Ghastly business afoot beyond the bleak shores of 19thC England...

When you plough through the Doctor Who stories in order, you tend to notice which ones are polar opposites and which ones are like peas in a pod. Take The Caves Of Androzani and The Twin Dilemma – one’s a thrill-a-minute adventure about a man’s desperate quest to save himself and his companion from the jaws of death. The other’s a plodding load of gibberish about a shouty loon trying to save his companion from a big slug.

On the surface, Horror Of Fang Rock has a lot more in common with its predecessor, The Talons Of Weng-Chiang. Both stories are set at around the same time, give or take three-odd years. Both stories have their fair share of scary moments. Both stories feature an alien with practically the same, shouty, raspy voice. Oh, and both stories are regarded as the best possible Doctor Who that you can get.

The flip side of that argument is that Fang Rock is much smaller in scale. Talons had a lavish budget with plenty of night time filming, trips to the theatre and lots of different locales and characters. Fang Rock is frugal by comparison, mustering up the lone setting of a sad and lonely lighthouse, a monster that resembles a big bogey and only a handful of characters. It’s much more minimalist in attitude.

"About 25-odd years ago, Horror Of Fang Rock wasn’t so highly regarded as it is today. I find that kind of odd, given the near-legendary status that it’s acquired in the interim"

And there are other differences. The Doctor of Talons, while prone to shouting at Phantom wannabe and shouty perv Magnus Greel, is still a breezy, chirpy character, full of joie-de-vivre and good humour. The Doctor of Fang Rock, by contrast, cuts a more mournful figure, bellowing at upper crust toffs and behaving like someone who’s been trapped in a mausoleum for a whole month. This doom and gloom is also seen in the fact that Everybody Dies. Despite the grisly deaths in Talons, the jolly double act of Jago and Litefoot still made it to the bitter end to chomp on muffins. By contrast, no one makes it through the night in Fang Rock.

All of these factors combine to form one of the best ever tales in Doctor Who’s history. Intriguingly, about 25-odd years ago, Horror Of Fang Rock wasn’t so highly regarded as it is today. I find that kind of odd, given the near-legendary status that it’s acquired in the interim. Possibly, fans thought that the low budget worked against the story rather than for it. But looking at it today, I actually don’t get the impression that it was made on a budget of a couple of quid. OK, there are blips such as the toy boat that crashes at the end of part one, which makes for a humdrum cliffhanger. As I’ve said, the Rutan looks a bit naff, and also a bit clunky in its natural form.

But otherwise, it all looks great – in particular, the lighthouse sets look very convincing and surprisingly high-budget. Designer Paul Allen was said to have undertaken extensive research by exploring real lighthouses. And judging from the results, the research paid off. The crew room, the generator room and the top level of the lighthouse all look genuinely authentic – even down to the finer details such as the furniture and cutlery. The setting of the lighthouse is an inspired one. It’s the perfect setting for a tale of ominous claustrophobia because of the tight spaces and the dark shadows. There’s that feeling of oppression and the realisation that no one’s going to make it out alive – which escalates at the brilliant cliffhanger to part three, when The Doctor realises that he’s trapped the enemy inside. Uncle Terrance may have blanched at the prospect of Holmes’ revenge (Holmes hadn’t liked writing The Time Warrior at Dicks’ request), but despite his oft-quoted research from the Boy Scouts’ Guide To Lighthouses, he turns in his best script for Doctor Who.

It’s a simple tale – alien besieges a small crew of lighthouse keepers and shipwrecked poshos – but it works because of this. The emphasis is on creating mood and atmosphere, and the story has both of these in spades. Along the way though, Fang Rock does have some interesting things to say, yet again, about class. Rewatching the stories of season 15, I’ve found that they do evoke the punk attitude of the time in that many of these always seem to champion the common man. Think of the revolution against the Company in The Sun Makers. Think of the Shobogans proving their worth in The Invasion Of Time. And in Horror Of Fang Rock, The Doctor takes the side of the Average Joe at the expense of the higher classes.

"It’s a brave tack to take, making The Doctor a right old class warrior – wouldn’t he be great against the bankers and their undeserved bonuses today?"

Maybe that’s why so many people rate this Doctor as one of the best incarnations. For all his alien mannerisms, at his core, Baker's Doctor always champions the underprivileged and the oppressed. This is very much seen in his treatment of both Vince and Harker. He’s friendly to Vince, offering much-needed words of comfort to the hapless scamp, who’s forever panicking about the evil let loose on the rock. Similarly, he has much more time for Ringo Starr/Tucker from Citizen Smith lookalike Harker – even after he’s threatened to kill Palmerdale for abandoning his crew, The Doctor simply says “All that can wait” rather than telling him off.

And he’s positively hostile to Palmerdale’s crew. Now I love this attitude, simply because I’m not that keen on posh banking types. The braying accents. The haughty, sneering attitude. The vast collections of mansions. Palmerdale, Skinsale and Adelaide are the sorts of goons who would quaff champagne and hee-haw in ridiculously OTT garb at Royal Arse-cot, while frittering away thousands upon thousands of bonus pay pounds on some poor old nag, like they were playing with Monopoly money.

In The Doctor’s world, money means bugger all. He’s too busy focused on the bigger picture of trying to survive rather than concentrate on the financial backstabbing of the Palmerdale entourage. So what he does is to treat them with barely concealed contempt. He doesn’t look any of them in the eye. He ignores them. He shouts at Adelaide. Even when they’re killed, he doesn’t really seem that bothered, probably because he knows that, for the most part, their deaths are their own fault, especially Skinsale’s.

