Tooth and claw (2006)

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Review

This episode was first broadcast on 22 April 2006. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: the Doctor and Rose go to Scotland and meet queen Victoria and a werewolf.

There are several good things about this episode. It looks great, with beautiful landscapes and good location work, and queen Victoria is well-played and well written for.

This story's biggest problem is its odd structure. After a brief action scene with a group of Scottish monks being inexplicably adept at Kung-Fu we get about twenty minutes of characters explaining the plot to each other, followed by ten minutes of everyone being chased by the werewolf. After that we get five minutes of characters figuring out what to do about the werewolf and explaining those parts of the plot to each other that they hadn't covered earlier, followed by five minutes of actual plot resolution. The remainder of the episode gives us about five minutes of characters discussing the plot with each other, and yet another Torchwood plug.

The other problem is the way the Doctor and Rose are written here. At times they come across as a couple of lager louts abroad mocking the locals, with the 'we are not amused' gag being particularly irritating.

My verdict:

Quite good, actually.

All bark, no bite.

More about Doctor Who

An introduction:
On-site link, opens in this window Doctor Who reviews: introduction

More "quite good, actually" Doctor Who:
On-site link, opens in this window Doctor Who reviews: quite good, actually

More Doctor Who with David Tennant:
On-site link, opens in this window Doctor Who reviews: 2005 - now

Similar stories:
On-site link, opens in this window Doctor Who reviews: genre benders and history twisters

More about this episode

Episode guides:
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Episode reviews:
Off-site link, opens in new window Behind the sofa
Off-site link, opens in new window Outpost Gallifrey



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