The Prisoner of Peladon

"Seeing phantoms of the past walking in the present..."

Writers: Cavan Scott & Mark Wright
Format: Audio
Released: September 2009
Series: Companion Chronicles 4.03

Featuring: Third Doctor

Synopsis

"Tonight, I am going tell you the story of the Prisoner of Peladon, and of the time when a friend and protector returned to our planet. A man called... the Doctor."

The planet Peladon has joined the Galactic Federation, and has undergone a painful period of change. 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?

Verdict

The Prisoner of Peladon was an excellent audio story! It really was a fantastic Companion Chronicle and I liked the little shift in having a familiar character, rather than an actual companion, tell the tale of an unseen adventure for the Doctor. King Peladon being in the title role was terrific and David Troughton brought the character back to life very well. I thought the setting of five years after the events of The Curse of Peladon was very good and it worked extremely well with the joining of the Galactic Federation still very much being fresh in the minds and everyday lives of the Pels. Adding a Martian Civil War into the mix was a superb ingredient and I liked how King Peladon was more than willing to offer refuge for those who were fleeing from the New Martian Republic. Axlaar made a great villain and I thought the deception of the Ice Warriors was excellent. They were back to their very best and this was a branch of the Martain race I was very supportive of appearing in Doctor Who. The Ice Warriors are at their best when they're evil and that's exactly what they were here. The arrival of the Third Doctor to Peladon was done nicely and I thought the writing of the Third Doctor himself was actually very good. Some of the little dialogue traits and the mentioning of him touching the back of his neck was fantastic. It's the little things that are appreciated and they were more than present here which was delightful. The return of Alpha Centauri and Grun was an unexpected pleasure and their roles in the story were quite surprising. The latter unexpectedly died and showed you that there were no limits in an audio story featuring only partially familiar characters. The former, however, was key to the plot and she had used the legend of the Prisoner of Peladon wonderfully well to conceal a Martian princess. She was the treasure that Axlaar was seeking to put an end to the doubts that surrounded the current claim to the Martian throne. Something that did surprise me was the defiance of King Peladon once the accidental death of the Martians had occurred and he just bellowed at the Doctor's nature of how he treated the whole thing as a game. I was quite taken aback by that and the Doctor's silent reply was incredibly powerful. He had no defence and his methods had been questioned. Peladon was safe, but the Doctor just went away quite quickly after that. The feeling of Jo's departure was very much felt in this story which was brilliant and as a whole, I thought this was a fantastic audio adventure!

Rating: 9/10