The Poison of Peladon

Peladon #2

Released: 28 January 2022

Listened: 2/5/22

River arrives on Peladon to help with a plague that’s threatening the population, and could end the royal line, represented in this story by Queen Thalira. Plus Alpha Centauri and an Arcturan, but no Ice Warriors. There’s also some talk of republican revolution, although it’s not clear whether that would be good or not. Naturally, there’s a mystery, and skullduggery, but let’s be honest: we’re here to see River flirting with Centauri. Which they do, quite consensually, and quite frequently. River’s also very friendly with Thalira, as River has promised to “look in” on the planet as a favor to a friend. But she’s also quite jazzed that Thalira has taken to heart the lessons about women’s lib that she learned from Sarah Jane. It would be nice if we had the original actor back to play Thalira, but that’s not to be. Likewise, Ysanne Churchman was unavailable to play Centauri (although she had voiced them in the modern series), so Jane Goddard fills in, having played them several times for Big Finish before. It’s a bit unfortunate that Thalira doesn’t seem to have much agency in this story, given the theme, but this Peladon series seems to be rather tough on the royal family.