STORY PLOTLINE

When the engineer dies in mysterious circumstances, the remaining crew blame the mythical Beast of Fang Rock - until the Doctor and Leela turn up. When a small clipper runs aground on the crags of Fang Rock, the lighthouse offers shelter to its despeare passengers. But the Doctor soon discovers clues that suggest that no one is safe on the tiny island. Whilst a private drama unfolds between the survivors of the wrecked clipper, another death occurs.

The Doctor suspects a ruthless alien lurks in the thick unnatural fog around the island, and secures the lighthouse. But has he really locked the horror out, or is it somewhere inside with them?

DVD EXTRAS

• Studio Commentary with Louise Jameson, John Abbot, and Terrance Dicks
• TERRANCE DICKS : FACT OR FICTION (dur. 36' 04" ) documentary
• PADDY RUSSELL: A LIFE IN TELEVISION (dur. 14 mins approx) interview
• THE ANTIQUE DOCTOR WHO SHOW (dur. 4' 47" ) - a short ANTIQUES ROADSHOW style feature
• Easter Egg, Photo gallery and Production notes

COMMENT  Spoliers ahead

The HORROR OF FANG ROCK is an outstanding DOCTOR WHO - a tour de force of almost everything. Acting, direction, technical, design and, yes, even Agatha Christie homage from the writer maestro, Terrance Dicks (".people confined in a small space, knocked off one-by-one.").

The commentary from Louise Jameson (companion, Leela), John Abbott (lighthouse keeper, Vince Hawkins) and Terrance Dicks (writer) is 'confessional' at times - Jameson even confesses to having 'retained' her (then blunted) knife and then gave it to Romanian Orphans. We're pretty certain that the knife wasn't actually given to the orphans themselves but to an auction. Oh, perhaps, not!

Key observations.

On the stories, Special Effects, Jameson: "With hindsight it's very endearing".

On Tom Baker, Dicks: ".an extraordinary pain in the neck from time-to-time." but ".he's a star."

On attaining the role of Vince Hawkins, Abbott: ".Paddy Russell saw me play Snoopy the Dog on the fringe and offered me this role in DOCTOR WHO."

For TERRANCE DICKS - FACT AND FICTION revels in the contribution that he has made to the CLASSIC SERIES since 1969. For 6 years, Dicks provided (alongside Barry Letts) the structure for DOCTOR WHO most formative years, saving the series from cancellation in the early 1970s to the traumatic departure of the Nation's favourite, Pertwee to an ever demanding and charismatic star supernova in the form of Tom Baker.

Like a DOCTOR WHO -THIS IS YOUR LIFE, contributions are garnered from Barry Letts (Producer), Louis Marks (Writer), Christopher Barry (Director) and other dimly lit luminaries from Dicks' career.

Dicks has always been regarded as a 'formulaic' writer for the series. Bog-standard, some say turgid, plotting that makes Enid Blyton's adventures seem like Ian Fleming. However, this is wildly misplaced and contributed. Terrance Dicks is one of a few that understood coherent storylines that are 'televisual' for a family audience at the time. Added to that the invaluable body of work for TARGET BOOKS in adapting the TV series for print (DOCTOR WHO novels, some 150 titles adapted, have sold over 8 million).

On working on DOCTOR WHO, Dicks says: ".the thing about my job that I liked was the fact that I worked for Barry Letts."

On the writing of THE FIVE DOCTORS, Eric Saward admitted that: ".my first choice was Robert Holmes but he wasn't interested." (Eventually, 'reserve', Terrance Dicks wrote the script).

In the second main featurette, PADDY RUSSELL: A LIFE IN TELEVISION, the Director of HORROR OF FANG ROCK recounts a quite extraordinary tale of a coups de grâce (against the overtly male environment of the TV studio).

A pioneering professional, not only in the DOCTOR WHO studio but also on a wider stage over 40 years. She was one of the first female Studio Floormanagers, worked not only on four WHOs ('THE MASSACRE', INVASION OF DINOSAURS, PYRAMIDS OF MARS and FANG ROCK) but also on the classic QUARTERMASS AND THE PIT.

It's a fascinating story told but surely contributions could have been sought from those Russell had worked with on the series.

The Extra, THE ANTIQUE DOCTOR WHO SHOW. What a mess. Another video nasty that Varos would have not even shown.

This DVD title release was a surprise. Rumours abound about which CLASSIC SERIES title will be re-released, all spruced-up and poised to delight a new audience.

However, we should have expected it. It's a beautifully directed and lit story, solidly acted, suitably claustrophobically designed, and subtlety scored by Dudley Simpson.

It's like being served freshly baked scones served with homemade strawberry jam and clotted cream; one is never enough. You have to enjoy it twice over.