Doctor Who and the Monster of Peladon

Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #43

by Terrance Dicks

Fifty years after his first visit to Peladon, the Doctor returns to find that Queen Thalira has inherited a troubled kingdom from her father.

Membership of the Galactic Federation was expected to bring peace and prosperity to the planet, but the spirit of the sacred monster Aggedor is once more spreading terror and death.

The Doctor uncovers a treacherous plot to steal the mineral wealth of Peladon, and is again confronted by his old enemies — the Ice Warriors.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction

124 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1980

About the author

Terrance Dicks was an English author, screenwriter, script editor, and producer best known for his extensive contributions to Doctor Who. Serving as the show's script editor from 1968 to 1974, he helped shape many core elements of the series, including the concept of regeneration, the development of the Time Lords, and the naming of the Doctor’s home planet, Gallifrey. His tenure coincided with major thematic expansions, and he worked closely with producer Barry Letts to bring a socially aware tone to the show. Dicks later wrote several Doctor Who serials, including Robot, Horror of Fang Rock, and The Five Doctors, the 20th-anniversary special.
In parallel with his television work, Dicks became one of the most prolific writers of Doctor Who novelisations for Target Books, authoring over 60 titles and serving as the de facto editor of the range. These adaptations introduced a generation of young readers to the franchise. Beyond Doctor Who, he also wrote original novels, including children’s horror and adventure series such as The Baker Street Irregulars, Star Quest, and The Adventures of Goliath.
Dicks also worked on other television programmes including The Avengers, Moonbase 3, and various BBC literary adaptations. His later work included audio dramas and novels tied to Doctor Who. Widely respected for his clarity, imagination, and dedication to storytelling, he remained a central figure in Doctor Who fandom until his death in 2019, leaving behind a vast legacy in television and children's literature.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst the Peldon tales of the Pertwee era aren't the strongest, the fact that the Time Lord visits the planet on two occasions actually makes them quite memorable for this incarnation.
In a way it's quite a fitting return for his penultimate adventure...

I always like it when the show explores the impact that the Doctor has made and even though not much has changed in the 50 years since the time traveller last visited the planet, his status is legendary.

The allusions to Britain joining the European Union is still strongly mentioned, whilst the minors strike was also a prevalent news story at the time.

I think the main reason why this sequel is so dismissed is due to the whole serial being 2 episodes longer - these Target books stick to the same page count and all the unnecessary padding is removed which helps move the closely repeated plot along.

Dicks gives a pretty faithful retelling of Brain Hyles script, the only noticeable jarring difference was the famous quote from this story.
Sarah's 'There's nothing 'only' about being a girl' being changed to 'female' as she talks to the new queen seems clunky and out of place.

Like most of the lengthier Pertwee adventures, the novelisations help improve the story with a more efficient way of telling the better aspects of this average retread.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novelization of the fourth serial from the eleventh season of Doctor Who, which was broadcast in March and April of 1974. The adaptation was written by Terrance Dicks, based on the original teleplay of Brian Hayles, which is follows faithfully though some scenes are abbreviated to good result. The Doctor is in his third regeneration, and is accompanied by the ebullient Sarah Jane Smith. The story is something of a sequel to The Curse of Peladon, the second story from the ninth season, in which the same Doctor and Jo Grant visited the mineral-rich Peladon and encountered the Ice Warriors. It's always interesting when the Doctor revisits a prior playing field and sees what effects his former actions have had. It's a nicely balanced political story of adventure and economics, and the novelization is better paced than the six-segment original.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Peladon stories. The idea of a medevil world trying to join a galactic federation and is visited by several alien diplomats is so good it could stand on its own.
Mix in Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors and it just gets better.

Intrigue, funky aliens and a cool monster. What more could you ask in a Doctor Who story?

[Gareth · Rating 3 out of 5]

While not a bad story, I also don't find this one that strong compared to others, or to the original Curse of Peladon story. While the latter had some one dimensional characters, it also had some quite fascinating characters, and also featured good Ice Warriors.
This one on the other hand seemed to have few rounded characters, with a lot more one dimensional ones to my view, and the Ice Warriors featured here reverted to type somewhat, and possibly because I've read this one a few times in the past, the twists seemed apparent.
Sarah as well seemed a bit contradictorily place here - seeming to help drive the Queen to view women as being equal to men, but then not really given a chance to actually demonstrate this during the plot, being shut down a few times herself, and her proactive actions when taken were somewhat hidden from the other characters unfortunately, when good have been a good example to show the Queen.
Alpha Centauri was a pleasure to see again, and the Doctor was pretty good in the book as well, just overall wasn't that great a read for me.

