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The Curse of Peladon

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Synopsis

The Statue of Aggedor

On its way back to Earth, the TARDIS crash lands on Peladon where strange and violent incidents are threatening to disrupt a conference between visiting delegates from the Galactic Federation and Peladon's King. Is this the feared curse of Peladon and will it force a Galactic war?

Having assumed the guise of Earth delegates, The Doctor and his assistant Jo attempt to diffuse the political timebomb and to uncover the true identity of the beast of Peladon - which they suspect is something far more sinister than a mere paranormal apparition.

Source: BBC VHS Video

General Information

Season:

Nine

Production Code:

MMM

Story Number:

Episode Numbers:

308 - 311

Number of Episodes:

Percentage of Episodes Held:

100%

Working Titles:

"The Curse" and "Curse of the Peladons"

Production Dates:

December 1971 - February 1972

Broadcast Started:

29 January 1972

Broadcast Finished:

19 February 1972

Colour Status:

Colour and B&W

Studio:

BBC Television Centre Puppet Theatre, Ealing Television Film Studios & BBC Television Centre (TC3 and TC4)

Location:

None

Writer:

Brian Hayles

Director:

Lennie Mayne

Producer:

Barry Letts

Script Editor:

Terrance Dicks

Editor:

Michael Sha-Dyan

Production Assistant:

Chris D'Oyly John

Assistant Floor Manager:

Ros Anderson

Designer:

Gloria Clayton

Costume Designer:

Barbara Lane

Make-Up Designer:

Sylvia James

Cameramen:

Fred Hamilton and Peter Sargent

Lighting:

Howard King

Visual Effects:

Bernard Wilkie and Ian Scoones

Fights Arranged By:

PROFILE and Terry Walsh

Incidental Music:

Dudley Simpson

Special Sounds (SFX Editor):

Brian Hodgson

Studio Sounds:

Tony Millier

Title Sequence:

Bernard Lodge and Ben Palmer

Title Music:

Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Delia Derbyshire

Ice Warriors Originally Created By:

Brian Hayles

Number of Doctors:

The Doctor:

Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor)

Number of Companions:

The Companion:

Katy Manning (Jo Grant)

Guest Cast:

David Troughton (Peladon)

Additional Cast:

Geoffrey Toone (Hepesh), Henry Gilbert (Torbis), Alan Bennion (Izlyr), Sonny Caldinez (Ssorg), Stuart Fell (Alpha Centauri), Ysanne Churchman (Voice of Alpha Centauri), Murphy Grumbar (Arcturus), Terry Bale (Voice of Arcturus), Gordon St. Clair (Grun), Nick Hobbs (Aggedor), George Giles (Guard Captain), Wendy Danvers (Amazonia)

Setting:

Planet Peladon

Villain:

High Priest Hepesh

The Episodes

No.	Episodes	Broadcast (UK)	Duration	Viewers (Millions)	In Archive
308	Episode 1	29 January 1972	24'32"	10.3	PAL colour conversion and 16mm B&W telerecording
309	Episode 2	05 February 1972	24'33"	11.0	PAL colour conversion and 16mm B&W telerecording
310	Episode 3	12 February 1972	24'21"	7.8	PAL colour conversion and 16mm B&W telerecording
311	Episode 4	19 February 1972	24'16"	8.4	PAL colour conversion and 16mm B&W telerecording

Total Duration

1 Hour 38 Minutes

Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions)

9.4

Doctor Who Magazine Poll (1998)	70.52% (Position = 66 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)	72.02% (Position = 82 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)	73.18% (Position = 93 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023)	Position = 12 out of 24

Archives

All four episodes exist in colour as PAL conversions, from NTSC 2" colour videotapes, and the original 16mm Black and White film telerecordings.

Notes

"The Curse of Peladon" is the first of two stories that The Doctor visits the planet Peladon. It would later be followed by "The Monster of Peladon" in 1974. This is also the second journey away from Earth for the Third Doctor since his exile by the Time Lords – the first being "Colony in Space".

