Horror of Fang Rock

Directed by

Spaceship, Base Under Siege, Shape Shifting

Runtime

100 minutes

Time Travel

Past

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Earth, England, Fang Rock

Synopsis

The Doctor and Leela arrive at a lighthouse on the island of Fang Rock off the south coast of England, a place of rumour and tales of beasts from the sea. In the minutes before their arrival, a strange light fell from the sky which was followed by an unnatural glow in the ocean, a thick fog has appeared out of nowhere, the lighthouse power flow has become strangely erratic and one of the keepers is dead. Has the fabled Beast of Fang Rock returned?

Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat

Edit date completed

4 Episodes

Part One

First aired

Saturday, September 3, 1977

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

6.8 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The English channel, the 1900s AD. The TARDIS lands on barren Fang Rock, inhabited until now only by three lighthouse keepers. But what is the strange fog covering the island, and can it be connected to the falling star sighted earlier that night?

Part Two

First aired

Saturday, September 10, 1977

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.1 million

Synopsis

The survivors of a wrecked ship are stranded with the lighhouse crew on Fang Rock as a deadly menace slithers through the fog. Has the Beast of Fang Rock returned?

Part Three

First aired

Saturday, September 17, 1977

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

9.8 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor barricades everyone in the lighthouse to protect them from the mysterious deadly creature in the fog. But it may already be inside, biding its time…

Part Four

First aired

Saturday, September 24, 1977

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

9.9 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Rutan starts picking off the surviving humans one by one as the Doctor and Leela struggle to defeat not only the alien but an entire fleet waiting to occupy Earth.

Characters

Fourth Doctor

Leela

How to watch Horror of Fang Rock:

Watch on iPlayer

Blu-Ray

The Collection – Season 15

DVD

Horror of Fang Rock

VHS

Horror of Fang Rock (VHS)

Reviews
Add Review Edit Review

Sort:

6 reviews

This review contains spoilers!

I quite like Horror of Fang Rock overall, with a fun sense of characters in a distinct setting, and a very strong sense of atmosphere. I'd rate it higher but it really feels like we are giving similar plot beats to another season premiere story, Terror of the Zygons, and I much prefer the earlier version with Sarah and Harry over Leela. I don't have anything against Louise Jameson or her character, she just feels a little more awkward here compared to most other Fourth Doctor companions. I find the whole bit around changing her eye colours weirdly distracting for something so trivial. I don't know. I enjoyed this one overall but can see how this was a start of a bit of a weird season in Doctor Who history.

Like Liked 0

Review last edited on 5-11-24

Horror of Fang Rock is an excellent serial with lots of tension and some genuinely scary moments. The plot completely engorossed me throughout, and I feel that the characters are really strong and well-put-together: the dislikable characters are really dislikable and all characters seem well-motivated. Yes, some of the special effects are dated (although there is a version with updated special effects on the The Collection - Season 15 Blu-ray boxset) but, if you can overlook that, there's a really solid story here.

Like Liked 1

Review last edited on 26-10-24

This review contains spoilers!

This story still very much has the feel of the Hinchcliffe era, with a terrific claustrophobic atmosphere throughout as an alien force begins picking through the cast by one on one, and Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are on top form. Only thing that lets it down slightly is I think the Rutan is a slight anti-climax, mainly because the design is a bit too silly for my tastes. Definitely a great way to open the season though.

Like Liked 0

Review last edited on 24-09-24

This review contains spoilers!

This episode was fantastically tense. I expected at least one of the side characters to get out alive, and each time another died I was surprised.

Speaking of the side characters, they were expertly written to cover the entire spectrum of likeability and garnered drastically different reactions when each one of them eventually died. I've never seen such a fantastic set of characters, from the lighthouse keeper who all clearly care for each other despite their differences, to a greedy capitalist doing whatever it take to get ahead, to a man just trying to save face.

I especially enjoyed how done Leela was with Adelaide's antics and how even the Doctor smiled when she threatened Palmerdale. I really like Leela so far.

Like Liked 4

Review last edited on 22-05-24

This review contains spoilers!

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Ghost of Margaret

Wow, what a start to a season.

It starts slow, mysterious and delightfully gothic, the isolated setting of a lighthouse in the early 1900s really makes you feel quite trapped and makes it fairly scary until you actually see the Rutan.

The supporting cast are all fun to watch and the Doctor and Leela feel in their element throughout, I do think some of their deaths felt forced but it makes for an interesting ending knowing that nobody will have a clue what happened. The Doctor turns up to a place, everyone gets killed, he saves the world and leaves and nobody ever knows he was there.

The Rutans as a villain feel like they should be interesting but their main ability (shapeshifting) is only shown once and doesn't really trick anyone, leaving them as sort of basic. Similarly their voices are just slightly softer-spoken Daleks, the only thing they really have going for them is their design and connection with the Sontarans, the latter basically just being a namedrop.

Despite having a fairly slow pace, I was hooked throughout the entire thing, it really is a story that lives up to the hype.

Next Story: The Foe from the Future

Like Liked 2

Review last edited on 10-05-24