[Michel Siskoid Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's kind of too bad that Dicks changes the serial's ONE FAMOUS LINE in Doctor Who and The Monster of Peladon, you'd think some things would be sacred. His heart was probably in the right place, but the word "girl" for "women" is still better than the cringy "female". Nevertheless, the Doctor's return to Peladon, while ostensibly padded on screen, works well in shortish prose fiction. Plenty of excitement, plenty of twists and turns, and not much time to outguess them. In my head, The Monster of Peladon always gets mixed up with Star Trek's "The Cloudminders", and it was no different with the novelisation (where's the invisible gas that makes you stupid?!), but I suppose that's what I find disappointing about Doctor Who's take on the plight of the miner - it doesn't really directly address the inherent class struggle and comes off as just another "rebellion on an alien planet" episode. The book's perfectly fine for what it had to work with, Sarah Jane coming out of it the winner (as usual).

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Who and the Monster of Peladon (1980) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the fourth serial of the eleventh season of Doctor Who and the seventy third serial overall.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane travel to Peladon where the Doctor arrives half a century after his previous appearance on Peladon. Peladon is now in the Federation and the miners are mining trisilicate for the Federation. However, things are not going well and appearances of an image of Aggedor that suddenly kill miners are causing problems. The young queen and her advisor Ortron are in a dispute with the miners. The Ambassador from Alpha Centauri is still on Peladon from the Doctor’s last visit. There is also a Federation Engineer called Eckersley who is there to help the mining.

It’s actually not too bad a Doctor Who story. The Doctor is cast into a space opera type world and there is some mystery about who is really the biggest schemer.

[Jason Bleckly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the Peladon stories, but this one always seemed to drag when I watched it as it’s 6 parts while Curse is only 4. Terrance has fixed that in the novelisation. There are places where an entire scene swap has been reduced to a single sentence. This book is even shorter than the novelisation of Curse even though the story had 2 more parts. I enjoyed this book more than I do the broadcast version as the pacing has been fixed.

The other problem I’ve always had with this story is it’s just a rehash of the first one. There’s the evil high priest controlling the throne who gets killed. And there’s the traitors within the Federation working to their own ends.

I really like the Target Brian wrote of Curse of Peladon. It makes me wonder how he would have adapted his script if he’d done the novelisation. How would it have been different from Terrance’s?

This is an excellent novelisation and one of the rare occasions where I think the book is better than the broadcast version.

[Tim Deforest · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Doctor returns to the medieval planet of Peladon, where a demand for a vital mineral has brought representatives of the galactic Federation to the planet and the resulting changes to Peladon's society is meeting with discontent.

Soon, the Doctor and Sarah are up to their armpits in labor strife, outright rebellion and Martian Ice Warriors with their own violent agenda.

It's a good, solid story from the Doctor's classic era, with Terrance Dicks doing his usual expert job of turning the television script into a fun, fast-paced prose novel.

[Brfngrnbws · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would probably be a lower rating if I didn't have a soft spot for doctor who and the 3rd doctor especially, but I have a feeling nobody would be reading this otherwise.

The writing is fine if not bland, the story is very fun and interesting (maybe I'm misremembering but isn't it almost exactly the same as the original Peladon episode?), the ending is super anti climactic.

also there's a type on page 100 when Sarah says "I'm lting to join the Doctor"

EDIT: I just now realized that this is essentially a novelization of ("based on") the TV story; I'd assumed it was an original story, a sequel. Guess I didn't misremember lol

[Francisco Becerra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novelization of the Third Doctor adventure of the same name. It's a blast from the past, both including the things that made the Doctor such an incredible and advanced character (his fast-forward thinking, resourcefulness) but also some of the misoginy of its times, even when trying to show feminine potential. The plot and its development are amazing, although solved very easily once all the pieces are set.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Dicks' worst, but as someone who both sincerely really likes The Monster of Peladon and thinks it's pretty flawed and could do with reworking (possibly requiring a more radical novelisation writer than Dicks in the first place), I definitely got the impression his heart wasn't in this one.

[Dodau · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Doctor - check, Fainting/Screaming/Both companion - check, Alien villian/monster of the week - check, 90ish pages of running,being shot at, being a smart ass, being mistaken for the bad guy - check. It must be a Target DW book.