This story is considered to be an allegory to the United Kingdom’s entry into the European Common Market - a highly topical issue at the time of its original transmission.

Author Brian Hayles previously created the Ice Warriors in the 1967 Second Doctor story "The Ice Warriors". They then returned in "The Seeds of Death" (in both cases they were the antagonists). This is the third of four television stories that they would appear in.

David Troughton, who plays King Peladon, is the son of Patrick Troughton. David Troughton had previously appeared in the Second Doctor stories "The Enemy of the World" and "The War Games". He would also appear in the show again in the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "Midnight".

Geoffrey Toone, who plays Hepesh, previously appeared as Temmosus in the 1965 Amicus Doctor Who film Doctor Who and the Daleks, staring Peter Cushing as Doctor Who.

Sonny Caldinez replaced David Purcell at a late stage as the Ice Warrior called Ssorg.

Longtime extra Stuart Fell provided the body of Alpha Centauri, while Ysanne Churchman provided the voice of the hermaphrodite hexapod; both would return in the sequel story "The Monster of Peladon", along with Alan Bennion and Sonny Caldinez as the Ice Warriors.

The story featured the only on-screen credit for Terry Walsh's short-lived stunt group PROFILE. Terry Walsh had by this point superseded Derek Ware as the show's regular stunt co-ordinator, but would subsequently be credited simply under his own name.

The period of history that both the Peladon stories take place in is not stated on-screen, but the Virgin Books' The New Adventures novel "Legacy" placed them at around the 39th and 40th centuries.

This story is the first time that the Ice Warriors state that they are from Mars.

In this story it is revealed that The Doctor has telepathic empathy with animals and is skilled at spear fighting.

As scripted, the scene where The Doctor soothes Aggedor was to feature The Doctor intoning the Tibetan chant ‘Om mane padme hum’, but it was decided to instead use an expanded version of the Venusian nursery rhyme ‘Kokleda partha mennin klatch aroon aroon aroon, Ablarka sheena teerinatch, aroon araan aroon’ introduced in "The Dæmons" at the end of the previous season. Jon Pertwee sang this to the tune of the Christmas carol "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". The Virgin Books' The Missing Adventures novel "Venusian Lullaby" is named after this song. It would also be featured in the 2008 Christmas special "The Next Doctor".

Amazonia, the real delegate from Earth, is never referred to by name in the actual story. Her name is only given in the closing credits.

The Doctor has re-visited Peladon a further two times: as the Fifth Doctor in the Big Finish Productions audio story "The Bride of Peladon" and then as the Seventh Doctor in the Virgin Books' The New Adventures novel "Legacy" written by Gary Russell. The Big Finish Productions Third Doctor Companion Chronicles story "The Prisoner of Peladon" is told by King Peladon, with David Troughton reprising his role for the first time.

Sadly, like many early Third Doctor stories, the original 625-line master videotapes for this story were wiped around 1975. Thankfully the Black and White 16mm telerecordings had been retained and in 1979 525-line NTSC colour copies were returned to the BBC from Canada. It was found though that the third episode was in a very poor condition. Luckily a copy of a NTSC quad tape was lent to the restoration team by a UK fan enabling all four episodes to be restored.

First and Last

The Firsts:

The first of two stories that The Doctor visits the planet Peladon.

The first time that the Ice Warriors state that they are from Mars.

The first appearance (in a major role) of David Troughton (the Son of Patrick Troughton) in the show.

The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Lennie Mayne

Story Images

Show Text

The Citadel

King Peladon

High Priest Hepesh

Alpha Centauri

The Ice Warriors

In Love

Trying to Save Delegate Arcturus

The Doctor Hypnotises Aggedor

The Doctor and Jo

The Statue of Aggedor

The Doctor and Jo with the Delegates

The Doctor with Alpha Centauri and Lord Izlyr

Quote of the Story

'I don't understand you! One minute you're condemning The Doctor to death and the next you're proposing to me!'

