The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Horror Of Fang Rock
Horror Of Fang Rock: Part One (03/09/17)
A new series with a new production team, but it all looks very much the same as before - we're still at the turn of the Century and everything is very dark and Gothic. This, obviously, is a good thing.
We're on Fang Rock, possibly off the coast of Worthing, and at a lighthouse manned by Ben, the chief electrician (in charge of the new electric generator), Reuben, the old traditionalist who says oil was far better, and young novice Vince who, at the start, noticed a ball of fire shoot out the sky and under the sea. Soon a thick fog is rolling in and the generator fails. Ben goes to fix the generator but Reuben, a weathered keeper, says the fog isn't natural and soon Ben is dead!
The Doctor and Leela arrive, off course from a trip to Brighton, and find Ben's electrocuted body. Vince is hospitable enough to the waylaid travellers, but Reuben is justifiably suspicious. There's something on the Rock which stalks Leela while she hunts for it and steals Ben's corpse. Then a clipper ploughs through the fog and runs aground.
The series is continuing in the massively high quality of the last, the Doctor and Leela making a fantastic double act. Only one episode in and I already think this will top 'The Talons Of Weng-Chiang'! It's just so bloody creepy!
The three guest stars built up such a good rapport in the opening five minutes that you actually felt quite sorry when Ben died, especially with Vince's reaction. Leela continues to be blissfully unaware of conservative social codes, embarrassing poor Vince by stripping off her wet posh dress while asking for dry clothes, having called him stupid after he tried to charm her by saying he talked to the seals for company. She also looks great in Vince's spare jeans and sweater!
Tom Baker continues to impress being deadly serious throughout, yet understanding of Reuben's hostility toward them. And the sets and model work are stunning! The crewroom and the lamproom look amazing, and the stairs add to the feeling of claustrophobia. The CSO fog is very effective and the exteriors convince despite being studiobound. Terrence Dicks has provided a great start to the new series and I can't wait for the next episode!
Horror Of Fang Rock: Part Two (10/09/17)
Four new cast members this week from the wrecked clipper. Nouveau Riche Lord Palmerdale and his snooty secretary, Adelaide; his acquaintance-more-than-friend, Colonel Skinsale; and the yacht's skipper, Harker. Palmerdale was responsible for ordering the now-dead Captain to go at full speed through the fog as he needed to get back to London to cash some stocks or something to do with a casino which needs doing in the next few hours. Needless-to-say that's not likely to happen.
Adelaide is just as unpleasant as Palmerdale, both classist and racist - she calls Leela 'grotesque' and when Skinsale contradicts her she replies with "Were you a long time in India?". Harker is exhausted and angry, and Skinsale the most level-headed of the group despite being an MP.
Leela saw the alien which killed Ben and seems to have a need for electricity - a globular green thing with tentacles - which took Ben's body and dissected it. Harker found the corpse floating in the sea and brought it into the lighthouse. However, Reuben thinks she's seen the Beast of Fang Rock, a local myth. The Doctor and Leela have started to figure out what's going on, but Reuben went down to stoke the generator and it looks like the Beast got him!
This is continuing to be an excellent story, populated with a small group of well-rounded characters of varying social types and personalities. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Leela are throwing themselves about the place with great authority. The Doctor clearly has no time for Palmerdale or Adelaide, has respect for Reuben and is very concerned for both Vince and Harker. Meanwhile, Leela has a sisterly relationship developing with Vince, and has already threatened to cut out Palmerdale's heart if he doesn't do as the Doctor says!
The atmosphere is tense and edgy, and we finally got an estimate on the period - it's the first few years of the Twentieth Century as the Beast last visited Fang Rock '80 years ago'...'back in the 20s'.
Also, unlike the Hinchcliffe stories, this feels less like a tribute to the Classic Horror of the 50s and more like the contemporary Horror of the 70s. I might be wrong, but this could easily be the best Tom Baker story yet!
