DOCTOR WHO, SEASON 15 SERIAL 1:

HORROR OF FANG ROCK

Doctor: Fourth (Tom Baker)

Companion: Leela

May 2023

Screencap from Horror of Fang Rock: the TARDIS sits on a rocky plateau. In the background is a lighthouse with its lamp lit.

Is this what people mean when they talk about a “base under siege” story? Because if so...well damn. I might have to watch more of them.

Horror of Fang Rock is an excellent story to start Season 15 with. The Doctor and Leela get trapped on a lighthouse at the turn of the 20th century, where something strange is going on...

Leela is on top form in this story: testing sledgehammers for combat viability, breaking down doors, threatening to cut people’s hearts out and glorying in the deaths of her enemies. I might go so far as to say this is her best story so far—maybe. Her bloodthirst is on full display, but it never gets in the way of her and the Doctor’s goals. The two of them have a wonderful interplay which feels very tangible here, especially contrasted with how they interact with the lighthouse keepers and (later) the survivors of the shipwreck. She also looks at something she shouldn’t and we get a lovely excuse as to why her eyes change color (Louise Jameson agreed to stay on another season only if she didn’t have to wear colored contacts). It’s a very cute moment between her and the Doctor as well. Also, she gets to wear a fun outfit - or two, actually! I'm forever sad that Leela didn't get to wear more fun outfits: this is the last time we see her in something other than her "usual" look. This has nothing to do with how I'm a lesbian I promise

All the secondary characters are fairly decent—no one is particularly three-dimensional, but they’re well drawn standees if nothing else. Especially the lighthouse keepers: Vince and Reuben have a compelling “old man set in his ways” and “anxious but earnest young man” dynamic. There’s a fairly standard Doctor Who subplot about a greedy and corrupt lord, which is perfectly serviceable if a little basic. The surviving sailor I found more compelling than the others.

And there’s also Amanda (?), whose role seems to mainly be to scream at the titular horrors and have Leela roll her eyes at her being unused to death. I’d be a little more okay with this if the other shipwreckees matched this level of fear, but they don’t really (one apparently served in a war?); I’d also be more chill with it if she wasn’t the only other woman in the story, or if this subplot went anywhere (it doesn’t). Overall it’s a slightly sour note, but nothing too terrible.

Screencap from Horror of Fang Rock: The Doctor and Leela, in a sweater and pants, crouch beside the body of a man with a mustache in a room with machinery.

The alien threat, on the other hand, is realized in a very effectively spooky fashion. It’s never even actually glimpsed until the last episode, and as the strange happenings, infighting, and dangers pile up, there’s a palpable undercurrent of fear running throughout the whole story, helped in no small part I expect by the historical and remote setting. There’s something creepy about lighthouses! Perhaps it’s the remoteness, or the fact of weathering so many dark sea storms, or the fact that many lighthouse keepers went insane because they used to keep the lights suspended in liquid mercury so they could rotate better (citation needed). But whatever the cause, it’s a wonderful excuse to have a deliciously classy story.

Spoiler Thoughts (and a few negatives)

I do have my qualms with it, though. It’s notable that there are no survivors except the Doctor and Leela, a proportional death ratio matched perhaps only by The Caves of Androzani. I’m not inherently biased against this, but while some of the deaths feel well-set-up and executed (Reuben, the corrupt and less-corrupt lords, even Ben at the beginning), others feel more as though these characters needed to be written out quickly so the Doctor and Leela could fight the monster/escape alone (Vince, Amanda). Especially Adelaide (that's her name, not Amanda), whose death scene we cut away from while the monster stands in the doorway, and when we cut back it’s only to see the moment of her electrocution. It’s a little jarring, and one wonders why her character exists at all, since she adds basically nothing to the serial (it’s me. I wonder that). Also, the Doctor and Leela don’t really remark much on all this death at the end, although I suppose the Doctor does recite a brief poem as a closer.

Top Leela quotes:

  • "They will all die, then."
  • "Do not be afraid, Doctor!"
  • (After the Doctor ignores her, sarcastically) "That is what I thought, but of course I am only a "savage."
  • "It is fitting to celebrate the death of an enemy."
  • "SILENCE! You will do as the Doctor says, or I will cut out your heart!"
  • "Enjoy your death as I enjoyed killing you. >:)"

Overall Thoughts:

I really like this one. Sure, it has its flaws, but it’s really an excellently tight and atmospheric Doctor Who story. Of course it comes to the top of Season 15’s list by default, but I expect it’ll remain there for a while unless we get some really top form stories later on. In fact, in terms of Leela stories, I’d rate this right up with The Robots of Death. I might even have enjoyed it more.

Next up is The Invisible Enemy, where we will finally meet K9!

Leela Kill Tally: 8 (+1)