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Tom Baker
The Talons of Weng-Chiang
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Synopsis


The House of the Dragon
The House of the Dragon
 Women of Victorian London fall prey to an unknown menace, while monstrous terrors lurk in the sewers under the city. Chinese gangs scurry in the dank fog, and a sinister stage magician seeks to serve his mysterious master.

 The Doctor and Leela arrive, only to find themselves plunged into a series of macabre horrors…

Source: BBC DVD


General Information

Season: Fourteen
Production Code: 4S
Story Number: 91
Episode Numbers:448 - 453
Number of Episodes: 6
Percentage of Episodes Held:100%
Working Titles:"The Foe From the Future" and "The Talons of Greel"
Production Dates: December 1976 - February 1977
Broadcast Started: 26 February 1977
Broadcast Finished: 02 April 1977
Colour Status: Colour
Studio: Ealing Television Film Studios and BBC Television Centre (TC1 and TC8)
Location: London: Clink Street and St. Mary's Overy Wharf (Southwark), Bridewell Place, Wapping Old Stairs and Wapping Pier Head (Wapping High Street), St. Katharine's Dock, and Cardinal Cap Alley (Bankside).
Northampton: Royal Theatre (Guildhall Road), Fish Street Rates Offices (Fish Street), St Crispin's Hospital (Duston).
Others: No. 24 Cambridge Park (Twickenham, Middlesex).
Writers:Robert Holmes and Robert Banks Stewart (Uncredited)
Director:David Maloney
Producer:Philip Hinchcliffe
Script Editor:Robert Holmes
Editor:David Lee
Production Assistant:Ros Anderson
Production Unit Managers:Chris D'Oyly-John and John Nathan-Turner (Uncredited)
Assistant Floor Manager:Linda Graeme
Designer:Roger Murray-Leach
Costume Designer:John Bloomfield
Make-Up Designer:Heather Stewart
Cameraman:Fred Hamilton
Lighting:Mike Jefferies
Visual Effects:Michealjohn Harris
Fights Arranged By:Stuart Fell
Incidental Music:Dudley Simpson
Special Sounds (SFX Editor):Dick Mills
Studio Sounds:Clive Gifford
Title Sequence:Bernard Lodge
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Delia Derbyshire
Number of Doctors: 1
The Doctor: Tom Baker (The Fourth Doctor)
Number of Companions: 1The Companion: Louise Jameson (Leela) Additional Cast: John Bennett (Li H'sen Chang), Christopher Benjamin (Henry Gordon Jago), Trevor Baxter (Professor Litefoot), Deep Roy (Mr. Sin), Michael Spice (Weng-Chiang), Chris Gannon (Casey), David McKail (Sergeant Kyle), Conrad Asquith (P.C. Quick), Alan Butler (Buller), Patsy Smart (Ghoul), Tony Then (Lee), John Wu (Coolie), Judith Lloyd (Teresa), Vaune Craig-Raymond (Cleaner), Penny Lister (Singer), Vincent Wong (Ho)Setting: London (circa 1889) Villains:Li H'sen Chang, Magnus Greel and Mr Sin

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
448Part 126 February 197724'44"11.3PAL 2" colour videotape
449Part 205 March 197724'26"9.8PAL 2" colour videotape
450Part 312 March 197721'56"10.2PAL 2" colour videotape
451Part 419 March 197724'30"11.4PAL 2" colour videotape
452Part 526 March 197724'49"10.1PAL 2" colour videotape
453Part 602 April 197723'26"9.3PAL 2" colour videotape

Total Duration 2 Hours 24 Minutes


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 10.4
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (1998)89.95%  (Position = 2 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2003)1,385 Points (Position = 2 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)91.45% Higher (Position = 4 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)90.15% Lower (Position = 6 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023) Position = 5 out of 41


Archives


 All six episodes exist as PAL 2" colour videotapes.



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Notes


This story was written by Robert Holmes from an idea entitled "The Foe from the Future", by Robert Banks Stewart (who received no on-screen credit), as well as containing references and ideas ‘borrowed’ from Sherlock Holmes, The Phantom of the Opera and numerous Fu Manchu films.

The Doctor is dressed in a similar way as the stereotype Sherlock Holmes caricature (including the characteristic deerstalker hat), from the novels by Arthur Conan Doyle, and uses sayings and mannerisms similar to Sherlock Holmes. The era and location, which the story is set is late Victorian London. Professor Litefoot is a similar character to Sherlock Holmes’ colleague Dr Watson and he has a housekeeper called Mrs Hudson (who is the housekeeper at 221b Baker Street in the Sherlock Holmes novels). At one point The Doctor is heard even to say to Professor Litefoot ‘...elementary my dear Litefoot’.

