I think doctor who should do more horror thriller episodes, proven by this episode, they can write that genre quite well and turn it into a classic serial story.
What is so great about when Doctor Who decides to do a horror story, they always eventually give a scientific explanation behind it all by the end, which makes it scarier. It is like it makes you realize a lot of the crazy stuff is actually scientifically plausible, but hopefully as highly improbable as we'd like to think in our relatively tiny knowledge and understanding of the universe. If anything it's probably crazier out there than we can even imagine, even with the writers of such shows as this one.
There is a delightful scene in the last episode, where Leela bolsters the doctor's confidence, building him up as a powerful time lord (with sarcasm). If you watch closely Louise Jameson had a huge smile on her face as the camera glimpsed her. She was about to burst out laughing.
I remember from the 70's that the Target novel was quite scary in the way was written, probably taking inspiration from 'Flannan Isle'' also I'm sure The Rutan sounded a bit like Morbius,..... maybe they went to the same school!
This serial is also notable for the fact that it was the final story in which Louise Jameson had to wear brown contact lenses. Her natural eye colour is blue but, for some reason, they wanted Leela to have brown eyes, and this was an era when they used hard lenses, which could be really irritating with prolonged wear. When she agreed to play Leela for one final season, Louise told the producers that she would only stay if she didn’t have to wear lenses, and they agreed. And so Leela suffers a very convenient accident at the end of the story which results in “pigment dispersion” - a plot contrivance which seems to be almost an afterthought (which it pretty much was).
This is one of the best stories doctor who has ever done. Creepy atmosphere, excellent writing, haunting tone, and powerful performances. It perfectly combines baker’s gothic horror stories with throughton’s base under siege style. Really want to see the rutans return and actually see them fight the sontarans. The line at the end of part 3 is great, but the best and most iconic is baker’s delivery of the lighthouse being under attack and that they’ll be dead by morning all with a delightful smile.
One of my favorites....love the ending with Tom reciting some lines from the poem that was written about the true life occurrence which inspired the script
Man these are fantastic! Just found your channel and am binge watching your fourth doctor review videos, please keep making them until you reach the end of Tom's era 🙏
Love Fang Rock - good script and a creepy atmosphere. Monster reveal lets it down for me (as with a lot of these, I guess- they were half a century ago after all) but still an undoubted classic
One of my top 10 tom baker stories. I love the horror style ones in his era. Great atmosphere, guest cast are all great (even tho the woman from the ship is very annoying) and it's great to see a rutan for once. They need to come back in new who. Unfortunately this is the half way point in baker's era and for me its when his era starts to wobble in quality. I think there are two fantastic episodes in season 15 and the rest are pretty poor. season 16 and 17 i also don't think are that great. But this is a terrific opener for an otherwise shaky season 9/10
We're definitely on the same page with this one. Regardless of the tone and direction of the rest of the season, it's hard to deny how great of a story this one is on its own. Baker's era is definitely known to get rocky--and naturally I'll have plenty of thoughts about where it goes--but Horror of Fang Rock is so good that it easily stands among Tom Baker's best stories.
It's simple: Horror of Fang Rock is a masterclass in atmosphere, tension, chills and bleakness.
When shown in America, Max Headroom popped up mid episode, which was creepy aswell
A classic late 80s TV highjacking
I think doctor who should do more horror thriller episodes, proven by this episode, they can write that genre quite well and turn it into a classic serial story.
It's a small scale story with huge stakes. I love it.
What is so great about when Doctor Who decides to do a horror story, they always eventually give a scientific explanation behind it all by the end, which makes it scarier. It is like it makes you realize a lot of the crazy stuff is actually scientifically plausible, but hopefully as highly improbable as we'd like to think in our relatively tiny knowledge and understanding of the universe. If anything it's probably crazier out there than we can even imagine, even with the writers of such shows as this one.
There is a delightful scene in the last episode, where Leela bolsters the doctor's confidence, building him up as a powerful time lord (with sarcasm). If you watch closely Louise Jameson had a huge smile on her face as the camera glimpsed her. She was about to burst out laughing.
