THE CURSE OF PELADON

Written by Brian Hayles.

Directed by Lennie Mayne.

Transmitted originally: 29 January to 19 February 1972.

"I wanted to save our world...to preserve the old ways. Perhaps I was wrong, Peladon. I hope so. Your future, which you set so much store by, is yours now." (Hepesh)"

THE STORY

The Doctor and Jo make a test flight in the TARDIS and arrive on the planet Peladon, close to the citadel of the soon to be crowned King Peladon. The planet is being judged for membership of the Galactic Federation. The Doctor is mistaken for the Chairman of the assessing committee and Jo for an Earth princess. The other members of the committee, Alpha Centurai, Arcturus and the Martian delegate Izlyr and his subordinate Ssorg are concerned about the news of the death of Torbis, the King's Chancellor, who says Hepesh, the High Priest has apparently been killed by the spirit of Aggedor, the royal beast of Peladon. The Doctor at first suspects the Martian Ice Warriors are behind the sabotage of the committee's work, but is then himself framed for an attack on Arcturus and tricked into entering the sacred temple of Aggedor, a crime for which the punishment is death...

Izlyr pledges his support for the Doctor and Peladon grants the Time Lord the right to trial by combat, with the King's Champion, Grun. It is revealed that Hepesh and Arcturus have conspired to prevent Peladon from entering the Federation. Ssorg kills Arcturus, but Hepesh escapes and gathers his forces to overthrow the King. The Doctor, who has discovered that Aggedor is really only an animal trained by Hepesh attempts to stop the civil war, but the High Priest is killed by Aggedor. The King, saddened by the loss, prepares for his coronation. The Doctor and Jo, looking forward to the ceremony are forced to make a hasty exit in the TARDIS when the real delegate from Earth appears.

CAST:

The Doctor (Jon Pertwee), Jo Grant (Katy Manning), Peladon (David Troughton), Hepesh (Geoffrey Toone), Torbis (Henry Gilbert), Izlyr (Alan Bennion), Ssorg (Sonny Caldinez), Alpha Centauri (Stuart Fell), Voice of Alpha Centauri (Ysanne Churchman), Arcturus (Murphy Grumbar), Voice of Arcturus (Terry Bale), Grun (Gorden St. Clair), Aggedor (Nick Hobbs), Guard Captain (George Giles), Amazonia (Wendy Danvers).

FACTS:

This was the third story to feature the Ice Warriors, foes from the era of the Second Doctor. They went on to further appear in the sequel to this story 'The Monster of Peladon'.

David Troughton, who played King Peladon is the son of former Doctor Patrick Troughton.

The TARDIS's arrival on Peladon is assumed by the Doctor to the be the work of the Time Lords, once again using him as their 'errand boy'.

OTHER FORMATS:

The Third Doctor Novelisations

Third Doctor Videos

Audio Adaptions

Back to the Third Doctor Programme Guide Back to 'Day of the Daleks'.Forward to 'The Sea Devils'.