The Talons of Weng - Chiang ( TV story ) The Talons of Weng - Chiang was the sixth and final story in the fourteenth season of " Doctor Who " . It is often considered one of the most popular serial s . Fan - favourite characters Henry Gordon Jago and George Litefoot made their first and only televised appearance , but later they were given their own audio series , " Jago & Litefoot " . Synopsis . The Fourth Doctor brings Leela to Victorian London to see how her ancestors lived but is rapidly drawn into a fiendish plot involving Chinese Tongs , disappearing women , an Oriental stage magician with uncanny powers , a murderous ventriloquist ' s dummy , and giant rat s in the sewers . A dozen women are missing , believed dead . The murder of a cab driver married to one of the missing women causes the Doctor and Leela to encounter a police pathologist , Professor Litefoot , and a member of the Chinese tong which carried out the murder . The latter leads the Doctor to become suspicious of Li H ' sen Chang , a police interpreter , who is also a stage magician appearing twice - nightly at the Palace Theatre . Chang is secretly the henchman of Magnus Greel , a 51st century war criminal masquerading as the Chinese god Weng Chiang . Greel fled through time to escape his enemies and is searching for his lost time cabinet , which by chance has fallen into the possession of Litefoot . Theatre owner Henry Gordon Jago assists the Doctor in his investigation of Chang ' s vanishing lady illusion , by which the women are being kidnapped — and ultimately murdered to feed Weng Chiang . The plot casts Weng Chiang in the role of the phantom of the opera , haunting the cellars of the Palace Theatre , his bodily decay fended off by extracting the life energy of the victims Chang brings him . The Doctor must track him down , and find the Time Cabinet first , because any further use of it will cause a catastrophe . It uses zygma energy , and the zygma experiments lead only to disaster . Plot . Part 1 . Chinese magician Li H ' sen Chang entertains a Victorian music - hall audience with his dummy Mr Sin . After the show , as Chang talks with theatre manager Jago , Joseph Buller arrives and accuses Chang of being involved in his wife ' s disappearance . Buller threatens to call the police , and as he leaves , Chang and Mr Sin exchange significant glances — across the room from each other . . . The Fourth Doctor and Leela arrive in period costume , in which Leela is feeling very uncomfortable . They head for the theatre , as the Doctor plans to show her how her ancestors enjoyed themselves . Meanwhile , as Buller walks home , he is confronted by Mr Sin , holding a knife . The Doctor and Leela hear a scream and investigate . They find several Chinese men carrying the body of Buller . After a scuffle , most of the men run off at the sound of police whistle s , leaving one behind . The police take the Doctor , Leela , and the Chinese man to the station on suspicion of causing an affray . At the theatre , while Chang performs , Jago notices blood running down the dummy ' s arm . At the police station , the police sergeant , Kyle , questions the Doctor and Leela . The police find a body , this time in the river , which has been badly mauled . Chang arrives at the police station to help question the Chinese man as an interpreter . He surreptitiously gives the man a poison pill , and the man takes it and dies . The Doctor notices the man was marked as a member of the Tong of the Black Scorpion , a Chinese criminal organisation that follows the god Weng - Chiang . The Doctor takes charge of the situation , giving Kyle orders to have the body removed to the mortuary for examination ; he suspects scorpion venom as the cause of death . At the theatre , Jago goes into Chang ' s dressing room to investigate the dummy . He is joined by his doorman , Casey , and they head for the cellar . The Doctor and Leela go to the mortuary and meet Professor Litefoot . The Doctor and Litefoot deduce that Buller ( whose body had been dumped in the river ) was attacked by an apparently giant rodent but was already dead from a knife wound to the heart . The Professor is startled by Leela ' s knowledge of knife fighting , and the Doctor hastily invents a cover story of her being raised by savages in the Amazon . The Doctor recalls that the Tong ' s patron Weng - Chiang is the god of abundance and growth — he could make things grow larger . The Doctor leaves and is attacked by a Chinese Tong thug , but the man falls dead when Leela attacks him with a janis thorn ( angering the Doctor ) . The two climb down into the sewers to investigate and find a giant rat coming at them . . . Part 2 . The Doctor and Leela climb back up the ladder , escaping the giant rat after throwing their oil lantern at it . In the theatre ' s cellar , Jago and Casey find a lady ' s glove , monogrammed with the letters " E . B . " , but Chang arrives and hypnotises Jago into forgetting what he has seen . When Jago leaves , Chang descends into a hidden sub - basement and kneels to a figure dressed in black . . . the sinister Weng - Chiang . The latter needs to find his lost Time Cabinet in order to repair his damaged physiology , but meanwhile requires the life essence of humans to survive — hence Chang is kidnapping women off the streets . Chang now warns him about