Having shown his protegee Leela something of Victorian London in "The Talons of Weng Chiang", the last episode of the previous season, the Fourth Doctor now decides to show her Edwardian Brighton. As so often happens, however, the TARDIS gets lost in the fog, goes slightly off-course and lands on the island of Fang Rock. (Somewhere off the south coast of England). They decide to take shelter in the island's lighthouse, and find themselves at the centre of a mystery. The lighthouse isn't working properly, and one of the keepers is mysteriously found dead. The storyline was inspired by the mysterious disappearance of the three keepers of the Flannan Isles Lighthouse in Scotland in 1900; at one point the Doctor quotes a line from Wilfred Wilson Gibson's famous poem about this event.
One of the surviving keepers suggests that his colleague has fallen victim to the legendary Beast of Fang Rock, but the Doctor dismisses any such suggestion as mere superstition. He believes that some extra-terrestrial intelligence may be involved. Things become more complicated when a ship runs aground on the island and four survivors also make their way to the lighthouse.
"Horror of Fang Rock" was the first (and to date the only) "Doctor Who" serial in which the Rutans make an appearance, although they had earlier been mentioned as the mortal enemies of the Sontarans; the two races have been waging war on one another for many centuries. Whereas Sontarans look like Mr Potato Head's less handsome cousins, Rutans are shape-shifters, but in their natural form look like fluorescent lime-green blobs of jelly. They have come to Fang Rock as their first stage in the conquest of the Earth, which they intend to use as a base in their war with the Sontarans.
I would have two criticisms of this serial. The first is that the Doctor is perhaps too quick to condemn the old keeper Reuben for his supposedly superstitious attitudes. As wild beasts undoubtedly exist, and as Reuben has no reason to believe in the existence of extra-terrestrials, he is actually being logical rather than illogical when he concludes that his colleague is more likely to have been killed by some terrestrial creature than by a being from another planet. The second is that the scriptwriter Terrance Dicks was perhaps too quick to kill off all the Earthlings, who one by one fall victim to the Rutan. By the final scene only the Doctor and Leela are left alive, and as we assume that they will inevitably survive, this scene involves a loss of the tension which has hitherto been an important part of the serial.
With those qualifications this serial is an excellent one. There are some neat exchanges between the Doctor and Leela, who has enthusiastically adopted his preference for science over superstition but who still thinks for herself when it comes to other topics. She is still the warrior maiden who believes that it is good to rejoice over the death of an enemy, whereas the Doctor is a semi-pacifist who regrets that it was necessary to kill the Rutan, even in self-defence. Dicks also makes some political points; one of the men shipwrecked on the island is a corrupt politician who is in a hurry to get to London in order to complete a dodgy share deal. Another plus is the fact that the action is confined to a single location, the lighthouse and its immediate surroundings, with most of the action taking place indoors. Such "bottle episodes", such as the First Doctor adventure "Edge of Destruction", could be very strange indeed, but here Dicks and director Paddy Russell are able to use the cramped location to create a superbly claustrophobic atmosphere which all adds to the tension and excitement. With "Horror of Fang Rock", the fifteenth season of the series got off to a strong start.
One of the surviving keepers suggests that his colleague has fallen victim to the legendary Beast of Fang Rock, but the Doctor dismisses any such suggestion as mere superstition. He believes that some extra-terrestrial intelligence may be involved. Things become more complicated when a ship runs aground on the island and four survivors also make their way to the lighthouse.
"Horror of Fang Rock" was the first (and to date the only) "Doctor Who" serial in which the Rutans make an appearance, although they had earlier been mentioned as the mortal enemies of the Sontarans; the two races have been waging war on one another for many centuries. Whereas Sontarans look like Mr Potato Head's less handsome cousins, Rutans are shape-shifters, but in their natural form look like fluorescent lime-green blobs of jelly. They have come to Fang Rock as their first stage in the conquest of the Earth, which they intend to use as a base in their war with the Sontarans.
I would have two criticisms of this serial. The first is that the Doctor is perhaps too quick to condemn the old keeper Reuben for his supposedly superstitious attitudes. As wild beasts undoubtedly exist, and as Reuben has no reason to believe in the existence of extra-terrestrials, he is actually being logical rather than illogical when he concludes that his colleague is more likely to have been killed by some terrestrial creature than by a being from another planet. The second is that the scriptwriter Terrance Dicks was perhaps too quick to kill off all the Earthlings, who one by one fall victim to the Rutan. By the final scene only the Doctor and Leela are left alive, and as we assume that they will inevitably survive, this scene involves a loss of the tension which has hitherto been an important part of the serial.
With those qualifications this serial is an excellent one. There are some neat exchanges between the Doctor and Leela, who has enthusiastically adopted his preference for science over superstition but who still thinks for herself when it comes to other topics. She is still the warrior maiden who believes that it is good to rejoice over the death of an enemy, whereas the Doctor is a semi-pacifist who regrets that it was necessary to kill the Rutan, even in self-defence. Dicks also makes some political points; one of the men shipwrecked on the island is a corrupt politician who is in a hurry to get to London in order to complete a dodgy share deal. Another plus is the fact that the action is confined to a single location, the lighthouse and its immediate surroundings, with most of the action taking place indoors. Such "bottle episodes", such as the First Doctor adventure "Edge of Destruction", could be very strange indeed, but here Dicks and director Paddy Russell are able to use the cramped location to create a superbly claustrophobic atmosphere which all adds to the tension and excitement. With "Horror of Fang Rock", the fifteenth season of the series got off to a strong start.