The Talons of Weng-Chiang (TV story): Difference between revisions

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It was the final ''Doctor Who'' story to be produced by [[Philip Hinchcliffe]], who had helmed the show since ''[[The Ark in Space (TV story)|The Ark in Space]]'' in [[1975 (releases)|1975]]. It was also the final story to be directed by [[David Maloney]]. Soon after completing this story, Maloney was offered the producership of the [[BBC]]'s new science fiction series ''[[Blake's 7 (series)|Blake's 7]]''.

=== Part two ===

The Doctor and Leela climb back up the ladder, escaping the giant rat after throwing their oil lantern at it.

Jago recovers from his faint, and he and the Doctor chase the returning Weng-Chiang through the theatre. Weng-Chiang hits Jago from behind and nearly kills the Doctor, before getting away.

=== Part three ===

Jago has found the carpetbag in question, and, learning that the Doctor and Litefoot have been seen together, he takes it to Litefoot's house. They leave the bag and a note for the Doctor there, and go on to the theatre together, to watch for anyone who might be sent to search for the bag.

Jago and Litefoot follow a group of Chinese to the Tong's new headquarters, where they are spotted from a window by Weng-Chiang. They are captured, and Weng-Chiang threatens to kill Jago if Litefoot does not tell him where the key to the Time Cabinet is. After Litefoot reveals it's at his house, he and Jago are put into a locked room along with two young women who have been hypnotised — Weng-Chiang's next meal.

At the Tong headquarters, the Doctor realises that Chang's shoe clue referred to the ''tongue'' of his shoe — the "Tong". Mr Sin secretly climbs into the head of a large dragon statue, where there are laser controls inside. The Doctor and Weng-Chiang talk, with Weng-Chiang revealing his real name — [[Magnus Greel]]. The Doctor knows of him: he is from the [[51st century]] and is a war criminal responsible for over one hundred thousand deaths — the "Butcher of [[Brisbane]]". Jago and Litefoot are brought out to the Doctor, who now also wants the two young girls freed. Greel, angered, orders Mr Sin to fire on them; laser beams come from the dragon's eyes to hit the Doctor, who realises the second clue from Chang — "beware the eyes of the dragon" — before passing out. The three men are put back into the locked room. When the Doctor has recovered, he sets a trap. After bringing the girls out of their hypnotic trance, he makes a gas bomb that blasts some of the Tong men. They all escape, with the girls running out of the building to safety.

[[File:Ready_aim_sin.jpg|thumb|left|Mr Sin takes aim.]]

Jago and Litefoot accompany Leela and the Doctor to the TARDIS. Litefoot attempts to explain [[tea]] to Leela, but it only baffles her more. The Doctor and Leela say farewell to Jago and Litefoot as they enter the TARDIS. Astonished by its dematerialisation, Litefoot thinks its impossible, and Jago says that maybe even the great Li H'sen Chang would have appreciated the stunt...

* [[Teresa Hart|Teresa]] - [[Judith Lloyd]]

* [[Cleaning woman (The Talons of Weng-Chiang)|Cleaning Woman]] - [[Vaune Craig-Raymond]]

* [[Ho]] - [[Vincent Wong]]

* This is the only story of the Fourth Doctor's era in which he does not wear his [[The Doctor's scarf|famous long scarf]] at any point (due to the running joke of the Doctor wearing a traditional Sherlock Holmes costume throughout the story).

* This is one of two stories (the other being ''[[Horror of Fang Rock (TV story)|Horror of Fang Rock]]'') in which Leela does not wear her "savage" costume. As the character was originally inspired by Eliza Doolittle, as depicted in ''[[My Fair Lady]]'', it was decided to try to move her away from her [[Sevateem]] trappings, hence in this serial she was put into period dress.

* By the time Robert Holmes began writing ''The Talons of Greel'', it had become apparent that Hinchcliffe, and possibly Holmes too, would be leaving the show at the end of the season. Hinchcliffe therefore decided to throw caution to the wind, and spent record amounts on the production: utilising many different locations as well as agreeing to expensive night-shoots.

