Customer Reviews

Doctor Who - The Talons of Weng-Chiang [VHS]

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I'm giving this five stars because "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" is one of the all-time spookiest of the Dr. Who stories, and Tom Baker is my favorite of the original run Doctors. As a point of interest, if you have an old VHS version, you may be missing some minor footage. When "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" was first issued on VHS, back in 1988, the producers wanted a British PG rating. In one scene, however, nunchuks are used by the Tong of the Black Scorpion. As nunchuks were then illegal in 1988, the VHS couldn't receive a PG rating with them shown. So the nunchuks use was edited out.

Primarily, I'm writing this review to let you know the differences between this (upcoming, as I write this) October 2011 Special Edition DVD set, and the first DVD set released back in 2003. I checked this out for my own purposes. I have the 2003 set, and I need to figure out if I "need" to purchase the Special Edition set when it comes out in four months.

Here's the extras on the older 2003 two-disc DVD set (issued as part of the Dr. Who 40th anniversary year). This set includes an option for English subtitles, and is complete and unedited (you can see the nunchuks!):
1. Commentary by producer Philip Hinchcliffe, director David Maloney, actor Louise Jameson (Leela), actor John Bennett (Li H'Sen Chiang), and actor Christopher Benjamin (Jago)
2. "Whose Doctor Who", a 59 minute 1977 episode from the BBC2 TV series, "The Lively Arts". Hosted by Melvyn Bragg, this is a fun look at the psychological impact of the Doctor Who show over the years, and includes interviews with school-children. Part of the program has behind-the-scenes footage of "The Talons of Weng-Chiang".
3. "Blue Peter: Make Your Own Doctor Who Theater", a 25 minute 1977 TV episode of a British show, "Blue Peter Theatre", a kid's show. It includes showing kids how to make a Doctor Who episode, complete with sound effects.
4. Behind the Scenes, 24 minutes of raw footage from the filming of "The Talons of Weng-Chiang". It's in black & white and poor quality, but it gives you an idea of the compromises the cast and crew made to film the episode with it's time/money/space constraints.
5. 1977 Interview with producer Philip Hinchcliffe on the BBC TV show "Pebble Mill at One". He talks about Doctor Who in general, as well as the impact of screen violence on children. I always find it interesting that Doctor Who was considered a children's show in England. In the U.S., it's mostly sci-fi loving adults, like me, who get a kick out of it.
6. Intros and teasers by Howard Da Silva
7. Production Note option
8. Photo Gallery, both design and production stills, accompanied by atmospheric music.
9. "TARDIS-Cam No. 6". This footage was originally produced for the BBC Doctor Who website, though I don't have a year. The idea was to show what could be done with Doctor Who in the era of CGI. Of course, now we KNOW how Doctor Who looks with CGI. One shot has the TARDIS moving with a pod of space whales (shades of Fantasia 2000!). Apparently, this figured in a Doctor Who story that never made it to production.
10. Trailers and Continuity Announcements

I am assuming that this 2011 DVD release for Region 1 (U.S. and Canada) will follow the October 2010 release in England (Region 2) - they both have the same name, "Special Edition". It always takes a while for videos from England to be translated to Region 1, and usually the content is the same.

Assuming that the U.S. edition follows the British edition, there will be three DVD discs in the Special Edition, one more than the two discs in the 2003 DVD set. Discs number 1 and number 3 will be the same as the 2003 DVD release, with the exception that the show itself has been remastered. The resultant show is crisper and cleaner, though there's only so much you can clean up the cheesy sets and poor lighting! The audio is reportedly the same as the first DVD release. The extras on this Special Edition disc #2 are new.

Extras for the Special Edition are as follows:

Disc 1:
1. Commentary by five people. (The same as extra #1 of the 2003 DVDs.)
2. Production Subtitles (same as #7 of the 2003)
3. Coming soon trailer for "The Seeds of Doom" episode

