Some Great Pertwee Combat (S9E7)

[@johng5859]

Don’t forget that the first Doctor could be quite handy in a fight (see The Romans and The Chase) so this incarnation doesn’t get his skills from nowhere. Pertwee of course liked being the “action Doctor”, though the shots in this battle where he is doubled by Terry Walsh are quite obvious! Unfortunately, as his time in the show went on, Pertwee suffered from an increasingly painful back problem which was ultimately a factor in his deciding to leave - Roger Delgado was very good at massaging his back and relieving the pain, apparently… This is quite a talky story, but the characters, the setting and the plot are engaging enough for it not to matter - it reminds me of a Hartnell historical in some ways, which is no bad thing. You are right it isn’t preachy either - even if inspired to some degree by then current events, it just uses that to tell its own story rather than to comment on Britain’s Common Market entry.

[@jonathanmurphy3141]

By several reports, this episode on video, returned from Canada was rather worn from playing. It needed a lot of restoration. The fight scene, in the pit, is recovered film, so it looks quite good.

[@KarlWitsman]

Arcturus just loves a good hand-to-hand combat, since he can't do it himself.

[@kemmdog4444]

There is a Big Finish audio where the 8th Doctor goes to Peledon and he sings the Venusian lullaby.

[@The-Cosmic-Hobo]

And someone on KZbin has looped 8 singing the lullaby for an hour...

[@ShamrockParticle]

Arcturus sounds like a drunk dalek. As for "Federation" have you ever seen "Blake's 7"? 😏

[@MichaelPhillipsatGreyOwlStudio]

The original PAL videotape for this episode was lost and the only known NTSC copy made for North American broadcast was in terrible condition with "sticky shed syndrome". Fortunately, they were able to make a copy before the tape fell to bits. Later, they reborrowed the NTSC from Ian Levine to make a Reverse Standards Conversion of it. Even if the tape had been lost, they still would have had the b/w 16mm telerecordings, but this episode came close to losing its original color at the very least.

[@JudgeJosephDredd1989]

I couldn't imagined William Hartnell or Patrick Troughton doing this as Hartnell was the old grumpy grandfather figure and Patrick Troughton was the funny clown they were completely different Doctors when Dr. Who was still classed as a children's show Jon Pertwee was the action man of all the Doctors the fighting is very much his Doctor and his alone.

[@tufif]

The first doctor did once mention that he was an expert at fisticuffs

[@derrenlodge6502]

You need to check out the Big Finish audio The Prisoner of Peladon as well,as it is directed by Nicola Bryant.

[@jamesa.fitzpatrick1566]

Hartnell's Doctor could have finished him off faster than the Mountain Mauler of Montana!

[@paulhunter6178]

This story rattles along and really is a breath of fresh air for this Doctor. It's only the second alien planet we have seen him on and after the clay pits in Colony, everything looks really considered. It certainly succeeds in creating a unique environment, but I do have one gripe. All this talk of Peladon joining the Federation, and we don't see a single normal Peladonian and get the view of the average man on the street, and how this would affect them.

[@TheShallowProclamation]

Very true. There's no sense of a world outside of the sets we see.

[@Darren79]

The reason that it's more wordy is due to practicalities of the studios. Aside from a bit of filming for the fight and the rock face sequences, it's shot all in a television studio and they were limited in what they could achieve with action. Stories would be planned around resources available. Without being spoilery, the next story had a lot of resources at its disposal so was written accordingly.

[@htershane]

I’m quite enjoying Alan Bennions turn as Islyr, shame there wasn’t much scope for recurring alien characters in this era. I have a vague recollection of seeing this on tv in the 80’s and finding Arcturus disturbing enough to avoid staring at too much. Unfortunately a lot is undermined by those Peladonian hairdos, they just remind me of Harry Hill’s “badgers on parade”.

[@Problembeing]

I'm Doubting Thomas is Whispering Thomas.

[@gordonwebster2802]

The pit was the water tank stage at Ealing Studios which was often used "dry", e.g. in "The War Machines" as well as "wet" e.g. in "The Smugglers". Terry Walsh doubled Jon Pertwee for much of the fight. The words of the Venusian lullaby were first heard when the Doctor warded off Bok in "The Daemons". Ice Lord Izlyr was played by Alan Bennion who also played Slaar in "The Seeds of Death".

[@gordonwebster2802]

Sorry, I meant "The Highlanders" and not "The Smugglers".

[@stephenreed2093]

New Who certainly doesn’t do allegory or subtext. I’m reminded of the line from Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace: "I know writers who use subtext and they are all cowards". I can imagine RTD saying that quite unironically.

[@curmudgeone]

Apparently it isn’t supposed to be an allegory with the UK joining the EEC (later EU); at least not according to Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks; they said that nothing so blatant was thought of or intended but that these things were ‘in the air’ as influences; but subsequent reviewers have seen the parallels and they are there to see - and still echo with relevance. The thing is, even if a parallel was intended it still takes a back seat to the story; it’s not trying to sell a message and nothing else. As with other set-bound stories of that time it was akin in some ways to classical theatre such as Shakespeare where exposition, dialogue and the strength of the performances carry the tale. The novelisation worked well because of all the politics and skullduggery; and how the Doctor and Jo, as imposters remember, coped with it all.

[@mark-s]

Great episode for Jo she gets a great part in this one like we found the traitor with season 9 the first 3 stories are excellent last 2 stories let this season down and are in my bottom three pertwee stories

[@hbomb6775]

You better like this story because they just rehashed it in season 11