REVIEW: Doctor Who: 'Horror of Fang Rock' by Terrance Dicks

There are some Doctor Who stories that just get better every time you watch them. Horror of Fang Rock is such a story. Really, it's quite rare for a Doctor Who story to scare me so much, but this story always succeeds in that. 

First good point about the story: the direction. Paddy Russell completely controls the flow of this claustrophobic story. It's a flawless piece of direction: dark and foreboding, with only a quiet menace stalking the lighthouse. Russell makes great use out of her setting, wringing tension from every scared look, terrifying revelation, or horrifying death. The smell of death lingers long in this story, and the tension is taken to the maximum. 

This is, hands down, the best script Terrance Dicks ever wrote for the classic series. It has excellent structure throughout, has some of the all-time best interplay between the Doctor and Leela, and manages to make you feel sympathy for all of the supporting characters in their own way. His bold decision to kill everybody, except the Doctor and Leela, is shocking, and satisfyingly so. The Doctor sees death wherever he goes, and at least here is able to avert catastrophe, even though lives have been lost as a result. It is a stark reminder of the Doctor's dangerous side. 

Ah, the Doctor. Tom Baker was rarely better than he is here, completely commanding yet refusing to hide the utter terror he feels. He is rude, abrasive, yet tough and resourceful. He's uncertain as to exactly what is going on, and all the more convincing for it. The Doctor is fallible. He can't save every life and here looks at the bigger picture. He has to confront human greed in the guise of Palmerdale and Skinsale, yet shows regret at their deaths. Baker plays this in a moody and totally magnificent way. His chemistry with Leela in this story is extraordinary. Recently seeing the partnership between the Doctor and Rose in the new series and then watching this makes me realise that there really, really were some great companion teams in the classic series. When written well, the Fourth Doctor and Leela sizzled on the screen. 

Similarly, Louise Jameson is excellent here. She shows Leela's passionate side, defending the Doctor and threatening Palmerdale with a knife and then slapping the incredibly annoying Adelaide in the face (hooray!). Wearing workmen's clothes really works for her; you get the impression that Jameson is much more comfortable like this and shows her savage yet loyal character. Particularly shocking is the moment when Leela gloats over the death of the Rutan, receiving only a quick and curt telling off from the Doctor. When the writers are brave enough to show the companion and the Doctor as flawed heroes, the story and atmosphere becomes all the more compelling. 

A mostly excellent guest cast ably supports the two regulars. John Abbott and Colin Douglas are both utterly convincing as Vince and his mentor Reuben. You really get the impression that these two men (and the third, Ralph Watson's Ben) have a great working relationship and close bond. The aristocrats are also well played, with the possible exception of Annette Woollett as Adelaide. She does her best, but was probably miscast in the role of a stuck-up secretary. 

The side plot of Palmerdale and Skinsale's shady dealings has been criticised as having little to do with the story, but it gives it an extra dramatic thrust and allows the characters to have their own motivations, their own respective greed being the end of them.

The sets and lighting are both magnificent, too. The lighthouse is perfectly structured and seems totally real. Likewise, Dudley Simpson's music is just as haunting as his superlative score for The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

Horror of Fang Rock is a marvellous story, expertly plotted, acted, and directed. Like most classic Doctor Who, this succeeds because of the restrictions set against it, not in spite of them. Everybody involved deserves a round of applause.