Watching The Curse of Peladon now is interesting as it is basically about Britain joining the Common Market (it was made around that time) played out as the planet of Peladon joining The Federation of Planets, withe the old guard resistant to this against the king who wants to move forward. There is a whodunnit element and who the baddies are isn’t immediately evident. Patrick Troughton’s son David plays the king (and is also in the new series story Midnight with David Tennant). The analogy for The Monster of Peladon is the miners’ strikes of the 1970s, so is also political in nature and is set 50 years after the first story. Here there is more of a return to the norm in terms of the villains. These are by no means the best Pertwee stories (Curse is the better of the two), but neither are they the worst and when looked through the lens of history they have added interest (for me at least) and are well worth seeing.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
The box set came in great condition, on time and Curse of Peladon is great. Monster not so much still excellent boxset!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Both the curse & Monster of Peladon are very good stories & have the usual good moments of humour from Jon Pertwee. Both excelent
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Bought as a gift. Entertaining if you are a fan . A good watch. Value for money.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Great thanks
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
"Peladon Tales" contains two episodes from the 1970s Jon Pertwee era of "Doctor Who" which were both set on the planet Peladon, albiet fifty years apart and with a different female assistant - Jo Grant (Katy Manning) in "The Curse of Peladon" and Sarah Jane Smith (Elizabeth Sladen) in the sequel "The Monster of Peladon". "Curse" is very definately the better of the two - for one thing it is only four episodes long as opposed to "Monster"'s six, and for another the production values seem slightly better, even though the same writer, director and production crew were responsible for both. It's often claimed that "Curse" was an allegory on Britain's proposed entry into the EU Common Market which was happening at the time (in the same way that "Monster" went with the 'striking miners' story that was also very topical when the program originally aired in 1974), but since writer Brian Hayles died in 1978, no-one really knows, and even on the DVD special features interviewees like Barry Letts and Terence Dicks can only guess and speculate as to where the true origins of the story lies and how much Hayles was influenced by events in the news, if at all. Peladon is certainly a strange medieval place. King Peladon (David Troughton) wears thigh-high purple boots and looks like he's just stepped out of a David Bowie music video, but this costuming is nothing when compared to the lamentable black-and-white 'badger' hairstyles of the miners in the 1974 story. And quite why so many characters are named after the planets they come from (even the King) is anyone's guess. At least someone realised that the 'Alpha Centuri' costume looked like a giant dick and gave the character a cloak, as that may have not gone down well with 1970s Saturday teatime family audiences (!) "Monster" ranks right up there with the best of Pertwee's serials, not least because the Ice Warriors (who had been villains in earlier stories) were now the good guys, something that gives them depth. The Doctor is convinced for most of the episode that they are behind the goings-on on Peladon, and only at the end does he realise he has misjudged them. It's also fun to see Katy Manning play up to the role of "Princess Josephine of TARDIS" and although the story is entirely studiobound it is lit well, and well directed. Viewed by itself, it's quite easy to see why the producers might have asked for Hayles to write a sequel. In its day, it was well received, and even now in the 21st century it still holds up pretty well, special effects notwithstanding. Sadly, the second episode is more of the same. We're asked to believe that fifty years after the events of "Curse" that Alpha Centuri still serves the Royal Court as a diplomat (that's one long and boring career!). Once again, the Ice Warriors are back (this time a rogue 'breakaway' group that have their own aims) and the young and inexperienced King has been replaced by his young and inexperienced daughter, the Queen, a plot point which serves only to allow Sarah to explain to us the concept of feminism and 'womens lib', which viewed in the cold light of the 21st century is just a bit silly. The Doctor still sings Venusian Lullabies and uses hypnosis to calm and tame the Royal Beast Aggedor, and the penalty for violating the sacred temple is still death. The whole thing is a bit 'same old, same old'. It doesn't really have anything new to say on the subject. Not a bad boxset overall though, and some good extras. 7/10Read full review
A brilliant set. Originally i bought for completus reasons, having seen the trailer and not being impressed. But i was wrong to just buy it for completus sake. Because it was brilliant. Two of the best stories in the classic series. My personal favorite is Curse but there both equally amazing. It's like watching columbo in space seriously. And the features are very interesting. 5/5
very good
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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