This story begins with the Doctor believing he has fixed the TARDIS, and is so confidant in his abilities that he is using it to take Jo Grant to her date with Captain Yates. Why so sure when he knows for a fact that the Time Lords will always ensure that he cannot leave Earth on his own?
Ever since Season 7 he has concentrated on making a new Dematerialisation Circuit, as if that will sort everything out, when he knows that the Time Lords have blocked certain mental processes as well.
If the production team wanted another off-world story, all they had to do was make it another Time Lord mission like Colony in Space. At the conclusion, the Doctor tells Jo that it was a Time Lord mission all along - so once again we have to ask why they insist on sending him places without giving him a clue as to why he's there and what's expected of him. For all he knows the Time Lords might have wanted Peladon not to have joined the Federation.
And why have the Time Lords parked the TARDIS on a narrow ledge overlooking a sheer drop? They might have killed the Doctor before he had even started on his mission.
When the Doctor and Jo arrive in the citadel, they are mistaken for the delegates from Earth.
Surely there ought to have been some communications in advance about who would be attending - their name at the very least.
Talking of names, why are some delegates named after their home planets whilst others have proper names? The Doctor isn't referred to as "Earth", and Izlyr isn't called "Mars", yet Alpha Centauri and Arcturus get called after where they come from.
Things aren't helped by the fact that the King of this planet is named after it as well.
We learn that the delegates' communications devices have been smashed, but not until quite a bit into the story. Was Amazonia's ship not keeping in touch to say that they were running late but still on their way, so please don't start negotiations without her?
What exactly are the villains' plans?
High Priest Hepesh has entered into a deal with Arcturus in order that his planet doesn't get exploited by aliens and loses its old traditions... That's Arcturus, an alien who wants to exploit the planet and doesn't give two hoots about the old traditions.
Arcturus seems to be trying to provoke a fight with the Ice Warriors - even though this could lead to Peladon being destroyed in the cross-fire. Why do something which will destroy the planet whose mineral resources you are so desperate to obtain?
Hepesh keeps telling the Doctor that he doesn't want him harmed, as that will provoke a terrible retribution from the Federation - then goes out of his way at every opportunity to harm the Doctor.
In the fourth episode he tells the delegates that he does not want them as either guests or hostages, and yet he has done everything he can to cut them off from their means of departure.
How does Arcturus shooting down the Doctor in cold blood in the arena, in full view of everybody, help throw suspicion onto the Ice Warriors?
Hepesh throws a fresh sword down to Grun, the Doctor's opponent, yet no-one gives the Doctor a fresh weapon. Is Hepesh allowed to intervene in this way? If yes, why is the Doctor not helped equally. If not, it's a rather blatant show of treachery by the High Priest in front of witnesses.
We're lead to believe that Hepesh is doing what he is doing mainly because of his religious beliefs, yet he knows that Aggedor is not a deity because he's got one of the creatures secreted in the caves near his temple. He is a total hypocrite, yet this aspect of his character is never touched upon.
Surely the appearance of a real Aggedor creature would totally undermine Hepesh's position and destroy the planet's entire belief system. A massive risk to keep it alive so close to the citadel.
If he was able to placate and manipulate it then obviously someone else might be able to do it - which is exactly what happens.
We know that Hepesh argued against Federation membership, yet when Torbis is killed it is he who is elevated to the dead Chancellor's position in the negotiations. Why has Peladon not replaced him with someone else from Torbis' faction? Not only is he never going to change his views on membership, he is likely to actively work against it.
Then again, the King seems to have been guided by only the two men - there is no sign of any kind of council on the planet.
The one everyone always talks about - where does Ssorg sleep? The Ice Warriors appear to share a room, with a single bed.
Jo gets locked in this room. She escapes by climbing out of the window - surely making herself look even more guilty as far as Izlyr is concerned.
(And is there some invisible force-field around Peladon's unglazed windows, which keeps the seemingly permanent gales from getting into the bedrooms?).
How does the Doctor think that the Ice Warriors managed to extract that tiny device from Arcturus' life-support system with their big pincer hands? (A problem with this race ever since their first appearance - just how do they manipulate delicate equipment?).
The Doctor says Aggedor would simply have smashed the protective dome - but wouldn't the Ice Warriors have just done the same thing? As it is, whoever sabotaged Arcturus did so in such a way that he would not die - so flagging up his complicity from the outset.
Lastly, Alpha Centauri is described as a hexapod - having six feet. It appears to have six arms, but moves about on what looks like a single foot, like a snail. So shouldn't it be a hermaphrodite unipod or pseudopod instead?
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