Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor's 15 Greatest Stories

5. Horror Of Fang Rock

The localised condition of planetary atmospheric condensation caused a malfunction in the visual orientation circuits. Or to put it another way, we got lost in the fog.
A story with atmosphere in droves, the Doctor and Leela find themselves trapped in a Victorian lighthouse, surrounded by misty waters with an alien force lurking within, killing off the inhabitants one by one. It is a tense story and a brutal one, too. The death toll continues to rise as the episodes progress. The claustrophobic nightmare proves that you don't need a big budget or even an elaborate story to do a really creeper sci-fi horror. The inhabitants and visitors to the lighthouse finding themselves being picked off one by one is rather scary. The Rutan itself - a green glowing blob - isn't the best alien design but it serves its purpose in being something entirely different to what you might first expect. Add in the greater mystery - that the Rutan is a scout for an invading alien force - and the stakes become much higher. One for which the Fourth Doctor is up to the challenge.
Contributor
Contributor

A writer for Whatculture since May 2013, I also write for TheRichest.com and am the TV editor and writer for Thedigitalfix.com . I wrote two plays for the Greater Manchester Horror Fringe in 2013, the first an adaption of Simon Clark's 'Swallowing A Dirty Seed' and my own original sci-fi horror play 'Centurion', which had an 8/10* review from Starburst magazine! (http://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/eventsupcoming-genre-events/6960-event-review-centurion) I also wrote an episode for online comedy series Supermarket Matters in 2012. I aim to achieve my goal for writing for television (and get my novels published) but in the meantime I'll continue to write about those TV shows I love! Follow me on Twitter @BazGreenland and like my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BazGreenlandWriter