Horror Fang Rock is in my top 5 Fourth Doctor stories, I love going back to it frequently. It is actually a left over script of the Hinchcliffe era
I remember from the 70's that the Target novel was quite scary in the way was written, probably taking inspiration from 'Flannan Isle'' also I'm sure The Rutan sounded a bit like Morbius,..... maybe they went to the same school!
This serial is also notable for the fact that it was the final story in which Louise Jameson had to wear brown contact lenses. Her natural eye colour is blue but, for some reason, they wanted Leela to have brown eyes, and this was an era when they used hard lenses, which could be really irritating with prolonged wear. When she agreed to play Leela for one final season, Louise told the producers that she would only stay if she didn’t have to wear lenses, and they agreed. And so Leela suffers a very convenient accident at the end of the story which results in “pigment dispersion” - a plot contrivance which seems to be almost an afterthought (which it pretty much was).
This is one of the best stories doctor who has ever done. Creepy atmosphere, excellent writing, haunting tone, and powerful performances. It perfectly combines baker’s gothic horror stories with throughton’s base under siege style.
Really want to see the rutans return and actually see them fight the sontarans.
The line at the end of part 3 is great, but the best and most iconic is baker’s delivery of the lighthouse being under attack and that they’ll be dead by morning all with a delightful smile.
Ah, that is a great moment!
One of my favorites....love the ending with Tom reciting some lines from the poem that was written about the true life occurrence which inspired the script
I'm so glad you talked about the Part 3 cliffhanger. It is without a doubt my favourite Part 3 cliffhanger of the show
Really like the Classic Who videos, this has been a good year for content on your channel. Thank You
Terry @ Tardis Spider
Man these are fantastic! Just found your channel and am binge watching your fourth doctor review videos, please keep making them until you reach the end of Tom's era 🙏
I remember when it was first on telly. I’d quite like to see it again
Definitely worth re-visiting, holds up very well
Love Fang Rock - good script and a creepy atmosphere. Monster reveal lets it down for me (as with a lot of these, I guess- they were half a century ago after all) but still an undoubted classic
Max headrom highjacked the American broadcast
I love horror of frang rock because It is amazing doctor who story
I love this episode and “Talons of Wing Chiang” arc
It's Terence Dicks' best work as a DW writer, in my opinion. It's basically a slasher film set in a lighthouse with aliens thrown in!
One of my top 10 tom baker stories. I love the horror style ones in his era. Great atmosphere, guest cast are all great (even tho the woman from the ship is very annoying) and it's great to see a rutan for once. They need to come back in new who. Unfortunately this is the half way point in baker's era and for me its when his era starts to wobble in quality. I think there are two fantastic episodes in season 15 and the rest are pretty poor. season 16 and 17 i also don't think are that great. But this is a terrific opener for an otherwise shaky season
9/10
We're definitely on the same page with this one. Regardless of the tone and direction of the rest of the season, it's hard to deny how great of a story this one is on its own. Baker's era is definitely known to get rocky--and naturally I'll have plenty of thoughts about where it goes--but Horror of Fang Rock is so good that it easily stands among Tom Baker's best stories.
Fantastic story. One of the very best and deserves more acclaim than it gets. Claustrophobic tension perfectly executed.
Watched it when I was very young and thought that it was excellent. It fitted well into the gothic period of Dr Who.
I remember loving the atmosphere in this one
Finally Leela won me over in this episode. She was brilliant. Slapping that woman silly was awesome. I no longer miss Sarah Jane now.
Your experience is similar to mine with Classic Who when I was a boy. Mind-numbingly boring, but truly amazing once you become an adult.
Great videos keep it up!
Great Serial, always fun to watch!
I think I'm better'n Chuck Swirsky.... Frickin' liberal!
Catch the wave!
I like Horror of Fang Rock
CLASSIC
One of my favorite Baker, and of all Dr Who, stories