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| THE TALONS OF WENG-CHIANG :: DVD REVIEW
by Stephen Mills
Added Thursday,
May 8 2003
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However, Banks Stewart was wooed to take on the script editor’s job on The Sweeney by Thames Television and wasn’t able to finish the job. Holmes, as he had done previously on The Ark in Space and Pyramids of Mars, re-wrote the story from scratch and came up with the last story of Philip Hinchcliffe’s reign as producer… The Talons of Weng-Chiang. |
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» THE PLOT ... |
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| The inimitable Doctor
Who and his assistant Leela are confronted by sinister and seemingly
inexplicable occurrences in this gripping thriller set in the shadowy
depths of nineteenth century London. With the help of Professor Litefoot, the Doctor investigates the gruesome murder of a cabbie and the mysterious disappearances of young girls. Whilst being chased by giant rats and forced to pit his wits against an evil doll and a merciless illusionist, he comes face to face with his most deadly enemy to date: Magnus Greel – a fifty-first century war criminal posing as Weng Chiang, an ancient Chinese god. Can the Doctor thwart his dastardly plans before Leela becomes his next victim … |
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| » THE MENU'S ... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This disc is unique as it offers us our first two-disc release and the menu’s on the two discs are very different. The first disc, which has the actual episodes (complete with commentary and production subtitles), is laid out like the previous DVD releases and as with all the black and white releases, the menu has a monochrome feel. The second disc looks like the extra menus on the previous discs. Both come with clips from the story rolling in the background.
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| » THE PICTURE / SOUND ... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The article on the Restoration Team website said they’ve had problems with this release, and it sadly shows on the finished product. The picture quality isn’t quite up to the usual standards. If you play this after the Ark in Space for example, and you might have a heart attack. There is worse picture quality out there and it is a definitive improvement on the 1990 edited video release. |
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| » WHAT ABOUT THOSE EXTRA'S ONLY DVD CAN PROVIDE? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Let’s
go through the big extras first, as there are two of them. The first
is the commentary track, which features Louise Jameson, John Bennett,
Christopher Benjamin, Philip Hinchclife and David Maloney. It’s
on a mix and match basis, with episode 1 featuring Louise, John, Christopher
and David; Episode 2 has John, Christopher, Philip and David Episode
3 has Louise with Phil and David; Episiode 4 has Louise, John and
Christopher; Episode 5 has all five (sorry for the pun) and Episode
6 has Louise, Christopher, David and Phil with John joining them later.
The commentary track though doesn’t really inspire. Thankfully, it’s not as quiet as The Aztecs commentary but it is very dry, but it is genuinely informative most of the time. I didn’t realise the scenes at the theatre were actually done on location, rather than in a studio. My other concern really for this commentary is that five people were rather too much on this particular story, and five people in the box at one time meant there were times where people weren’t saying anything. Having said that, it gets better with each episode and in the end, it won’t be the worse commentary track in the world. There is also the "Whose Doctor Who" documentary, which is fascinating for some of the behind the scenes footage on Talons, but also for the interviews and the comments that some of the interviewees have. The children’s view is probably the best, reminding us of a time when the program was popular in the classroom and playground.
Other extras include;
There is also one Easter Egg. For
details of how to find it, highlight the text below
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| » THE STORY ... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Talons of Weng-Chiang is the last story of Philip Hinchcliffe’s reign, and one could argue is the finest example of Hinchcliffe and Holmes ideas on how Doctor Who should be made.
In fact, all of the characters are based on popular portrayals of characters from other media’s or 19th century stereotypes, but they are combined really effectively. Weng-Chiang is based on the Phantom of the Opera complete with the long flowing gown, his face being hidden my mask and hiding underneath the palace theatre. But the character of Weng-Chiang is a very effective villain, partly due to Michael Spice excellent performance both vocally and visually, but the ways that the characters describe him. The Doctor in particular excels at this moment, describing him as the `Butcher of Brisbane` and the `Infamous minister of Justice` allows us to create pictures in our minds, without having to see them. His god like status to Li H’sen Chang is an excellent relationship, probably the best one since The Brain of Morbius, which surprisingly starred Michael Spice. Weng-Chiang makes an impact, with his disgusting skin, his snarled face, he’s the stereotyped villain, but Spice plays the part so well that it isn’t obvious. Another of the things that makes Weng-Chiang such a classic villain is another Holmesian reference to the 19th century. Weng-Chiang crimes of kidnapping and killing girls are similar to the infamous Jack the Ripper case, which puts a new angle of revulsion from the audience.
