I am so conflicted about the new story I started today. On the one hand, it is a historical story (set in Victorian London) and I love historicals. On top of that, it is one of the most beloved stories of the Fourth Doctor era. On the other hand, it features a primary Chinese villain who is played by a Caucasian English actor wearing yellowface and speaking in a full-on Fu Manchu accent. He's good, but that's not really the point. Of course I know it was standard accepted casting for the era (not that current casting choices are always ideal by any stretch of the imagination), but still... This is definitely a case of something I love also being problematic.

So let's talk about it.

The Talons of Weng-Chiang - Parts 1 & 2

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

The premise of the story is that the Doctor brings Leela to Victorian England in order to "see how her ancestors lived", but they rapidly become embroiled in a series of murders that involve the Chinese Tong. Much of the story is set in and around a theatre that features a magic and mesmerism act by Li H'sen Chang.

This guy

It turns out that Chen is a servant of (who he believes to be) the titular Weng-Chiang, and has so far participated in the murder of at least a dozen women in order to aid Weng-Chiang in his revival. Chen is an excellent villain, and as an actor John Bennet was justifiably famous for his skill at accents and makeup in order to portray different ethnic characters. But still, but still... it is very telling that there are a number of non-speaking Chinese characters that appear, and most if not all of them are played by actual Chinese actors, but the two speaking Chinese characters are played by white Englishmen in yellowface. 

I happen to be a theatre geek (as well as a currently working stage actor, aren't I special?), and so I particularly all of the Phantom of the Opera style backstage antics with the climbing up and down ladders and crossing gantries, all of the superstitious stage hands, and of course the hidden passageway in the basement that leads to Weng-Chiang's secret lair. Also, the characters of Jago (the theatre manager) and Litefoot (a pathologist and professor) are both delightful. So much so, in fact, that although they only appeared in this one television story they later went on to have a long-running series of audio adventures together produced by Big Finish, that as of this writing has run for thirteen seasons. 

It is clear from the plot that the original intention was for the villain pretending to be Weng-Chiang to turn out to be the Master. So far in the first two episodes, Weng-Chiang always appears wearing a full-face mask. He speaks constantly about needing to consume the life force of his victims in order to stay alive, and he is searching for "the time cabinet" that will allow him to fully regenerate. And yes, he actually says the word 'regenerate". Apparently producer Philip Hinchcliffe didn't want to have two stories in the same season in which the Master was revealed to be the hidden bad guy, and so the true identity of Weng-Chiang was modified to something else that will become apparent in either tomorrow's viewing or the next.

Aside from the Phantom of the Opera and Fu Manchu allusions the story is also a clear homage to Sherlock Holmes, with the Doctor adopting a deerstalker cap for the entire story and forgoing his trademark scarf and hat. In fact, this is the one and only story in the entire Fourth Doctor era in which he is never seen wearing the scarf. Another influence is clearly Pygmalion / My Fair Lady, with Leela fulfilling the Eliza Doolittle role. The Doctor has gotten her dressed up in full Victorian garment for the adventure, and has set about trying to educate her and transform her from a Savage Girl to a Proper Lady. That goes about as well as one might expect. 

With all those allusions and homages being thrown about, one might expect the story to be a mess. Fortunately, that couldn't be further from the truth. This was Philip Hinchcliffe's last go-around as producer, and since he was leaving anyway he apparently decided to go all-in on this story and splurge on multiple locations and detailed sets and costumes. The whole thing is sumptuously filmed and plotted, and it is also another one of the books that originally made me a fan.

I wish I still owned this book

Which of course is why the story leaves me so conflicted. If it was poorly done I could just pass it off as an unfortunate artifact of history. The truth is, though, that the Yellowface performance is actually reasonably well done (to my white American eyes). it's not Mickey-Rooney offensive. it's just a really good story, with an awkward bit of racism tossed in. 

Seriously, though: Ew.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Fourth
Companion(s): Leela
Episode(s): The Talons of Weng-Chiang - Parts 1 & 2
Steps Walked: 7,269 today, 1,540,081 total
Distance Walked: 3.82 miles today, 767.00 miles total
Weight: 257.24 lbs (five day moving average), net change -50.06 lbs