Horror Of Fang Rock: Part Three (17/09/17)
Aaaargh! This story just gets better week by week!
Great things from this week's episode: Leela properly smacked Adelaide across the face; Palmerdale tried to bribe Vince in the lamproom, went out onto the gallery to avoid being seen when the Doctor went up and was killed by the Beast; the Beast can scale the sheer wall of the lighthouse; the entire episode went by looking like Reuben has seen the Beast and was in shock, but actually he was already dead and what we thought was Reuben was actually the Beast because... the Beast is a shape-changing alien!
It's been so good so far - Leela is at her best, testing mallets out as weapons and having a great rapport with the Doctor - Louise Jameson is making her one of the best Companions the series has ever had! Tom is brilliant, incredibly serious, and hasn't goofed around once. Adelaide is a great contrast to Leela, spending most of the episode in hysterics and being thoroughly unlikable. Poor Harker, a character who was hugely likeable, was killed by faux-Reuben just before the cliffhanger. Colonel Skinsale fucked up by sabotaging the Morse code machine after hearing Palmerdale bribing Vince to send a message to his brokers in London, and has cut the lighthouse off from the mainland.
I get the feeling this one might not end well - the cast are being picked off one by one. Terrance Dicks has utterly excelled himself. I can only hope that the next episode doesn't fall flat.
Horror Of Fang Rock: Part Four (24/09/17)
Well, that was an utterly fantastic story! Definitely the best since Tom took over.
We've finally met a Rutan, the species who are in a constant war with the Sontarans, which is way cool! It's a sort of globular, green, tentacled blob with a coating of white stuff like Angel Hair. It was disguised as Reuben, and seems to have a shared consciousness or be part of a greater whole as it constantly referred to itself as 'we'. It killed poor Vince early on and Adelaide followed soon after (but not before Leela had had chance to roll her eyes when Adelaide fainted after being told the alien was locked in the lighthouse with them and they'd have to fight for their lives).
The Rutan was bumped off using a primitive rocket launcher full of the contents of everyone's pockets, but the Rutan mothership was already on its way. Leela rather wonderfully suggested the Doctor use the lighthouse lamp when he said he needed a laser beam to destroy the Rutan crystalline mothership, and Skinsale suggested using the diamonds Lord Palmerdale kept on him as insurance as the focus. He and the Doctor got them from Palmerdale's bodybelt and the Doctor chose one casting the rest aside. Unfortunately, Skinsale's greed got the better of him and the Rutan killed him as he scrambled on the stairs for the cast-off diamonds (this was before Leela killed it). Charmingly, when asked by Leela where Skinsale was, the Doctor replied dead "with honour".
The mothership arrived and the Doctor rigged the lighthouse to destroy it. He and Leela legged it and the ship was blown to pieces. However, Leela looked up at the light and it temporarily blinded her and turned her brown eyes blue!
A wonderfully atmospheric story with great design and great characters. It's also surprising that, aside from the Doctor and Leela, everybody died! I don't think that's ever happened before! Very grim. This series has got off to a fantastic start (unlike last year!) and I'm really positive about what's to come.
A new series with a new production team, but it all looks very much the same as before - we're still at the turn of the Century and everything is very dark and Gothic. This, obviously, is a good thing.
We're on Fang Rock, possibly off the coast of Worthing, and at a lighthouse manned by Ben, the chief electrician (in charge of the new electric generator), Reuben, the old traditionalist who says oil was far better, and young novice Vince who, at the start, noticed a ball of fire shoot out the sky and under the sea. Soon a thick fog is rolling in and the generator fails. Ben goes to fix the generator but Reuben, a weathered keeper, says the fog isn't natural and soon Ben is dead!
