Tuesday 23 March 2010

A Matter of Time: The Monster of Peladon


ORIGINAL BROADCAST: 23/03/1974

Thirty-six years ago today, the Ice Warriors appeared in their fourth and final television adventure, starring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor. It was notable for being a sequel to ‘The Curse of Peladon’, and for firmly establishing the Doctor's fondness of the planet Peladon. The location has been reused in stories told in other media.

In an attempt to recapture the feel of ‘The Curse of Peladon’, the same director and designer were assigned to this story, and many of the props that still existed, including Alpha Centauri, Aggedor and the Ice Warrior costumes, were used again. This story has often been criticised for being too similar to the previous Peladon tale, with many story elements being repeated.

In ‘The Seeds of Death’, the Ice Warriors’ skin was immune to bullets, but now a simple sword can kill them. The Ice Warriors were supposed to return twelve years later, in one of Colin Baker’s abandoned twenty-third season stories, ‘Mission to Magnus’. This story would have seen the Ice Warriors team up with the popular character of Sil, a small green creature that had first appeared in ‘Vengeance on Varos’. A Big Finish audio adaptation of ‘Mission to Magnus’ was released in 2009.

Please comment and rate below.

No comments: