Doctor Who – Tooth and Claw – Review

Standard disclaimer: Don’t read if you don’t want to know.

The second “real” episode of David Tennant’s Doctor Who broadcast on the BBC today. This story, Tooth and Claw, like New Earth last week was written by the new series’ mastermind, Russell T. Davies.

The story starts with a well-nigh improbable sequence of bald Scottish warrior monks practicing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon style Kung Fu and taking over that we later learn is the Torchwood Estate. While this plot device is necessary to advance this particular script, I couldn’t help immediately feeling like it had been thrown in because either the director/cinematographer wanted to try his hand at Kung Fu, or because they thought it would really grab people’s attention in the series two previews. The shots of the monks, in their bright red robes, suspended in a mid air attack has played heavily in the previews.

Meanwhile the Doctor decides to take Rose to 1979 for a concert. Ever the lefty, Davies manages to waste a line of dialog just to take a needless shot at Margaret Thatcher. Nobody could say that man doesn’t have an axe to grind. True to form, the TARDIS deposits them in Scotland in 1879, right in front of Queen Victoria’s royal carriage. The Doctor presents himself as Doctor James McCrimmon (Who fans will recognize the name Jamie McCrimmon as the second Doctor’s long-time Scottish companion) and talks his way out of the bind he’s in.

Let me digress here for a moment and speak on the subject of Mr. Davies. Undeniably, this man is a fan, and he’s clearly been at the point of creating and helming this successful revival of Doctor Who. Despite that, his scripts are consistently some of the weakest. Often logic is taken out back and shot dead. The viewer may not notice it because it flies by so quicky.

Case and point, the TARDIS lands, the Doctor and Rose get up off the floor (get your minds out of the gutter) walk to the door and step outside. They are already surrounded by the Queens bodyguards, and the Queen’s carriage stands waiting. With his psychic paper, the Doctor talks his way out of it, but no mention whatsoever is made that these people must have either been sitting there when the TARDIS materialized out of thin air or stopped by its appearance right in front of them. Personally, I think if a strange, noisy blue box materialized in the middle of the wilderness near me, I’d at least expect people to talk about it. That; however, would bog down the story considerably, and with the new series format being a paltry 45 minutes (because kids are apparently too impatient or too stupid to sit through a full two-hour story in 4 parts) things often need to move at a remarkable clip to get to the end.

The plot involves these nasty monks who’ve been harboring an alien werewolf (the real deal) and just waiting for the opportunity to trap the Queen at Torchwood on a full moon night so that the Queen can become a werewolf and rule the planet. The rest of the episode mostly comprises the werewolf chasing people and ripping them to pieces. Some of the secondary characters get to prove their mettle through heroics and ingenuity and once again, the Doctor does save the day by reasoning out the trap that’s been laid.

The story is also laying the foundation for the upcoming Torchwood series this fall. One could almost say this episode was clubbing us over the head with it and setting up either a Doctor Who or Torchwood sequel. I only hope that Torchwood references don’t become this year’s bad wolf.

Despite these criticisms, the episode was fun to watch. Tennant’s portrayal is really a solid, classic-style Doctor. He’s got that quirky factor that Eccelston never did. The episode was fast-paced and may not be suitable for children. For the first time, my daughter watched the episode and covered her eyes. We’ll see what tonight brings.

Next week Sarah Jane Smith returns in what promises to be more than a bit of soul-searching for Rose as she’s bound to realize that the end of her time with the Doctor is an inevitability and that someday she’ll have to go back to a normal life and the Doctor will continue on without her and with someone new. (Oh, and K9 will be back. how exciting.)

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