The Bride of Peladon

"I grow impatient for your blood."

Writer: Barnaby Edwards
Format: Audio
Released: January 2008
Series: Main Range 104

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Peri, Erimem

Synopsis

Peladon will bathe in oceans of blood!

A mysterious voice, a missing girl and a murdered queen. The Royal House of Peladon is once more plunged into intrigue, terror and death. The Doctor, Peri and Erimem must find their way through a treacherous labyrinth of lies if they are to distinguish friend from foe before it is too late.

For deep beneath the Citadel of Peladon, something infinitely ancient and immeasurably powerful is stirring...

Verdict

The Bride of Peladon was a very good audio adventure and a quick personal return to Peladon for myself. I thought it was a little different to the televsion stories, as you might expect with the audio format, and it was clearly distinct from those with the setting being a century following the Doctor’s last visit in The Monster of Peladon. I found the politics of Peladon to be interesting once again and I was quite glad that they weren’t the story’s main focus. It was an eventful adventure and there was a lot going on so it was good that the TARDIS team split up and got acquainted with some intriguing personalities. I really liked Zixlyr and whilst he wasn’t an evil Ice Warrior, the aggression of his race was more than evident. This was especially true in the cliffhanger to part two where he attempted to kill Peri after she badmouthed his sister. She was the previous ambassador for Mars on Peladon but had mysteriously died. Zixlyr had found her final report recording and wasn’t thrilled with what he found. Peri wasn’t convinced by everything though which was good and I liked that she was inquisitive and not taking everything on face value. She had a really strong story. Erimem was terrific too and I loved how her status as the last Pharaoh was used to eventually defeat Sekhmet. Her reveal at the end of part three was quite unexpected but one I most definitely welcomed. I was quite shocked but she was a little useless being encaged for all that she appeared in. The concept of the blood locks was excellent though and I liked how female blood of royalty was required to free each of the four locks. Pelleas was understandably devastated when he found out his mother had been used for this purpose. He was a decent character as King of Peladon and his proposed marriage of convenience to Pandora was an interesting part of the story. The return of Alpha Centauri was great and I liked how she accepted the Doctor’s appearance but I had hoped for more continuity with the voice. She was so obviously a different actress. The Fifth Doctor was pretty good in this audio and I liked his reaction to knowing he was on Peladon. However, Peter Davison was nowhere near the level of Jon Pertwee when it came to the Venusian lullaby though! I did think he was quite poor. I liked that it was used again though on Aggedor, who actually was a female and daughter of the beast that perished during the Doctor’s previous visit. The way that Zixlyr sacrificed himself to ensure that Sekhmet died, after some interesting trickery and sacrifice by Erimem, was fantastic and I thought the emotion behind it was decent. The story concluded with the somewhat sudden decision from Erimem to depart the TARDIS and stay on Peladon and take the hand of Pelleas in marriage. Peri’s reaction to this was heartfelt and emotional but I liked how the Doctor understood, especially following the events of Son of the Dragon. I’m quite sad to see Erimem depart and I have really enjoyed her as companion alongside the Fifth Doctor and Peri. It’s been a really good run but sadly it seems that’s at an end now. The foreshadowing of Peri’s departure in The Trial of a Time Lord with her saying she won’t leave to marry an alien king was very nicely done too. Overall, a very good audio adventure!

Rating: 8/10