10 Doctor Who Episodes That Were Banned Or Censored

When an omnibus edition of The Talons of Weng-Chiang was submitted to the BBFC for classification in 1988, it fell foul of the moral panic surrounding martial arts weaponry.

The British Board of Film Classification had strict rules about the depiction of such weapons, and requested that an early scene where the Doctor and Leela are menaced by a nunchaku-wielding henchman be cut.

However, this wasn't the only time that Talons fell foul of censorship in the 1980s. Syndication screenings in both Ontario and Los Angeles banned the story due to complaints from the local Chinese community, and objections from a local sponsor.

In Ontario, a focus group of Chinese viewers gave feedback on the serial, and singled out its "racist stereotyping of people of Chinese origin". This led to further complaints from the Chinese Canadian National Council, who highlighted the story taking inspiration from Chinese supervillain Fu Manchu as a major problem.

What's interesting about this is that it feels like one of the only times somebody thought to actually speak to Chinese audiences about their views on The Talons of Weng-Chiang. The episodes were duly pulled from broadcast in Ontario, Los Angeles, and elsewhere in Canada and the USA.