| Production Code: YYY
First Transmitted
Cast
Crew
Plot Outline from Wikipedia On the planet Peladon a power struggle is in place between the trisilicate miners and the ruling class, with miners under the leadership of Gebek and hot-headed Ettis calling for improved conditions. The planet’s ruler Queen Thalira, daughter of the late King Peladon, is sympathetic, but knows her planet is vital to supply the war effort of the Galactic Federation of which it is a member. The Federation is in conflict with the warlike Galaxy Five confederation. The Pels become concerned when a vision of Aggedor, the royal beast, starts appearing in the mines and killing miners, including the alien engineer Vega Nexos. Chancellor Ortron tries to convince the Queen this is a sign of displeasure at the alien presence on the planet, but she remains unconvinced. Another alien presence reaches the Citadel: the TARDIS, bearing the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith. He recalls his visit to Peladon fifty years earlier when the planet joined the Galactic Federation, and is pleased to find a familiar face in Alpha Centauri, the Federation Ambassador. The Queen knows of the Doctor from her father and enlists his support in trying to find the cause of the manifestations of Aggedor. He guesses someone is deliberately trying to interrupt trisilicate production, and they seem to have succeeded when the miners decide to strike. Ettis then leads an attack on the Federation armoury and gets weapons for the striking miners. This looks like damaging trisilicate supplies even further, so Engineer Eckersley, a human in charge of the refinery, sends for Federation troops to help restore order. Both the miners and the Pel leaders are unhappy with the notion of Federation occupation, especially when the Ice Warrior force displays its ruthlessness in shooting down Pels. The sole concern of the force leader, Commander Azaxyr, is to maintain trisilicate production. There is now a realignment in Pel politics: Ortron and Gebek join forces in seeking to rid the planet of the Martians. Ettis, however, has become crazed and is killed trying to blow up the Citadel. The Ice Warriors now impose martial law on the capital, imprisoning the Queen and her courtiers, and even killing Ortron when he tries to flee. The truth is now revealed: Azaxyr and Eckersley are both Galaxy Five agents and have engineered the crisis and occupation as a means to control the trisilicate supply. The Aggedor apparition was just an image created to support the panic. Gebek now leads the Pels in a final assault on the Ice Warriors, and Azaxyr and the other invaders are killed. Eckersley himself is killed by the real Aggedor when he attacks the Queen, though sadly the beast dies in the process. News now reaches Peladon that Galaxy Five has capitulated, its Peladon strategem exhausted, and Queen Thalira seeks to repair Pel society when she appoints Gebek her new Chancellor. As ever, the Doctor and Sarah slip away quietly.
Analysis by Cuisle A contemporary critic joked that while the first Peladon adventure parodied the UK entry into Europe, this one parodies the miners strikes that were ongoing at the time. possibly there is something in that. If so it was not a sympathetic view of their cause. The miners come across as the least important contingent in a complicated plot that assumes the viewer remembers the events of the previous adventure several years before. Personally, I recall liking both Peladon stories because of the many different aliens involved and the Aggedor creature itself. Looking back at both stories now, however, the first was definitely the best one. The main difference between the first and second story is that the companion has changed. Jo has given way to Sarah Jane, who unashamedly goes into the fray, introducing her feminist ideas to the queen of Peladon, who, it has to be said, needed a few pointers. For a woman who rules a planet, she seemed far too much under the influence of her male advisors. At least she recognised The Doctor as one who could advise her well. The first GOOD decision she had made. All the critics agree that one of the best scenes in the story was when Sarah thought The Doctor had been killed. I recall feeling some of her panic at the time, although the old standard line ehe canft be dead hefs listed in next weekfs Radio Timesf did tend to take the sting out of such cliffhangers. With a well-publicised and not so eagerly awaited regeneration imminent, though, we couldnft quite take that for granted. All, however, worked out all right this time, through The Doctorfs ability to switch off his body in dangerous situations and to recover from injuries that WOULD kill anyone else. These abilities have been revealed in far more detail in the more
recent stories than in the past. The alien nature of The Doctor seems
to have been emphasised much more. He has now used his power of remedial
meditation to mend his body several times, and his psychic powers
have been used more than once. In the earliest stories, with William
Hartnell, if we werenft told from time to time that he is not
Human it would not have been obvious. The Doctor suffered all the
frailties of an elderly Human, including chest problems and tiredness
when required to walk too far. Patrick Troughtonfs Doctor didnft
resort very often to his alien nature, either. But now, with Jon Pertwee,
he is very much an alien being, though one with an affinity with the
Human race. Although The Doctor is never a Superman doing fantastic
things that defy physics, we are much more aware from here on of the
fact that he is not of our world. The more so in the Tom Baker era
when we finally see his world properly.
|
 |
 |
 |