"There's nothing "only" about being a girl."
Episode 73: The Monster of Peladon.
Companions: 3rd Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith.
Air Date: Six episodes. 23rd March to 27th April 1974.
The Doctor returns to Peladon fifty years after his last visit, to find Queen Thalira, daughter of the late King Peladon, on the throne. A tense labour dispute between Pel nobility and miners is worsened when apparitions of their deity Aggedor attack and kill several miners. The Galactic Federation desperately needs trisilicate for its war against Galaxy 5 and sends in brutal Ice Warrior troopers to ensure production. The Doctor discovers a devious plot at the heart of Aggedor's appearances.
The Monster of Peladon is a sequel to The Curse of Peladon story but sadly it plays out as just a rehash of that earlier story just with a couple twists. The Travellers arrive and are captured as unwanted aliens, there is a high priest who distrusts outsiders, Alpha Centauri returns as do the Ice Warriors. The only real differences here are that we find Queen Thalira on the throne, and this time the Ice Warriors are behind it all!
The previous story on Peladon was a play on Great Britain's entry into the EU. This story deals with a version of the miner's strikes that plagued the country in the early 1970's, and it is easy to see the similarities if you remember those times (and I only just do).
Sarah Jane gets to put on her feminist trousers in this story. She spends a fair bit of time trying to turn Queen Thalira from a figure head (female) ruler into a strong woman willing to stand up to the men around her who try and direct her actions. It is nice to see Sarah Jane getting some character development here but it soon gets in the nerves.
On a continuity level this story has as it's background a conflict with Galaxy 5, who were the villains of The Daleks Master Plan way back in the day for the 1st Doctor. It really is nice to see these references coming up now and again.
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