Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang


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Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-ChiangDoctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang
Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-ChiangDoctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang


BOOK DETAILS

Pages 140
ISBN 0-426-11973-8
Publication Date 15 November 1977

SYNOPSIS

1977 Target Books edition

Stepping out of the TARDIS into Victorian London, Leela and the Doctor are confronted by menacing, diabolical horrors shrouded within the swirling London fog – a man’s death cry, an attack by Chinese Tong hatchet men, giant rats roaming the sewers, young women mysteriously disappearing…

The hideously deformed Magnus Greel, conducting a desperate search for the lost Time Cabinet, is the instigator of all this evil. Posing as the Chinese god, Weng-Chiang, Greel uses the crafty Li H’sen Chang, and the midget Manikin, Mr Sin, to achieve his terrifying objectives.

The Doctor must use all his skill, energy and intelligence to escape the talons of Weng-Chiang

1994 Target Books edition

‘A CHINESE SECRET SOCIETY, FANATICAL FOLLOWERS OF AN ANCIENT CHINESE GOD CALLED WENG-CHIANG. THEY BELIEVE THAT ONE DAY HE WILL RETURN TO THE WORLD.’

Stepping out of the TARDIS into Victorian London, Leela and the Doctor find themselves fighting of the trained killers of the Tong of the Black Scorpion. Barely escaping alive, they soon discover that the swirling fog hides other, more sinister forces. Giant rats roam the sewers, young women mysteriously disappear, and a magician’s manikin is found, clutching a blood-stained knife. Has an ancient and mysterious Chinese god returned to haunt the streets of London?

This is an adaptation by Terrance Dicks of a screenplay by Robert Holmes, which featured Tom Baker in the role of the Doctor.

NOTES

CHAPTER TITLES

  1. Terror in the Fog
  2. The Horror in the River
  3. Death of a Prisoner
  4. The Monster in the Tunnel
  5. The Quest of Greel
  6. The Tong Attacks
  7. The Lair of Weng-Chiang
  8. The Sacrifice
  9. In the Jaws of the Rat
  10. A Plan to Kill The Doctor
  11. Death on Stage
  12. The Hunt for Greel
  13. The House of the Dragon
  14. The Prisoners of Greel
  15. The Firebomb

DEVIATIONS FROM THE TELEVISED STORY

  • In the televised version of the story, The Doctor explains that a malfunction with the Peking Homonculus, which was only supposed to be a toy, “nearly” caused World War VI. The novelisation claims that World War VI did happen, and that Magnus Greel created the Homonculus himself with the intention of triggering a World War.
  • Teresa is given a back story as a waitress in a Mayfair gambling club, and is given the surname Hart.
  • The prostitute is rewritten to be a waitress.
  • The Fourth Doctor wears his scarf, whilst in the televised story he wears a Sherlock Holmes-esque outfit without the scarf.

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