The fifteenth season of Doctor Who opens with a 4 part serial set in a lighthouse on a foggy night filled with dread and death. Horror Of Fang Rock is the 92nd serial and it started airing September 3 1977. The Doctor and Leela arrive on a small island. They exit the Tardis expecting Brighton but it isn't so. It's all rocky and barren, the only sign of human presence is the lighthouse which seems to be having issues keeping it's light going.
They go up to the lighthouse to ask for directions and get involved with an alien invasion. That Tardis is just a magnet for trouble. One of the three men in the lighthouse had observed a purple meteor flash by and land in the ocean. The fog has moved in and they can't see or hear much of anything. It's the start of the 20th century and the lighthouse has a new electric light. Since the meteor it's has been acting up and they're puzzled. One of the men is killed before the Doc and Leela arrive and the other two are jumpy. The local legend has a beast killing the crew of the lighthouse some 80 years earlier.
The Doctor starts investigating and figures there's something out there. He keeps his suspicions that it's not of earthly origin to himself and Leela. With the heavy fog and the intermittent light from the lighthouse a sailing ship runs aground on the rocks. The rich asshole on board had been riding the captain to go faster and faster when they crashed. The only survivors are the rich guy, his secretary, a older gentleman who's an MP and the bosun. They arrive at the lighthouse and the rich guy starts complaining. He'll get his soon enough.
That's the alien, climbing up the lighthouse to plant a communicator. Not content with just a scarf around his neck the Doc tries some styling rope as an accessory. He's always so cool and this time he's barely ahead of the invader. That blobby energy soaked being kills with a touch and can shapeshift to hide among the humans. The Doc accidentally locks the alien in the lighthouse with everyone else. They all have to pay the ultimate price.
That's the alien, as the old man, killing the secretary with his electrical powers. The MP is the last to get it. He was stupid, grabbing for some diamonds as opposed to scarpering up the stairs with the Doctor. No matter, the Doc and Leela get away fine. They manage to blast the lone lead alien invader with a little cannon and then destroy the ship that dropped him off.
That's the glowing alien ship and it's demise. Boom, huh. Time to get off the island, before the police show up and start asking all those questions you know they'd have. Oh well, perhaps the Beast of Fang Island will explain it all and add to the legend.
DVD Extras: The commentary with Louise Jameson and John Abbot, and Terrance Dicks was ok. Terrance Dicks: Fact & Fiction highlights his carreer on the show and as a novelist. Plenty of people who worked on the show appear in these featurettes: Terrance Dicks, Barry Letts, Christopher Barry, Louis Marks, Eric Saward, Paul Cornell, Peter Darvill-Evans and Brenda Gardner. Paddy Russell - A Life in Television is an entertaining interview with one of the first two women directors at the BBC. She directed 4 of the serials starting in 1966 and ending with this serial.
The Antique Doctor Who Show is a short Antiques Roadshow style feature that looks at a few of the Doctor Who toys. Be nice to do a longer feature on the toys. The 5 minute piece was originally broadcast as part of the 1993 3oth anniversary celebrations. The Easter Egg is a short countdown to the show recording. There's a nice Photo Gallery with some storyboards. I looked at part of the info track but like most of them I don't care that much for them.
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