Doctor Who: Peladon Tales (3 Discs)

Both stories are still great after thirty years and the restoration team at the BBC have cleaned the two shows up well.

Plenty of extas for both stories.

One of my earliest memories of "Dr Who" was the TARDIS falling off a cliff,in "The Curse of Peladon",its great to see after a bit of a lull,the Pertwee stories coming out on DVD again.
Reflecting the UK's entry to the Common Market,"Curse" sees the Doctor and faithful companion Jo Grant(the lovely Katy Manning)becoming involved in helping the young King Peladon(David Troughton)keep control of his planet as it attempts to join the Galactic Federation,and keep control of a mad high priest,Hepesh,Ice Warriors,Arcturus and the shreeking Alpha Centauri.
The vhs of this story was recovered from Canada,in not too great picture quality,the restoration on the picture quality now,is outstanding.
"The Monster of Peladon" sees the Third Doctor and new companion Sarah-Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen)return to Peladon fifty years later,its a shame its a six parter,as it does drag and its not until the end of episode three,we see the first proper look at the Ice Warriors.
Great to see these two Ice Warrior stories out on DVD,hope we see the Patrick Troughton story "The Ice Warriors" on DVD soon with an animated recounstruction of the missing episodes 2 and 3.

Curse Of Peladon - A standard story with a clever twist. The pairing of Katy and Jon always worked well. David Troughton's, (Patrick's son) in his third Doctor Who outing, plays the young King very well.

Monster of Peladon - I love this story. This gives Sarah the chance to be who she really is. A strong independent woman faced with unimaginable horrors, while trying to help the new Queen. Sarah, in my view, has always been the best companion and this story show you why.

"Curse of Peladon" and its sequel "Monster of Peladon" are for me fairly average offerings from the Pertwee era however as a three disc special features packed DVD set I'm sure they will be fine additions to anyone's collection. In my opinion the four part "Curse" is the stronger story thanks in part to David Troughton's charming, handsomely beguiling King whom becomes so infatuated with Jo Grant. I love the Doctor successfully hypnotising the royal beast Aggedor with both a spinning mirror and a Venusian lullaby. Credit is also due, in the latter stages of the story, for the well staged fight sequence, in the pit between the Doctor and King's champion Grun. The main redeeming qualities for me of "Monster" are Donald Gee's traitorous Eckersley and the doe eyed innocently naive Queen Thalia (Nina Thomas) whom is told about 'women's lib' by the redoubtable, resourceful Sarah Jane Smith. Surprisingly there is an additional fan commentary for "Monster", on the fourth episode only. Split between the two stories I hear the main extra on offer is 'The Peladon Saga' with each part weighing in at roughly 23 mins. Part one looks at the socio-political climate in the UK in the early 70s and its influence on the stories lines whilst part two concerns itself with the characters and monsters featured in both stories. If you are a fan of the Ice Warriors then the brief history of these aliens in 'Warriors of Mars' should be of interest with some worthy contributors lined up for the 15 min item. 'Jon and Katy' were undoubtedly one of the most fondly remembered Doctor/Companion pairings and I like the idea of spending 7 mins reflecting on this successful partnership. For those of us whom grew up with the novelisations of classic series television stories Terrance Dicks was synonymous with the range and it's only fitting that an 'On Target' item honours his invaluable contribution in chronicling the Doctor's transmitted adventures. As well as contributors including the great man himself we also are offered readings from Caroline John, Katy Manning and David Troughton to illustrate Dicks writing prowess during a worthy approx 21 ½ mins. Generally I feel fairly ambivalent towards these stories however their appeal is certainly greatly enhanced by the usual high standard of insightful and entertaining extras that support them further embellished by distinctively appealing packaging making this box definitely worth having!

A very fitting tribute to Barry Letts who sadly passed away recently. 2 classic stories with Ice Warriors! A box set with Jo Grant and Sarah Jane, what more could you ask for?

I swear, only last week I was saying to myself that I wished the BBC would release a DVD boxset of the two 'Peladon' stories and then *boom*, this gets listed!

Needless to say I'm excited by yet more adventures of my favourite Doctor getting the digital treatment. CURSE OF PELADON is especially good, steeped in atmosphere, intrigue and sumptuous design work.
It's also significant as the story that presented the ICE WARRIORS as the 'good guys' after two stories of being resident villains. Very rarely did the 'baddies' receive such development and I find the Martians work far better as the noble defenders of Peladon royalty rather than as generic 'menace of the week'.
This story only exists as an American 525-line format and always looks a little wishy washy when seen on screen. Hopefully the Restoration Team work their magic and clean things up.

MONSTER OF PELADON is less successful (in my view) - It's still a wonderful story, but let down by the ICE WARRIORS once again reverting to villainy, and the seemingly gratuitous death of a particular furry character. Still, I'll take it over the modern junk any day and can't recommend this set enough.