The Ordeal of Peladon (audio story)

The Ordeal of Peladon was the first story in the Peladon audio anthology, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Jonathan Barnes & Robert Valentine and featured David Troughton as King Peladon, Jane Goddard as Alpha Centauri and David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.

Publisher's summary
When King Peladon hears of a holy man with seemingly magical powers and the gift of foresight, he resolves to discover the truth of it for himself. But his quest to understand the shifting loyalties of his people is one from which he cannot return unchanged.

Plot
Skarn is told by a voice to "save the girl" for the good of Peladon. He arrives at the house of Harfair and tells her that he has been sent by the Old Gods to help her daughter, who is, according to the wise, beyond all help. Although hesitant, knowing that he is considered mad, Harfair invites him in.

King Peladon gets agitated by constantly hearing about the wandering prophet Skarn and talks about him and his claim to hear the Old Gods with Lord High Advisor Raarlan, who insists that he has does not need to worry about society regressing to the old ways. Raarlan offers to have Skarn removed, but King Peladon will order no such thing and simply wants to know more about the prophet and why he attracts the people. He realises that he does not recognise the servant serving him his wine and demands to know who she is; she says that she is Harfair and that she has a message from Skarn.

Skanlar awakens Ixmari from his hibernation as they have almost arrived at Peladon.

Harfair says that she is a disciple of Skarn and that he has a warning for the people of Peladon; he says that the Pels are taking the wrong path and diverting from the true faith. Harfair asks King Peladon to go with her to meet Skarn, but Raarlan has her arrested.

Ixmari, on his final inspection assignment, contacts Alpha Centauri to let them know that they have almost arrived. Ixmari does not like that the Galactic Federation has a member planet which is as superstitious and feudal as Peladon is, but Alpha Centauri warns him that the mission is important and that he should not underestimate King Peladon.

King Peladon retires to his chambers, accompanied by Raarlan, and notices that his advisor knows a lot more about Skarn and his followers than he claimed to. Raarlan makes an excuse and, when King Peladon mentions that Harfair wanted him to meet Skarn, he says that he would not allow such a meeting to take place. The King says that a listener would get the impression that Raarlan was the one in charges and threatens to replace him if he keeps information from him again.

In her cell, Harfair prays to the Old Gods for liberation so that she might serve them and her saviour, Skarn. The King arrives, having knocked out the guard outside of his chambers with a technique taught to him by an old friend, and frees her, both of them dressing up in disguises to escape the castle. Skarn is, Harfair says, waiting for them at Antonar and that they will have to make the journey there on foot to avoid attracting attention. King Peladon is unhappy with being gone for so long, but gives in.

Raarlan is informed by his guard captain that the King and Harfair have disappeared and orders that the King be returned at all costs.

In range of the Citadel of Peladon, Ixmari opens communication and do not receive a response. He has Skanlar scan for King Peladon's signature and finds that he is not at the Citadel, which he finds strange and wonders if he has been deposed. Raarlan contacts them and says that this is not an appropriate time for an investigation, claiming that the King is ill with a fever. Ixmari knows that the King is missing and catches Raarlan out in his lie.

King Peladon, who wonders how much Raarlan really has kept from him, asks Harfair to tell him everything that she knows about Skarn.

Ixmari offers Raarlan his assistance in locating King Peladon and says that, should they be unable to locate him in one solar cycle, Peladon will fail its inspection. Ixmari tells Skanlar that they will give Raarlan an hour to search and, if he does not find him in that time, they will descend and begin searching themselves.

The King and Harfair arrive at the Valley of Antonar and head across the salt flats towards the village. Harfair tells the King that Skarn was once an ordinary fisherman, but he was changed when he almost drowned in a storm at the Great Lake of Undoing and was miraculously saved. From then on, he heard the voices of the Old Gods. King Peladon has not heard of the lake before but says that, for some reason, the name seems familiar to him. When he suggests that Skarn might have simply been changed by the near-death experience, Harfair tells him that he saved her daughter with his powers and that, afterwards, Antonar was visited by someone from beyond the sky. Before she can finish, they notice brigands on horseback and flee.

