Peladon: proving that bad management outlasts generations.
Short Synopsis
The Doctor and Sarah Jane return to Peladon, fifty years after the last visit. The miners are revolting (literally), Aggedor’s back as a ghostly projection, and once again, the Ice Warriors are up to their old tricks.
Extended Storyline
The TARDIS plops the Doctor and Sarah back onto Peladon — because apparently the Time Lords think “take your companion to a collapsing monarchy” counts as a fun day out. The Doctor is surprised to find the place both familiar and depressingly unchanged: political unrest, clueless royalty, and a monster in the caves that may or may not be a glorified Scooby-Doo hoax.
This time, Queen Thalira is ruling the throne (a direct descendant of the last king, though she’s about as commanding as a damp sponge). The miners of Peladon are unhappy with their working conditions and low pay — a clear reflection of 1970s industrial strife in Britain. Naturally, instead of unions and negotiations, Peladon solves problems with whispers of Aggedor the sacred beast wandering around scaring people.
The Doctor investigates and — shocker — it turns out Aggedor isn’t running around after all. The monster’s image is being projected by some sneaky conspirators, including Ice Warriors. Yes, the Ice Warriors are back, and yes, they’re evil again — because apparently character development doesn’t carry over between stories.
Sarah Jane spends much of the serial rolling her eyes at Peladonian sexism (“a woman can’t lead!” — cue Sarah proving them wrong by being ten times braver than the lot of them). She also becomes a champion for the miners, who are too busy shouting to realize the Ice Warriors are basically running a galactic protection racket under their noses.
After several episodes of shouting, betrayal, fake Aggedor scares, and the Doctor running around mines in his cape, the truth comes out. The Ice Warriors are defeated, the miners get concessions, and Peladon limps into the future slightly wiser — though probably doomed to repeat the exact same mess in another fifty years.