The Monster of Peladon

Directed by

Exile on Earth, Working for UNIT

Runtime

150 minutes

Time Travel

Future

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

Alien Delegates, By Royal Command, Caste Society, Consequences, Controlling the Beast, Ghosts, LGBTQA+, Mining, Monster Vision, Political commentary

Story Arc (Potential Spoilers!)

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Peladon

Synopsis

The Doctor returns to Peladon, fifty years after his last visit, to find Queen Thalira, daughter of the late King Peladon, on the throne. A tense labour dispute between the Pel nobility and miners is worsened when apparitions of their deity Aggedor attack and kill several miners. The Galactic Federation desperately needs trisilicate for its war against Galaxy 5 and sends in brutal Ice Warrior troopers to ensure production. The Doctor soon discovers a devious plot at the heart of Aggedor's appearances...

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6 Episodes

Part One

First aired

Saturday, March 23, 1974

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

9.2 million

Synopsis

The planet Peladon, some time in the future. Mining disputes threaten the peace of the planet, and as the Doctor and Jo arrive, it seems that the ghost of Aggedor walks once more...

Part Two

First aired

Saturday, March 30, 1974

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

6.8 million

Synopsis

The Doctor is rescued by Gebek, prompting him to try and help the miners, but his advice results in Ettis launching another attack on the armoury.

Part Three

First aired

Saturday, April 6, 1974

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.4 million

Synopsis

The Doctor and Sarah pacify Aggedor and the Doctor encourages the Queen to make peace with the miners, but Ortron soon has him under arrest again.

Part Four

First aired

Saturday, April 13, 1974

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.2 million

Synopsis

The Ice Warriors take control of the planet and force the miners to return to work but Ettis takes the opportunity to try and destroy the citadel.

Part Five

First aired

Saturday, April 20, 1974

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.5 million

Synopsis

Sarah and Alpha Centauri decide to try and alert the Federation to what the Ice Warriors are up to but first they have to escape from the throne room.

Part Six

First aired

Saturday, April 27, 1974

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

8.1 million

Synopsis

The Doctor turns the Aggedor spirit against the Ice Warriors to aid the Peladonians in their battle but Eckersley attacks him with the security system.

Characters

Third Doctor

Jon Pertwee

Sarah Jane Smith

Elisabeth Sladen

How to watch The Monster of Peladon:

Watch on iPlayer

DVD

Peladon Tales

VHS

The Monster of Peladon (VHS)

Reviews
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7 reviews

This review contains spoilers!

C'est un épisode très intéressant. Il est vrai qu'il peut paraître long mais ça reste super divertissant. L'histoire des Peladons c'est incroyable de base.

L'histoire très complotiste dont Le Docteur est obligé de s'en mêler pour contraire.

Sarah Jane est un peu insupportable à pleurer et j'ai l'impression qu'elle n'a un peu servit à rien.

La reine de Peladon est très bien. C'est un retour très réussi. Néanmoins, il aurait fallut que cette histoire se fasse avec un autre Docteur, pour que cela aurait mieux marcher.

J'adore l'idée que les Ice Warriors redeviennent les antagonistes, en plus le chef de la sécurité (notez tout de fois qu'on ne voit pas la sécurité œuvrer au fil du temps des épisodes).

J'adore l'idée du culte d'Aggedor. Un peu triste que le Haroon soit fait qu'une seule fois dans cette épisode.

J'ai très bien aimé le conseiller Ortron, qui rappelle étrangement Hepesh, conseiller complotiste qui se fait bien voir devant le Roi (ou la Reine) et que dès qu'il est ailleurs, il fait de lui même les prises de positions. Ce serait bien de savoir si Ortron a un lien familial avec Hepesh ou non.

C'est un épisode qui ne peut pas être vu sans avoir regardé The Curse of Peladon et bien sûr sans avoir vu l'introduction de Sarah Jane, The Time Warrior.

This is a very interesting episode. It's true that it may seem long but it remains very entertaining. The story of the Peladons is incredible from the start.

A very conspiratorial story which the Doctor is obliged to interfere in to oppose it.

Sarah Jane is a bit unbearable with her crying, and I feel like she was a bit useless.

