375 The Monster of Peladon Part Six

EPISODE: The Monster of Peladon: Part Six
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 375
STORY NUMBER: 073
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 27 April 1974
WRITER: Brian Hayles
DIRECTOR: Lennie Mayne
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 8.1 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Peladon Tales: Curse of Peladon & Monster of Peladon
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"Tell your men to lay down their arms, or the Queen will die!"

The Doctor uses the Aggedor apparition and heat ray to attack the Ice Warriors, destroying all bar Sskel. Aggedor appears before the miners convincing them to side with Gebek. Eckersley deploys the refinery's security system against the Doctor. He sends Sarah to warn Gebek. Eckersley steps the system up to maximum as Azaxyr prepares to ambush the miners, but the Doctor uses Aggedor to kill the remainder of Azaxyr's troops causing him to flee. The Doctor is overcome by the security system and collapses. Sarah forces Eckersley to deactivate the alarm but he escapes. Azaxyr and Sskel hold the queen hostage, but are overcome by the miners and killed. The Queen is taken hostage by Eckersley as he flees to a hidden shuttle. Sarah goes to the refinery and discovers the Doctor is still alive. He fetches Aggedor to track Eckersley & the Queen. Thalira attempts to escape, allowing Aggedor to attack Eckersley but both are killed. Thalira asks the Doctor to stay and become her new chancellor but he declines and nominates Gebek. Alpha Centauri announces that when news of Azaxyr & Eckersley's scheme's collapse was received Galaxy Five sued for peace. Gebek's miners locate the Tardis for the Doctor allowing him & Sarah to leave.

I enjoyed that. Sure it's standard enough fare as the people rise up and overthrow their oppressors with a little help from the Doctor but that's what you want to see a lot of the time. I approached Monster of Peladon with some trepidation due to it's reputation of being Curse's poorer cousin but once again watching episodically reveals that the first three episodes are what drags the story down and that the last three are quite good, albeit pretty standard fight the monsters fare.

There does seem to have been real social change on Peladon though, firstly with the Queen now firmly in control in her own right and not being reliant on or a figurehead for elderly statesmen.

THALIRA: Once again, Peladon owes you a great debt, Doctor, just as in my father's time. But this time, I hope that you'll stay long enough for us to show our gratitude.
DOCTOR: Yes, well, as a matter of fact, your Majesty, I
THALIRA: I shall want your help and your advice, Doctor.
SARAH: Oh, your Majesty. You stood up to Ortron, and to Azaxyr and the Ice Warriors. You don't need anyone's help.
THALIRA: I shall be needing a new Chancellor. I had hoped that you might stay.
DOCTOR: Well, I know just the man, your Majesty. Gebek.
THALIRA: We have the greatest admiration for Gebek, but he has no title. He's only a miner.
SARAH: There's nothing only about being a miner, your Majesty, anymore there was about being a girl.
DOCTOR: It's the man that counts, your Majesty. You can always give him a title.
THALIRA: It seems that all I can give you is my thanks.
DOCTOR: Well, I shall always be grateful for the honour, your Majesty. But I'm quite certain that Gebek is the right man.

Then there's her eventual Chancellor, recommended by the Doctor, with a miner being elevated to high rank.

There's perhaps a little prefiguring of what's to come next story when Sarah finds The Doctor in The Refinery?

SARAH: Oh!
DOCTOR: Tears?
DOCTOR: Anyone would think you thought I was dead.
SARAH: Well, of course I did. You looked dead.
DOCTOR: Well, even I couldn't stand the row from Eckersley's patent alarm system any longer, so I put myself into a complete sensory withdrawal.
SARAH: What?
DOCTOR: Well, a sort of trance. I shut myself off.
SARAH: You did it on purpose? You mean I had all that worry for nothing!
DOCTOR: Well, don't sound so aggrieved. Anybody would think you prefer me dead. Come on, let's go and find the others.

