YYY6 - The Monster of Peladon 6

Is it possible for a story to have nothing really remarkable about it - no standout performances, no glaring errors, no memorable scenes - and yet be more than slightly entertaining? Because that's what The Monster of Peladon was to me.

I expected this to be one of the longer (in my mind) six-part stories that I've had to endure thus far, but it really wasn't as bad as all that. I can't help but laugh at the one Ice Warrior with the oversized head, though (forever christened Ruprecht in RFS #99). His helmet was the first built for the Ealing film recording of The Ice Warriors in 1967, but, after seeing how ludicrously large it was on film, newer, smaller helmets were built for the rest of the Ice Warriors for the studio recording. There weren't enough Ice Warriors in one camera shot (i.e. two of them) in either The Seeds of Death or The Curse of Peladon, so Ruprecht wasn't pressed into service from 1967 until 1974. I'm amazed they used the head again in Monster. There are times in this story (especially in Episode Four) where I am convinced the helmet is going to fall off...

Sarah is forced to deal with the possibility of a dead Doctor twice in this story, most notably in Episode Six. For all the danger he gets himself into, it is rare that a companion actually has cause to believe The Doctor is dead, let alone having the companion actually see The Doctor's body (as Sarah does on the monitor in the communications room in this episode). Elisabeth Sladen handles Sarah's situation splendidly, of course. She'll have even more opportunity to do so again very soon...