DOCTOR WHO is a show perceived to be something similar to a horror movie . We can all look back over the decades and talk about the stories that gave us nightmares . The Pertwee era really terrified me with stories that featured inanimate objects coming to life in stories like Spearhead From Space , Terror Of The Autons and The Deamons . It should be remembered however that the show's creator didn't envisage this and concepts like human beings being killed one by one by creepy monsters didn't really start until the early Troughton era . Still monsters that caused generations of children to go running behind the sofa is probably what the show should be remembered for and it's this type of story that can be described as " traditional " and Tooth And Claw is a good example
The episode gets off to a great start as a bunch of monks turn up at a Scottish estate demanding the use of the house . When the staff refuse their request WHALLOP they show off their martial art skills in a scene borrowed from THE MATRIX . Say what you like about RTD but he knows how to draw the audience in to a story and this is a very good example of a story hook . Director Euros Lynn also deserves great credit for making a very atmospheric story work , especially in the scenes where the werewolf stalks the humans . Unfortunately there's one very obvious flaw to the story and that's down to the script - The kung-fu monks disappear without any mention what so ever as to how and why and this is a fundamental problem with RTD scripts . I also disliked the ending which is resolved far too easily which is yet another problem of the writing
Not too be totally negative however this is a highly enjoyable piece of television and no doubt many children who saw it will remember it for years to come . If the writing had been a little more thought out then this would have been an instant classic . As it stands it's merely a very good example of a traditional DOCTOR WHO story
The episode gets off to a great start as a bunch of monks turn up at a Scottish estate demanding the use of the house . When the staff refuse their request WHALLOP they show off their martial art skills in a scene borrowed from THE MATRIX . Say what you like about RTD but he knows how to draw the audience in to a story and this is a very good example of a story hook . Director Euros Lynn also deserves great credit for making a very atmospheric story work , especially in the scenes where the werewolf stalks the humans . Unfortunately there's one very obvious flaw to the story and that's down to the script - The kung-fu monks disappear without any mention what so ever as to how and why and this is a fundamental problem with RTD scripts . I also disliked the ending which is resolved far too easily which is yet another problem of the writing
Not too be totally negative however this is a highly enjoyable piece of television and no doubt many children who saw it will remember it for years to come . If the writing had been a little more thought out then this would have been an instant classic . As it stands it's merely a very good example of a traditional DOCTOR WHO story