Jo Grant (to Peladon)

Release Information

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Code Number	Cover Art	Remarks
VHS	The Curse of Peladon	August 1993	BBCV 4978	Andrew Skilleter
CD	The Curse of Peladon	November 2007		Photo-montage	Narrated by Katy Manning (Jo Grant) Double CD Release Includes a bonus interview with Katy Manning
DVD	The Curse of Peladon	January 2010	BBCDVD 2744	Photo-montage	Part of the "Peladon Tales" box set along with "The Monster of Peladon"
CD	Classic TV Adventures - Collection One	April 2017		Photo-montage	Part of the "Classic TV Adventures Collection One" Box Set Narrated by Katy Manning (Jo Grant)
Blu-Ray	Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 9 (Limited Edition)	March 2023	BBCBD 0566	Lee Binding	Blu-Ray Limited Edition boxed set containing 5 specially restored stories
Blu-Ray	Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 9 (Standard Edition)	February 2025	BBCBD 0621	Lee Binding	Blu-Ray Standard Edition boxed set containing 5 specially restored stories

In Print

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Publisher	Author	Cover Art	Remarks
Novel	Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon	January 1975	Target No. 13	Brian Hayles	Chris Achilleos	ISBN: 0-426-10452-8 (1st Edition Target Cover)
Novel	Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon	July 1979	Target No. 13	Brian Hayles	Chris Achilleos	ISBN: 0-426-11084-6 (White Logo Cover)
Novel	Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon	July 1980	Target No. 13	Brian Hayles	Chris Achilleos	ISBN: 0-426-20061-6 (Brown Logo Cover)
Novel	Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon	1980	Target No. 13	Brian Hayles	Bill Donohoe	Hardback Version
Novel	The Curse of Peladon	June 1992	Target No. 13	Brian Hayles	Alister Pearson	Virgin new cover reprint. ISBN: 0-426-11498-1
Tape	The Curse of Peladon	1995	BBC Audio	Brian Hayles		Abridged version read by Jon Pertwee. Single Cassette. ZBBC 1768
MP3	Tales From The TARDIS - Volume 1	July 2004	BBC Audio	Brian Hayles	photo-montage	MP3 version read by Jon Pertwee. Release includes 12 stories read by various actors and actresses from the show. ISBN: 0-563-52372-7
CD	Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon	May 2013	Target No. 13	Brian Hayles	Chris Achilleos	Audio version of the Target Novel read by David Troughton.

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time)	Issue 61
Doctor Who Monthly - Archive	Issue 69 (Released: October 1982)
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive	Issue 129 (Released: October 1987)
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive	Issue 215 (Released: August 1994)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team	Issue 329 (Released: April 2003)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team	Issue 330 (Released: May 2003)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction	Issue 381 (Released: May 2007)
Doctor Who DVD Files	Volume 71 (Released: September 2011)

Photo Gallery

The Doctor and Companion

The Third Doctor

Jo Grant

On Release

VHS Video Cover

VIDEO

Soundtrack CD Cover

AUDIO

DVD Cover

VIDEO

Classic TV Adventures Collection One CD Cover

AUDIO

The Collection Season 9 Limited Edition Blu-Ray Cover

VIDEO

The Collection Season 9 Standard Edition Blu-Ray Cover

VIDEO

In Print

Original Target Book Cover

NOVEL

Original Target Book Cover (White Logo Cover)

NOVEL

Original Target Book Cover (Brown Logo Cover)

NOVEL

Hardback Book Cover

NOVEL

Reprinted Virgin Book Cover

NOVEL

Audio Cassette Cover

TAPE

MP3 Cover

MP3

Target Audio CD Cover

Magazines

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time): Issue 61

Doctor Who Monthly - Archive: Issue 69

Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 129

Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 215

Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 329

Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 330

Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 381

Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 71

Who's Who

Who Me

Episodes of the
Third Doctor

Season 9

References

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