The planet Peladon, last visited by the Doctor in The Curse of Peladon some decades ago both in-story and out, is now playing host to refugee camps. The more peaceful, enlightened Ice Warriors introduced in that serial have been overthrown in a military coup on New Mars. The royal family was slaughtered and replaced by Grand Marshall Raxlyr, who declared anybody who refused to swear fealty to the new regime an enemy of the state. Many Martian refugees ended up on Peladon, where King Peladon, now much older and wiser, is aiding them to the best of his abilities despite threats from the Grand Marshall.
He is aided in this by his old friend, the Federation Council Member from Alpha Centauri, and Lord Vaarnak, a member of the old Martian court who is acting as an emissary for the refugees. Vaarnak and Peladon are discussing the king's attempts to get increased medical and food assistance from the Federation when a Martian ship crash-lands in the forest near the camps. The pair and their entourages rush to assist the refugees in saving the crew, where they are met by the Third Doctor, fresh off of Jo's departure. Though Peladon is disappointed that Jo hasn't returned, he is glad of the Doctor's advice at such a difficult time.
Later, Vaarnak introduces his cousin Lord Axlaar, who was one of the people aboard the ship. He is much more temperamental than Vaarnak, more in the vein of the Ice Warriors fought previously by the Second Doctor. He and the king do not make fast friends, but they are civil until the discovery later that night that Vaarnak has been murdered by a Pel sword. Axlaar demands blood, and Peladon swears that he will find Vaarnak's killer, while Alpha Centauri uncharacteristically volunteers to lead the investigation.
While reflecting that night on his balcony, Peladon notices a light in one of the towers of his citadel. He tells the Doctor that according to ancient legend, an ancient spirit is kept locked up there, and if he were to be released the kingdom would fall. Though he readily dismisses the story as superstition, Peladon admits that the light in conjunction with current events is unsettling.
The next day Axlaar storms into the throne room, demanding vengeance. Someone has stolen into the camp in the night, kidnapped several young Martian girls, and murdered a mother who attempted to shield one child with a Pel knife. Axlaar accuses some Pels who have been protesting against membership in the Federation and the sheltering of refugees, but the Doctor is not so sure. After a careful examination of the tent where the woman lived, he declares that she was in fact murdered by a Martian disruptor gun, after which the Pel dagger was stabbed into her corpse. He accuses Axlaar of being the killer, at which point the Martian — who reveals his is loyal to the new regime and was planted among the refugees by them — and one of his assistants pull guns on the Doctor and Peladon.
Alpha Centauri, meanwhile, has made himself scarce, and the Doctor and Axlaar have a verbal dueling match about "the girl" that flies completely over the king's head. While he, with gradually increasing fury, demands to know what the hell is going on, the Doctor brings the group to the tower of the Prisoner. Alpha Centauri opens the door, revealing that he has been sheltering the Martian Princess Lixgaar, heir to the recently overthrown dynasty, in anticipation of a Federation task force sneaking her away to a safe haven.
The Doctor defeats Axlaar and his thug through careful application of Venusian aikido and the princess is safe once more. Peladon explodes with anger at Centauri and the Doctor for deliberately leaving him out of the loop, risking the lives of his people and causing unnecessary deaths. After a night's rest and personally reuniting the kidnapped girls with their families, however, he feels much more forgiving, offering to let Centauri stay by his side as Pel's ambassador from the Federation exchange for complete honesty going forward. He attempts to make amends with the Doctor, as well, but he's already gone, the sounds of the TARDIS echoing in the distance.
Tropes
- Calling the Old Man Out: Peladon takes the Doctor to task for treating the entire affair like some sort of game while flitting about being dramatic to impress people, when letting Peladon into his confidence could have helped save lives. This is neither the first nor the last time the Doctor will be called out for such behavior.
- Framing Device: Peladon is telling this story to his daughter at bedtime.
- Homage: Lixgaar's story is strongly reminiscent of the legends of Grand Duchess Anastasia surviving the brutal overthrow of the Russian monarchy in 1917.
- Morality Chain: Peladon speculates that the Doctor's companions serve as this for him, preventing his foibles from getting in the way of actually helping people.
- Noble Fugitive: Princess Lixgaar.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The Doctor realizes that the cowardly Alpha Centauri must be somehow mixed up in the affair when he volunteers to head Vaarnak's murder investigation.
- Ruling Family Massacre: How Grand Marshall Raxlyr takes over New Mars.
