The Talons of Weng-Chiang

"The Master of Magic and Mesmerism. Show us a trick." 

Writer: Robert Holmes

Format: TV

Broadcast: 25 February - 2 April 1977

Season: 14.06

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Leela

Synopsis

Women of Victorian London fall prey to an unknown menace, while monstrous terrors lurk in the sewers under the city. Chinese gangs scurry in the dank fog, and a sinister stage magician seeks to serve his mysterious master. The Doctor and Leela arrive, only to find themselves plunged into a series of macabre horrors...

Verdict

The Talons of Weng-Chiang was an outstanding serial to conclude the fourteenth season of Doctor Who! This is one I have been waiting to rewatch for quite some time now but the six parts makes it a little difficult with an 11-month old around but I was glad to revisit one of my all time favourites for the first time in what must be a decade. This is such a strong serial and right from the off it's excellent. I love the Victorian setting and introducing Leela to that and the tribe of Cockneys was tremendous. I enjoyed her getting to grips with the new society and proclaiming herself as a proud member of the Sevateem was great stuff. We had the now infamous mention of the police as blue guards and it was just so much fun to have her interact with the law. The magic theme at the theatre is brilliant and the dynamic between Jago as the theatre manager and Chang as the performer was so well done. Of course, this serial is infamous for its poor representation of the Chinese and the fact that there are actually no Chinese actors playing the role doesn't look good in hindsight and certainly wouldn't happen these days, but it's incredibly reminiscent of the time this was made in the 1970s and that's how I choose to look back on it. The perceptions of the Chinese in the Victorian era was brutal in parts and there was definitely a semi-racist undercurrent going throughout without any real malicious feeling which I'm not entirely sure is good. But the story itself is just outstanding. The atmosphere throughout is dark and it really does take you aback when the Doctor and Litefoot are exploring the Thames in broad daylight. That feels so out of sync which is testament to the quality of a large bulk of the adventure. The god-like status of Weng-Chiang was marvellous and I think Magnus Greel does make a very strong villain, but after watching I did my research and for the first time I found out that this was intended to be revealed as the decaying Master. Well, that would have been extraordinary and make so much sense! The rejuvenation was brilliant and missing girls seemed to fit in well with Victorian society and the dangers. I like the pace of the story and the cliffhangers are really strong. I was even impressed with the rat model that attacked Leela as I seemed to remember that being quite awful. Mr Sin is a delightfully creepy character and having him go from the means of a ventriloquist to a dagger-wielding madman is glorious. The fate of the character was absolutely gruesome though in the way that the Doctor saw him off. That really shocked me! The relationship that built throughout between Jago and Litefoot was excellent and it's no wonder that they've gone on to become so revered and even have their own spinoff series. I'm now looking forward to delving into that and listening to their further interactions in other audio series. Their reaction at the end to the TARDIS taking off and the comment about the policemen being excellent was sublime stuff. The fate of Greel in being put into his own device and seeing it blow was good and final, and after a jolly good Victorian mystery things definitely got gory in the final episode. That allowed the serial as a whole to have a strong impact and overall, it really is one of the very best! 

Rating: 10/10