S14.E21

The Talons of Weng-Chiang: Part One

Episode aired Feb 26, 1977
PG
25m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

The Doctor and Leela land in Victorian London, and find themselves in the middle of missing girls, mutilated bodies, and vicious Chinese gangs. The Palace theater, presenting hypnotist Li H'... Read allThe Doctor and Leela land in Victorian London, and find themselves in the middle of missing girls, mutilated bodies, and vicious Chinese gangs. The Palace theater, presenting hypnotist Li H'sen Chang seems to be at the center of it all.The Doctor and Leela land in Victorian London, and find themselves in the middle of missing girls, mutilated bodies, and vicious Chinese gangs. The Palace theater, presenting hypnotist Li H'sen Chang seems to be at the center of it all.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.6/10

861

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Did you know

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Trivia
Voted by fans as the greatest Doctor Who (1963) serial of all time in Outpost Gallifrey's poll in 2003 to celebrate 40 years of the series.

Goofs
When Leela is attacked, the words "Clink Wharf" can be seen painted on a warehouse door. Clink wharf was on the other side of the Thames to the Palace theatre.

Quotes
Jago: You been drinkin'.
Casey: Not a drop, sir.
Jago: Then it's time you started.

Alternate versions
The UK video release was cut by 10 secs to remove nunchaku footage during a fight scene. DVD releases are uncut.

Connections
Featured in The Lively Arts: Whose Dr. Who (1977)

User reviews11

Review

Featured review

8/10

Sax Rohmer meets Dr Who

Review of the Complete Story:

THE TALONS OF WENG CHIANG is a well-remembered serial from the Tom Baker era of DR WHO, and for good reason: in the long history of the show, this one is completely unique. It's a wonderfully Gothic pulp adventure that feels like something Sax Rohmer would have scripted for the show: the Doctor and Leela are up against the most sinister kind of Yellow Peril in the dimly-lit streets of East End London...

What's extraordinary about this story is how well they manage to evoke Victorian London on what would have been a very low budget. The streets are wonderfully atmospheric and the settings range from dank sewers to cobwebby alleyways and run-down music halls. You can almost see Jack the Ripper creeping around in the background!

Baker adopts a Sherlock Holmes-style personality in this one and even wears a deerstalker to hammer home the similarities. The story has lots of fantastic elements and if the special effects aren't up to scratch, then that's part of the charm. John Bennett is a delight, yellowed-up as the sinister Chang, but it's the creepy homunculus (played by dwarf actor Deep Roy) who everybody remembers as one of the most sinister life-size dolls put on film or TV. Watch out for a delightfully hammy Christopher Benjamin as the proprietor who becomes drawn into the mystery. My only real complaint is that the final identity of the masked villain turns out to be so ordinary and familiar from other DR WHO stories - something more uniquely horrific would have been more appropriate, I feel...