Queen Victoria versus a Werewolf. TV Club is in Scotland with warrior monks and we are not amused.
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4 Likes
Apologies for the late arrival of this week’s TV Club - for some reason it didn’t appear when I thought I’d scheduled it for.
7 Likes
Oh dear, this one. Usually I actually kind of like most Werewolf stories, I don’t really know why but werewolves and vampires just work for me - I blame Anne Rice for that 
. This one basically infuriates me to no end.
Bill Filer’s negativity corner:
Summary
- Why for the love of Kroll are the Brethren all white, bald, middle aged, orange Gi wearing, quaterstaff wielding, acrobatic, kung fu monks? Seriously, if you want to tell a serious story this is just the wrong way to do it - same as the Rainbow Skittles Daleks…
- Those black eyes look ridiculous.
- The transformation hasn’t aged well, this feels like another instance of no insight to what the contemporary level of CGI can realistically pull off.
- Just sliding that diamond across the floor and just hitting the right angle and place to take down the Werewolf? Fine it serves the purpose of storytelling, but it is a bit lazy - just like the mixing of medicine in the previous story.
- And the big one: Rose and the Doctor are horribly, terribly, off the scale Mr and Mrs Smug Smuggidy Smug Smug Smug from Smugsville - just get Rose Marion Tyler off my screen fast as you can, and bring in Donna Noble to counter the 10th Doctor’s horrible attitude issues.
- And I know not everyone agrees with this one, but this is kind of where I began to feel that the Psychic Paper became a crutch for the writers to rely upon rather than just a means to speed up storytelling due to shorter run-time than the Classic era.
This ends up with a 1,5/5 
and know that at least half a is for mentioning the name James Robert McCrimmon! “Creag an tuire!” (There is your token positive thing No actually, I kind of like Queen Victoria as well, but hey it is Pauline Collins (I would much, much rather watch the Faceless Ones though 
))
8 Likes
Ah, I have a lot of nostalgia for this one. Love the gothic vibe the Werewolf brings, even if the CGI has certainly aged. A fun romp by definition.
6 Likes
It was the Eleventh Doctor who said “Every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant.”
I think we can apply this to stories as well, and it’s quite instructive here.
BAD THINGS
- This is a story where Rose and the Doctor are pretty unbearable together. I can fully see why Queen Victoria takes against them at the end. They definitely had it coming!
- The monks. Doesn’t work for me. Not funny. Not in keeping with the rest of the aesthetic. Their inclusion is jarring and more than a little awkward.
- The plot. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the Ainley Master was behind this.
But then, I draw your attention to my list of…
GOOD THINGS
- The first reveal of the werewolf (pre-transformation). Those jet black eyes, the delivery of his lines. This was dripping in atmosphere and really quite chilling. My daughter, now in her twenties, still remembers this scene with goosebumps.
- The scene in the library. Now this is Doctor Who for me. “You want weapons? We’re in a library. Books! Best weapons in the world. This room’s the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself.”
- Still in the library: There is a genuine sense of tension as the Doctor and company are trapped in the library, the wolf outside… moving around. Yup, that scene really works for me!
It’s a flawed story in several respects, but I do really enjoy the elements I’ve highlighted above.
9 Likes
A story that I didn’t care for back then, and one I still don’t care for. I just don’t vibe with this one at all. Werewolf stuff generally doesn’t interest me.
I don’t think I could tell you what the actual plot is. All I know is bald monks and Werewolves.
A 2.5/5 meh serial.
8 Likes
Love the 10Rose dynamic here, but never a huge fan of “thing that is basically identical to folklore creature but is actually alien” stories
4 Likes
Yet again camping in negativity corner - this episode does absolutely nothing for me, alas. Werewolves rarely do. Vampires, however… 
6 Likes
I actually really like Tooth and Claw
It’s a fun CGI run around with a great antagonist in the form of the Werewolf.
Rose and Ten are at their smuggest but we have a pretty great side cast, even if half of them stupidly sacrifice themselves for no reason.
I don’t really have too big a problem with the Brethren, it’s RTD, there had to be some camp.
Tense and decidedly gothic, it’s not a stand out episode or anything but I’ve seen duller and worse episodes before and after this one.
6 Likes
Reading my review back to myself (having written it a good few years ago) I realise I probably need to downgrade my rating. I’m going with a 4/10 - this story does very little for me and some of it, such as the monks, is pretty risible.
7 Likes
Aaah, Series 2 keeps going from strength to strength! Tooth and Claw is an improvement upon New Earth, but I can’t exactly call it a favourite.