Or did Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks like this bit and choose to echo it during the scene at the end of Planet of Spiders 6?

Max Faulkner, a regular actor and stuntman, receives his second on-screen credit in this episode as a Miner following The Ambassadors of Death where he was a UNIT soldier - he also played a UNIT soldier in Inferno and an Exxilon in Death to the Daleks He'll be back as on of the Guard Captains in the next story, the Planet of the Spiders, a Thal Guard in Genesis of the Daleks, an Astronaut in Planet of Evil, Corporal Adams in The Android Invasion, Doctor Carter's stuntman in The Hand of Fear, which he also was the Fight Arranger on, a Horda Pit Guard in Face of Evil, a Coolie & Policeman in Talons of Weng-Chiang, an Other in The Sun Makers, Nesbin in The Invasion of Time and a guard in Creature from the Pit. In The Prisoner he's the First Horseman in Living in Harmony and the Scots Napoleon in The Girl Who Was Death. He then appears in Space: 1999 as Ted Clifford in Ring Around the Moon, Survivors as Phil in Mad Dog, Blake's 7 as a Death Squad Trooper in Powerplay, God's Wonderful Railway as the Scarecrow in The Permanent Way, The Day of the Triffids episode 2 as Jo's Attacker and twice in Robin of Sherwood as Gisbourne's Helper in The Children of Israel and Oliver in The Power of Albion. In the Pierce Brosnan James Bond film GoldenEye he's a Guard at the Helicopter Show.

One more new Miner this episode Eden Fox, who the DWAS production file says is replacing John Cannon, a miner in earlier episodes, for this episode only. He had previously been a Highlander in The Highlanders, a Man in Firing Squad & Machine Gunner in The War Games, an Axon blob in Claws of Axos and a Scientist in The Time Warrior. In Porridge he was a Prisoner in No Way Out & Rough Justice.

This is the last Doctor Who script from Brian Hayles, who died on October 30th, 1978. In between this story and his death he novelised the Ice Warriors & Curse of Peladon, while Monster of Peladon was eventually novelised by Terrance Dicks in February 1980. Monster of Peladon was the last Pertwee novel released until 1984. I can remember seeking this book out as a youngster, probably soon after I'd seen Curse on the television in the Doctor Who & The Monsters repeat season. I enjoyed it a lot which made my subsequent first encounter with it on video such a struggle. As I've said, watching it episodically in recent years has somewhat redeemed the second half. Some of Hayles' Doctor Who work I struggled with: Celestial Toymaker and bits of the Ice Warriors & Seeds of Death. But I love the Smugglers, one of the better historical tales, and Curse of Peladon, with it's playing with you expectations for the Ice Warriors.

In addition to it being Hayles' last script it's also the last appearance for both Alan Bennion, who's played every "Ice Lord" a term that never is heard on screen, and Sonny Caldinez who's been in every Ice Warrior story as a hulking presence in the background. It's the last time we see Hayles' Martian creations too in the original series of Doctor Who, although they have since made a new series return in 2013's The Cold War, but we'll visit their home shortly in The Pyramids Of Mars.

Monster of Peladon was a double pack video release and later was released on DVD in the Doctor Who - Peladon Tales boxset with Curse of Peladon, one of the more sensible boxset pairings!

Join us next week as we start the last story for Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor: The Planet Of The Spiders.

374 The Monster of Peladon Part Five

EPISODE: The Monster of Peladon: Part Five
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 374
STORY NUMBER: 073
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 20 April 1974
WRITER: Brian Hayles
DIRECTOR: Lennie Mayne
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 7.5 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Peladon Tales: Curse of Peladon & Monster of Peladon
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"Let there be no more of this foolishness. You can see for yourself the results of defying the Ice Warriors!"

