Peladon has changed little since the Doctor and Jo visited, although this time the TARDIS doesn't do a header off a cliff. The tunnels used as secret passages in the previous televised episode are now the gateway to Peladon's vast trisilicate mines where toils the working class miners who all have this curious hairstyle that reminds me of badgers. Alpha Centauri is still there, now working as an ambassador to the Federation, and he saves the Doctor from a gritty death by vouching for his credentials. The Citadel has not changed either, its corridors and chambers still very medieval in feel and lit by guttering torches hanging from the wall sconces. The big difference, though, is that Thalira now rules as Peladon himself passed away when she was a small child, leaving her to be raised by Chancellor Ortron and more or less under his control. Unlike Hepesh before him, Ortron embraces the presence of the Federation and is committed to the planet doing its part as a member nation, but he stops short of complying with Ice Warriors as they threaten to murder the workers who do not comply.
Yes the Ice Warriors are back as baddies this time around and there is a hoard of them; all the old costumes used over the years are back in service to swell their ranks, and they are led by an Ice Lord named Azaxyr. This force, however, turns out not to be working for the Federation but are a breakaway group allied with Galaxy Five, a detail which is explained but not fleshed out enough on screen - but was done back in The Prisoner of Peladon when refugees from the political upheaval on Mars were coming to Peladon in droves. Okay it's a big retcon fix, but it didn't really rewrite anything, just gave it a bit more clarity and depth. Mind you with six episodes to work with here you'd think they might have devoted a few minutes to the backstory behind the Martian / Ice Warrior split, rather than just write them off as "splinter group". The retcon fix makes it a far bigger deal, but on the whole the Ice Warriors not on Peladon are still noble creatures in the Federation, despite how easily they gun down a group of miners to show they aren't fooling around this time. And they aren't acting on their own either; Federation turncoat Eckersly is just the ally they need, and he's so cocky and vain as to assume he can boss Azaxyr around - if their plans had worked out it is doubtful that Eckersly would have lived long after.
Women's Lib gets its moment again, though, with Sarah egging on Thalira to be the Queen and take charge of her world rather than let Ortron subvert her. It gets a bit preachy now that I've seen it in the context of current affairs here in 2018, but again, it was 1974 and things were changing fast. If you ask me THAT was the time to consider the role of the Doctor being cast as a female, right when things were being shaken up. But it's been said elsewhere that Sarah shows the whole notion of the strong female character throughout the whole episode in her actions, and then out comes the awkward feminist rant to diminish it. Her impassioned speech, though, is a real contrast to Thalira's vacant (and possibly stoned) presence, and shows that yes the Queen has a long way to go before she can really be in charge.
And speaking of shaken up, I remember as a child watching the climax of episode four with mounting horror as the unthinkable happened: the third Doctor, master of the arts of Venusian akido, gets the shit beaten out of him in a fight with a miner named Ettis. It starts as a pretty even match of swords (where a miner learned that is a puzzle - there may have been more to Ettis than was explained) but then deteriorates into what is referred to in professional wrestling as a squash job. Actor Ralph Watson wears that as a badge of honour in the DVD extras, rightly pointing out that Ettis is the only character ever to dust up the Doctor to such an extent.
So with the retcon fix of Prisoner of Peladon in between this, Pertwee's Doctor gets to complete a Peladon trilogy of sorts. The television series never goes back to Peladon, and the Ice Warriors are not seen on screen again until 2013, but Big Finish and Virgin Publishing make sure to go back to these classics in later days.
The Doctor, meanwhile, would have been making his last stand next, but BBC Books have provided a couple more tales to put that moment off...
NEXT EPISODE: AMORALITY TALE
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