Doctor Who
The Horror of Fang Rock
Season 15, Story 92
The Doctor (Tom Baker) and Leela (Louise Jameson) accidentally land the TARDIS on Fang Rock, a small island off the southern coast of England. When The Doctor notices that the lighthouse is without a light, they go and investigate. Inside the lighthouse they discover a dead guy and two still living lighthouse keepers – Reuben (Colin Douglas) and Vince (John Abbott). They explain that just before The Doctor arrived, they saw a strange light crash into the sea, and ever since the power has been fluctuating as the temperature keeps dropping.
While The Doctor and Leela are investigating the rest of the lighthouse, someone or something moves the corpse. Then, because the lighthouse light keeps going out, a pleasure boat crashes into the rocks. It is owned by a snooty lord, and with him are a lady and two other men.
Legend has it many years ago a monster came to Fang Rock and killed two of the keepers and drove one mad. Now a new creature has arrived, but this time it is from outer space. It is known as a Ruton, and it thinks Earth might be a good strategic place to fight the Sontarans.
The Ruton is a round, blobby thing that looks a bit like an egg yolk with some streamers hanging off of it. Tis not the greatest of Classic Who monsters, I tell you that. The production team made the smart decision to keep it off-screen for the most part, and they made it a shape-shifter so sometimes it appears as the dead keeper.
I am a big fan of base-under-siege stories, and the lighthouse makes for a great setting. The Ruton is not a great villain, but for most of this series four parts, it is off base trying to get in. The addition of the rich, snobby people adds a nice touch of fear and hysteria to the proceedings, while the lighthouse keepers mostly keep it together.
It is a pretty dark story, and Tom Baker eases into that side of the character, showing very little concern for the other characters who keep getting themselves killed. It has been a while since I’ve seen any of the other Leela stories, but she does seem to be transitioning nicely from the “noble savage” she was when she first joined the Doctor to someone who relies a little more on her intelligence than her strength (though she still throws a knife nicely and wields an axe at one point during this story.)
I’ve seen this one many times. It has become one of my go-to Classic Doctor Who stories as it moves at a brisk pace, has a terrific little story, and finds Tom Baker in fine form.
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