Writer Robert Holmes
Director David Maloney
Broadcast 26 Feb-2 April 1977
“I
don't know who's a blackguard. Some slavering gangrenous vampire comes out of a
sewer and stalks this city at night, he's a blackguard. I've got to find his
lair and I haven't got an hour to lose.”
The
Doctor brings Leela to Victorian London to see how her ancestors have
lived. What happens next is just typical
luck for The Doctor as they get involved with a case that involves the Tong of
the Black Scorpion. There also appears
to be a connection with a slew of women disappearing and it seems to all center
around Jago’s theatre and his main act Li H’sen Chang. It appears that Chang is working for the 51st
Century criminal Magnus Greel or as he is known now Weng – Chiang.
With
the aid of giant sewer rats and the murderous Peking Homunculus Mr. Sin it
appears that Greel might be able to get the time cabinet working again and get
the Zeta beam to take him home.
Unfortunately this will cause great repercussions to Earth as the beam
is spread thin and will not work. So it
is up to The Doctor and Leela and the aid of his two new friends Jago and
Lightfoot to stop the villainous Greel and save the Earth in the processes.
The
Talons of Weng-Chiang is one of those stories that is just timeless and is such
a true classic. It is Tom Baker at his
best. He is not too silly and he just has a commanding presence in this story
that he just takes over the case. The
Doctor does his best Sherlock Holmes impersonation in this story with his
attire and his mannerisms as he does become a detective in this story. It is good to see Doctor Who give a nod to
the great detective and have the two British institutions join forces in a
roundabout way.
I loved the characters of Jago and
Lightfoot. They bring a certain
Victorian style and a bit of light heartedness with their funny moments. There is great chemistry between the two of
them that it was a no brainer for Big Finish to bring them back with their own
series of audio adventures. They just
worked and were one of the perfect secondary characters created for Doctor
Who. Too bad they never returned to the
series on TV.
I
just loved Mr. Sin. Played by Deep Roy
this character was evil. Killed without
remorse and just seemed to enjoy it way too much. Disguised as a ventriloquist dummy that was
actually alive was pretty freaky and scary to one so young when he first
watched The Talons of Weng-Chiang. In
fact I still find Mr. Sin Creepy but not so much anymore since I met him in
person. Mr. Sin is truly one of the evilest Doctor Who baddies of all time.
The
Talons of Weng-Chiang is to me a perfect story.
There isn’t anything that I do not like about it. It is a story that I feel in love with back
in the day and still enjoy watching over and over again. It is just that enjoyable and I do love the
giant rat in the sewer even if it does look like it should be on a kid’s
bed. I also like how it also pays homage
in a way to The Phantom of the Opera.
The whole theatre set and Greel lair under the theatre is classic. What
is there not to love about this story?
The
Talons of Weng-Chiang is a true classic written by one of the best writers of
the shows history in Robert Holmes and he delivers one of his best all time for
the best Doctor of all time.
©BBC
Doctor Who 1963
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