the Doctor , whose mind he cannot read with the powers Weng - Chiang has given him . The Doctor and Leela rejoin Litefoot at the mortuary , where PC Quick gives them information about Buller ' s last known movements ; he was last seen heading to the Palace Theatre , making " ' orrible threats " . Litefoot invites Leela and the Doctor to dinner , but on the way the Doctor departs for the Palace Theatre to investigate , planning to rejoin them later . He meets Jago ( who initially thinks him a performer trying to audition as a supporting act in the show ) , de - hypnotising him to enable him to remember what Chang had made him forget : as a result , Jago realises that the initials " EB " on the glove he has found stand for " Emma Buller " — the missing wife of the cabbie who had confronted Chang earlier . They head for the cellar , encounter a giant spider , and go through a trapdoor that leads toward the river Fleet . They see a " ghost " , and Jago faints ; but the Doctor recognises the apparition as a hologram and realises someone is using it to scare off intruders . Litefoot and Leela are having dinner — a strange experience for him , given Leela ' s lack of table manners . Nearby , Chang and Weng - Chiang ( quartering the city in a horse - drawn carriage ) discover that the Time Cabinet is in Litefoot ' s house ; Chang and Mr Sin prepare to steal it , sending Weng - Chiang back to the Palace Theatre . Litefoot notices someone lurking in his garden and , leaving Leela in his dining room , fetches a gun and investigates . Jago recovers from his faint , and he and the Doctor chase the returning Weng - Chiang through the theatre . Weng - Chiang hits Jago from behind and nearly kills the Doctor , before getting away . Litefoot , finding nothing outside , returns to the house . Leela , waiting for him , hears him open the front door , then hears the sound of a groan and of a body falling . She opens the passage door to find the dwarfish Mr Sin menacing her with a knife . . . Part 3 . Leela hurls her own knife at Mr Sin , which it brushes aside . Finding she is unable to harm Sin , who plainly intends to murder her , she leaps through a closed plate glass window to escape . The Doctor ducks at the sound of breaking glass , just as Chang shoots at him from his place of concealment in the garden . Chang and Sin flee in a carriage , but Leela races after it and stows away on the back . The Doctor tends to Litefoot ' s injuries , and they discuss what the thieves might have been after — including Litefoot ' s valuable antique Chinese cabinet . At daybreak , the Doctor and Litefoot are mapping out the sewer s and the course of the River Fleet , which now runs wholly underground . The Doctor proposes an expedition by boat to locate the confluence of the Thames and the Fleet . He brings along a blunderbus ( which " he " terms an elephant gun ) , into the muzzle of which he loads all manner of ammunition . A worried Litefoot warns him that , if he fires it , it will probably explode in his face , but the Doctor tells him that ' s unthinkable — it was made in Birmingham ! In the early dawn , Chang hypnotises a young woman in the deserted streets and brings her to his dressing room at the Palace Theatre , watched by Leela , who is still following him . When Chang leaves to find a second victim , Leela switches places with the first girl . Chang then brings the disguised Leela , and a young cleaning woman he has taken from the theatre itself , before Weng - Chiang , who grumbles about how wiry they are . The Doctor enters the sewers alone , leaving Litefoot waiting in the boat . In the theatre ' s cellar , Weng - Chiang puts the cleaning woman in a distillation chamber and turns it on . Leela attacks him and turns off the machine , but the woman has already been aged to death . Leela escapes into the sewers , but Weng - Chiang closes the barred gate and summons the giant rats by sounding a dinner - gong ; when they don ' t find their usual food waiting , they will comb the sewers for it . . . Two Chinese laundrymen arrive at Litefoot ' s house and exchange one laundry basket for another . Meanwhile , at the theatre , the hypnotised young woman whom Leela replaced awakens , initially remembering nothing , but then she recalls Chang attacking her and flees . Jago tells Casey he is working on the mystery of the missing women with someone high up in Scotland Yard ( the Doctor ) . In the cellars below , Weng - Chiang accuses Chang of failing to obey the order to kill the Doctor and dismisses him for his failure . In the sewers , Leela flees from a giant rat . Elsewhere in the sewers , the Doctor hears noises and prepares to fire . He sees Leela race into view , being attacked by the giant rat and screaming in agony . . . Part 4 . The Doctor fires the ancient blunderbus , causing a cacophonous explosion , which miraculously kills the rat without also killing Leela . The latter is more bothered by her failure to kill Weng - Chiang . They hear another rat coming and depart hurriedly , as the gun will take at least half an hour to reload . Returning to Litefoot ' s house , Leela describes the fate of Weng - Chiang ' s latest victim . Litefoot fetches a change of clothing for Leela , who is still wearing the disguise she adopted at the theatre , sending her off to change with the help of his