The Doctor and Leela arrive, off course from a trip to Brighton, and find Ben's electrocuted body. Vince is hospitable enough to the waylaid travellers, but Reuben is justifiably suspicious. There's something on the Rock which stalks Leela while she hunts for it and steals Ben's corpse. Then a clipper ploughs through the fog and runs aground.
The series is continuing in the massively high quality of the last, the Doctor and Leela making a fantastic double act. Only one episode in and I already think this will top 'The Talons Of Weng-Chiang'! It's just so bloody creepy!
The three guest stars built up such a good rapport in the opening five minutes that you actually felt quite sorry when Ben died, especially with Vince's reaction. Leela continues to be blissfully unaware of conservative social codes, embarrassing poor Vince by stripping off her wet posh dress while asking for dry clothes, having called him stupid after he tried to charm her by saying he talked to the seals for company. She also looks great in Vince's spare jeans and sweater!
Tom Baker continues to impress being deadly serious throughout, yet understanding of Reuben's hostility toward them. And the sets and model work are stunning! The crewroom and the lamproom look amazing, and the stairs add to the feeling of claustrophobia. The CSO fog is very effective and the exteriors convince despite being studiobound. Terrence Dicks has provided a great start to the new series and I can't wait for the next episode!
Horror Of Fang Rock: Part Two (10/09/17)
Four new cast members this week from the wrecked clipper. Nouveau Riche Lord Palmerdale and his snooty secretary, Adelaide; his acquaintance-more-than-friend, Colonel Skinsale; and the yacht's skipper, Harker. Palmerdale was responsible for ordering the now-dead Captain to go at full speed through the fog as he needed to get back to London to cash some stocks or something to do with a casino which needs doing in the next few hours. Needless-to-say that's not likely to happen.
Adelaide is just as unpleasant as Palmerdale, both classist and racist - she calls Leela 'grotesque' and when Skinsale contradicts her she replies with "Were you a long time in India?". Harker is exhausted and angry, and Skinsale the most level-headed of the group despite being an MP.
Leela saw the alien which killed Ben and seems to have a need for electricity - a globular green thing with tentacles - which took Ben's body and dissected it. Harker found the corpse floating in the sea and brought it into the lighthouse. However, Reuben thinks she's seen the Beast of Fang Rock, a local myth. The Doctor and Leela have started to figure out what's going on, but Reuben went down to stoke the generator and it looks like the Beast got him!
This is continuing to be an excellent story, populated with a small group of well-rounded characters of varying social types and personalities. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Leela are throwing themselves about the place with great authority. The Doctor clearly has no time for Palmerdale or Adelaide, has respect for Reuben and is very concerned for both Vince and Harker. Meanwhile, Leela has a sisterly relationship developing with Vince, and has already threatened to cut out Palmerdale's heart if he doesn't do as the Doctor says!
The atmosphere is tense and edgy, and we finally got an estimate on the period - it's the first few years of the Twentieth Century as the Beast last visited Fang Rock '80 years ago'...'back in the 20s'.
Also, unlike the Hinchcliffe stories, this feels less like a tribute to the Classic Horror of the 50s and more like the contemporary Horror of the 70s. I might be wrong, but this could easily be the best Tom Baker story yet!
Horror Of Fang Rock: Part Three (17/09/17)
Aaaargh! This story just gets better week by week!
Great things from this week's episode: Leela properly smacked Adelaide across the face; Palmerdale tried to bribe Vince in the lamproom, went out onto the gallery to avoid being seen when the Doctor went up and was killed by the Beast; the Beast can scale the sheer wall of the lighthouse; the entire episode went by looking like Reuben has seen the Beast and was in shock, but actually he was already dead and what we thought was Reuben was actually the Beast because... the Beast is a shape-changing alien!