Disc 2:
4. "The Last Hurrah". This description is from a British review site: "Tom Baker and Philip Hinchcliffe meet at the Baker residence to discuss the making of what would be their final story together. There are also contributions from actors Louise Jameson, Trevor Baxter, Christopher Benjamin, along with late director David Maloney, designer Roger Murray-Leach and costume designer John Bloomfield. This is great stuff, a definitive look at the making of one of the best (if not the best) stories in the show as a whole--Baker and Hinchcliffe spark marvellously off each other, and having the producer and Louise Jameson chatting informally together (not to mention Baxter and Benjamin) also makes this more interesting than the average talking head style of documentary--it's fabulous stuff, and even has Baker and Hinchcliffe debating as to whether the depiction of the Chinese in the story could be considered racist. The end of this featurette is almost moving, as it has a list of the Doctor Who production team who were to leave at the end of the shoot of The Talons of Weng Chiang. Oh, and be sure to check out the running visual gag during the Tom Baker interview."
5. "Moving On", a short interview with producer Philip Hinchcliffe. "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" was his last Dr. Who episode and he discusses why he left.
6. "The Foe from the Future", a short interview with writer Robert Banks Stewart and producer Philip Hinchcliffe. The subject is the original idea for an episode called "The Foe from the Future", which didn't pull together, and eventually "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" was produced instead.
7. "Now and Then", a short feature where locations shown in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" are compared to how those locations look now.
8. "Look East", a TV news clip from January 1977, when David Case, a regional BBC news reporter, watched some of the filming of "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" at the Northampton Repertory Theatre, and interviewed Tom Baker.
9. "Victoriana and Chinoiserie", a short feature where producer Philip Hinchcliffe and Dr. Ann Witchard discuss literary influences and references that writer Robert Holmes included in his script for this story.
10. "Music Hall", a 20 minute feature that looks at the history of the Victorian music hall, and features songs performed by Katy Baker. If you've already seen "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", you know that a music hall features prominantly in this episode.
11. "Limehouse: A Victorian Chinatown", a 19 minute documentary, tells the history of the Limehouse, the old docklands in London's East End. In the Victorian era, this was a rough and ready, but vibrant and commercially necessary area
12. Photo Gallery. Unlike the photo gallery of the 2003 DVD release, this time the photos are shown as moving past you, as if you're viewing them on a film tape. Perhaps this is supposed to make it more exciting. Accompanied by music.
13. PDF Materials. You can put disc 2 into your PC and pull up these PDF files: the original Radio Times listings for "The Talons of Weng Chiang", the original Radio Times listings for "The Lively Arts: Whose Doctor Who" episode (see extra #2 on the 2003 release), a letter from an eleven-year-old complaining that there aren't enough monsters in Doctor Who, and the reply by "Producer Designate" Graham Williams, and a letter from a gentleman asking when Leela is going to be back in her leathers. Leela spent most of this episode in proper Victorian attire, obviously not to everybody's liking.

Disc 3:
14. "The Lively Arts: Whose Doctor Who", same as extra #2 of the 2003 DVD
15. "Blue Peter Theatre" episode, same as extra #3 of the 2003 DVD
16. Behind the Scenes, same as extra #4 of 2003 DVD
17. Interview with Philip Hinchcliffe, same as extra #5 of the 2003 DVD
18. Trailers and Continuity, same as extra #10 of of the 2003 DVD
19. Photo Gallery, same as extra #8 of the 2003 DVD
20. Tardis Cam No. 6, same as extra #9 of the 2003 DVD

At this time, I cannot find any direct information on what will be on the Region 1 release of "Doctor Who: The Talons of Weng-Chiang Special Edition", but looking at the Region 2 release gives us an idea. If, as is currently shown on this amazon page, the U.S. Special Edition has only two discs, I'd say it's a given that the show itself will be the new remastered version. But what extras will and won't be on the 2nd disc (if there's only 2 discs) remains to be seen. It may be that the new disc number two will replace the old disc number two, and the 2011 version will still have only two discs. On the plus side, we do finally get to see an interview with Tom Baker, even if he doesn't do commentary.

As some other commentator noted, the photo of the DVD case, shown on this page, does say "3-discs" if you enlarge it. So it's probable that the region 2 release will have three discs, the same as the region 1 release.

There are those who consider Doctor Who to be at its very best when the errant Time Lord is visiting Earth and dealing with alien threats that are Earthbound. Doctor #3 himself, the late Jon Pertwee, often stated this story genre to be his favorite, and judging by the number of Earthbound stories from the show's lengthy history, many agreed. The latest two releases on DVD from the BBC archives are united in their "Earth invasion" theme, but both have taken an interesting and indeed unique slant on the alien invasion of London twist.

The "Dalek invasion of Earth" was the last adventure made in the first season production block, way back in 1964, albeit held over and broadcast as the second story in season two. The adventure is significant for many reasons, mainly because it featured the departure of one of the original Tardis crew, and also because it was the first "sequel" to feature in the show, featuring the return of the enormously popular Daleks, created by Terry Nation. Set almost 200 years in the future, the adventure mainly takes place in central London, allowing for much location filming around familiar sights, which adds to the realism of the story. It was the first real use of extensive location filming in the show's history and was well worth the effort to take the show out of the studio and bring a more epic quality to the production. The closing sequence featuring the Doctor (as played by William Hartnell) bidding farewell to his granddaughter Susan, played by Carole Ann Ford, may also be one of the entire series most poignant scenes.