The queen of Peladon is very good. It's a very successful return. Nevertheless, it should have been done with a different Doctor, for it to have worked better.

I love the idea that the Ice Warriors become the antagonists again, plus the head of security (note however that we do not see the security operating over the course of the episodes).

I love the idea of the cult of Aggedor. A bit sad that Haroon is only made once in this episode.

I really liked the advisor Ortron, who strangely reminds me of Hepesh, a conspiratorial advisor who gets himself seen in a good light in front of the King (or Queen) and who, when elsewhere, takes positions on his own. It would be good to know if Ortron has a family connection with Hepesh or not.

This is an episode that cannot be viewed without having watched The Curse of Peladon and of course without having seen the introduction of Sarah Jane, The Time Warrior.

(Translation generated by AI, so mistakes are possible).

Voyager

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Review last edited on 22-05-25

Good to see a sequel. Alpha Centori is back again and has a lot to do tbf. The civil war is fine. Most of the cast is fine. As I've said before, I'm not a fan of the Ice Warriors, and i still think the regular ice soldiers are boring, but the commander was fine. This is also one that the six parts do feel too long.

Scottybguud

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Review last edited on 8-05-25

I've been pretty mixed on Sarah Jane up until this point, but this story completely turned me around on her, largely due to Elizabeth Sladen's phenomenal performance.

Only one Third Doctor serial left!

A+. Maybe A.

Azurillkirby

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Review last edited on 14-03-25

This review contains spoilers!

I've found listening to the audiobooks of the novelisations has helped me focus some of my thoughts about this story. I've always enjoyed it in the past and was of the general opinion it wasn't as bad as received wisdom suggested and that it had lots of good elements.

I was hoping my Peladon-centric rewatch would confirm this but sadly, I found myself a bit bored this time round and I've been pondering why whilst listening to the audiobook (which so far is a scene by scene retread of the TV version with nothing added, as far as I can tell, so far).

The Monster of Peladon is, sadly, a pale retread of Curse for the simple reason that it takes the setting, the characters and the atmosphere of Curse and dispenses with every single interesting aspect.

Curse has various alien delegates bickering and scheming. Monster kills the most interesting one off before the first episode has finished and just leaves us wih Centauri and Eckersley.

Curse has Centauri being a prissy, yet effective poltician. Monster has Centauri being a quivering nervous wreck, even more easily pressured into making bad decisions than it was in Curse. It also - bizarrely - has a worse 'costume' (the thickness of the curtain makes Centauri look clunky).

Curse has the glorious twist that the Ice Warriors are goodies. Now obviously that couldn't be repeated here but just making all the Warriors baddies is hugely lazy. Why not have a contingent of 'good' Martians turn up and discover a faction of bad Warriors and have the conflict between them - rather than stupidly-haired miners doing the same thing episode after episode - attack the armoury, run through the tunnels, get killed by the Aggedor ghost, run through the tunnels, get angry and cheer, run through the tunnels etc. Imagine the Warriors discovering a traitor in their midst in league with Eckersley. That could have been much more effective than what we got.

Curse has a brilliant role for Jo with her relationship with the King. Monster has Sarah bouncing between the control room and the tunnels with alarming repetition, being taken hostage by a succession of characters and believing the Doctor to be dead more than across the episodes. The glimmers of good stuff for her are in her throne room scenes - realising how they can get rid of the Federation troops and, significantly, giving Thalira a pep-talk about women's lib. Her role in the story - and Thalira's for that matter - could have been hugely improved by pairing them off and having them drive the plot in the palace while the Doctor was focussed on the efforts of the miners and the mystery of the Aggedor ghost. As it is, Sarah does very little in the story and isn't aided by being written as quite unpleasant in some parts (such as her reaction to Centauri).

Monster really does seem lazy and repetitive both of Curse and within its own episodes. There is good stuff and some great performances - Rex Robinson is good and Nina Thomas was better than I remember but it is definitely a step down from The Curse of Peladon.

The more I think about it, the more I think I need to drop my rating.

deltaandthebannermen

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Review last edited on 26-11-24

Don’t think I enjoyed this story so much more then I did I used to hate it now it’s fine character development right here

Rock_Angel

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Review last edited on 24-11-24