It's been so good so far - Leela is at her best, testing mallets out as weapons and having a great rapport with the Doctor - Louise Jameson is making her one of the best Companions the series has ever had! Tom is brilliant, incredibly serious, and hasn't goofed around once. Adelaide is a great contrast to Leela, spending most of the episode in hysterics and being thoroughly unlikable. Poor Harker, a character who was hugely likeable, was killed by faux-Reuben just before the cliffhanger. Colonel Skinsale fucked up by sabotaging the Morse code machine after hearing Palmerdale bribing Vince to send a message to his brokers in London, and has cut the lighthouse off from the mainland.
I get the feeling this one might not end well - the cast are being picked off one by one. Terrance Dicks has utterly excelled himself. I can only hope that the next episode doesn't fall flat.
Horror Of Fang Rock: Part Four (24/09/17)
Well, that was an utterly fantastic story! Definitely the best since Tom took over.
We've finally met a Rutan, the species who are in a constant war with the Sontarans, which is way cool! It's a sort of globular, green, tentacled blob with a coating of white stuff like Angel Hair. It was disguised as Reuben, and seems to have a shared consciousness or be part of a greater whole as it constantly referred to itself as 'we'. It killed poor Vince early on and Adelaide followed soon after (but not before Leela had had chance to roll her eyes when Adelaide fainted after being told the alien was locked in the lighthouse with them and they'd have to fight for their lives).
The Rutan was bumped off using a primitive rocket launcher full of the contents of everyone's pockets, but the Rutan mothership was already on its way. Leela rather wonderfully suggested the Doctor use the lighthouse lamp when he said he needed a laser beam to destroy the Rutan crystalline mothership, and Skinsale suggested using the diamonds Lord Palmerdale kept on him as insurance as the focus. He and the Doctor got them from Palmerdale's bodybelt and the Doctor chose one casting the rest aside. Unfortunately, Skinsale's greed got the better of him and the Rutan killed him as he scrambled on the stairs for the cast-off diamonds (this was before Leela killed it). Charmingly, when asked by Leela where Skinsale was, the Doctor replied dead "with honour".
The mothership arrived and the Doctor rigged the lighthouse to destroy it. He and Leela legged it and the ship was blown to pieces. However, Leela looked up at the light and it temporarily blinded her and turned her brown eyes blue!
A wonderfully atmospheric story with great design and great characters. It's also surprising that, aside from the Doctor and Leela, everybody died! I don't think that's ever happened before! Very grim. This series has got off to a fantastic start (unlike last year!) and I'm really positive about what's to come.
It *is* slightly surprising that this story doesn't normally trouble the top ten in full-series surveys; I can only imagine it's the smaller stakes and lack of any big-name characters or monsters that sees it overlooked in favour of more obvious stuff. It's just as good though, as you say, and certainly Terrance Dicks' best work on the series. Consecutively it fits in perfectly with the run of stories before it, but given what's around the corner it really is a last hurrah from the old production team (who I assume commissioned and crafted it, with the new team having little to do with it). The story benefits enormously from its enforced deportation to Pebble Mill or wherever it was, and Paddy Russell works wonders within its limitations. Great stuff and, yes, possibly the best story for Leela overall - not that she's had a bad one yet.
ReplyDeleteFor a long time this was my favourite Tom Baker serial and I still rank it very highly. Tom and Louise had a good run of excellent stories with only a couple falling below average. For a companion's first four stories to be of such incredibly good quality is pretty rare (well, post-Hartnell, at least!) and Leela gets some absolute classics! I usually count nostalgia as the main reason for Sarah being regarded as the best companion and the Hinchcliffe era having such a great reputation when, for the most part, I think both are very over-rated. However, I can't say that about the tail-end of the era as Season 14 really does feature some of the best serials in the show's history; from 'The Deadly Assassin' to 'Horror Of Fang Rock' you have a continuity of style and high quality drama which justifies its popularity, and it astounds me that Leela doesn't top those 'Best Companion' polls as the depth of character and Louise's consistently brilliant characterisation really make her stand out above her peers. 'Horror Of Fang Rock', indeed a last hurrah, but what a way to start a new series!
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