It’s a brave tack to take, making The Doctor a right old class warrior – wouldn’t he be great against the bankers and their undeserved bonuses today? But then he’s always been the champion of good against bad. And Palmerdale, Skinsale and Adelaide aren’t really that nice. Adelaide is spoilt and selfish. Palmerdale is arrogant and ruthless. And despite his later redemption, Skinsale’s misguided pride causes him to wreck the telegraph, therefore putting everyone’s lives in even greater danger. No wonder The Doctor’s in a foul mood.

Nevertheless, the moody Doctor is always good value, and Tom Baker delivers one of his most intense performances. Whether or not The Doctor’s long face was a result of alleged off-screen tensions is still open to speculation, but Fang Rock successfully reinforces the fourth Doctor’s weird alien moodiness. For example, when faced with delivering bad news, he does this with a big grin or almost with a punchline (like when he tells the others about Palmerdale falling from the lamp gallery). It may be an atypical example of the normally cheerful fourth Doctor, but Baker really delivers.

"It’s interesting that originally Louise Jameson apparently didn’t think much of Fang Rock (she’s a lot happier about the story on the DVD commentary), since it serves the character of Leela well."

Same goes for Leela. It’s interesting that originally Louise Jameson apparently didn’t think much of Fang Rock (she’s a lot happier about the story on the DVD commentary), since it serves the character of Leela well. The story really plays to Leela’s strengths, especially her survival instinct. She is also seen to be quick-witted and evidently learning during her time with The Doctor. “It is better to believe in science,” she muses at one point, after realising that maybe magic is just an old wives' tale. And give her a round of applause when she slaps the annoying Adelaide around the face to stop her deafening screams. Another excellent performance from Louise Jameson, who wrings every drop of subtlety out of the script.

Altogether, the cast are pretty good. The lighthouse crew are well portrayed, even if the haircuts are a bit too long for the period, surely? Vince and especially Ben look like they’ve just auditioned to be in 10cc, and furthermore Ben’s droopy moustache would probably make Celebrity Masterchef walrus Dick Strawbridge weep with jealousy.

John Abbott gives an endearing performance as unassuming sap Vince, and it’s rather sad when he inevitably gets killed by Reuben The Rutan. That’s a great scene, and very well played, as Vince quickly goes from friendly and welcoming to unsure to terrified as he realises that he’s staring at his killer. Colin Douglas makes the successful transition from gruff, xenophobic old keeper to a creepy walking cadaver – that eerie grimace that he gives when he smiles is the stuff of nightmares.

And the toffs are well played, with special plaudits going to Alan Rowe (who actually makes Skinsale remotely likeable by the end) and Sean Caffrey (who doesn’t make Palmerdale likeable in the least). Even Annette Woolett makes the most of her limited role as Adelaide, and boy, can she scream for Britain.

The Rutan is generally OK, although its better in Reuben form than its natural one. Horror Of Fang Rock is an interesting bookend to the season in that The Invasion Of Time ultimately features the Rutans’ deadliest enemies. Maybe the production team missed a trick of running a later story of pitting both races against each other. The Rutans could have upped the ante by transforming themselves into Sontarans. The Sontarans in turn, could pulverise the Rutans into jelly with the deadly Gravity Bar. In the end though, both sides would probably have talked each other to death, because like the Sontarans, the lone Rutan spends a lot of time bragging about its militaristic might to The Doctor. Which is a bit much coming from an overgrown lump of mould. That said, the weird, bubbling sound effects add much to the threat of the Rutan, as do the many distorted POV shots – think of the Voc Robots POV through a fish-eye lens.

"Presumably, Fang Rock is the story that makes Steven Moffat wail like a baby, since most of his stories are death-free"

This is all the work of Paddy Russell, who should get much of the credit for making Horror Of Fang Rock so atmospheric. Apart from the POV shots, she really prises every bit of tension out of Uncle Terrance’s script, with moody lighting, strange camera angles and some very realistic filming at Ealing Studios. By all accounts, this wasn’t an easy shoot, but Russell clearly made the most of what limited budget and resources she had to turn Fang Rock into something very special indeed.

And so, Everybody Dies in a story that’s uncharacteristic of the Graham Williams era. Given the Whitehouse furore, it’s a brave move to take. Presumably, it’s the story that makes Steven Moffat wail like a baby, since most of his stories are death-free. Mind you, much as I like the recent episodes, Fang Rock does show that killing characters off adds to the tension without being too hard-hitting. Yes, there are agonised screams and if you look carefully, Ben’s mangled, bloody remains look pretty grim, but in Fang Rock, the deaths are purely fantasy. Try and imagine everyone surviving in Horror Of Fang Rock – it’s impossible, isn’t it? If they did, the story would be nowhere near as effective as it is, and it would certainly leave The Doctor’s last reading of The Ballad Of Flannen Isle a bit redundant.

This is a truly remarkable story. To accomplish what Horror Of Fang Rock does on such a low budget and modest resources is one hell of an achievement. The effects may not be Hollywood standard, but who cares when you’ve got the best team creating a convincing 90 minutes of creepy atmosphere that’s very hard to match. Again, one of the very best Doctor Who stories which for once, makes a virtue of its minimal budget.

John Bensalhia limbered up for this mammoth task with a full four-series review of Blake's 7, and writes professionally and recreationally all over the web. Check out his portfolio of work at Wordprofectors.

Check out John's previous Doctor Who review, The Talons Of Weng-Chiang

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