** The lenses were removed at the end of ''Horror of Fang Rock'', when Leela's eye pigmentation is changed from brown to blue (Jameson's natural eye colour) when she watches the [[Rutan Mothership|Rutan mothership]] explode. ([[TV]]: ''[[Horror of Fang Rock (TV story)|Horror of Fang Rock]]'')

* This is not the only historically-based story of the Fourth Doctor's era (e.g. ''[[The Masque of Mandragora (TV story)|The Masque of Mandragora]]'', ''[[Horror of Fang Rock (TV story)|Horror of Fang Rock]], [[Pyramids of Mars (TV story)|Pyramids of Mars]]'').After the two-pronged approach of "historicals" set in the past and science fiction stories set in the future was abandoned (when [[Patrick Troughton]] was the Doctor, after ''[[The Highlanders (TV story)|The Highlanders]]'') fewer historical stories were made. This is one of those handful of stories. [[Jon Pertwee]], whose stories were frequently set in the present, had only one story set in real history: ''[[The Time Warrior (TV story)|The Time Warrior]]''. [[Peter Davison]] had ''[[The Visitation (TV story)|The Visitation]]'' and a pair of two-parters: ''[[Black Orchid (TV story)|Black Orchid]]'' and ''[[The King's Demons (TV story)|The King's Demons]]'' (the former being a pure historical). [[Colin Baker]] had one in ''[[The Mark of the Rani (TV story)|The Mark of the Rani]]'' and [[Sylvester McCoy]] had several including ''[[Delta and the Bannermen (TV story)|Delta and the Bannermen]], [[Battlefield (TV story)|Battlefield]], [[Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]'' and ''[[The Curse of Fenric (TV story)|The Curse of Fenric]]''.

* In the televised story, [[George Litefoot]] reads a copy of [[Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine]] issue DCCCCXVI, cover-dated February [[1892]], which is also the year given for the story in the [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Destination: Nerva (audio story)|Destination: Nerva]]'' and [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Case of the Gluttonous Guru (audio story)|The Case of the Gluttonous Guru]]'', the [[Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang (novelisation)|novelisation]] also dating the story to the [[1890s]]. Alternatively, the [[COMIC]]: ''[[The Time Machination (comic story)|The Time Machination]]'', which serves as both a prequel and sequel, and [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Ghoul (short story)|The Ghoul]]'' date ''Talons'' to [[1889]].

* [[Louise Jameson]] named this as her second favourite serial; behind ''[[The Sun Makers (TV story)|The Sun Makers]]'' (also written by [[Robert Holmes]]).

* A large pile of straw seen in the road as Weng-Chiang searches for the time cabinet was placed there to cover a modern car, which had not been moved off the street despite requests by the production crew to local residents.

* This story featured the first ''Doctor Who'' work by [[John Nathan-Turner]] as series production unit manager. 

* [[Christopher Benjamin]] and [[Trevor Baxter]] recalled being overcome with a case of the giggles after both of them climbed inside the [[dumbwaiter]]. Aware that the door was shortly due to open from where the next scene would begin, they tried very hard to stifle the laughter and were able to bring it under control before the camera continued filming. Baxter claimed he managed it by imagining his mother being run over by eight steamrollers. ([[BFX]]: ''[[The Mahogany Murderers (audio story)|The Mahogany Murderers]]'')

* [[Deep Roy]] would later appear in the ''[[Blake's 7 (series)|Blake's 7]]'' episode "[https://blakes7.fandom.com/wiki/Gambit_(episode) Gambit]", which was also written by [[Robert Holmes]], produced by [[David Maloney]] and scored by [[Dudley Simpson]].

* [[Christopher Benjamin]] and [[Chris Gannon]] had previously appeared in the first season of ''[[Gangsters]]''.

=== Racial overtones and issues ===

* [[Philip Hinchcliffe]] cited Fu Manchu to [[Robert Holmes]] as an item to use as inspiration for writing ''The Talons of Weng-Chiang''.<ref>http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/4s.html</ref> This decision, and its subsequent impact upon the story as an influence, has been since the source of significant criticism. Most of this controversy in the years immediately following its creation was in the US and Canada, where the racial stereotyping and usage of "yellowface" (a practice where yellow makeup and prosthetics are applied to make an individual appear Asian) had already fallen into disfavour many years earlier. It has also been pointed out that Fu Manchu was a depiction that Chinese people had been campaigning and protesting against since the 1920s.<ref>''"Yellow Peril, Dark Hero: Fu Manchu and the 'Gothic Bedevilment' of Racist Intent"'', Karen Kingsbury, pg. 105 (published in 2004 as part of ''The Gothic Other: Racial and Social Constructions in the Literary Imaginations,'' edited by Ruth Bienstock Anolik and Douglas L. Howard, by McFarland & Co.)</ref><ref>''The Chinese in Britain, 1800-Present: Economy, Transnationalism, Identity'', Gregor Benton and Edmund Terence Gomez, pg. 313 (published 2008 by Palgrave MacMillan)</ref>

** The story was not shown on Los Angeles television after 1985 for similar reasons, this time involving a local sponsor of Asian extraction. And multiple other stations in the US and Canada also declined to air it. {{Fact}}

* Despite the story continuing to be acclaimed by ''Doctor Who'' fans, the story has also garnered controversy in later years for its stereotypical portrayals of the Chinese.

