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Doctor Who: Peladon Tales
From
the Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who comes The Curse of Peladon
and The Monster of Peladon, two interesting Doctor Who tales
from a simpler time. Although this collection features some entertaining
acting by Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen and Katy Manning. The stories
are a bit of a hit and miss and it seems director Lennie Mayne was
trying to cash in on the success of the original story with the return
to the political world of Peladon.
In my
opinion which is also shared by others, the first story is the better of the two tales
that revolves around intrigue and diplomacy as the Doctor attempts to
persuade a group of intergalactic diplomats in choosing the right path
of Peladon. Then the viewer is thrown into The Monster of Peladon
that has the Doctor revisiting the world of Peladon and gone are the
wonderful ideas from the original story which seems to crawl and to make
matters worse, our hero is portrayed as a bumbling dotard.
I
really enjoyed the feudal aspect of the original story and even the
mystery behind the deaths of the Peladon's by one of their myths, the
Aggedor that adds some fun action scenes. One good aspect of the second
story is the continuity which to an extent is honoured by the writers
and of course the wonderful Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah Jame Smith,
definitely one of the better companions for our good doctor.
The
video quality is surprising for a TV series of this age as is the sound
quality that is mixed with a few special features such as a
mock-u-mentary about the Warriors of Mars and a discussion about the
Doctor and his companions. It's definitely a Doctor Who tale for those
original fans. |