All six of the original black and white episodes have been painstakingly restored to almost their original broadcast quality, with many enhancements to some of the laughable special effects added as an option. Potentially, it's the other bonus material that may prove the most interesting to fans and casual viewers alike. The commentary from the surviving cast (Carole Ann Ford and William Russell) together with the producer and director is first class. The on-screen captions also go a long way to fleshing out the background to the production. Almost the entire guest cast appear in newly shot interviews airing their reminiscences, plus there are all sorts of behind the scenes programme's, trailers and other goodies gathered onto a 2nd disc.

The same is true of the companion release, "The Talons of Weng-Chiang." Made twelve years later, in glorious colour, this six part series took another twist on the Earth invader theme by taking the Doctor, this time played by Tom Baker, and his companion Leela back into Victorian London to deal with a sinister alien menace. For many, this story is often regarded as one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) story of the Doctor Who canon. And I'm not going to disagree. The production values alone would be enough to set it apart, but the wonderful script, incredible design and superlative acting by the entire cast adds a special magic to the show that few other Who adventures have ever matched. Like the earlier Dalek story, it also marks the end of an era, since this was the last adventure produced by Philip Hinchcliffe. Quite honestly - the show was never the same again!

Again, there are all sorts of goodies available on a 2nd disc to accompany the restored six-part adventure. A documentary on the history of Doctor Who televised at the conclusion of the serial is just one bonus worth having; the commentary from the cast and crew is another. It's great to hear Louise Jameson (Leela) making her DVD debut, and it's a real shame Tom Baker himself did not take part.

Both stories are excellent additions to the growing Doctor Who library, clearly demonstrating the changing production values and story making not only of this particular show, but also British TV drama in general. I'd highly recommend them and look forward to the next two releases in 2004.

If you went through the 26 years of Doctor Who, the longest running sci-fi show in history and you needed to pick the top 5 or maybe even the top 3 adventures, I feel comfortable saying that 99% of the fans would easily place The Talons of Weng-Chiang" in that group. The show comes from the pen of Robert Holmes and was the final show under the helm of producer Phillip Hinchcliffe, who had produced the greatest group of adventures ever for the Doctor. This, combined with the most popular Doctor of them all, Tom Baker and a wildly popular companion, Leela, makes for a grand adventure.
Taking place in Victorian London, this is one of the richest adventures in the history of the show and one of the most well written with some fantastic characterization. Magnus Greel and the Homonculous creature as well as Li Sen Chang are magnificent villains in this thriller. Yes, the giant rat is cheesy but it's all part of the fun of '70's Doctor Who. I can't recommend the adventure highly enough and there are a lot of great extras as well. I think it's also a great homage to Robert Holmes that, of the Who adventures that are out on DVD or are about to come out, there are quite a few Holmes stories amongst the few out so far, including "Carnival of Monsters", "Spearhead from Space", "The Power of Kroll", "The Ribos Operation", "The Ark in Space", "The Two Doctors", "The Talons of Weng Chiang" and "The Caves of Andozani". So, in essence, of the 158 adventures in 26 years, so far, 23 have come out on DVD. Of those 23, 8 have been written by Robert Holmes! And I believe Pyramids of Mars is coming out next, also from Holmes. Can there be any doubt that this man has done some of if not THE best "Who"?

I didn't buy this dvd here, but I do own it and my God this should have been an earlier release! I understand the Five Doctors being released first on DVD, but Talons here is a Doctor Who master piece! It's six parts and each part holds your interest, some awesome cliffhangers, like with the deck of cards and Li'Sang Chang... (Not wanting to spoil anything for new Whovians!) The comentary and the doccumentries are incredible!
I just love the BBC Who DVDs I just wish they were released in sort of order... Like more box sets or something the like...
-Doc

After recently viewing this story, I am reminded how fascinating the story line is. The combination of mystery, science fiction, and the macabre is brilliant. I felt I was twelve years old seeing it for the first time again and it was wonderful. I was still at the edge of my seat. This story engages your attention from beginning to end. This story also further reinforces Tom Baker's portrayal of the Doctor as being one of our favorites. This is a "must have" for any true Whovian......

This episode of Doctor Who is seen by many Whovians as one of the best, and with good reason. The Doctor and Leela (wearing the most clothes for any time in the series) land in Victorian London in the midst of strange goings on at a Chinese Magician Show. As with all DW adventures, they quickly get drawn into these myterious shenanigans, are put in danger and escape by the skin of their teeth.

What makes this different is the characterisations of the supporting characters, especially Litefoot and Jago who both inject great humour into the story. The villains are very creepy, especially Mr Sin, truly a creature of children's nightmares. The giant rats are probably the only mistake in an otherwise flawless story.

You have to see this to understand why Tom Baker is probably the most loved of the Doctors and also to view the series at one of its peaks.

