Sunday 15 February 2015

Day 450: The Talons of Weng-Chiang Part 3


It's interesting to note that it's only in this part that we get an indication of the science fiction elements of the story. Whilst previously we have seen giant rats and walking ventriloquist dummies these have been things that could fairly easily be given a rational explanation that fits the Victorian time period that the story is set in. However, here we get to see Li H'Sen Chang capture young women to put into a machine that presumably takes their life force to feed his mysterious benefactor. This is the story finally admitting what it is: a science fiction story, and yet it still remains trapped within the bounds of what it originally purported itself to be: A Victorian adventure. The design of the machine is rusty, feeling like something that a Victorian inventor would have made in his shed and not a futuristic piece of technology. Likewise, the fact that it is young women taken brings to mind the Jack the Ripper murders, keen in the minds of the public at the time. Even the Doctor, as shown below, forgoes the normal scarf for a more Sherlock Holmes look. This all shows the versatility of the series, giving us a Victorian adventure as a change from the expected run of science fiction stories.

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