Tooth and Claw

"Tooth and Claw" is simply put, one of the finest episodes of Doctor Who in either of its incarnations. It is a spectacular feast for the eyes, featuring excellent production values and oft inventive direction and cinematography, for television anyhow. I realize I am in a distinct minority when saying this, but "Tooth and Claw" to me was an example of just how exhilarating and utterly captivating Doctor Who can be at its absolute best. The '12' rating bestowed upon this by the BBFC will give you an idea of the oft risqué content, especially for a program that should be 'family-oriented'. In many ways, this is a traditional Doctor Who tale, creepy and well-written with sharp, witty dialogue to boot.

Another thing is, I never found Werewolves creepy or scary at all, with a couple of notable exceptions (An American Werewolf in London), but this episode makes it work with very little violence at all. It's one of the creepiest Doctor Who episodes I've ever seen. Kudos to Euros Lyn for this stunning visual feast. His direction is often inventive and quite surprisingly excellent by the standards often expected from television, and his pacing is also excellent. He would go on to direct "The Girl in the Fireplace" and "The Idiot's Lantern", both of which were also superb visually.

Letter Grade: A+

Having started in a not entirely satisfactory fashion with premiere episode New Earth, the second season of Doctor Who ups its game considerably with this second offering, another Russell T. Davies-penned adventure that ditches other planets in favor of a (sort of) historical adventure that deftly mixes the show's trademark humor with some genuine horror.

Having left New Earth, the Doctor's plan was to take Rose back to 1979, a year he likes for many reasons (one of them being the Muppet movie). However, due to a TARDIS mishap, they find themselves in 1879, more specifically in Scotland, where they run into a vacationing Queen Victoria (Pauline Collins). The Doctor poses as a Scottish physician to gain access to her entourage, and soon discovers something dangerous is in the working: a conspiracy involving deranged monks and an alien entity in the shape of a werewolf...

While there is a bit of mythology in the script (the name Torchwood is mentioned once again), Tooth and Claw works perfectly as a self-contained story with hints of John Landis, most explicitly in a wonderful scene where the Doctor and Rose, while hiding from the wolf, giddily express their excitement about the situation. The wolf itself is a credible threat, although a couple of shots are slightly let down by the visual effects. As for Collins, who continues the tradition of portraying real people in the series (following Simon Callow's class act as Dickens in The Unquiet Dead), her rendition of Victoria is suitably cold and amusing. Plus, the in-joke of the Doctor faking a Scottish accent (Tennant's own, in fact), followed Rose trying to do the same with appalling results, is one of the funniest moments in the series so far.

Overall, Tooth and Claw is very enjoyable. And now this episode sets up Season's 2's arc nicely, with Queen Elizabeth addressing and announcing to the Doctor about Torchwood. There's often not enough mention about this episode, but I find it quite interesting. There's alot of nice scenery, and some cool stunts, and terrifying Weareolf which does seem pretty cool, yes admittedly the ending and the death of the Weareolf Is a cop-out. But don't let that distract you from a very good episode that handles the cinematography and the tension between the assassins and the people distract you from a disappointing and lackluster last 5 Minutes. As facing off against a Weareolf is quite a fun premise. With the start of an arc.

It is 1879, although the TARDIS rhythm stick is stuck and it should be 1979, either way the Doctor and Rose find themselves in deepest, darkest Scotland. They hitch a lift with Queen Victoria (as you do) and her rerouted entourage, before stopping at the Torchwood Estate not long after sabotage, where they're about to encounter a beast who is not in camouflage - no sheep's clothing here. There's a bit of cat and mouse, round the besieged highland house, but no need to give up hope with Prince Albert's telescope, it's not long before they're back to shooting grouse (not a lot else to do in that part of the world in all fairness).

This episode reminds me in a very good way of the greatest era of the show in the early seasons of Tom Baker's era as the 4th Doctor in that it has gothic horror themes and is properly creepy, atmospheric, exciting and scary as well as having some great witty humour.

The story has the TARDIS taking the 10th Doctor and Rose to Victorian era Scotland where they actually meet Queen Victoria. Meanwhile a werewolf type creature appears and the Doctor has to try to save the day whilst dealing with the Queen and her entourage at the same time.

The humour is great, the scares are great and Tennant well and truly shines in the role of the Doctor . Pauline Collins (who appeared in a 2nd Doctor story in the 1960s called The Faceless Ones) is marvelous as Queen Victoria and the acting and production all round are impressive.

It is not, for me, an absolute all time great 10/10 but is very close so I rate it 9.5/10.