Azaxyr orders Eckersley to deactivate the mine's ventilation system forcing the miners to the surface and reduce the temperature so the Warriors can return to the mines. The Doctor has survived the explosion and finds his way to Gebek telling him of the explosion and Ettis' death. Azaxyr puts the entire planet under martial jaw. Trapped in the throne room Thalira, Ortron, Alpha Centauri & Sarah stage an escape but Ortron is killed saving his queen from Sskel's gun and she is recaptured. Alpha Centauri sends a distress call. Sarah use the communication room systems and finds that Eckersley has been colluding with Azaxyr and both are agents of Galaxy Five. Eckersley uses his Aggedor apparition to force the miners from the mine. Sarah discovers the Doctor is alive and goes to the mine to join him at the refinery where the Doctor breaks in. Alpha Centauri reveals Eckersley & Azaxyr's true loyalties to Thalira but lets slip that the Doctor is alive and Sskel is sent to destroy him. The Ice Warriors burn through the refinery door to get to the Doctor, Sarah & Gebek....

That's not a bad episode: put everyone in danger and have the Ice Warriors loom menacingly. There's not a lot else to it apart from the revelation that Eckersley & Azaxyr are working for Galaxy Five. I liked what they did with Ice Warriors in Curse of Peladon by confounding the Doctor's expectation by making them good but Azaxyr's band of Ice Warriors are renegades wanting a return to the glory days of old.

UFO contributes props to the Federation rooms in the story. A pair of SHADO Control Room consoles are in the communications room.

Meanwhile in the Refinery there's a number of Moonbase control panel and, on ité's side, an ICT 1300 computer panel.

Doctor Who is famed for it's Monsters but the word Monster turns up in just three of the 156 stories feature the word MONSTER in their title:

The Time Monster
Carnival of Monsters
The Monster of Peladon

You'd expect a few more than that.....

373 The Monster of Peladon Part Four

EPISODE: The Monster of Peladon: Part Four
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 373
STORY NUMBER: 073
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 13 April 1974
WRITER: Brian Hayles
DIRECTOR: Lennie Mayne
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 7.2 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Peladon Tales: Curse of Peladon & Monster of Peladon
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"You forget, Doctor, I am your judge, your jury and executioner too. Perhaps."

The Ice Warrior commander Azaxyr arrives and declares martial law. He threatens to kill the miners if they do not work and takes hostages to force them. Ettis leads his miners into the citadel. They storm the throne room but all bar Ettis are killed by the Ice Warriors. The Doctor is sent to negotiate with Gebek to persuade the miners back to work. Sarah is convinced she saw Azaxyr's lieutenant Sskel in the refinery before the Ice Warriors were meant to have landed making them suspicious of the Ice Warriors. Alpha Centauri finds their communications jammed while the miners are persuaded to pretend to cooperate while the Doctor deals with the Martian troops. Locked in the communications room the Doctor increases the heat in the mines to incapacitate the Ice Warriors. The miners rebel against the Martians. The Doctor goes to stop the unhinged Ettis from firing the sonic lance to destroy the citadel. Azaxyr sets the sonic lance to self destruct remotely when activated causing an explosion when Ettis attempts to fire it.

Ah that's better, the arrival of the Ice Warriors instantly adds a spark to proceedings as the fall out with the Doctor and unite the Pels against them. But I've seen Curse of Peladon, I thought the Ice Warriors were meant to be the good guys now?

It's good to see lots of warriors on the screen together: at one stage there's Azaxyr plus four warriors in the throne room.

Sskel is using the Vaaga suit that Sonny Caldinez has used since Seeds of Death but it's be interesting to try to work out which warrior in the Ice Warriors the other costumes are from, some of which appear to be in some disrepair. The warrior behind Gebek at 17:32 into the episode appears to have a flat face where most of the others have make up covering the actor's lower face whereas the one visible at 19:06 appear to have just solid armour covering the lower face which I'm not sure any of the others did before.

And just why are the Ice Warriors using these odd upright hand weapons?

They've still got the sonic disrupters built into the forearms of the costumes and these new weapons produce the same effect the sonic disrupters always did. The Ice Warrior armour looks like it's had a repaint too and is a more vibrant dark green compared to the almost olive green used in Curse of Peladon.

