The Curse of Peladon (TV story)

"Klokleda partha mennin klatch, haroon haroon haroon..."

- The Doctor

The Curse of Peladon was the second story of the ninth season of the 1963 version 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

 * 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 - Gordon St. Clair
 * Aggedor - Nick Hobbs
 * Guard Captain - George Giles
 * Amazonia - Wendy Danvers

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Ros Anderson
 * Costumes - Barbara Lane
 * Designer - Gloria Clayton
 * Fight Arranger - Terry Walsh, PROFILE
 * Film Cameraman - Fred Hamilton, Peter Sargent
 * Film Editor - Michael Sha-Dyan
 * Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
 * Make-Up - Sylvia James
 * Producer - Barry Letts
 * Production Assistant - Chris D'Oyly-John
 * Script Editor - Terrance Dicks
 * Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Howard King
 * Studio Sound - Tony Millier
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Bernard Wilkie, Ian Scoones

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, playing King Peladon, shared a flat with future Doctor Colin Baker at this time. Three decades later, Troughton would again guest star in DW: Midnight.

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

 * BBC Television Centre (Puppet Theatre and Studio 4), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * How and when exactly did the Doctor find out that Hepesh had obtained his live Aggedor specimen from a 'high mountain', as he explains to the surviving delegates at the start of Episode Four? It was a logical assumption. After all, the animal had to have come from somewhere and then been trained.


 * The Doctor is nearly hit by the swinging secret passage door in Episode One. If it's a secret door, he probably couldn't predict how it would open.


 * Jo's hair straightens when she climbs back into the citadel.


 * Why don't the delegates use Arcturus' radio? Perhaps Arcturus' radio was built into his traction unit, and it was destroyed along with him in the blast from Ssorg's sonic gun.


 * There's only one bed in the Ice Warriors' quarters. Ssorg may simply be accommodated elsewhere in the citadel.


 * If Alpha Centauri's a hexapod, how does it walk? It might have a slimy 'foot' like a snail. The bottom of Centauri is covered by cloth.


 * 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. But the Doctor is not called "Earth" and Izlyr is not called "Mars". The Doctor and Izlyr introduce themselves by names, hence those names are used. They are still called "the delegate from..." at times, which is consistent with Alpha Centauri and Arcturus being referred to by the name of the places they represent. Peladon, of course, actually has the same name as his planet.


 * The corpse of High Priest Hepesh is visibly breathing.


 * Arcturus looks, sounds and even has a similar weapon to the Daleks (There is little resemblance, however there's no reason to assume that some similarity in technology is an inconsistency.)


 * When the tardis falls, aside from the obvious fact of there being a model, there is no sign of the Doctor or Jo.


 * Why does the Ice Warrior jump to the conclusion that the doctor is the Earth delegate? (He is a stranger who looks like an Earthling, and they are expecting the Earth delegate to arrive.)


 * A decision for the galactic federation can be made with only FOUR (and after Arcturus dies THREE) people? (They are the duly appointed representatives of their governments.)


 * From the end of episode 3 to the beggining of 4, the Doctor has magically managed to climb out of the pit without help. (He climbed.)

Continuity

 * There are three sequels; DW: The Monster of Peladon (which is a sequel to this story), BFA: The Bride of Peladon (which follows chronologically) and NA: Legacy (which follows on from all chronologically).
 * The Ice Warriors previously appeared in DW: The Ice Warriors and DW: The Seeds of Death (in both cases the antagonists).
 * The Doctor previously uttered his Venusian Lullaby in DW: The Dæmons. In the 1990s, a novel, Venusian Lullaby would be named after this song; the melody of the song is that of the Christmas carol "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen", which would later be featured in the 2008 special DW: The Next Doctor.
 * PDA: The Face of the Enemy occurs co-current with the events of this story.
 * This is only the second serial to feature a TARDIS flight since the Doctor's regeneration.

DVD, Video and Other Releases
Video Releases

Released as Doctor Who: The Curse of Peladon

Released:


 * UK August 1993
 * Australia November 1993
 * US September 1995

DVD Release
 * This serial was released in Region 2 in January 2010 as a part of a boxed set called Peladon Tales, along with The Monster of Peladon.

Novelisation

 * Main article: Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon


 * Novelised as Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon in 1975 by Brian Hayles.