Doctor Who: The Talons of Weng-Chiang

[cdrood]

I'm not sure there would have been much of a problem with The Master being the "secret villain" twice in a season. That was pretty much the M.O. during the Delgado era, although he really wasn't that good at the secret part using master or a translation of it in his aliases. He also tended to act as more of a ally to the real threat of the episode, with the idea of betraying them once they'd attained power. Ironically, they usually did it to him first

Later, the Ainley version did the same thing after he got the new body.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

When i watched this one the first time, I didn't see what all the hype was about. Weng Chiang was singularly unimpressive both as a villain and as a false god, the ROUS made lackluster monsters of the week and Mr Sin didn't really deliver on all his sinister potential. I did at least see the appeal of Cheng's closing speech.

The review helped me understand the value of Lightfoot and Jago in the narrative and appreciate more of Mr Cheng's character nuance, so for that I am thankful.

Best thing I can say for the time-travelling war criminal as a character is that he tells Cheng to leave him without threatening any horrible torture or death or stuff, because he knows that just letting this minion know he's disappointed in him is punishment enough.