I did enjoy Azaxyr's Judge Dredd impersonation here:

AZAXYR: I am not sure what to make of you, Doctor. I think perhaps it would be safer to accept Ortron's theory and execute you as a spy.
SARAH: You can't do that. We're not under your authority.
ALPHA: Federation regulations do not permit summary execution!
AZAXYR: Must I remind you yet again, Ambassador, here on Peladon I am the law! Yes, I think perhaps it would be safer to order your execution at once.
DOCTOR: Don't I even get a trial?
AZAXYR: Doctor, that was your trial.

Come to think of it there is a certain similarity in design between the helmets of the Mega City Lawman and the Ice Lord.....

So the Ice Warriors are back and that means two familiar acting names are back with us. Alan Bennion plays Commander Azaxyr just as he played Slaar in The Seeds of Death & Izlyr in The Curse of Peladon.

His chief lieutenant Sskel is played by Sonny Caldinez who's been in every Ice Warrior story playing Turoc in The Ice Warriors, an Ice Warrior in The Seeds of Death and Ssorg in The Curse of Peladon as well as the mute Kemel in The Evil of the Daleks. You can also see him in Roger Moore James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun as Kra, Hawaii Five-O as Code #42 in Nine Dragons, Raiders of the Lost Ark as the Mean Mongolian, Neverwhere as the Market man in Knightsbridge and The Fifth Element as Emperor Kodar Japhet.

Both Caldinez and Bennion are making their final Doctor Who appearances in this story.

As per Ssorg in the Curse of Peladon, Sskel's fleeting lines aren't delivered by the actor in the costume but rather by, uncredited, Doctor who's producer Barry Letts. Listen to Ssorg/Sskel, it's obvious when you realise, especially if you've ever heard Sonny Caldinez interviewed on the DVDs!

There's several extra Ice Warriors on screen:

Terrance Denville had previously been a double for Captain Blade in The Faceless Ones, a Cyberman in The Invasion, Foot Soldier & Alien Technician in The War Games, a Waxwork visitor/replica in Spearhead from Space, a Technician & UNIT Soldier in The Silurians, a UNIT trooper in The Three Doctors, a Cyberman again, briefly, in The Carnival of Monsters, a Guard in Frontier in Space, a Spiridon in Planet of the Daleks and an Exxilon in Death to the Daleks. This is his last Doctor Who role. He plays a Technician in Moonbase 3 Departure and Arrival, Behemoth and Outsider, appears as a Russian Security Council Member in the Pierce Brosnan James Bond film GoldenEye and appears in the Miranda episode Before I Die as an Old Man.

David Cleeve had been a UNIT Soldier in The Time Warrior He'll be back as a Thal Soldier/Guard in Genesis of the Daleks, a Radiation Suit Man in The Hand of Fear, An Other & Megro Guard in The Sun Makers and a Ceremonial Deon Guard in Meglos.

Kevin Moranhad been a UNIT Troop in The Time Monster, a Draconian in Frontier in Space. a Spiridon in Planet of the Daleks, an army soldier in Invasion of the Dinosaurs and an Exxilon in Death to the Daleks. He returns as a Soldier/Brethren Guest in The Masque of Mandragora. In Doomwatch he plays a man in Flood.

Alan Lenoir had been one of Irongron's men in The Time Warrior. In Doomwatch he's a Man in Flood.

So that's Sskell plus 4 warriors, which uses all five of the Ice Warrior costumes made for the original story: Varga, Turoc, Isbur, Rintan & Zondal. But the DWAS Production file thinks that one other supporting artist doubles as an Ice Warrior during part 3: One of Steve Ismay, David Rolfe, Pat Gorman or Tony Lord, all of whom play guards, played the role but nobody knows which one!