housekeeper , Mrs Hudson , while the Doctor and Litefoot discuss the key of Litefoot ' s mysterious Chinese cabinet . A well - dressed Leela returns and is delighted to learn they are to attend that evening ' s performance at the Palace theatre . At the theatre , in the meantime , Chang overhears Jago and Casey discussing the imminent return of a Scotland Yard investigator , who he deduce s to be the Doctor . He readies a gun , then informs Weng - Chiang that to appease his wrath he will kill the Doctor . That evening , the Doctor and Leela attend the first show at the Palace Theatre , where they are met by Jago . During his act , Chang performs a card trick with the Doctor ' s assistance , which involves firing a " magic bullet " through a selected card without hitting the others in the pack . Chang successfully completes this , without succumbing to the evident temptation to shoot the Doctor instead , then invites the Doctor onto the stage to participate in his " Cabinet of Death " trick ( the " vanishing lady " illusion ) . Meanwhile , Weng - Chiang , lurking beneath the stage , encounters Casey preparing the Cabinet illusion and murders him . Two Chinamen arrive at Litefoot ' s house , killing the policeman on guard . The diminutive Mr Sin is already inside the house , having arrived earlier concealed in the laundry basket , and lets them in . The Doctor escapes from the Cabinet of Death by the simple expedient of using the concealed door in its back , as Chang rotates the cabinet to show that it supposedly has no rear door , much to the amusement of the audience . Chang cracks a joke , in an attempt to recover the situation : " The bird has flown . One of us is yellow ! " His Chinese assistant , Lee , steps inside the cabinet instead , and Chang continues the trick , which involves running a number of swords through the box . Climbing down a concealed ladder beneath the stage to escape being run - through by the swords , Lee comes face - to - face with Weng - Chiang and faints with shock . " So . . . the great magician ! " , Weng - Chiang muses to himself , looking upwards . On - stage , Chang is handed the final sword by the Doctor and concludes the trick , but when he and the Doctor open the cabinet doors , Casey ' s lifeless body is revealed inside , which falls out onto the stage . Jago orders the curtain brought down quickly , while Chang , who is as surprised as everyone else , flees — as Jago frantically cancels the night ' s performance and offers refunds . The Doctor and Leela locate Chang in Weng - Chiang ' s cellar hideout , which is now abandoned , with all the equipment removed . Chang explains how his " god " appeared in China many years earlier , ill from his journey through time , and that they have been looking for the Time Cabinet — taken by the Emperor ' s soldiers — ever since . Jago arrives , distracting the Doctor and Leela , enabling Chang to flee into the sewers . Leela then finds the clothing of the missing women in the cellar ; and , as Jago realises that his star turn was responsible for all the disappearances , a scream is heard . The Doctor explains darkly : " You ' ll need to find a new top of the bill . . . " The Doctor blames the Time Cabinet for Weng - Chiang ' s deformed condition , which he explains is worsening every time he absorbs life - energy . He agrees with how Leela tries to see this explanation — as a waterbag with a hole in it : every time he puts more water in the bag , the hole just gets bigger . As the others leave , Jago starts planning how to make money out of the hideout : " See the lair of the phantom — bob a nob ! " Shortly thereafter , the Doctor and Leela return to Litefoot ' s house , only to find the body of the murdered policeman outside , and the unconscious Litefoot inside ; with Weng - Chiang and Mr Sin driving furiously away , taking the Time Cabinet with them , as Mr Sin laughs uproariously . . . Part 5 . Treating a bruised Litefoot , the Doctor deduce s that Mr Sin must have been hiding in the laundry basket . He now reveals that Sin is actually the Peking Homunculus , a device which is partly organic ( containing the cerebral cortex of a pig ) , partly electronic , and from the future ( about the year 5 , 000 A . D . ) . It delights in carnage and was responsible for the murder of the Commissioner of the Icelandic Alliance , an event which almost triggered a World War . At about that time , a scientist named Findicus discovered the Nexus Particle , upon which he based the Sigma experiments s , a crude and dangerous way to travel through time . The Doctor realises that Weng - Chiang ' s Time Cabinet could incorporate a sigma beam at full stretch , and , if so , its use by someone who doesn ' t properly understand Sigma technology could destroy London . Taking Leela with him , he sets out to track down Weng - Chiang ' s new hideout , using their one clue : the address of the Chinese laundry , on the label of the laundry basket Sin came in . Weng - Chiang still lacks the key of the Time Cabinet , which is in a carpetbag he accidentally left behind at the Palace Theatre . He now forces one of his followers , Lee , to commit suicide as punishment for not bringing it . Jago has found the carpetbag in question , and , learning that the Doctor and Litefoot have been seen together , he takes it to Litefoot ' s house . They leave the bag and a note for the Doctor there , and go on to the theatre together , to watch for anyone who might be sent to search for the bag . The Doctor and Leela arrive at the Chinese laundry and find Chang , dying from injuries sustained from the attack by the giant rat . He is heavily drugged by opium to dull the pain and wants to revenge himself on Weng - Chiang . He dies after giving the Doctor two strange clues : a touch on his shoe , and a message to " beware the eyes of the dragon " . The Doctor grumbles that he ' s left them a Chinese puzzle . Jago and Litefoot follow a group of Chinamen to the Tong ' s new headquarters , where they are spotted from a window by Weng - Chiang . They are captured , and Weng - Chiang threatens to kill Jago if Litefoot does not tell him where the key to the Time Cabinet is . After Litefoot reveals it ' s at his house , he and Jago are put into a locked room along with two young women who have been hypnotised — Weng - Chiang ' s next meal . The Doctor and Leela arrive at Litefoot ' s house and find the note and the carpetbag containing the key — a crystalline roundel the Doctor describes as a trionic lattice . Leela wants to help Jago and Litefoot , but there is no clue as to where Weng - Chiang now is , so the Doctor thinks it better to wait for Weng - Chiang ' s men to come to the house , since they will be looking for the key . They search for weapons to set up an ambush . Jago and Litefoot find a dumb - waiter in the wall of the room in which they have been imprisoned , and use it to escape into the throne room — where they are recaptured . As Leela stands before a curtained window in Litefoot ' s dining room , practising with an improvised weapon — one of Litefoot ' s golf clubs — Weng - Chiang sneaks out from behind the curtain and chloroform s her . As she struggles , she pulls off his mask , revealing a hideously deformed face . . . Part 6 . As the Doctor returns with a pile of possible weapons , Weng - Chiang confronts him with the unconscious Leela . Weng - Chiang threatens to let Mr Sin kill Leela if he will not hand over the Cabinet ' s key , but the Doctor makes a deal with him . They will all go to the House of the Dragon . Weng - Chiang will release Jago and Litefoot , and then the Doctor will give him the key . They all go , leaving Leela behind at the Doctor ' s insistence , but she recovers and follows them . At the Tong headquarters , the Doctor realises that Chang ' s shoe clue referred to the " tongue " of his shoe — the " Tong " . Mr Sin secretly climbs into the head of a large dragon statue , where there is are laser controls inside . The Doctor and Weng - Chiang talk , with Weng - Chiang revealing his real name — Magnus Greel . The Doctor knows of him : he is from the 51st century and is a war criminal responsible for over one hundred thousand deaths — the " Butcher of Brisbane " . Jago and Litefoot are brought out to the Doctor , who now also wants the two young girls freed . Greel , angered , orders Mr Sin to fire on them ; laser beams come from the dragon ' s eyes to hit the Doctor , who realises the second clue from Chang — " beware the eyes of the dragon " — before passing out . The three men are put back into the locked room . When the Doctor has recovered , he sets a trap . After bringing the girls out of their hypnotic trance , he makes a gas bomb that blasts some of the Tong men . They all escape , with the girls running out of the building to safety . Leela has made it to the House of the Dragon but is captured and put into Greel ' s distillation machine . He turns it on , but the Doctor has grabbed a hatchet and flings it at the machine , disabling it . Incensed , Greel orders Mr Sin to kill them , and they take cover behind a bench as Mr Sin fires the laser at everyone , including the Tong . The Doctor tries to convince Greel to not use the Time Cabinet , knowing it will cause a massive implosion that will kill them all . Leela finds a gun near a dead Tong and disables the dragon ' s laser eyes after a few bad shots ( " I ' ve never fired one of these before ! " she protests when Litefoot complains ) . Greel pulls a gun on Leela , but the Doctor throws him into his own distillation machine ; he undergoes a cellular collapse and crumples into dust . Mr Sin exits the dragon and jumps onto Leela , but the Doctor stops him by yanking his computer core out of him . He then smashes the lattice , bringing the Zygma experiment to a end . Jago and Litefoot accompany Leela and the Doctor to the TARDIS . Litefoot attempts to explain tea to Leela , but it only baffles her more . The Doctor and Leela say farewell to Jago and Litefoot as they enter the TARDIS . Astonished by its dematerialisation , Litefoot thinks its impossible , and Jago says that maybe even the great Li H ' sen Chang would have appreciated the stunt . . . Home video and audio releases . DVD releases . This story was released as " Doctor Who : The Talons of Weng - Chiang " in a two - disc set . Released : Contents : Notes : It was released as issue 41 of " Doctor Who DVD Files " . Special Edition release . This story was released as " Doctor Who : The Talons of Weng - Chiang : Special Edition " . Released : Special Features : Video releases . This story was released as " Doctor Who : The Talons of Weng - Chiang " . Released : Notes :