The Talons of Weng-Chiang

The Talons of Weng-Chiang is the epitome of the Hinchcliffe/Holmes era. It takes some very familiar source material and weaves it into something that is fresh and invigorating. It is not surprising that this story has come as close to universal acclaim as any Doctor Who story has ever done. There are many reasons for this, but the most important has to be Robert Holmes’s script. Holmes takes from The Phantom of the Opera, Fu Manchu and Jack the Ripper, wraps it up in Holmesian mystery (of the Sherlock kind) and gives it that unique Doctor Who touch. The story is well constructed with masterful creations such as Mr Sin a deranged cyborg with the cerebral cortex of a pig, the dragon that shoots laser beams from its eyes etc. Holmes manages to make practically every speaking role a character in their own right, from the ghoul who finds Buller’s corpse, to the fantastic supporting roles of Jago and Litefoot. The dialogue throughout is great, from Jago’s alliterative declamation to Litefoot’s soothing confidence. This is helped by one of the finest guest casts that the programme has ever had. Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter effortlessly bring Jago and Litefoot to life and, just as every speaking role is written memorably, every part, no matter how small is excellently performed. On the villainous side, John Bennet makes Li H'sen Chang a figure of menace, but with great dignity and humanity and Michael Spice conveys the insanity of Weng-Chiang/ Magnus Greel very well. The Doctor is essentially providing his own spin on Sherlock Holmes, with Jago and Litefoot playing Watson. This is a masterful performance by Baker and he is ably supported by a very good reading of the Eliza Doolittle aspect of Leela’s character by the wonderful Louise Jameson.

This was, sadly, David Maloney’s final Doctor Who and he manages to maintain his usual excellence. The location scenes are shot with great atmosphere and the studio scenes are lit with great care. Maloney uses such methods as POV shots and hand-held ‘interview’ shots to subtle, but great effect. The re-creation of Victorian London was something the BBC costume and design departments could do in their sleep and their consummate excellence in this field supports the production tremendously.

Flaws are few and far between- there is some padding, such as the chase of Greel in the theatre, but it is by no means boring. Of course, one question that must be addressed is the presentation of the Chinese in the story. The villainous Tongs running amok in London are taken straight from Sax Roemer’s Fu Manchu stories, hardly the most racially sensitive stories and all of the Chinese characters are villainous to some degree or another . However the story never crosses over into racism and any insensitive comments about the Chinese are made by characters completely in keeping with the prejudices of their time. There is also the question of John Bennet’s casting as Li H'sen Chang. As said before, his performance is excellent, and stays on the right side of stereotypical. However, this was probably the last time the BBC would have got away with putting an actor in ‘yellowface’ and is, rightly, seen as being unacceptable now. The make-up at least tries to be more realistic than the simple taping back of eyes that would have been used in bygone years and gives Chang proper epicanthic folds- however, you would have to be extremely naïve nowadays to find it completely convincing.

There is one very important thing I have not mentioned- this story is great, great fun from start to finish, which is probably the best recommendation of all.

NEXT: Horror of Fang Rock