Order some Chinese take-out, sit back and let this one take you away. Set in Victorian London, "Talons" pits Tom Baker's Doctor against the diabolical Magnus Greel, a wonderfully named and hideously deformed renegade from the distant future who is using the dreaded Tong of the Black Scorpion to murder his way through a perpetually fog shrouded London in search of his Time Cabinet. What makes this feature-length episode really click with life are all of the delightful supporting characters that give life to the period. From the blustrously alliterative Henry Jago through the wordly Professor Lightfoot right down to the assorted policemen and stage hands, "Talons" is filled with believable characters and well developed settings that all serve the story -- nothing seems to have been superimposed to create interest. I especially enjoy the scenes where Leela regards the trappings of Victorian life with a sort of quite bemusement, asking the Professor why he smokes and if they should "give the proper resonses" when at the theatre during a sing-along. This may sound controversial, but I also am intrigued by the sly racism that pervades the episodes and how it is recreated as a facet of the times ["He's a Chinese, in case you haven't noticed."] in a way that is descriptive ["We were attacked by this little man and four other little men."] and not really condescending. Were the producers and scriptwriters aware they were pandering to a stereotype when having the delirious Chang relate his opium fueled vision of "... crossing the golden bridge leading to the palace of jade ..."? You better beleive it. One of the duties of historical fiction is to not only create the look but the feel of the times, and the oriental characters are presented in a quietly xenophobic air that is probably quite accurate, unfortunate though that is. Still, it's one of the best of the Baker episodes, a marvel of a visual production, and since it's got Leela in it [always my favorite companion, even if she wears more clothing than usual in an effort to "not frighten the horses"] you can't go wrong. Highly recommended.

Attributing "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" as a mere "episode" is an understatement; its running time is 140 minutes (more that most feature-length films) and it certainly plays like a movie (it's not divided into 30-minute segments like most other Who episodes, although it may have been broadcast that way). And it is brilliantly written and has first-rate acting by all members of its cast. Starring the fourth doctor played by Tom Baker (curly hair, staring gaze, toothy grin, scarf, jelly babies), with his companion Leela, who compelled by the weather, is donned in uncharacteristically prim attire. "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" is set amidst smog-shrouded Victorian London (around the time of Jack the Ripper and the same time period in which fictional detective Sherlock Holmes was based). In fact the Doctor, in his regalia, looks very Holmesian in this episode. And incidentally the episode is written by Robert "Holmes". Adding to the mystery motif, the plot line is as follows: Girls have gone missing (could "Jack" be on the loose again?), the Doctor and Leela arrive and before they know it witness a chinese cult skampering off with the body of a cabbie. They are nearly assulated but then the police whistle is heard, whereupon the Doctor and Leela are taken to the police station with a Chinese who was left behind, where the police call on the creepy illusionist Li H'sien Chang to translate - even though the Doctor can speak all dialects of the language. Before they can start the interrogation the cult member suddenly keels over and dies; he has been poisoned by highly-concentrated scorpion venom, furtively given to him by Li H'sien Chang. He had a black scorpion tattoo on his hand indicating he was in the Chinese cult. The pathologist, Professor Litefoot, whom Who befriends invites the Doctor and Leela home for dinner. At his house they notice an enigmatic Chinese puzzle box, that can only be opened by the correct key. There is also something strage going on in the sewer system; a long hair from what is presumably a rat was found on a body that turned up floating in the Thames. It turns out the Chinese "god", Weng-Chiang, is residing in the basement of the Palace Theatre, Chang's performing venue (along with Mr. Sin, Li H'sien Chang's "ventriloquist doll") and has been searching for the puzzle box which Litefoot possesses. The Doctor, Leela, Litefoot and the overzealous proprietor of the Palace Theatre, Henry Jago (thinking Who is a chief detective with Scotland Yard) set out on a major investigation, filled with the fourth Doctor's trademark sardonic humor. In my opinion this episode is a timeless classic, very macabre.

The DvD is great, but disc 2 has fantastic items on it. Documentary and Blue Peter and a nice 40th anniversary montage. This DvD also has an easter egg. They did this set of DvD's right, it is rich with details and great material. You will feel this was money well spent.

Talons is a very well put together DVD, with a horde of extras, and a great restoration job. The story itself is one of the few six parters in Doctor Who that doesn't sag by the 4th or 5th episode, and is strong throughout, involving a large cast, some great set work, and Tom Baker at his best. The extra's for the most part are a good mix, featuring a documentary going behind the scenes of Talons, an interview with Peter Hinchcliffe, another Who related episode of Blue Peter, and a really cool 40th anniversary montage that has a really good orbital remix of the Who theme. All around well worth the money.