The Monster of Peladon - Episode 5

The penultimate episode of this story starts off with the knowledge that the laser thing was going to kill the Doctor but that isn’t the case (obviously). As the show has been on the air for 11 years at this point, it seems weird that they would expect the viewer to believe that the Doctor would be killed. Normally this would rankle with me but on this occasion. But the only benefit that I can see is that for a large portion of the story, everyone in the story thinks that he has died. The best reaction comes from Elisabeth Sladen who as Sarah Jane won’t believe that the Doctor has died and utters a line that will come back in the next story. Here she says part of it when she says “While there’s life there’s….”. It seems like this is foreshadowing the next story but this is the production team laying down the ground work just like they did in ‘Planet of the Daleks’ to get us use to the idea that Jo might leave (which she did).

It’s good that Ortron has changed from his usual lack of trust in the earlier stages of the serial. I noticed this just before he was killed by the Ice Warrior. This is the second episode in a row that I have spotted something just before they meet an unfortunate end.  I thought that Frank Gatliff has been quite good in these episodes and I was just getting use to him being on the good side of things.

The way that Eckersley treachery is revealed is done in a good way. It’s explained why he has done this and it’s down to a rather unoriginal idea of being the ruler of Earth and the richest man on Earth. I don’t know why but I just don’t buy Eckersley as a baddie. I don’t know whether it’s the reason he’s a baddie or just the actor, but I think that the Ice Warriors are the more effective villains in the story.

I like the bit towards the end when the Queen is acting defiantly (if somewhat futilely) against Azaxyr. I think that Nina Thomas has a thankless role and she does the best that she can but everytime she has a great scene I just remember how the character gets lost in the action and due to the fact that the role is a Queen and so cant really get involved

Whilst I don’t think that this is a terrible episode, it doesn’t quite have the feel to it. I think that it is building up to something which is more than could be said in some stories recently. I think that my impression of the Ice Warriors has improved since I started watching this story and this story as a whole is better than I had previously given it credit for.