Doctor Who: Tooth and Claw   Rewatch 
October 9, 2014 11:40 AM - Season 2, Episode 2 - Subscribe

We open on Kung Fu Monks in a Scottish Castle, cos, yeah ok, why not I guess... The Doctor and Rose travel to the 1970's to catch Ian Dury in sheffield 1979, but end up in Victorian Scotland to meet the queen and determine why there are buddhist kung fu monks in a Scottish castle.

It's your basic werewolf romp from here on in. Running up and down corridors, barricading doors and so on. Eventually the wolf is destroyed by some miseltoe and a laser telescope.

Things and also stuff
  • The Doctor identifies himself as "Doctor James McCrimmon of the township of Balamory" – Balamory is the setting of a CBeebies television program which, although designed for pre-school children, has gained a cult following in the UK.
  • The Doctor claims to have studied under Dr Bell. Dr. Joseph Bell (1837–1911) was a real-life lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is said to have loosely based Sherlock Holmes on him.
  • The Doctor describes 1979 as "a hell of a year" to Rose, but the fourth Doctor considered "a table wine year." in City of Death.
  • The Doctor adopts a Scottish accent, which is actually actor David Tennant's native accent.
  • Pauline Collins appeared previously in the series as Samantha Briggs in the Second Doctor serial The Faceless Ones (1967) she had been offered a role as a companion in 1967, but had turned it down.
posted by Just this guy, y'know (8 comments total)
 
One more "Things and also stuff": James McCrimmon in Doctor Who history.
posted by hobgadling at 12:28 PM on October 9, 2014


I don't care: this is by far one of my favorite episodes of NuWho. Werewolves? Queen Victoria? Scottish highlands? Inexplicable kung fu monks? Rose somehow pulling off a denim romper?

Sign me the fuck up.
posted by Kitteh at 1:45 PM on October 9, 2014 [4 favorites]


I also missed out Tardisode 2
Really? Tardisode?.. okay whatever

A special note about Tardisodes and the Time Vortex: Before a Tardisode, the time vortex is briefly seen. If the main episode is set in the past, the vortex is blue and if the main episode is set in the present or future, the vortex is red. (Referencing RedShifting and Blueshifting)
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:48 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


I really liked this one. It's also highly important in the extended Whoniverse, as the events of the episode lead the Queen to order the establishment of Torchwood.
posted by Effigy2000 at 4:12 PM on October 9, 2014


This is one of my favorite episodes of the Tennant era. Even when faced with a murderous, menacing werewolf, when everyone else is screaming in terror - the Doctor just erupts in a grin, exclaiming "Oh, you're beautiful!" Such joie de vivre.
posted by Telpethoron at 4:26 PM on October 9, 2014 [3 favorites]


I also like the Doctor's "don't do that" response to Rose's attempt at Scots. "No, really don't."
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 8:16 PM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


I was a very hit-and-miss viewer of Doctor Who. The is one of the episodes I don't think I've ever seen.

Where do you even find that many kung fu monks in the U.K.?

I've always liked the suit and sneakers look. Also a woman in overalls.

Somebody ought to get demoted for the incompetence of that guard mount.

Pauline Collins was fantastic as Queen Victoria, but that's not really a surprise.

Why does no one train with a shield anymore? At least Lord Robert went out with honor.

This didn't feel anything like a Doctor Who episode even though the story was classic Who through and through. The lighting, the cinematography, the effects, and even the acting — Hell, Collins is a Tony and a BAFTA award winner and Oscar nominee — all seemed way beyond anything that had come before it. I think this is my new favorite episode of Who, replacing The Robots of Death. (Which is really saying something since Baker was my "first" Doctor, and that serial was one of the ones they'd play during pledge week on the local PBS station.)
posted by ob1quixote at 1:12 AM on October 20, 2014


Whatever else you think (and I particularly like this episode) this is one of the most gorgeous-looking episodes of the series.

And there's Pyat Pree as the head kung fu monk!
posted by Navelgazer at 7:21 AM on June 4, 2018


« Older Criminal Minds: Burn...   |  Hannibal: Sorbet... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments