The Monster of Peladon

The Curse of Peladon is perhaps a surprising choice of story to write a sequel to – had another Pealdon story never been written I doubt fans would be clamouring for it, I am however glad that this story exists. Ever since The Three Doctors the show has felt more comfortable revisiting its own history and building on its mythos. In this case we get the rare treat of seeing the consequences of The Doctor's actions explored fifty years later.

It was a relief to see Sarah Jane's character enhabiting more of her original purpose in this story. She is a tough advocate of the women's liberation who wants to make a difference on Peladon (even if this is not handled particularly subtly). With modern eyes there is an interesting tension between the stories' mission statement to promote women's capabilities and the fact that The Doctor spends the story babying and talking over Sarah Jane, who pretty consistently accepts it with good nature. This isn't a major criticism, it is a huge improvement on Death to the Daleks, but when there are only a handful of women in a cast full of men it is difficult to not address the way women are represented in the show. Especially when the promotion of women's rights is a significant feature of the plot! Women's issues aren't the only problem here, it is a worry that most of the working class characters in this are complete idiots who don't know what's good for them!

I like the way the Ice Warriors are portrayed here, as an overbearing political force which puts minor colonies under extreme pressure. It furthers the 1970s EEC allegory from the initial Peladon story, looking at where political agreements can go wrong. This kind of real world evil makes them a more relatable and possibly more menacing threat to the audience.

Eckersley's reveal as a villain (or a character who doesn't care about Peladon either way) is nicely handled and was not entirely suspected. The aliens looked good with the exception of the new wooden faced creature in episode one (wonky eyes!). It would perhaps have been good to see some more new aliens as bar from the wooden faced man it was a partial selection of those seen in The Curse of Peladon.

The Doctor's (almost) death scene is wonderful. I really believe Sarah Jane's relationship with him, they have come a long way in four stories. This works as good foreshadowing for the next story - there are huge changes to come.

As with a lot of six partners this could lose a couple of episodes - but it was a good addition to the series.

A win for feminism, miners' rights, and the space European Union, but ultimately not enough Alpha Centauri