Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3047 in DVD
• Released on: 2010-01-18
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 244 minutes

Synopsis
Originally broadcast in 1972, THE PELADON TALES is a doubill of Doctor Who Episodes featuring Jon Pertwee as the Timelord. Includes: 'The Curse Of Peladon' and 'The Monster Of Peladon'.

Customer Reviews

"Up Peladon!"
Story review only until I have the DVDs & see the extras. A good start to next year's schedule with another boxset comprising 2 fun Pertwee stories. "The Curse of Peladon" is the better of the 2, a classic mix of horror (done gently of course), mystery and a large dose of the Sherlock Holmes tale Hound of the Baskervilles. like in Hound we have a legendary monster apparently bumping off people.
Brian Hayles found a great way to reintroduce his Ice Warriors (surely at the top of most middle aged fans BC Cymru what are you waiting for list!)not seen since Troughton's day in a story where we're not really sure whose side they're on. Ssorg has the original Ice Warrior costume from their 1st story and is played by Sonny Caldinez, while Ice"lord" Izlyr is played by Alan Bennion. Both men are returning from Seeds of Death and are back in Peladon 2.
there are a host of other aliens too the best remembered of which is Alpha Centauri. With its 6 limbs attached to its chest it make you wonder how it moves but never mind, with the high pitched voice and hyperactive mannersims, it's a loveable creation. It did hold the unofficial title of most unfortunate shaped monster until the Vervoids came along.
We also get a creature called Arcturus ( a grumpy head in a bowl on top of a box) and Aggedor the Royal Beast of Peladon (another old favourite of middle aged fans).
The second link to Mr. Troughton is his son David's gentle portrayal of King Peladon. It's a little Freudian that his attraction to Jo is based on his mother coming from Earth, but the love interest gives Katy Manning someting different to bounce off.
Mr. Pertwee excels playing Ambassador (in a psychic paper moment him and Jo pretend to be Earth delegates of the Federation considering Peladon's application). He also treats us to a Venusian lullaby.
Curse is a hard act to follow which may be why The Monster of Peladon misfires slightly. There is a genuinely different story, reflecting concerns of the time as the miners take industrial action following "accidents" and Peladon has been replaced by his daughter Thalira (an indifferent portrayal by Nina Thomas). The Ice Warriors are clearly being villainous this time, from the word go and yet there appears to be other agent provocateurs at work. Even with all this going on there isn't quite enough to fill 6 episodes.
Alpha Centauri & Aggedor are back and watch for Director Lennie's Mayne's repertory actor Rex Robinson (also in 3 Doctors and Hand of Fear directed by Mayne)as a leader figure amongst miners in a silly wig.
Lis Sladen as Sarah is quite confident by now in her role but gets let down a bit by a carelessly written exchange where she talks about feminism to the Queen. Also watch for Terry Walsh doubling for Pertwee in a fight scene where his face is too clearly shown.
Still enjoyable stuff but it could have been a little better. A shame in some ways that Peladon was never used again until novels & Big Finish CDs (even more so for the Ice Warriors) but I guess they figured it was played out.
As with Dalek War there's a big bag of extras promised; Katy commentaries, a 2 part documentary on the Peladon saga, comprising a look at events in Britain at the time of the stories and what influence they may have had plus the stopries themselves, a new feature on the Ice Warriors (lets hope Sonny Caldinez who was such fun on the Seeds of Death doc is involved), a feature on Jon & Katy's working relationship .
Best of all some of the material will feature Barry Letts who soldiered on in commentaries etc. despite his poor health.
There's also an interview with voice of Alpha, Ysanne Churchman from a show called "Where Are They Now?" (an audio of this was included on a Dr Who at the BBC CD)
I think most fans of whatever vintage would enjoy Curse, but they might find monster hard work.

Venusian lullaby anyone? No?
Peladon; a strange place that looks like a hybrid of the middle ages in Eastern Europe and contempory 1972-4. The locals look like badgers and the politics are mostly corrupt. All in all, a fine setting for two Jon Pertwee tales from the early 70s. The first is arguable the best of the two, The Curse of Peladon is from the 9th season back in 1972. Here we have the return of the Ice Warriors (for the first time in glorious technicolour), Alpha Centuri (what hasn't been written about this character's appearance? If you are unfamiliar, check him/her out) and a very young son of the second Doctor Patrick Troughton as Prince Peladon. A fun run-around with a dash of whodunit, and the first outing of Agador, the local monster, who's statue looks powerful, huge and scary, but in actuality, looks like an extra in a bear suit. That aside, this is a good story and Jo Grant, The Doctor's companion is particularly good.

Secondly is The Monster of Peladon, which I can remember at the time and it scaring me greatly. The Ice Warriors again (well, if it works, do it again; that was the ethos back then), and a story that could be 4 episodes, but is stretched to 6. Pertwee looks noticeably a bit older in this his penultimate tale, and despite being seen by some as not a great tale, it still manages to entertain considerably more than the series' later efforts.

This is a welcome release by 2Entertain and a long overdue one too. Should take the edge off a post Christmas depression.

A story so nice they told it twice (Shame about the second time)
Well time for another one of those somewhat odd reviews whereby someone actually writes about it before the release.

Which is alright as I'm not going to talk about extras I haven't seen (which will probably be quite good going by the list provided) or the picture and sound quality (which for the time, budget and materials available will no doubt be of excellent standard as usual)so best to concentrate on what we do know and that is the stories.

The Curse of Peladon is a very good tale well told. Other reviewers will go on about the plot, character, design etc and that's all fine. The 3rd Doctor didn't get to go into the past much other than The Time Warrior and a quick stop in Atlantis but on Peladon though set in the future was in many ways a medieval story. OK, a retro-future medieval type of story but in some ways it's not all that different from another soon to be released story in The Masque of Mandragora. Both with new leaders trying to lead their people into a new age of knowledge with forces trying to keep the old ways intact using secret sects and legends of old. Plus the two young men with eyes for the Doctor's companions.

Unfortunately with sequel The Monster of Peladon things went a bit wrong. It's in essence an inferior overlong remake of the first story and just not as interesting. I like Doctor Who. I really do. So much so that from the original series there's not one story I hate or really, really dislike but there are a few, only a few that do bore me and I find hard to get through. Oddly The Web Planet isn't one of them but The Monster of Peladon is. You'd think not as you have lots of good elements in the story but the whole here does not equal the sum of the parts kind of like Planet of the Daleks. I always find it to just plod along. It lacks the verve and energy that so many stories have. I can even get through Colony in Space with little difficulty but except for when I was a kid I've never found Monster engaging or interesting.

Who knows maybe this DVD release will change my mind so that like all the other stories save a very few (like The Dominators) I'll actually have a nice time watching it.

We'll see. Four stars for Curse and two for Monster so three stars average for the Peladon Tales set.