The Curse of Peladon (TV story)

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The Curse of Peladon was the second story of the ninth season of Doctor Who. It introduced the planet of Peladon and the Galactic Federation, both of which would feature in several subsequent stories on television and in other media.

From a production standpoint, Curse was notable for switching broadcast order with the previously-produced Sea Devils. This made it the first Doctor Who story broadcast in a different order to that in which it was made. Though a common enough occurrence in the years that would follow, it had been impossible to broadcast out of production order in the 1960s, due the narrow gap of time between production and broadcast.

Synopsis

The Doctor and Jo make a test flight in the TARDIS and arrive on the planet Peladon. Seeking shelter, they enter the citadel of the soon-to-be-crowned King Peladon, where the Doctor is mistaken for a human dignitary summoned to act as Chairman of a committee assessing an application by the planet to join the Galactic Federation.

Plot

to be added

Cast

Crew

References

Minerals

Music

  • The Doctor hypnotises Aggedor with a Venusian lullaby. (Which goes something along the lines of "Kokleda partha mennin klatch, aroon aroon aroon, Ablarka sheena teerinatch, aroon araan aroon." Which translates as "Close your pretty eyes, my darling - well, three of them at least.")

Organisations

  • Peladon is about to be admitted into the Galactic Federation.

Races and species

  • The Ice Warriors are from Mars.
  • There's only one bed in the Ice Warriors' quarters.
  • The delegates from Alpha Centauri and Arcturus are not called by name or by what they call their own planets but by the Earth designations for their star systems.

Story notes

  • Working titles for this story included: The Curse and then Curse of the Peladons.
  • Ysanne Churchman (Voice of Alpha Centauri) is credited as Voice in Radio Times for Episodes One, Three and Four.
  • Murphy Grumbar (Arcturus) and Terry Bale (Voice of Arcturus) were credited in error in Radio Times for Episode Four.
  • Jon Pertwee sings the Venusian Lullaby to the tune of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen".
  • This story was an allegory of the UK's accession to the Common Market - a highly topical issue at the time of its original transmission.
  • David Troughton, son of the previous Doctor Patrick Troughton, shared a flat at this time with future Doctor Colin Baker. Three decades later, Troughton would again guest star in DW: Midnight.
  • It is heavily implied that the Time Lords were responsible for the Doctor and Jo appearing on Peladon at such a crucial point in the planet's history.
  • The Doctor states that the last coronation he attended was Elizabeth I's ("Or was it Queen Victoria's?" he muses). It was probably Victoria's, as he says in The Shakespeare Code that he hasn't met Elizabeth I yet.

Ratings

  • Episode One - 10.3 million viewers
  • Episode Two - 11 million viewers
  • Episode Three - 7.8 million viewers
  • Episode Four - 8.4 million viewers
According to Barry Letts and Katy Manning, the precipitous drop in ratings betwen episodes 2 and 3 had to do with national power cuts resulting from a coal miners' strike. The BBC tried to compensate for the loss in viewers by ordering that a special recap of episode three was broadcast before the debut of part four. (BBC DVD: The Curse of Peladon)

Myths

  • The natives of the planet Peladon are called Pels. (They are not called by this name here.)
  • Izlyr is an Ice Lord. (Although he is referred to as a Lord, the term 'Ice Lord' is never used.)

Filming locations

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • The Doctor is nearly hit by the swinging secret passage door in Episode One.
  • Jo's hair straightens when she climbs back into the citadel.
  • The corpse of High Priest Hepesh is visibly breathing.
  • When the TARDIS falls, aside from the obvious fact of there being a model, there is no sign of the Doctor or Jo.

Continuity

Timeline

Home video and audio releases

DVD releases

  • This story was first released on DVD in the UK on 4th January 2010 as part of the Peladon Tales Boxset. The one disc set includes a restored version of the story, as well as the following special features:
  • Commentary by Katy Manning (Jo), Barry Letts (Producer), Terrance Dicks (Script Editor), Chris D’Oyly-John (Production Assistant) and Toby Hadoke (Moderator).
  • The Peladon Saga – Part One
  • Warriors Of Mars
  • Jon And Katy
  • Storyboard Comparison
  • Coming Soon Trailer
  • Radio Times Billings
  • Production Subtitles
  • Photo Gallery
  • UK DVD 2010 Cover

    UK DVD 2010 Cover

  • UK DVD 2010 Boxset

    UK DVD 2010 Boxset

VHS releases

Released as Doctor Who: The Curse of Peladon

Released:

Novelisation and its audiobook

Curse of Peladon novel.jpg
Main article: Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon

External links

Template:Season 9

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Ice Warrior stories
For the purposes of this list, an "Ice Warrior story" is one in which one living, authentic Ice Warrior plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story.
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