So after black magic and time paradoxes Doctor Who settles down a bit with a tale of inter-planetary politics, diplomacy and strife…
We join the eponymous planet of Peladon and its equally eponymous king as the planet applies for admission into the Galactic Federation. However Peladon is a planet divided over whether or not they should actually join said Federation as progressives see it as a step forward and the religious see it as a blasphemy. The planet is visited by a council of the Federation consisting of a number of aliens and The Doctor blags himself into the party.
And so Doctor Who once again explores the ideas of the consequences when faith and progress find themselves on opposing sides of a debate. As with previous weeks, this is a fairly adult theme to take on and it actually does so quite nicely. As well as being an issue of faith I guess there also parallels with countries that seek to join larger political unions. I suppose the EU was fairly topical then…
It reminds me a lot of the ground Star Trek: Deep Space Nine covered some years later with the Bajorans, once again proving that Who could be well ahead of other shows in dealing with serious issues.
The story features an array of aliens who have a lot of potential but are annoyingly executed. The design department was clearly drunk when they designed Alpha Centuri or they were on a bet as to who could create the most phallic enemy in TV history. Sadly, as well as being badly designed the aliens are also very irritating. Arcturus is annoying and Alpha Centauri is excruciating. I don’t normally worry that much about production values but in this case it really does detract from the experience.
The Ice Warriors are a nice twist and are developed brilliantly. Their conversion from baddie into goodie (technical terms there…) is interesting as well as The Doctor’s seeming prejudice in assuming that they are at fault because they’ve been a pain in the arse before.
Again, the show doesn’t treat the viewers like children. If you can find another science fiction show that refers to a “Hermaphrodite Hexopod” I’ll give you a bun.
It’s not quite the West Wing but it does have it’s moments of political intrigue that actually work.
Again, a good secondary cast. The aliens are a bit annoying but Peladon is well played and his counselors (though mad) are very good.
The story doesn’t have a blistering script but it is a lot more interesting than I remember from the last time I watched it. 7/10.
And so Doctor Who once again explores the ideas of the consequences when faith and progress find themselves on opposing sides of a debate. As with previous weeks, this is a fairly adult theme to take on and it actually does so quite nicely. As well as being an issue of faith I guess there also parallels with countries that seek to join larger political unions. I suppose the EU was fairly topical then…
It reminds me a lot of the ground Star Trek: Deep Space Nine covered some years later with the Bajorans, once again proving that Who could be well ahead of other shows in dealing with serious issues.
The story features an array of aliens who have a lot of potential but are annoyingly executed. The design department was clearly drunk when they designed Alpha Centuri or they were on a bet as to who could create the most phallic enemy in TV history. Sadly, as well as being badly designed the aliens are also very irritating. Arcturus is annoying and Alpha Centauri is excruciating. I don’t normally worry that much about production values but in this case it really does detract from the experience.
The Ice Warriors are a nice twist and are developed brilliantly. Their conversion from baddie into goodie (technical terms there…) is interesting as well as The Doctor’s seeming prejudice in assuming that they are at fault because they’ve been a pain in the arse before.
Again, the show doesn’t treat the viewers like children. If you can find another science fiction show that refers to a “Hermaphrodite Hexopod” I’ll give you a bun.
It’s not quite the West Wing but it does have it’s moments of political intrigue that actually work.
Again, a good secondary cast. The aliens are a bit annoying but Peladon is well played and his counselors (though mad) are very good.
The story doesn’t have a blistering script but it is a lot more interesting than I remember from the last time I watched it. 7/10.