** This point is supported by the camera script for part one, which notes merely "(Speaks Chinese)".<ref name=":2" />

* In more recent years, authors like [[Kate Orman]] have noted in critical analysis pieces the significance of the Fu Manchu inspiration upon the negative racial overtones of the story.<ref name=":0" /> Orman also rebuked the notion that it would have been too hard to find an Asian actor to play the part of Li H'Sen Chang (whilst also noting that even a correct racial casting would not have solved the racial issues inherent in the story's writing).<ref name=":0" />

** Hearn's editorial introduction was subject of some fan controversy, with some feeling it was patronising.<ref>https://twitter.com/morelandwriter/status/1031510739587149824</ref> Co-editor Peter Ware stepped in to point out that both Hearn<ref>https://twitter.com/PercyIvorWoo/status/1031567785686720514</ref> & himself were half-Chinese<ref name=":3" />, and that neither would intend dismissing the feeling of other Chinese people regarding the nature of the story, just presenting his own opinion.<ref>https://twitter.com/PercyIvorWoo/status/1031619595235483653</ref><ref>https://twitter.com/PercyIvorWoo/status/1031577718931030018</ref>

*** Ware also pointed out his discomfort with some fans' comments, from those who weren't of Chinese descent/heritage, as he felt it inappropriate for them to tell him or Hearn - who were - whether or not they should personally be offended by those portrayals.<ref>https://twitter.com/PercyIvorWoo/status/1031563089802604545</ref> Ware had also previously stated a defence of Chang as a character, making the argument that he felt Chang was three-dimensional compared to most other portrayals of Chinese people as villains during that time period and that Chang does at brief moments make comments lightly mocking the prejudices of those around him.<ref name=":3" />

* There are modern power points, covered with masking tape, on the walls of Litefoot's lab.

* A [[1970s]] newspaper (the headline concerns [[Denis Healey]]) can be seen in [[Litefoot]]'s [[laundry basket]] in part three.

* Chang throws a deck of cards up to the Doctor during his show. But the cards are not in a box or bound together in any way so they should really have flown everywhere once Chang threw them.

* When lighting the fuse in part six, the Doctor drops a lit match before lighting one to use to light the fuse.

* When Leela grabs the revolver from a dead coolie, one of the supposedly "dead" extras can be seen moving his leg a couple of times.

* The axe in between the eyes of the dragon is missing in the shot in which the Doctor tells Jago and Litefoot he'll buy them muffins.

== Continuity ==

* Later, during his [[Fifth Doctor|fifth incarnation]], the Doctor and his companions [[Nyssa]], [[Tegan Jovanka]] and [[Vislor Turlough|Turlough]] would encounter a younger version of Magnus Greel in [[Peking]], [[China]] and [[Reykjavik]], [[Iceland]] in the early [[51st century]]. As they were unaware of Greel's ultimate fate, Nyssa and Turlough plotted to overthrow him. Although it was not part of their initial plan, Nyssa became engaged to him whilst Turlough posed as their secretary. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Butcher of Brisbane (audio story)|The Butcher of Brisbane]]'')

* The Doctor mentions to Greel that he was with the [[Filipino Army]] when it marched on Reykjavik in the 51st century. He doesn't reveal that on that occasion ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Butcher of Brisbane (audio story)|The Butcher of Brisbane]]'') he was provided with information by his fifth incarnation, which enabled him to avert World War VI.

* Greel's mind was later reconstituted by [[Guinevere Godiva]] in [[1968]] by using a [[Venusian]] crystal. He took possession of Detective Inspector [[Dave Sacker]] to continue living. Jago and Litefoot discovered Greel's plan to return. Greel died when [[Ellie Higson]] stood in the distillation chamber and overloaded the power of his time cabinet. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Final Act (audio story)|The Final Act]]'')

* Jago would later describe the day that he met the Doctor and Leela as the last day that his life was normal. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Night of 1000 Stars (audio story)|The Night of 1000 Stars]]'')

Contents:

* ''[[Blue Peter (series)|Blue Peter]]'' Theatre - Clips from various 1970s editions of the magazine show.

* Behind the scenes - Footage from the studio recording of the story.

* [[USA]] [[11 October (releases)|11 October]] [[2011 (releases)|2011]] Region 1

<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">

File:Bbcdvd-rb1-thetalonsofwengchiang.jpg|DVD Region 2 UK re-release cover

Talons of weng chiang special edition australia dvd.jpg|DVD Region 4 re release cover

</gallery>

Notes:

* The [[BBC Video]] release was at one point only available in [[Australia]].

Talons of Weng-Chiang novel.jpg|Novelisation cover

</gallery>

== Footnotes ==