Still eager to embrace alien culture, King Peladon has welcomed refugee Ice Warriors to his world – innocent creatures that are fleeing the New Martian Republic. But, as an old friend returns to the capitol, there is murder in the refugee camps. Could the truth lie in an ancient legend?
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: THE PRISONER OF PELADON
With the success of “The Mahogany Murderers” in series 3, it was little surprise that Big Finish selected another non-regular character to narrate a Companion Chronicle in the fourth series. The specific choice, however, was surprising: David Troughton returned as King Peladon from the popular Jon Pertwee story “The Curse of Peladon.” The new story, “The Prisoner of Peladon” from Big Finish stalwarts Cavan Scott and Mark Wright, returns to that popular setting, and while the story it tells is quite entertaining, it’s still the same series of Peladon clichés we’ve come to expect.
I don’t mean to be overly critical, but I’ve never seen the appeal of the Peladon stories. “Curse” is solid drama, “Monster” is dreadful, and all of the stories in the various spinoffs have been derivative. Any fan will know what to expect from this story: Peladon is caught in the middle of political intrigue involving other Federation worlds, Alpha Centauri is trying to smooth things over, and there are Ice Warriors with shifting loyalties who may or may not be the bad guys. At least Scott & Wright largely cut out the religion angle, and there are no Aggedors running around, but this isn’t anything we haven’t heard before. As soon as a character turns up murdered, you know the obvious clue left behind is going to be a red herring, and so forth. If you love the Peladon stories you’ll love this, of course, but otherwise there’s nothing here to surprise.
Thankfully, “The Prisoner of Peladon” excels in its characters. Peladon himself has developed significantly from his television story: he is now an older monarch, experienced and respected, and in full control of his court and his planet. He looks to the Doctor for counsel, but grows angry when he is left out of the loop. The third Doctor, meanwhile, is traveling on his own, between Jo’s departure and Sarah’s arrival. Solo Pertwee stories are quite rare, but Scott & Wright absolutely nail this one – they expertly capture this Doctor’s need to perform, to show off, and the trouble that gets him in without a companion. The script hews close to the RTD era in places, explicitly spelling out the Doctor’s need for a companion at one point, and it’s utterly believable, showing the third Doctor’s weaknesses without making the mistake of giving him the traits of his tenth self.
David Troughton is excellent, and his Pertwee impression is the best of those I’ve heard thus far. He’s not very similar to his old TV character, but then he shouldn’t be – he has a believable regal bearing and switches elegantly between command and frustration as the script warrants. And his Alpha Centauri has to be heard, hilariously similar to Terry Jones’ female voices from Monty Python. Nicholas Briggs appears as the various Ice Warriors, and it might be his best Ice Warrior performance, making each sound like an utterly distinct character. The framing device isn’t particularly involved, just Peladon telling the story to an unseen listener whose identity is so obvious I’m not sure if it’s even supposed to be a surprise.
The production is superior, as usual – the first-rate performances are a credit to director Nicola Bryant, and the sound design from Toby Hrycek-Robinson accurately recaptures the Peladon stories. Overall, “The Prisoner of Peladon,” like every Peladon story since, is mostly an homage to “The Curse of Peladon,” but the writing is good enough to elevate it into something special. Scott & Wright are on my short list of favorite Big Finish writers, and their ability to take something so clichéd and make it entertaining is a fine example of why.
Highly recommended.
8/10