Magnus Greel’s character is very reminiscent of the main character in Gaston Leroux’s novel "The Phantom of the Opera" - in particular to a hideously deformed character living beneath a 19th century theatre who tries to convinces others that he is a spirit rather than a man and the climactic scene in which the mask, being used to hide a deformed face, is torn off to reveal his true face.

Li H’sen Chang is reminiscent of Fu Manchu, the villain of a series of novels by Sax Rohmer, and the giant rat is reminiscent of animals grown to enormous size in the H. G. Wells novel "Food of the Gods".

This was the final Doctor Who story produced by Philip Hinchcliffe, who went on to a successful television career. He took the helm of the police drama Target. He continued to build an extensive resume of programmes on which he served as either Producer or Executive Producer, including Private Schulz, Nancy Astor and Taggart. He also contributed to three stories in the Target Books’ range of Doctor Who novelisations. Philip Hinchcliffe was succeeded by Graham Williams as the show’s Producer, who sat in on this story's production.

This story also brought to an end Director David Maloney’s association with the show. He soon became a Producer, taking the reigns of show such as Blake's 7 and the 1981 version of The Day Of The Triffids. He also continued to direct on shows including Blake's 7, Juliet Bravo and Play For Today.

Production Unit Manager Chris D'Oyly-John was replaced for the final leg of production schedule of this story by John Nathan-Turner. This is John Nathan-Turner first Doctor Who work as a Production Unit Manager. John Nathan-Turner would later succeed Graham Williams as the show's Producer from 1980 to 1989 - the final Producer until the show was revived in 2005.

Regular Doctor Who composer Dudley Simpson (who composed much of the incidental music for Doctor Who in the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s) had a cameo role as the conductor of the Palace Theatre’s orchestra.

Being Philip Hinchcliffe’s final Doctor Who story, as Producer, and with the possibility of Robert Holmes also leaving the show at the end of the current season, Philip Hinchcliffe decided to throw caution to the wind and spend record amounts on the production, utilising many different locations as well as agreeing to expensive night time shoots.

Filming for the story mainly took place in Wapping, London. The interior shots of the theatre were recorded using outside broadcasting cameras during four days spent at the Royal Theatre in Northampton. Also in a rare instance in Doctor Who the location material was captured directly on videotape.

John Bennett, who plays the part of Li H’sen Chang, had previously appeared as General Finch in the 1974 Third Doctor story "Invasion of the Dinosaurs".

Michael Spice, who plays the main villain Magnus Greel, also provided the voice of Morbius in the previous season’s story "The Brain of Morbius".

Christopher Benjamin, who plays the part of Henry Gordon Jago, had previously appeared as Sir Keith Gold in the 1970 Third Doctor story "Inferno". He would return to play Colonel Hugh in the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Unicorn and the Wasp".

Deep Roy, who played Mr. Sin, had an uncredited role as an unnamed alien trade delegate in the 1986 Sixth Doctor story "Mindwarp" - that was part of the The Trial of a Time Lord season.

This is the only story of the Fourth Doctor’s era in which The Doctor does not wear his famous trademark long scarf. Instead his attire resembles that of Sherlock Holmes. This is also one of two stories in which Leela does not wear her ‘savage’ Sevateem costume - the other story being next season’s opening story "Horror of Fang Rock". According to the textual information track on the DVD release, this change in her costume (to wearing period garb) was supposed to be permanent as The Doctor and Leela established a Professor Higgins/Eliza Doolittle-style relationship, but this idea was soon dropped.

At one point, The Doctor empties his pockets, revealing a number of odds and ends, including a bag of his trademark jelly babies.

The Doctor is heard to state that he was in China 400 years ago. The previous story where he was in China was the 1964 First Doctor story "Marco Polo".

There are several references to the events of the 51st century where Magnus Greel was ‘the infamous Minister of Justice. The butcher of Brisbane’. The Peking Homunculus was made for the Commissioner of the Icelandic Alliance's children in ‘the Ice Age around the year 5000’. In this story it is not stated who actually created the homunculus, which contained ‘a series of magnetic fields operating on a printed circuit... It had one organic component, the cerebral cortex of a pig’. The Doctor further states that ‘the pig part took over’ and that this almost caused World War Six.

It is revealed that Magnus Greel’s time experiments were powered by Zygma energy.

Because the script called for Li H’sen Chang to perform some magic tricks on stage during parts one and four, two advisers were brought in to assist. Also when Li H’sen Chang calls The Doctor to the stage, there is a short musical excerpt from Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado".

Look out for the scene where Weng-Chiang searches for the time cabinet. The pile of straw seen in the road was placed there to hide a modern car which had, despite requests to the contrary, been parked in the road prior to filming.

At a very late stage, it was decided to alter part five’s cliffhanger. Originally, this was to have Magnus Greel threatening The Doctor with Leela’s death at the hands of Mr. Sin, but this material was shifted to the next episode so that part five would end with the revealing of the villain’s face instead.

