The Talons of Weng-Chiang Part Three

The one where Leela jumps through a window...

As the 450th episode of Doctor Who gets underway, we have a snorting, knife-wielding sentient ventriloquist's dummy shambling towards the Doctor's companion, something I doubt would ever have crossed the minds of the script writers back in '63! It's all so deliciously dark. Some might argue too dark, especially when the companion picks up her own knife and hurls it at the throat of the approaching creature - AND IT JUST KEEPS ON COMING! Horrific stuff. Strange that we didn't get a comedy B-DOINNNG sound effect when Leela threw the knife though, like we did in The Robots of Death just weeks earlier.

In order to escape the porcine peril, Leela decides to hop, skip and jump bodily through the window, which is the first time a companion has ever done this (but not the last!). It's this scene, and the one later where Leela escapes the clutches of Weng-Chiang in the underground lair, which makes me think the savage isn't being written quite as bravely as previously. She's still spirited and ballsy, but she seems to give up that little bit quicker, and I don't think Louise Jameson quite maintains Leela's huntress demeanour. I guess that might be something to do with the fact she's having to act in lacy knickers rather than her usual loins!

This is a great episode for Leela though, who gets plenty to do and gets directly involved by following Li H'sen Chang back to the theatre. Chang is so utterly devoted to his god Weng-Chiang, but he does mess up in this episode, which ultimately leads to his dismissal (can you be made redundant by a deity?). He's searching for his master's time cabinet, and has found it in Litefoot's house. It's almost in his clutches: Mr Sin is clearing the building of humans (Litefoot's unconscious and Leela's jumped out the window), and Chang is fending off the Doctor outside with his pistol. So why not just grab the time cabinet and make off in the horse and carriage, there's barely anything to stop him.

The time cabinet appears to be a lacquered bronze Chinese puzzle box which nobody has ever been able to open (and what a beautiful prop it is). Weng-Chiang needs this cabinet in order to fully rejuvenate, but in the meantime he's hanging on to his burnt and charred body by distilling the life essences of various young girls. The best part of a dozen young women ("contemptible slatterns" and "painted drabs") have lost their lives to his distillation process so far, the latest poor souls being weary waitress Teresa - who I always thought might be a prostitute, but in actual fact works as a barmaid in a Mayfair gambling club, according to the novelisation! - and one of the cheery cleaners from the theatre. It's made clear that Weng-Chiang needs the life essence of these women, but the way he paws at their naked flesh is a bit creepy to say the least. The fact they're stripped down to their knickers and undergarments is a little curious too. I mean, why?! It makes it all feel that bit more like a Jack the Ripper scenario, and the sexualisation of these victims is distasteful (particularly in a family show). It might well be an excuse to entertain the dads by having Louise Jameson run around in revealing wet underwear, but to me it feels unnecessary.

And why must Weng-Chiang's victims be female? Why young girls, when he would surely derive stronger life essence from young men (who may not be missed as much)?

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Litefoot team up to try and hunt down and kill the giant rat in the sewers. The Doctor aims to destroy the creature using a vintage Chinese fouling piece made in Birmingham. After working out where the Thames intersects with the buried course of the river Fleet (the Palace Theatre, it seems), he sets out to track down the giant brute through the wonderfully designed and realistic sewer system. Litefoot says that the Fleet has been covered for centuries, which is not strictly true: sections of it were closed and covered between 1737-1769, and the final section not until the 1870s. I love the interactions between the Doctor and Litefoot - the latter dressed in an impressively flamboyant housecoat - and their little team-up as they row along the Thames towards the sewer entrance.

The Doctor is hunting the rat, while the rat is hunting Leela. It's undeniable to even the kindest of apologists that the giant rat prop is bloody awful. It looks very well constructed, and I'm sure an awful lot of effort was put in to making it, but the end product is far too cuddly, reminding me of the Mouse in the BBC's adaptation of The Box of Delights, or Reepicheep in The Chronicles of Narnia. It was a valiant effort, but an almost total failure, and the only saving grace is the fact director David Maloney and lighting designer Mike Jefferies keep the lights nice and low (as they should be in a sewer!).

The cliffhanger sees Leela being captured by the rat, her leg gnawed by its devastating fangs. Jameson's scream sells the moment as best she can, but it's still pretty unconvincing. The sooner the Doctor fires that blunderbuss, the better!

First broadcast: March 12th, 1977

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: It's so 100% Doctor that he draws a map of London on Litefoot's tablecloth!
The Bad: That rat.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 07

NEXT TIME: Part Four...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Part One; Part Two; Part Four; Part Five; Part Six

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: https://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-talons-of-weng-chiang.html

The Talons of Weng-Chiang is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Talons-Weng-Chiang-Special/dp/B009BOSEEA