372 The Monster of Peladon Part Three

EPISODE: The Monster of Peladon: Part Three
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 372
STORY NUMBER: 073
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 06 April 1974
WRITER: Brian Hayles
DIRECTOR: Lennie Mayne
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 7.4 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Peladon Tales: Curse of Peladon & Monster of Peladon
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"Well, as we were shoved down here to receive the verdict of Aggedor, I would say that the result is very much in our favour, wouldn't you?"

The Doctor once again calms his old friend Aggedor using a Venusian lullaby and they are released. Eckersley advises Alpha Centauri to summon Federation troops which he does. The Doctor advises Queen Thalira to negotiate with Gebek to help appease the miners and spread the benefits of Federation membership wider than the royal court. The Doctor isn't pleased that troops are coming and is interested in what Sarah saw in the refinery. Ortron arrests the Doctor when he tries to leave the citadel. Gebek & Ettis capture the sonic lance. Gebek helps free the Doctor. Ettis has taken the sonic lance to a nearby mountain top and aimed it at the citadel. Alpha Centauri receives a transmission that the Federation troops are coming. Finding their way to the refinery, the Doctor deactivates the alarm. Eckersley spots them and Sarah confesses that they think the Aggedor trickery is being run from the refinery. Ortron persuades the miners back to work, but as soon as they return they are attacked by the Aggedor apparition. Opening the refinery door the Doctor & Gebek find an Ice Warrior inside!

Ortron hasn't thought this through properly at all: The Doctor is the man that led Aggedor into the throne room 50 years ago so chances are they're going to get on ok in a pit together. Then, having submitted him to the judgement of Aggedor he finds he doesn't like the verdict so has him banged up again anyway. Deary me. Still the Ice Warriors are here now so things will get better won't they?

We've seen both main Peladon miners in Doctor Who before:

Ettis is played by Ralph Watson who was the Generator Scientist, also in The Underwater Menace, Captain Knight in The Web of Fear and will be Ben in Horror of Fang Rock. Porridge he plays the Pub Landlord in A Day Out. You can hear him interviewed in Who's Round 154

Rex Robinson, playing Gebek, was previously Doctor Tyler in the Three Doctors and will return as Dr. Carter in The Hand of Fear. All 3 of his appearances are directed by Lennie Mayne who evidently takes the Camfield/Letts approach to casting actors he knows and is comfortable working with! He was also in The Professionals as the Superintendent in Cry Wolf and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace as the Subway Engineer. You can hear Rex Robinson interviewed in Who's Round 45.

One of the miners, Rima, is played by the distinctive looking Roy Evans who was Trantis in The Daleks' Master Plan and Bert Pritchard in The Green Death. He was in Out of the Unknown as the Postman in the 1971 episode Deathday: that is one of four from the last series of that show which exists and it can be found on the Out of the Unknown DVD Set. He appears in Blake's 7 as a Slave in Redemption. In the 1980s he was in th original The Black Adder as Abel, A Blind Beggar / Dumb Peasant in The Archbishop, Witchsmeller Pursuivant and The Black Seal. Evans has credits on IMDB through to 2004 by which point he would have been 74 when he appeared on The Green Death DVD.

Preba is played by Graeme Eton who you can also see in The Professionals as the CI5 Mechanic in You'll Be All Right.

Onto the unnamed Miners:

On Doctor Who debut is John Cannon. He returns as the speaking part of Elgin in Hand of Fear, which gives us a clear look at him and makes him easy to identify elsewhere. He's then a Passerby and Audience/Stagehands/Doorman in Talons of Weng Chiang, a Trog in Underworld, a Technician in Pirate Planet, a Guard in Armageddon Factor, a Guard in Creature from the Pit, should have been the Executioner Prisoner in Shada, a Security Guard in Time-Flight, the Police Sergeant in Mawdryn Undead, The Shadow's Helmsman in Enlightenment and a Retainer in King's Demons. He was a Moonbase 3 Technician in Castor and Pollux and is a Prison Inmate in the Porridge episode A Night In. He was in The Sweeney twice as a Constable in Supersnout and a Policeman in Thou Shalt Not Kill, in which he's directed by Doctor Who director Douglas Camfield. In I, Claudius he's a Cake Ship slave in A Touch of Murder. His Blake's 7 are a Federation Trooper in Project Avalon, Cevedic's Heavy in Gambit, a Labourer in The Harvest of Kairos and a Federation Trooper in Children of Auron. He's in The Professionals as Huey in It's Only a Beautiful Picture and the same year plays a Holographic Imperial Officer in The Empire Strikes Back. Camfield uses him again as a Legionnaire in Beau Geste.