The other villain of the piece (aside from the Rat) is the deeply sinister dummy Mr Sin. I make no apologies for saying it, but I think he might be one of the few villains to actually scare me as an adult as opposed to when I was a child. The moment in the first few minutes of episode one when you saw blood drip down the hand, it’s instantly ominous. The classic moment is the cliffhanger to episode two where Mr Sin advances Leela is very creepy and definitely has that come-and-see-what-happens-next-week appeal.
I don’t think there’s much more that can be said really. The plot’s convoluted with holes and unexplained elements (why does Weng-Chiang just use girls, why does that Phantom appear in the theatre), the giant rat is appalling, but the story is witty, funny and vibrant with energy, with some superb location footage, some excellent David Maloney direction and some marvelous performances, one can’t help but admire the ever popular Talons of Weng-Chiang. |
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| » SUMMARY ... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall
Score : 9/10
Thanks to a great package of extras and the most popular Doctor Who story released unedited for the first time, this DVD was always likely to be a huge success and it is. You can order The Talons of Weng-Chiang from Blackstar by clicking here. |
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| » TECHNICAL DETAILS ... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All screen grabs and images appearing
in the above review are Copyright (C) BBC Worldwide Ltd 2003 and
some courtesy of DWIA |
When
people think of the finest Tom Baker story, this one appears alongside
Genesis of the Daleks and City of Death. Graham Williams produced
one, the other by the same production team as Talons. It’s
noticeable that when Hinchcliffe and Holmes took over, very few
typically science fiction stories were made and stories often had
very different roots. Brain of Morbius, despite
being set on a far and distant planet, has its roots in Mary Shelley’s
Frankenstein. The Deadly Assassin is based on The
Manchurian Candidate, while Robots of Death takes
it’s inspiration from the murder mysteries told by Agatha
Christie. Talons of Weng-Chiang embrace this with
considerable success, but isn’t afraid to borrow examples
from several established media.
The
first is the Doctor’s relationship with Leela. The obvious
influence is Pygmalion, with Henry Higgins playing the Doctor and
Leela playing Eliza Doolittle, one of the Doctor’s first lines
is `I’m trying to teach you,`. It’s surprisingly effective
given the brief at the time, to make a show that would appeal to
a family, as the children that watch the program would be able to
identify with Leela, with the Doctor able to explain things without
having to patronise his companion. The Doctor here also takes on
the role of the classic turn-of-the-century detective, like Sherlock
Holmes helping the police out despite being accused of assault by
them complete with the look of a Victorian mastermind at work. 
Li
H’sen Chang is the Oriental wizard, with a box of tricks,
but wonderful character development and an excellent performance
from English actor John Bennett means that he is one of the most
striking human villains that Doctor Who has ever had. He starts
off as the mystical magician and is characterised as such. His involvement
in the story starts to become messier, the more that the Doctor
and Leela find out. He then becomes the classic villain, all charm
when getting new specimens for Weng-Chiang and the moment that he
sees his Lord, he turns into a fawning accomplice. It’s multi-layered,
multi-faceted, and his repentance at helping Weng-Chang is deeply
touching.
That’s
not to mention that there are also some marvelous human characters.
The blustering theatre manager Henry Gordon Jago forms many excellent
relationships in this story due to his attributes of being warm,
friendly and instantly likable. His partnership with his deputy
Casey is excellent, as is that between himself and Li H’sen
Chang but by far is the one that Robert Holmes considered writing
a whole series on, the relationship between Jago and the Premier
Professor of Pathology, Professor Litefoot. It’s instantly
striking, it’s instantly fun and one regrets that there wasn’t
some sort of follow up series which saw these two play. Indeed,
if Big Finish ever needed an idea…» All reviews are © to their respective authors and may not be reproduced elsewhere without prior permission