Doctor Who/Tooth and Claw

Tooth and Claw
Season 28, Episode 2
Airdate	April 22, 2006
Written by	Russell T. Davies
Directed by	Euros Lyn
← 28x01 New Earth	28x03 → School Reunion
Doctor Who — Season Twenty-Eight

Tooth and Claw is the second episode of the twenty-eighth season of Doctor Who, and the seven hundred thirty-fourth episode overall.

The Tenth Doctor and Rose visit Victorian Scotland where Queen Victoria has gotten mixed up with some monks and a werewolf.

Guest Stars: Pauline Collins (Queen Victoria), Ian Hanmore (Father Angelo), Michelle Duncan (Lady Isobel), Derek Riddell (Sir Robert), Jamie Sives (Captain Reynolds), Ron Donachie (Steward), Tom Smith (The Host), Ruthie Milne (Flora)

Plot Overview

The Doctor and Rose are on their way to 1979 to see Ian Dury live in concert. The Doctor makes a mistake and they end up in 1879 in Scotland. There they meet Queen Victoria who is on her way to the royal jewelers. Meanwhile at the Torchwood estate local monks have taken it over and chained the household staff in the basement along with the host. The Doctor sees Sir Robert's father's telescope which he declares as "rubbish, too many prisms". Rose is captured by the monks and chained with the rest of the staff. Rose and the servants manage to escape just as the man is illuminated by moonlight and transforms into a werewolf. Rose and the Doctor reunite and lock themselves in the library where they discover that Prince Albert and Sir Robert's father knew about the werewolf and were constructing a trap to destroy it. The elements of the trap are the telescope and the Kooh-i-noor diamond which Prince Albert had cut down to better focus the rays of the moonlight. When the moonlight is focused through the telescope and the diamond the werewolf is destroyed by the light. In thanks for helping the Queen Victoria knights the Doctor and Rose and promptly exiles them for meddling. After Rose and the Doctor leave, Queen Victoria sets up Torchwood as a paranormal investigative unit.

Notes

• Time and Space: 1879, Scotland, Earth.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Under the impression of the events, Queen Victoria founds the Torchwood Institute.

Characters

• The Doctor can speak in a perfect Scottish accent. Rose fails miserably when she tries.
• Throughout the episode, Rose tries to elicit the utterance "I am not amused" from Queen Victoria.

Referbacks

• Jamie McCrimmon: The Doctor introduces himself as Dr. James McCrimmon. Jamie, as played by Frazier Hines, was a companion of the Doctor for a time during his second incarnation. Jamie was a Scottish Highlander from the 18th century.

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• David Tennant is actually Scottish.
• Pauline Collins, who plays Queen Victoria, appeared in a previous Doctor Who episode, 1967's The Faceless Ones (as Samantha Briggs).
• Wales once again plays the part of somewhere else, this time the highlands of Scotland.

Allusions and References

• Ian Dury and the Blockheads: The song playing in the TARDIS is "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, which as the Doctor mentions topped the UK charts in early 1979.
• Koh-i-noor: At the time this episode is set, the Koh-i-noor was the largest diamond in the world. It is now part of the British Crown Jewels.

Memorable Moments

• The Doctor and Rose are excited to have encountered a werewolf, unlike the Queen and everyone else who is terrified.