15x1. Horror of Fang Rock
Writer: Terrance Dicks
Director: Paddy Russell
Script Editor: Robert Holmes
Producer: Graham Williams
[Brief note: Yes, I am at long last back on the Doctor Who
review beat. However, I may be posting shorter capsule reviews -- such
as the one below -- much of the time from now on. Basically, the amount
of time it took to write longer reviews was getting in the way of
actually watching the serials, since I generally made it a rule not to
watch one until I'd finished the review of the previous one.]
Synopsis: The Doctor and Leela
arrive at a 19th-century lighthouse whose inhabitants are being picked
off by one of the Rutans, an alien race that has been at war with the
Sontarans for thousands of years.
Review: I approached "Horror of
Fang Rock" with some trepidation, as the one thing I remembered most
about it was that my family and I all hated it back when we first saw
it; in fact, if I'm not mistaken, "Horror of Fang Rock" was more or
less synonymous with "painfully bad Doctor Who story"
as far as we were concerned. Maybe it was partly an effect of low
expectations, but I actually found it surprisingly watchable. The story
is perhaps a bit pedestrian in its outlines -- Doctor, companion, and
guest stars are trapped in a building with a nasty murderous alien, but
the script is effective in differentiating between the more
working-class employees at the lighthouse and the wealthy travelers who
end up stranded there when their yacht crashes into the shore. On the
other hand, these class divisions ultimately prove irrelevant to the
outcome, as the Rutan ends up killing everyone but the Doctor and
Leela. I suppose that arguably makes "Fang Rock" a little more
effective as a horror story (according to Wikipedia, this is the only Doctor Who
serial in which every single guest character dies), but it also leaves
the characterizations and the plot somewhat disconnected from each
other. Still, it turns out to be a decent start to the new season as
the first Fourth Doctor serial following the departure of Philip
Hinchcliffe as producer.
Rating: **1/2 (out of four)