctor stories I've encountered to date and a clear candidate for a personal favourite of mine, right up there with stuff like The Sea Devils or Kaleidoscope.

To ask "is The Curse of Peladon good?" is the wrong question, although yes, it was. The more important question is "did I enjoy The Curse of Peladon?", to which the answer is Yes, immensely.

I cannot overstate how thoroughly enamoured I am with the Delegate from Alpha Centauri