[Mestor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A straightforward re-telling of an underrated Jon Pertwee serial. Terrance Dicks adds a few embellishments and makes the final battle in the throne room more dramatic. A pleasantly passable afternoon's reading!

[Ian Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best of Pertwee’s adventures but in the capable hands of Terrance Dicks this becomes quite exciting with a lot of the running around and small number of locations becoming less noticeable and the climax being very well-paced.

[Anna Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

BBC audiobook version.
Interesting look back at one of the old episodes.

[Angela C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic who, loved it, but not my favourite plot.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peladon is a fun setting, and the politicking is a good wrinkle; it just doesn't have the punch the first one did.

[Damon Habbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an okay read Sarah Jane doesn't do much and the Doctor is very athletic at times enjoyed it though.

Better than curse? I think so.

[Christian Petrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes you come across a Doctor Who story and you wonder why does the Doctor even bother helping the people in it? The Monster of Peladon is the 2nd Peladon story. The Doctor has returned to Peladon many years later after The Curse of Peladon. The upper class and lower class (the miners) have issues and it is up to the Doctor to save the day.

This book does cover political issues of the day, and some could say today, in a setting to bring them to people's attention. The Upper Class using the working class to maintain their lifestyle. The working class becoming so upset they want to overthrow the government. Then sprinkle in some old fashioned ideas about a woman's role in society.

It comes across too heavy handed and one sided. Everyone is for one side or another. So you wonder why the Doctor wants to save them, if they can't compromise. Of course all the issues are swept under the rug once a common enemy arises. Then remove the main people causing the issues, and all is saved in the end.

The significance of this story is the last Ice Warrior and Peladon story seen on screen. Another by the numbers book by Terrance Dicks, brings nothing extra. An easily passed over story.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doctor Who and the Monster of Peladon on the other hand was a bit disapointing. I think part of the problem with this book was that it was a longer serial, 6 parts, and yet the novel was the same length as the shorter ones, so instead of adding anything to the story it felt like it was rushing through as quickly as possible. I just rewatched the curse of Peladon which I think is definitely one of my favorite episodes. I love Troughton's son all young, and Jo is simply brilliant. I love how the enemy is superstition and the evil Ice Warriors have actually turned over a leaf and for once a doctor who villan becomes one of the good guys. However, in Monster there is none of that. The superstitious miners are the heros, the ice warriors are once again bad (though they are a splinter group). Sarah seems to spend most of her time complaining about being there, but does have a few moments of brilliance. I'm still looking forward to watching the episode however and seeing how it compares. I think for once the show might be better!

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1038662.html#cutid4[return][return]This really isn't particularly good. Hayles' original story was over complex anyway, including activist miners, imperialist exploitation, and feminism in a confusing tangle of plot strands which Dicks' novelisation rather fails to untangle and clarify. Definitely for completists only.[return][return]It is interesting that this and the previous story are both about external aliens (here, the Ice Warriors) forcing the natives to mine the planet's indigenous mineral resources. Though in this case the human character is one of the bad guys. No wonder people thought the show was running out of ideas.[return]

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story that gets a lot of stick for being a less-than-satisfying sequel. But it's one of the first Target novelizations I ever read, and Terrance Dicks painted a wonderful picture of the planet of Peladon, and its problems. Uncle Terry even provides a recap of the previous story -- helpful to readers like me who weren't even aware (at the time) that there had been a previous Peladon story. In an era when Dicks' novelizations where thin, bare-bones monthly transcripts, "The Monster of Peladon" manages to rise above the threadbare, production-line quality of the time.

[Keiran Thegreat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good novelisation of a classic television Doctor Who story. Terrence Dicks, once again, proves to be a master of converting a script into a readable and enjoyable novel. In this story the characters of Sarah Jane Smith and the Doctor are very well represented by Dicks, as are the supporting characters such Alpha Centauri.
The plot works on two levels, the simple story of a Queen struggling to lead her planet into a more modern age and a second more political story adult readers will appreciate. One of the best novelisations from this popular programme.

[bluetyson]

isbn,original

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

The version I'm listening to is actually the dramatization from the BBC episode.

[Brian Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

***star review only***

[stormhawk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Action packed episode that suffers badly from overuse of the word "Winkle" and being crushed down into the 144 page length established by Target.

[Nicole Schwartz · Rating 3 out of 5]

i listened to the audio book of the recovered episode, classy campy old who

[Almustafa Couch · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine example of Dicks's writing, he provides environmental description quite sparingly, though adequately (you always know what's happening and where). It certainly is a good book of this genre.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard Target novelization. Does what it says on the tin.