The planet Peladon has applied to join the Galactic Federation, and The Doctor is mistaken for the chairman of the committee sent to assess its application, while Jo is taken for an Earth princess, with the mythical curse of Aggedor apparently striking chancellor Torbis dead, The Doctor must discover who is desperate to stop Peladon joining, but soon he is sentenced to death and his only Allies seem to be Jo and the Ice Warrior Delegates.
This was all made just as the UK was negotiating to enter the EEC so I wonder if the writers had that in the back of their minds as the King of "Peladon" (David Troughton - following in his father's footsteps with the Time Lord) is greeting a diplomatic mission from the Galactic Federation that he thinks he might want to join. He's not of the strongest character, though, and it's really his High Priest "Hepesh" (Geoffrey Toone) who wants to rule the roost. Just by chance, the "Doctor" (Jon Pertwee) and "Jo" (Katy Manning) arrive and are mistaken for the delegates from Earth and she for a Princess! Things become even more perilous when the legendary monster "Aggedor" starts to make it's presence felt which the manipulative priest start to use as weapon to thwart his King's progressive ambitions. Can the "Doctor" get a-thwarting and might "Jo" actually get some romance for a change, too? This is quite an engagingly paced drama that introduces a little bit of politicking into the usual light-hearted sci-fi. The "Ice Warriors" are ever so slightly menacing and though I will confess to finding the "Alpha Centauri" character really quite irritating, there are plenty of other compensating factors for that with some decent visual effects, plenty of secret passageways and a little bit of whacky singing hypnotism to take this story of conspiracy along competently for six parts.
