P is for... Pletrac

Pompous and bureaucratic head of the three-man assessment tribunal tasked with deciding if the Lurman entertainers Vorg and Shirna should be permitted to visit their planet, Inter Minor. 

Disturbed by unrest amongst the Functionary class, President Zarb had agreed to end generations of self-isolation and thought that some innocent diversion might take their mind off their grievances. Pletrac's fellow panel members were Kalik - ambitious brother of President Zarb - and Orum.

The entertainment which Vorg and Shirna promised came in the form of a Miniscope which housed living specimens, time-looped within miniaturised environments and which could be viewed on a screen. On learning that the machine contained "livestock", Pletrac immediately wished it destroyed. The long period of self-isolation had been due to space plague and the Inter Minorans were paranoid about possible infections.

Hoping to overthrow his brother, Kalik thought the Miniscope a useful tool in his schemes. Were it indeed to cause problems, Zarb would be discredited. He set about thwarting all of Pletrac's attempts to have the Lurmans and their machine deported or destroyed - backed by his friend Orum.

Captured within one of the Miniscope environments was the TARDIS. The Doctor and Jo Grant were able to break out into the machine's workings and he eventually managed to get to the outside where he grew to normal size. He blamed Pletrac for the Miniscope's presence on Inter Minor, having successfully had the machines banned when still living on Gallifrey as they harnessed sentient beings for others' amusement.

Savage monsters called Drashigs had also broken out of their environment and were close to getting into the outside world - which Kalik hoped would happen. However, once free they then ate him. Vorg was able to man a laser weapon and destroy them - gaining the gratitude of Pletrac on behalf of the President. The Miniscope was wrecked, however, and so Vorg had another way of making money - through sleight of hand.

He was able to trick the gullible Pletrac into betting lots of credit bars...

Played by: Peter Halliday. Appearances: Carnival of Monsters (1973)

• Halliday, who died in 2012 at the age of 87, first appeared in the series as Packer in The Invasion, in which he also provided some Cyberman voices.
• He returned in Season 7 to provide more vocals in The Silurians and for the alien commander in The Ambassadors of Death.
• Then he was the Florentine soldier in City of Death.
• His final role in the series was as the blind vicar in Remembrance of the Daleks.
• Before Doctor Who, he starred in A For Andromeda (1961) and its sequel The Andromeda Breakthrough (1962).
• Other genre productions he appeared in include Doomwatch, UFO, The Tripods and Out of the Unknown.