Raarlan and his captain head off to Antonar in search of the King, Raarlan surmising that he will have gone with Harfair to see Skarn. He wants the King returned and Harfair killed.

King Peladon runs out of breath and tells Harfair to run and save herself. However, they are saved by the arrival of a spacecraft. Once the brigands have fled, Ixmari disembarks and tells the King about the inspection and that he will return him to the Citadel, but the King says that he must meet with Skarn and invites Ixmari to join them. He agrees, telling Skanlar to wait on the ship.

The trio arrive at Antonar and Harfair commands the people to seize the King and Ixmari. They are locked up to await a meeting with Skarn, but Ixtari has a laser sword which he uses to free them both. They escape into the street and the King says that he will not leave for Ixtari's ship until he has spoken with Skarn. They find his house and meet Skarn, who knew that they would come of their own volition and takes them out to the people.

Skarn tells the people that King Peladon is not yet worthy and that he and Ixmari must be driven out of their sight and to be forced to wander in the wilderness without food or water for forty solar cycles so that they will see the truth. With no other option, the King and Ixmari leave whilst Skarn tells Harfair that there is one more thing that she needs to do.

Ixmari tells the King that Skanlar might have taken the ship into orbit so as to keep the Martian technology from being acquired by the Pels. With his communicator having been taken by Skarn's disciples, they have no way of contacting her. Joined by Harfair, who claims to be following them to protect them in the wilderness, they go to the Great Lake of Undoing. The water, which only Skarn is permitted to touch, is red. Ixmari says that it is contaminated by a mineral toxin that he has seen before and, declaring him to be an agent of darkness, Harfair attacks him with a blade.

The captain reports to Raarlan what he has learnt from the brigands and heads back to find somebody to guide them to Antonar.

The King takes Ixmari back to Skarn and begs for his help. He initially refuses, but the King promises to follow him if he can heal him with another miracle. Skarn calls upon the gods, but his prayers go unanswered and Ixmari dies. The King says that this is proof that there are no gods and causes Skarn to question his beliefs, saying that his miracles had all been simple chance and that he was sick because of the water of the lake. However, Skarn says that that does not explain the Doctor and his blue box.

Some time previously, Harfair introduced Skarn to a crowd of non-believers who ask him to perform a miracle. Skarn said that he could do no such thing, but the TARDIS materialised and the Tenth Doctor stepped out. The Doctor had heard of the Holy Man of Peladon and said that Skarn was the poor man who started an age of ignorance. He could not involve himself as it was a fixed point in time and he had been involved in several previous incarnations, so he left, telling Skarn that he was sorry. Having witnessed this, the crowd began to chant Skarn's name.

Raarlan arrives at the village and orders his captain to round up the townspeople and to put guards around the lake. The King returns to the Citadel and is informed by Raarlan some time later that Skarn has died from extreme mineral poisoning. The villagers are to be relocated "for their own safety", conveniently getting them out of the way of the new mining operations beyond the Antonar Ridge (which the King and the Federation were unaware of until now), and Harfair wants to speak to the King again. The King promises to do whatever Raarlan says from now on, but Raarlan says that he is only an advisor.

The King visits Harfair in the cells. She says that Skarn speaks to her in her dreams and that he does not blame the King for the lies that he has supposedly spread. She warns him that eternal chaos is coming for Peladon.

Cast

 * King Peladon - David Troughton
 * Harfair / Skanlar - Moyo Akandé
 * Ixmari - Nicholas Briggs
 * Raarlan - David Sturzaker
 * Skarn / Guard Captain - Ashley Zhangazha
 * Alpha Centauri - Jane Goddard
 * The Doctor - David Tennant

Continuity

 * Raarlan and Peladon talk about leaving a legacy to Thalira. (TV: The Monster of Peladon)