Things I like:
Summary
Pauline Collins as Queen Victoria. She’s awesome.
Derek Riddell, who’s also good.
The bald monk guy who looks like a villain, and who I always associate with Game of Thrones.
The “attached to my thumb” joke.
The speaking Scottish gag.
The costumes.
The ending, which sets up Torchwood and suggests that the British Royal Family are werewolves.
Things I dislike:
Summary
Ten and Rose. So smug, so annoying. Tennant is getting there, but he’s still too smug.
The horrendous editing in the action scenes and the CGI wolf.
Most of the ill-placed humour and the “we are not amused” running gag.
The warrior monks and their stupid opening fight scene.
Still, it’s enjoyable enough to receive a 6/10 from me.
8 Likes
I’m probably the only one, but I kind of love the stupid monks and especially that really dumb opening scene. It reminds me of those Chinese action drama’s I sometimes saw my mother watch. It’s just as terribly edited, and I had no clue what was going on, but that was hard anyway because I couldn’t stop laughing.
Oh, to hell with it, why not, if I’m doing controversial takes: I enjoy Rose and Ten’s smugness as well. Everyone else acts so dramatically, and then you have these two individuals who look totally out of place, and act completely out of place too. They look like they’re enjoying a theme park ride. Meanwhile people are dying and the queen is in danger, but that’s the fun of it for them. There is not a care in the world, I think it is quite delightful.
8 Likes
Whilst I don’t feel the same about it, I do see where you are coming from here. I don’t feel it’s pitched quite right, but you have a point (it’s just that I feel the same effect is achieved better elsewhere - and not with Rose and Ten).
4 Likes
Kung fu monks (jumping around like they should be in a BBC Ident}, werewolves, queen victoria - should all make for a fun adventure & it is occassionally but mostly forgettable. It could benefit from being more atmospheric in the way its directed & shot - more gothic. The Doctor & Rose are both smug, all the “not amused” stuff is cringe. The werewolf, well it looked crap at the time. Plus the Koh-i-Noor being a plot point & no mention that it is a stolen artefact?
7 Likes
I think this is why I love that library scene. Firstly, it puts knowledge and learning at the centre of the solution (which is always a key element for the best DW in my mind). Secondly, it’s one of the most atmospheric parts of the whole and does build that sense of being trapped with something “other” just outside.
I think that’s what is, for me, most frustrating about this story. It’s one of those where the whole genuinely is less than the sum of its parts, because there are moments where you can see and feel the potential, but it doesn’t coalesce sufficiently for me because the elements that I don’t think work jar to strongly with the good stuff.
Still love the good stuff, however.
9 Likes
Ok funnily enough, I was watching TV with my family last night and referenced this episode. My little brother (12) then said he hadn’t seen it yet so my mum, who has this as her fav episode tied with Blink, put it on. It was genuinely way better than I remembered! We all enjoyed it. Definitely bumping it up to a 4 star now.
7 Likes
This one does not work for me at all. I find it deeply annoying from the moment the monks bust out their dumb powers (they’re Western monks!! they shouldn’t be doing that!!), to everything the Doctor and Rose say and do, to the most made-for-pinterest-moodboards quote a writer other than Moffat has written (“books! greatest weapons in the world”). It’s my least favorite story of series 2 and my second least favorite of the Tennant era and RTD1 in general (only ahead of The Shakespeare Code). I would never watch it unless I’m doing a full marathon. Pauline Collins is great though.
5 Likes
It’s fine. I’d say it’s a much better opener for this Series, still very cheesy and still not a favorite, but there are a lot more things I enjoyed compared to New Earth. I am not a fan of the Rose/10 Romance and this one continues their flirty banter, which is fine, I just simply can’t care much about it. Some already mentioned that our Tardis Team is quite unbearable, but honestly I think it was an interesting direction to go, maybe not the best in Execution, but hey I appreciate the Idea. The Werewolf and its CGI aged pretty poor, but hey there are some fun parts, such as Pauline Collins, who gives a good performance.
Overall it’s fine, just not a story that I care in either direction, a simple meh.
Series 2 is so far to a bad start with me, so can’t wait for the next episode, where I finally have some praise again!
4 Likes
I enjoy this episode. While the monks are (not good) weird and the whole thing jumps in tone quite a bit, I think it’s fun on the whole. There’s a good bit of mystery, queen Victoria is excellent and I think ten and rose’s dynamic, while out of place, and remarked upon in the story, is fun. Also we get David Tennant’s wonderful accent.
8 Likes
I’m so glad I’m not alone in thinking the monks don’t really work. Always thought I was missing something.
9 Likes