P is for... Peladon, King

The young monarch of the planet of the same name, who hosted a commission from the Galactic Federation tasked with assessing his world for membership into that body. He was in favour of this, seeking to modernise Peladon whose society and customs sometimes mirrored that of medieval Europe.

His father had helped open the planet up to the wider galaxy by marrying a woman from Earth, and he wished to build on these ties. In favour was his Chancellor, Torbis, but opposed was High Priest Hepesh, who feared that their old religion and customs would be swept away.

The Doctor and Jo Grant became involved when the TARDIS landed on the planet. He was mistaken for the expected Earth delegate who was to chair the commission, and he presented Jo as a member of the royal family since no commoner could enter the throne room of the citadel. The young King fell in love with her. However, she realised that he cared for her only as a means to achieve his goals. 

Hepesh had Torbis killed, blaming the death on the curse of Aggedor. This was their sacred beast, long extinct and now deified. However, he had found a living specimen and was using it to help undermine the work of the commission. He was working with one of the alien delegates - Arcturus - who sought to exploit the planet for its own race by keeping it out of the Federation.

When the Doctor was accused of blaspheming the sacred Temple of Aggedor, after being tricked into entering it by Hepesh, Peladon claimed that he could not go against their ancient laws in this matter - even if it meant his execution and potential retaliation by the Federation. The best he could do was commute the sentence to mortal combat with his champion, a mute giant named Grun.

Hepesh's guilt was soon exposed and Arcturus destroyed, but the High Priest then seized the throne room and took Peladon hostage - threatening to kill him if he did not reject the Federation. The Doctor found the real Aggedor and brought it to the chamber where it killed Hepesh in retaliation for his cruelty towards it.

The planet would go on to become a member of the Federation and Peladon did marry, his Queen giving birth to a girl named Thalira who succeeded him to the throne. 

The TARDIS had brought the Doctor back to Peladon 50 years after his last visit, where he hoped to meet the King again, but he had already died.

Played by: David Troughton. Appearances: The Curse of Peladon (1972)

• Son of Patrick Troughton, David had once shared a flat with future Doctor Colin Baker.
• In 1986 he co-starred with Peter Davison in A Very Peculiar Practice, playing the obnoxious Bob Buzzard.
• He first appeared in the series in a walk-on role as one of Salamander's guards in The Enemy of the World, and followed this with a more substantial role as Private Moor in The War Games.
• He would return to the series in 2008 to play Professor Hobbes in Midnight - a late replacement for actor Sam Kelly when he broke his leg.
• On telling his father that he had been given a job with the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was told not to worry as something else might turn up. His father was famously uninterested in stage work, referring to it as "Shouting in the evenings".
• His sons Sam and William are both actors, and another, Jim, a cricketer. His nephew is Harry Melling, who played Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter movies.