10 Biggest Controversies In Doctor Who History

The Talons of Weng-Chiang is widely regarded as one of Tom Baker's best stories, with Robert Holmes' sharp script among his finest Doctor Who contributions. Former showrunner Russell T Davies has even called it "the best dialogue ever written".

And yet, despite this goodwill, the serial is also heavily criticised for being fundamentally and blatantly racist.

The plot follows the Doctor and his companion, Leela, as they journey to Victorian London so that Leela can learn about her ancestors. Here, they encounter time traveller and criminal Magnus Greel, who is masquerading as the Chinese god Weng-Chiang, while being aided by his accomplice, Li H'sen Chang.

While the serial gets a lot of things right, it isn't exactly sensitive or tactful in its handling of Asian characters. At one point, Chinese people are referred to as “inscrutable chinks”, and elsewhere, the Doctor himself describes Chang with the phrase "epicanthic eyebrows".

But the biggest problem that people bring up when discussing Talons' racism is its use of "yellowface" - the character of Chang is actually played by white actor John Bennett, whose face has been fitted with prosthetics to make him look Chinese.

Understandably, the serial has proven to be quite a controversial one as the years have rolled by, and recently, streaming service BritBox was forced to slap it with a content warning amid complaints from viewers.