After a disappointing opening episode, Tooth and Claw quickly reminds us what a new Doctor Who story should be. Like New Earth there is an impressive opening sequence. The titles roll and we then see the Doctor and Rose in the TARDIS who are on their way to a concert in Sheffield in 1979 before leaving the TARDIS and finding out that they are in fact in 1879. The story is quite important as it’s the first time in the series that Torchwood is mentioned since Harriet Jones mentioned it in the Christmas Invasion. Here is the inception of Torchwood, it’s named after the house the story is set in.
The story is a werewolf story. It’s hard to believe that in the history of Doctor Who that there hasn’t been a werewolf story before. Doctor Who has plundered many types of horror genre and this was the last one. We have had vampires and everything else but it’s only now that Russell T Davies and the technology was available to make it work. The story sees the Torchwood House taken over by a bunch of king-fu monks who are waiting for Queen Victoria. They dump a werewolf in the basement waiting for the full moon to come up. The story ends with the werewolf being taken care off thanks a diamond that Queen Victoria has kept with her. It belonged to her husband Prince Albert.
The story does have that isolated setting that I just love. The house is in the middle of nowhere and there is pretty much zero chance of being rescued. That helps add to the tension but essentially it’s a battle against the werewolf. The final moments against the werewolf had some special effects that looked rather good. It was revealed when the werewolf burst into the room, Queen Victoria got a scratch on her hand. It’s then implied that Queen Victoria might become a werewolf and her descendants would also have the DNA of the werewolf. Not quite sure what the Royal Family would make of that but I hope that they would say “We are not amused!”.
At the end of Torchwood the very serious scene of Torchwood’s creation is done. Queen Victoria officially sets up Torchwood to investigate strange goings on and in a way kind of makes UNIT redundant. The story arc for the rest of the series has been set up and now we can prepare to learn more of Torchwood and put the pieces together like we were suppose to with the Bad Wolf story arc in the last series. Pauline Collins was very good as Queen Victoria. The last time she was in a Doctor Who story was some 39 years before with Patrick Troughton in The Faceless Ones. In that I always thought that she should have become a companion but unfortunately didn’t. As Queen Victoria she was statesman like and thankfully ignored the ‘We are not amused’ gag that Rose kept doing over and over again. Her defiance against the werewolf was quite impressive and the grief that she shows when she talks about Prince Albert was very sad and believable despite the fact that at this point, Prince Albert had died some 18 years before. Collins is a superb actress and no one else could really have done a better job.
As a Doctor Who story it’s very good. It was a refreshing change of direction in terms of quality following the damp squid that was New Earth seven days previously. There was a lot of drama and also a bit of comedy. The whole look and feel was very good and felt perhaps the best visual episode of the new series. There was also the moment where the Doctor as the lead character was able to work something out and look the most intelegant person which he should. It also gave Tennant the chance to talk in his normal Scottish voice instead of put on English voice much to the delight I imagine of the Scottish Doctor Who fans. Tooth and Claws is a reassuring return to form. Everything you would want from a Doctor Who story was here in this story and knowing what is to come over the next few weeks it shows that Tooth and Claw is where the series really gets started.
The story is a werewolf story. It’s hard to believe that in the history of Doctor Who that there hasn’t been a werewolf story before. Doctor Who has plundered many types of horror genre and this was the last one. We have had vampires and everything else but it’s only now that Russell T Davies and the technology was available to make it work. The story sees the Torchwood House taken over by a bunch of king-fu monks who are waiting for Queen Victoria. They dump a werewolf in the basement waiting for the full moon to come up. The story ends with the werewolf being taken care off thanks a diamond that Queen Victoria has kept with her. It belonged to her husband Prince Albert.
The story does have that isolated setting that I just love. The house is in the middle of nowhere and there is pretty much zero chance of being rescued. That helps add to the tension but essentially it’s a battle against the werewolf. The final moments against the werewolf had some special effects that looked rather good. It was revealed when the werewolf burst into the room, Queen Victoria got a scratch on her hand. It’s then implied that Queen Victoria might become a werewolf and her descendants would also have the DNA of the werewolf. Not quite sure what the Royal Family would make of that but I hope that they would say “We are not amused!”.
At the end of Torchwood the very serious scene of Torchwood’s creation is done. Queen Victoria officially sets up Torchwood to investigate strange goings on and in a way kind of makes UNIT redundant. The story arc for the rest of the series has been set up and now we can prepare to learn more of Torchwood and put the pieces together like we were suppose to with the Bad Wolf story arc in the last series. Pauline Collins was very good as Queen Victoria. The last time she was in a Doctor Who story was some 39 years before with Patrick Troughton in The Faceless Ones. In that I always thought that she should have become a companion but unfortunately didn’t. As Queen Victoria she was statesman like and thankfully ignored the ‘We are not amused’ gag that Rose kept doing over and over again. Her defiance against the werewolf was quite impressive and the grief that she shows when she talks about Prince Albert was very sad and believable despite the fact that at this point, Prince Albert had died some 18 years before. Collins is a superb actress and no one else could really have done a better job.
As a Doctor Who story it’s very good. It was a refreshing change of direction in terms of quality following the damp squid that was New Earth seven days previously. There was a lot of drama and also a bit of comedy. The whole look and feel was very good and felt perhaps the best visual episode of the new series. There was also the moment where the Doctor as the lead character was able to work something out and look the most intelegant person which he should. It also gave Tennant the chance to talk in his normal Scottish voice instead of put on English voice much to the delight I imagine of the Scottish Doctor Who fans. Tooth and Claws is a reassuring return to form. Everything you would want from a Doctor Who story was here in this story and knowing what is to come over the next few weeks it shows that Tooth and Claw is where the series really gets started.
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