This story has aroused some controversy, mainly in North America, because of its alleged racism. Namely some of the English characters displaying racist attitudes towards the Chinese characters, while the Chinese immigrants themselves are portrayed in a stereotypical fashion - other than Li H'sen Chang (a major villain who is himself akin to Fu Manchu, but portrayed by a Caucasian - another source of criticism) all of the Chinese characters are coolies or members of Tong gangs. In Canada, as a result of complaints after its initial broadcast, it was not shown again when that year’s season was rerun and at least two US stations, including in Los Angeles, banned the story from broadcast outright.

The making of this story was examined in detail in The Lively Arts documentary "Whose Doctor Who" in 1977. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, this BBC Two documentary looked back at the history of the show and its psychological impact on viewers, particularly children. It includes interviews with Tom Baker, Philip Hinchcliffe and fans of the show. It was the first in-depth documentary made by the BBC on the show and was transmitted on the 3rd April 1977 - the day following the broadcast of the final episode of this story.

A spin-off series with Henry Gordon Jago and Professor Litefoot involving the two investigating mysteries in Victorian England was discussed, but ultimately was never made. However, The Doctor encounters Professor Litefoot again in the BBC Book’s The Eighth Doctor Stories novel "The Bodysnatchers", written by Mark Morris, although the Eighth Doctor naturally claims to merely be an ‘associate’ of the Fourth Doctor rather than revealing that he is the same man. Henry Gordon Jago and Professor Litefoot do, however, have at least on other adventure, but without The Doctor’s help. This is related in the Big Finish Productions audio drama "The Mahogany Murderers" in which both Henry Gordon Jago and Professor Litefoot are played by the original actors, Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter.

Virgin Book’s The Missing Adventures novel "The Shadow of Weng-Chiang", written by David McIntee, is a sequel to this story, where The Doctor confronts the after affects of this story’s events and again features Mr. Sin, this time under the control of Li H’sen Chang’s daughter Hsien-Ko.

The events surrounding Magnus Greel and his time experiments are shown in some detail in the BBC Book’s The Eighth Doctor Stories novels "Eater of Wasps" and "Emotional Chemistry". The Time Agents who pursue Magnus Greel are also featured. Interestingly former companion of the Ninth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor, and leader of Torchwood, Captain Jack Harkness identified himself as an ex-Time Agent also from the 51st century.

The BBC VHS release of this story was previously only available in Australia. The story was released in omnibus format in 1988 and was one of three stories released on VHS as a compilation that never had an episodic VHS re-release. (The other two being the 1969 Second Doctor story "The Seeds of Death" and the 1973/74 Third Doctor story "The Time Warrior"). In order to obtain a "PG" rating from the BBFC, the VHS release had some slight edits to remove the use of nunchukas during the fight scene between The Doctor and the Tong of the Black Scorpion in Part One, as these were at the time classed as illegal weapons in the UK and so couldn’t be shown on-screen. This ruling has since been relaxed, and the sequence appears intact on the DVD release.

The DVD release in April 2003 was part of The Doctor Who 40th Anniversary Celebration releases and included the 1977 "Whose Doctor Who" documentary, a 24 minutes "Behind the Scenes" documentary including studio footage and an 11-minute interview with Philip Hinchcliffe.



First and Last

The Firsts:

 The first, and only, story that the Fourth Doctor does not wear his famous trademark long scarf.

 The first of only two stories in which Leela does not wear her ‘savage’ Sevateem costume.

 The first story to have an in-depth documentary made into its making.

 John Nathan-Turner's first involvement in the show as Production Unit Manager.


The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):

 The last story of Season Fourteen.

 Philip Hinchcliffe's last involvement in the show as Producer.

 The last Doctor Who story to be directed by David Maloney.

 Chris D'Oyly-John's last involvement in the show as Production Unit Manager.


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Story Images

Show Text
Li H'sen Chang with Mr. Sin
Li H'sen Chang with Mr. Sin
Leela, Professor Litefoot and The Doctor
Leela, Professor Litefoot and The Doctor
Leela
Leela
Jago and Litefoot
Jago and Litefoot
 
The Doctor Discovers the Time Cabinet
The Doctor Discovers the Time Cabinet
Professor Litefoot with The Doctor
Professor Litefoot with The Doctor
Leela and The Doctor in the Sewars
Leela and The Doctor in the Sewars
The Doctor with Magnus Greel
The Doctor with Magnus Greel
 
Magnus Greel Unmasked
Magnus Greel Unmasked
Leela Confronts Mr. Sin
Leela Confronts Mr. Sin
Mr. Sin
Mr. Sin
Magnus Greel with Mr. Sin
Magnus Greel with Mr. Sin




Quote of the Story


 'When the moment comes, Mr Jago, you and I can face our destiny shoulder to shoulder.'

