 This story is a sequel to the popular 1972 story "The Curse of Peladon". "The Monster of Peladon" however, was a rather unsuccessful analogy to the miners' strikes plaguing Britain in the early 1970s.
Several carryover items were brought into this story to give the same look and feel as the earlier adventure – Producer Barry Letts made a conscious effort to reassemble as much of the crew of "The Curse of Peladon" as possible. Most notably, Lennie Mayne returned as director, having also helmed "The Three Doctors" in between. Many of the sets, props and costumes from the earlier Peladon story were also reused (including Alpha Centauri, Aggedor and Ice Warrior costumes), resulting in tight continuity between the two stories.
Stuart Fell and Ysanne Churchman returned to give life to Alpha Centauri again, while Alan Bennion and Sonny Caldinez returned to play different, more malevolent Ice Warriors (returning them to the villain status they held in Brian Hayles' first two stories featuring Ice Warriors which had been lost in the earlier Peladon story).
This story is set fifty years later than "The Curse of Peladon". The original outline for "The Monster of Peladon" had events following on only a short time after the previous story and included King Peladon and Ortron.
The character played by Roy Evans is credited as 'Miner' on-screen, but is named as Rima in the dialogue.
Even though this is the last televised story set on Peladon the Seventh Doctor would return there in the Virgin Books' The New Adventures story "Legacy" (originally entitled "The Legacy of Peladon") written by Gary Russell. The Fifth Doctor also returns to this world in the Big Finish Productions audio story "The Bride of Peladon".
This is last on-screen appearance of the Ice Warriors (an appearance later in the show, during Season Twenty Three had been planned, but that season was aborted during the 1986 hiatus and their appearance in the story, alternatively entitled "Planet of Storms" or "Mission to Magnus", never took place). A novelisation of "Mission to Magnus" was released by Target Books in 1990, as the third volume of its Missing Episodes series, and as an audio version, starring Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor) and Nicola Bryant (as his companion Peri), by Big Finish Productions in 2010 as part of their "Lost Stories" range. The Ice Warriors also appeared in other Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio stories ("Red Dawn", "Frozen Time", "The Bride of Peladon", "The Judgement of Isskar" and "Prisoner of Peladon" as well as Bernice Summerfield encountering them in the Professor Bernice Summerfield story "The Dance of the Dead"). They have also appeared in various Virgin Books' The New Adventures stories ("Legacy", "Theatre of War", "Happy Endings", "GodEngine" and "The Dying Days").
Having written five previous stories for the show ("The Celestial Toymaker", "The Smugglers", "The Ice Warriors", "The Seeds of Death" and "The Curse of Peladon") "The Monster of Peladon" would become Brian Hayles' last Doctor Who story. He made further submissions to the production office which went unproduced, and continued writing novelisations for Target's line of Doctor Who books. Brian Hayles also scripted a number of films and television programmes, including the supernatural children's drama The Moon Stallion, as well as the radio series The Archers. Sadly Brian Hayles died in October 1978.
Trisilicate, which is mined on Peladon, is a vital component of circuits and heat shields. It was been revealed in the commentary, that accompanied the January 2010 DVD release, that the name of this mineral was named ‘Trisilicate’ because Barry Letts saw it listed on the back of a tube of Boots Toothpaste as one of the ingredients.
The Doctor is heard to repeat the lullaby to calm Aggedor that he first used in "The Curse of Peladon".
The Doctor uses a pen light (also seen in various First Doctor stories, including "An Unearthly Child" and "The Edge of Destruction").
Despite the fact that Izlyr (from "The Curse of Peladon") explained that the Ice warriors have renounced their warlike ways, there still exists, it seems, some renegade break-away groups, including those led by Azaxyr, that still yearn for warfare.
Look out for the fight scene in Part Four which has an obvious shot of Terry Walsh doubling for Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.
Sarah Jane Smith refers to these events in The Sarah Jane Adventures story "The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith".
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The Firsts:
George Gallacio's first involvement in the show as Production Unit Manager.
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(Position = 135 out of 159)
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