Christopher Holmes was a UNIT Soldier in Day of the Daleks, a Guard in The Time Monster, a Miner in The Monster of Peladon, a Muto in Genesis of the Daleks, a Traveller/Brother in The Masque of Mandragora, a Citizen in Full Circle, a Plasmaton in Time Flight, Ambril's attendant in Snakedance and a Genius in Time and the Rani. In Blake's 7 he was a Federation Trooper in The Way Back, a Prisoner in Space Fall, a Prisoner in Cygnus Alpha, a Mutoid in Duel & Project Avalon, a Star One Technician in Star One and a Hi-tech Patient in Powerplay.

Paul Phillips was an Egyptian Slave in Dalek Masterplan, a Scotsman in The Highlanders, a Scientist at Hospital in the Macra Terror, a Prison Guard & Prisoner in War Games, a Lab Tech Claws of Axos and a captured scientist in The Time Warrior. In Porridge he's a Prisoner in No Way Out, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin he's a Commuter in Hippopotamus and in I, Claudius he plays a Senator in Zeus, by Jove!

Roy Brent was a Firing Squad Member & Prison Sentry in The War Games, an Auton Hospital Porter in Spearhead from Space, a Control Room Assistant & UNIT Soldier in The Ambassadors of Death and a UNIT Soldier in The Claws of Axos He returns as one of the Collector’s Escort in The Sunmakers, a Shrieve in The Ribos Operation, a Guard in Creature from the Pit, a Skonnan Elder in Horns of the Nimon and a Resistance Fighter in Trial of a Timelord 5-8: Mindwarp. In Monty Python's Flying Circus he's an Armoured Knight in Njorl's Saga.

Bill Hayden also appears in Doomwatch as Mr. Duffy in The Inquest.

Tom O'Leary had been a Firing Squad Member, Prison Sergeant, a German Soldier, a Roman Soldiers and an Austro-Hungarian Officer in The War Games, a Gatekeeper & Military Policeman in Ambassadors of Death, and an Auton in Terror of the Autons. He returns as Albert Einstein in Time and the Rani.

One new Guard: Tony Lord returns as a Dead Crewman and Cyberman in Revenge of the Cybermen.

Queen Thalira's Handmaiden is Frances Pidgeon who returns as Miss Jackson in the Hand of Fear. She'd been in Doomwatch as a secretary in Public Enemy and High Mountain. Both her Doctor Who appearances and both her Doomwatch appearances are directed by Lennie Mayne, her husband.

Another returning actor from Curse of Peladon is Nick Hobbs, once again playing Aggedor. He'd previously been a Technician in The Ambassadors of Death, an RSF Sentry in Inferno, an Auton Daffodil Man in Terror of the Autons, an American Aide in The Mind of Evil, the Nuton Driver in The Claws of Axos, a U.N.I.T. Soldier in Day of the Daleks and a Guard in The Time Monster. He returns as a Wirrn Operator in The Ark in Space. In Space: 1999 he's a Security Guard in Space Warp while in Blake's 7 he plays a Hooded Figure in Cygnus Alpha before returning in New Doctor Who as Mr Nainby in Amy's Choice.

There's no location work at all in this story, something Monster of Peladon shares with only one of the other 23 Third Doctor tales: it's antecedent Curse of Peladon.