The Doctor



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Release Information

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
Audio
LP
Science-Fiction Sound Effects No. 191978BBC-22316Sound Effects
Audio
Tape
Science-Fiction Sound Effects No. 191978ZCM 316Sound Effects
Video
VHS
The Talons of Weng-ChiangNovember 1988BBCV 4187Photo-montageOmnibus Format
Video
VHS
The Tom Baker YearsSeptember 1992BBCV 4839PhotoClip only Introduced and commented on by Tom Baker Double cassette release
Video
DVD
The Talons of Weng-ChiangApril 2003BBCDVD 1152Clayton Hickman
Video
DVD
The Talons of Weng-ChiangOctober 2010BBCDVD 2806Photo-montagePart of the 'Revisitations 1' box set Released along with "The Caves of Androzani" and "Doctor Who: The Movie"
Video
Blu-Ray
Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 14 (Limited Edition)May 2020BBCBD 0478Photo-montageBlu-Ray Limited Edition boxed set containing 6 specially restored stories
Video
Blu-Ray
Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 14 (Standard Edition)February 2022BBCBD 0551Photo-montageBlu-Ray Standard Edition boxed set containing 6 specially restored stories


In Print

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)PublisherAuthorCover ArtRemarks
Novel
Novel
Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-ChiangNovember 1977Target No. 61Terrance DicksJeff CumminsISBN: 0-426-11973-8
Script
Script
The Talons of Weng-ChiangNovember 1989Titan BooksRobert HolmesDuncan FegredoEdited by John McElroy.
ISBN: 1-85286-144-4
Novel
Novel
The Talons of Weng-ChiangMarch 1994Target No. 61Terrance DicksAlister PearsonVirgin new cover reprint.
ISBN: 0-426-11973-8
CD
CD
Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-ChiangJanuary 2013Target No. 61Terrance DicksJeff CumminsAudio version of the Target Novel read by Christopher Benjamin.
Novel
Novel
The Essential Terrance Dicks Volume 2August 2021BBC BooksTerrance DicksHardback with a forward by Robert Webb
Doctor Who CMS Magazine (In Vision)Issue 21 (Released: December 1989)
Doctor Who Monthly - Article/FeatureIssue 48 (Released: January 1981)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time TeamIssue 354 (Released: March 2005)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time TeamIssue 355 (Released: April 2005)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of FictionIssue 475 (Released: August 2014)
Doctor Who Magazine Special - Archive1986 Winter Special (Released: 1986)
Doctor Who Magazine Special - Archive1994 Winter Special (Released: 1994)
Doctor Who DVD FilesVolume 41 (Released: July 2010)

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Photo Gallery


The Doctor and Companion

 
Tom Baker
The Fourth Doctor

   

 
Louise Jameson
Leela
 
   




On Release

Audio LP - Sound Effects No. 19
Audio LP - Sound Effects No. 19

BBC
AUDIO
Audio Tape - Sound Effects No. 19
Audio Tape - Sound Effects No. 19

BBC
AUDIO
VHS Video Cover
VHS Video Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Tom Baker Years VHS Video Cover
Tom Baker Years VHS Video Cover

BBC
VIDEO
   
DVD Cover
DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Revisitations 1 DVD Cover
Revisitations 1 DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
The Collection Season 14 Limited Edition Blu-Ray Cover
The Collection Season 14 Limited Edition Blu-Ray Cover

BBC
VIDEO
The Collection Season 14 Standard Edition Blu-Ray Cover
The Collection Season 14 Standard Edition Blu-Ray Cover

BBC
VIDEO
   



In Print

Target Book Cover
Target Book Cover

Target
NOVEL
Titan Script Book Cover
Titan Script Book Cover

Titan
SCRIPT
Reprinted Virgin Book Cover
Reprinted Virgin Book Cover

Virgin
NOVEL
Target Audio CD Cover
Target Audio CD Cover

BBC
CD
   
The Essential Terrance Dicks Volume 2 Book Cover
The Essential Terrance Dicks Volume 2 Book Cover

BBC
NOVEL



Magazines

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (In Vision): Issue 21
Doctor Who CMS Magazine (In Vision): Issue 21

CMS
Doctor Who Monthly - Article/Feature: Issue 48
Doctor Who Monthly - Article/Feature: Issue 48

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 354
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 354

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 355
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 355

Marvel Comics
   
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 475
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 475

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine Special - Archive: 1986 Winter Special
Doctor Who Magazine Special - Archive: 1986 Winter Special

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine Special - Archive: 1994 Winter Special
Doctor Who Magazine Special - Archive: 1994 Winter Special

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 41
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 41

GE Fabbri
   


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