Doctor Who Season 2 (28) Episode 2 Rewatch: Tooth and Claw

[Straha]

So, ladies and gentlemen. Boys and girls. We continue our rewatch of the second season of the New Doctor Who by coming to the illustrious episode of "Tooth and Claw!" Wherein we meet, Queen Victoria (when she is both amused and not amused), hear a reference to a companion from ages past, meet another religious order which has been subverted, find out that Werewolves fear Mistletoe and see the origins of the Torchwood institute.

So lets sit down with pop corn, watch the episode and (depending on your mood) either run out of popcorn because the episode is such roaring good fun, or run out of pop corn because you've thrown it all at the TV in a rage. Then come back here and let us know what you think!


Addendum: As of right now the rating for "New Earth" is an abysmal 2.4. Making it worse than even Doctor's Daughter and Unicorn and the Wasp, and putting it above only that wonderful exemplar of quality writing Journey's End.

[Crazedwraith]

Were I to give this a 3, I would feel I had rated New Earth to highly. If a , The Chrismas Invasion to lowly. Judging by Straha's descriptions I'd go for a 3.


Nothing particularly inspired but noting too painful as well. Aside from the "We are not amused" gag. Victoria was portrayed quite well I think. Capable of defending herself, noticed things like the Doctor's accent and realising that the Doctor being around usually means bad things happening.

Torchwood was good in principle, even if it did end up populated by emotional wrecks, retards and zombies

[Big Orange]

"Tooth & Claw" is a rather solid 3 out of 5, but on hindsight Rose seemed rather rude (but she gelled well with the 10th Doctor) and this episode lay the groundwork for historical episodes detracting from major historical figures or events, instead focusing on pretty lights and aliens (missing out what made Moffat and Cornell's historical two parters so great).

[Crazedwraith]

I am going to have to watch "Dog Soldiers" soon though. To be even remotely scared of Werewolves. Werewolves without gore? Not a winning formula.

[Big Orange]

That's the trouble with Doctor Who, it's PG/12 rated 'family' entertainment (but ironically more grown up that 15 rated Torchwood).

Although Torchwood itself is not so rubbish these days.

[Revy]

I voted 4 out of 5 (yes, I'm sure this time), based on the description accompanying the score. I enjoyed it. Not the best episode ever, but it had a lot of good points to it.

[Ohma]

3, I enjoyed it, but there really isn't anything so good about it that I'd say I'd like to go out of my way to watch it again.

[DaveJB]

4/5... but that's based purely on how effectively the episode is directed and realized. It boosts it a point above what the script really deserves.

[Stark]

First time around, I remember everyone being pretty against this episode, but enjoying it; I can't remember why. A really bland uninteresting episode, poor the reasons mentioned by Orange (of all people ) and with hindsight (which doesn't affect my rating) even worse because the few 'interesting' things never go anywhere. It's more Jules Verne than Victorian, but Tennant is clearly enjoying the role. I'd give it a 2.5, but I'll round up to a 3 because it's just as bland as New Earth.

[Atavarius]

I'll go middle of the road on this one and give it a 3. Unlike New Earth, this episode at least had some life to it. The kung fu monks were cheesy and never really explained. The bantering between the Queen and the Doctor/Rose was amusing. The guys last stand was kind of stupid, but didn't really bother me. One thing that really endeared me to this ep, and I am not sure why, was the Captain trying wayyy to hard at dinner. The Torchwood setup was pretty well done, even knowing the tripe it lead too.


All in all a solid ep, but nothing spectacular.

[Thanas]

Allright, I gave this one a 5/5.

Here are the reasons for why I voted this one a five:
- Humour. (R:"I want her to say "we are not amused". I bet you five quid I can make her say it." D: "Well, if I gambled on that, it would be an abuse of my privilege as a traveller in time." "Ten quid?" "Done." being just one example of many things that made me laugh during this episode.)
- a good supporting cast, and the actress who played Queen Victoria was one of the highlights of the episode. Just watch her during the dinner conversation.
- this episode was the first where I stopped comparing Tennant to Eccleston. He plays the part extremely well, for example when he sees the wolf.
- the villain actually managed to be scary for a change, unlike the cats/infected people in the previous episode.
- Rose and the doctor - what can I say. Just watching them interact is fun, unlike the later companions.
- We get a backstory for Torchwood, leading up to the greatest season finale of Who ever.
- There is rarely a dull moment in the episode, with lots of action compared to other episodes.
- People did not act like idiots who waited until the doctor figured something out, instead managing to be useful for a change (like the Lady of the House).

[Stark]

Much of that is definately true; the chemistry in these average S2 episodes really highlights how terrible it later became.

[Ford Prefect]

Again, I am on the cusp for this episode. It's not really worth a four, in my mind, but I think it's somewhat better than a three - maybe as much as 3.5. I'd be willing to give it that almost based entirely upon the chemistry demonstrated. I'll give it a three.

[Straha]

Tooth and Claw wasn't bad. But it wasn't good either. What grabbed me the most wasn't the danger, or the story but watching the Doctor and Rose and their interactions with everyone else. That said the story wasn't bad, I just... didn't enjoy it. Perfectly good on the merits, just not good.

3/5.

Much of that is definately true; the chemistry in these average S2 episodes really highlights how terrible it later became.

That's really it. TV shows with a regular cast are made or broken not by their stories but by their chemistry. People kept watching the Simpsons not because of the humour in the stories, but because the characters and their chemistry. Ditto with a great many other shows, great and not so great. And it's what made the first two seasons of the new Doctor Who so... fun. You could really enjoy the Doctor and Rose, and there was real chemistry between them and it made things better. It's what made New Earth bearable (indeed, somewhat likable) despite being a steaming dog turd of a story. Their banter saves this story, and makes later stories truly enjoyable or downright excellent. By contrast Martha was a failed attempt to just pick up where Rose left off, ("I'm not Rose. I'm different! Sure I might not have a fleshed out backstory, or any character traits that set me different from her. But when I'm not acting like a screaming terrified chav I'm a Doctor I am!") and Donna had no character development outside of Fires of Pompeii whatsoever. I think they realized this, and to fix the problem they ratcheted up the tension. Instead of being "Watch the Doctor and Rose in their travels, and as they save the world" it became "THE WORLD IS IN DANGER! WATCH THE DOCTOR AND HIS FEMALE SIDEKICK PERILOUSLY SAVE THE WORLD FROM THE DANGEROUS DANGER! IT'S QUITE EXCITING!" And on the way they chucked character development, plot, etc. That's how we went from stuff like, say, Doomsday to shit like Journey's End.

[Thanas]

^Yes, that's the thing. And it put off at most of Season 3/4 altogether. Because I cannot for the love of god bring myself to care about the characters themselves and we all know the doctor survives. So one looks more towards the story and then suddenly, one notices the huge plot holes. Sure, they are also present in Tooth and Claw and maybe to the same degree as in later episodes, but when watching the episode, they matter less.

That is for example why an average season 1/2 episode is always more fun to watch than a good season 3/4 episode, with few exceptions (Human Nature/The family of blood being the only ones I remember right off the top of my hat).

Another thing to consider - although TCI got rated as a bad episode (just above the doctor's daughter, for chrissakes) I still think it is way more superior to anything in Season 4. In the context of the surrounding episodes, it may well be that TCI is weak, but compared to Season 3/4 - give me TCI any day of the week.