Peladon: Review

I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of the Peladon stories. Curse of Peladon is alright, The Monster of Peladon is a snooze fest and even books like The Virgin New Adventure, Legacy, wasn’t that great. So in celebration of the anniversary of The Curse of Peladon, seeing a box set comprising four stories set in different eras of Peladon didn’t really appeal to me, not even the news of the extensive guest cast including Alex Kingston, Colin Baker, Bonnie Langford and Paul McGann.

So it was with some trepidation and low expectations that I went into this set, determined to give it a go. The Ordeal of Peladon sees the return of David Troughton as King Peladon, the same character he played way back in 1972’s Curse. Jonathan Barnes and Richard Valentine co handle writing duties in a tightly written story which sees an elderly King Peladon try to keep hold of power while his people fall under the power of a man called Skarn, a fisherman who has gained strange abilities.

What was nice though was that the court intrigue was still largely going on, with Peladon having to face off against his court advisors as well as Skarn. Taking a leaf out of real history, he disguises himself and goes undercover amongst his people. He sees the true face of Peladon and Barnes and Valentine make sure to give him a few sobering moments as he comes down from his ivory tower. What was quite good about Peladon was that after his visit from the Third Doctor and Jo Grant, King Peladon seemed to be more aware of the problems of his people than previous rulers and indeed, as this set proves, future rulers.

David Troughton puts in a fantastic performance here, easily being sympathetic, while feeling like he is carrying the struggles of an entire planet on his shoulders, and he reminds us why he was one of the best things in The Curse of Peladon story. Also putting in a surprisingly good performance is Nicholas Briggs as the Ice Warrior, Lord Ixmari, who just so happens to turn up when Peladon has gone missing. Ixmari proves a good comedic foil for Peladon and is perhaps Brigg’s best performance as an Ice Warrior yet. And in running away, both Ixmari and Peladon end up having more fun than they’ve had for years.

The Ordeal of Peladon is a cracking opening for the set and also features a surprise cameo from a popular and a highly in-demand Doctor, and gives us a nice look at the life and times of King Peladon of Peladon.

The second story of the set The Poison of Peladon takes place in the court of Queen Thalira, who also appeared on screen in The Monster of Peladon, though this time played by Deborah Findlay rather than Nina Thomas. What surprised me was that despite being a Doctor Who story, all four of these stories feel rather more grown-up than I expected. No more so in the flirting between River Song and Alpha Centuri. In The Monster of Peladon, Thalira promised to make conditions in Peladon’s mines better and to her credit, that has been kept, but something still isn’t well and Alpha Centuri and Ribble of Arcturus have been ordered by the Galactic Federation to investigate. And then there is the Queen new High Priestess, who seems to interfere a lot more than she should do.

Lizzie Hopley’s script is laden with commentary on exploitation and the story does take a dark twist towards the end and its look at the concept and idea of slavery prove for a sobering experience. It’s interesting because slavery and exploitation is something which hasn’t gone away in modern times and Hopley doesn’t give our characters any easy solutions, which makes for a tense and often thought-provoking listen.

But she makes sure to include plenty of humour into the proceedings. Despite Big Finish’s seeming need to include River Song in almost everything they do, Alex Kingston continues to prove a fantastic addition to the Doctor Who audio world. Kingston is clearly having a ball here, getting to play the hero and without the Doctor in sight, River gets to be a little more proactive and solve problems in her own unique way, which usually leaves a little mess. But her friendship with Alpha Centuri, played by Jane Goddard is a lot of fun. Some of this is the sort of humour that they might not get away with on-screen, especially given how Centuri might be take to look like! But River and Centuri prove to be a great pairing and you’ll be wishing for a lot more from the pair by the time the story ends.

The Sixth Doctor and Mel arrive on Peladon just as a bomb goes off in one of the mines, causing a huge disaster. Mark Wright’s story, The Death of Peladon, feels like its taken inspiration from the real-life 1966 coal mine disaster in Aberfan. Of course, if you aren’t familiar with that real-life disaster, it doesn’t matter, Wright makes sure there is enough going on here to enjoy otherwise.

I liked how this story was set after the time of Erimem’s reign when she left at the end of the Fifth Doctor audio, The Bride of Peladon. It’s a shame that for many reasons, Erimem couldn’t come back but picking up with her daughter and granddaughter makes for an interesting listen. I wasn’t too happy with their characters, but I suppose that’s the point. Erimem was a Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt so you’d hope that some of that might have come off in her descendants. Unfortunately for Peladon, it didn’t and the royal family aren’t interested in anything that their people do. Even Peladon’s famous mines have fallen silent, long spent of the Trisilocate they used to hold.

I’ve already alluded to how this story feels like a look at the Aberfan disaster. What is also interesting is that the Royal Family respond in a similar way to the Royal Family in real life, who seemed to express a complete disinterest in what had happened, sparking outrage from millions. But Wright does offer some commentary on whether it would be a good idea for people to travel to the disaster site and be seen amongst that much devastation and tragedy, or if they would be more use kept away. Once again, there are no easy answers and it’s left to the listener to decide for themselves. Especially as the treatment in this story of the royal family doesn’t go too well. Not even the Doctor and Mel or even Alpha Centuri can really do anything.

At times this story is a hard listen, with little humour carried over from the previous stories. And I kept being distracted by Liz White’s distinctive voice as she’d also played Annie Cartwright in Life on Mars, I just kept waiting for her to break into that character!

The set comes to a close with Tim Foley’s story The Truth of Peladon, which sees the Eighth Doctor finally seem to start a revolution that will change everything. Again, Foley delivers a tense and dark script, one that might not prove a nice listen for anyone who’s having a bad day. With Peladon little more than a devastated wasteland, people starving and a police state not allowing the inhabitants to even think for themselves, the Eighth Doctor has no choice but to put his foot down.

Its shows Peladon in what seems like a dystopian future, having been stripped of all its mineral wealth, its populace poisoned by the mineral that they once mined and asks the question, how do you save a planet and people that don’t want saving? What I really liked here was that this was a Doctor at the end of his tether. He says that Peladon is one of his favourite planets but its a world that refuses to change.

Actually, maybe that’s why I have never liked Peladon stories, it’s a planet that refuses to change its ways. But it was nice to hear Paul McGann getting a chance to play a much darker version of his Doctor, perhaps he’s starting to get jaded thanks to the time-war stuff. He seems almost cruel in his mission to teach Peladon and those in charge a lesson. But in manipulating a single person into conducting the actions he had set up, seems a little cowardly and hypocritical. This is without a doubt, the darkest I’ve ever found the Eighth Doctor.

The Truth of Peladon makes for a great and tense listen. With a fantastic performance from guest actor Jason Watkins, who makes for an excellent foil to the Doctor, it’s a story I thoroughly enjoyed. Foley is never afraid to let things get dark in his storytelling and I’ve really loved many of his scripts for Big Finish and once again he delivers a script with some hard-hitting topics for discussion and gives it a Doctor Who twist, working the formula for a brilliant story perfectly.

With a boxset as strong as this, its perhaps a surprise to learn that I’ve never liked any of the stories we’ve had set on the planet in any medium. But I was pleasantly surprised by these four stories. Ranging from grand operas to comedy, to some dark-dark places, it takes the planet of Peladon and makes it feel fresh again. Let’s not forget that in the show, Peladon was an allegory for England joining the EU but all these years later, those allegories still haven’t gotten old and as this set demonstrates, there are still plenty of stories to be told on this world.

For what feels like a standalone release, I’m almost hoping this isn’t the end of Peladon in this format.