Around the turn of the twentieth century, the TARDIS materialises near a lighthouse on fog-shrouded Fang Rock in the English Channel. A power outage plagues the lighthouse and Vince, a young keeper, believes that it's connected to a strange light he saw in the sky. The Doctor discovers that one of Vince's colleagues has been murdered but, before he can investigate, a yacht capsizes near Fang Rock. Several high-society passengers are rescued, and it becomes clear that they're harbouring secrets of their own. Soon the body count starts to rise, and the Doctor begins to suspect that the killer walks amongst them...

When script editor Robert Holmes began soliciting story ideas for Doctor Who's fifteenth season, one of the first writers he approached was Terrance Dicks. Dicks was Holmes' predecessor, and had written both 1974's Robot and 1976's The Brain Of Morbius since leaving the script editor's post. Although issues with the latter had resulted in Dicks requesting the removal of his name from the finished programme, no hard feelings lingered and Holmes was eager for Dicks to provide the 1977 season premiere. Aware of Holmes' penchant for stories influenced by Gothic horror, Dicks drew upon some elements of a rejected vampire serial called “The Haunting”, which he had submitted in 1974. The result was “The Witch Lords”, which was in development by the end of November 1976.

Dicks' adventure was commissioned on January 11th, 1977 under the title “The Vampire Mutation”. Although it was planned to be the first serial broadcast as part of Season Fifteen, it was placed second in the production order, after Bob Baker and Dave Martin's The Invisible Enemy. Some sources have suggested that the filming order was later swapped when Dicks' scripts progressed more quickly than Baker and Martin's. Regardless of the accuracy of this claim, what is irrefutable is that calamity struck “The Vampire Mutation” in February, when Holmes and producer Graham Williams were ordered to abandon the project by Graeme MacDonald, the new Head of Serials. The BBC was now planning a prestigious adaptation of Dracula for transmission at Christmas, and MacDonald was wary that Doctor Who might appear to be sending up the high-profile production. (“The Vampire Mutation” would eventually rise from the grave as State Of Decay in 1980.)

Despite the short timeframe, Terrance Dicks was willing to supply a new script to follow The Invisible Enemy into production

Despite the short timeframe, Dicks indicated his willingness to supply a new script to follow The Invisible Enemy into production. Holmes suggested a lighthouse setting with a small number of characters and sets, and pointed to Wilfrid Wilson Gibson's 1912 poem Flannan Isle as suitable inspiration. The poem was itself based upon a real incident from December 1900, when a supply ship discovered that the three-man lighthouse crew on Eilean Mòr, one of the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides, had vanished without a trace. Dicks also recalled Ray Bradbury's 1951 short story The Fog Horn, about an aquatic dinosaur which had survived in the ocean's depths but was attracted to the surface by the call of a lighthouse's fog horn.

By early March, Dicks had prepared a treatment entitled “Rocks Of Doom”, which he quickly began turning into full scripts; they were retroactively commissioned on March 31st. Several character names were changed in the process: Joshua Crockett became Reuben, Davy Williams became Vince, Lord Peach-Palmer became Lord Palmerdale, and Herbert Burkin became Harker. Skinsale's first name changed from John to James, while Adelaide's surname went from Couchon to Lessage. One character -- Skinsale's wife, Veronica -- was omitted altogether. Dicks considered having some of the supporting players survive the story's events, but the influence of Flannan Isle prompted the decision to leave only the Doctor and Leela alive at the end of Episode Four. For the revelation of the alien nemesis as a Rutan, Dicks drew upon Holmes' 1973 serial The Time Warrior, for which he had been the script editor. There, the Rutans were described as engaged in a perpetual war against the Sontarans.

True to his word, Dicks completed his scripts by the end of March. In the interim, new titles such as “The Monster Of Fang Rock” and “The Beast Of Fang Rock” were apparently considered, before the serial became known as Horror Of Fang Rock. The director would be Paddy Russell, who had originally been contracted for “The Vampire Mutation”. She was returning to Doctor Who after a two-year absence since Pyramids Of Mars. Unfortunately, Russell felt that Horror Of Fang Rock was a poor substitute for “The Vampire Mutation”, and she was particularly underwhelmed by the lighthouse setting. This would mean dealing with a lot of curved sets, which were challenging to film. Furthermore, the exterior walls of the lamp room -- in which much of the action took place -- would be largely comprised of glass windows. Their transparent nature would therefore require extensive use of chroma key, imposing even more limitations on Russell's choice of shots.

Louise Jameson believed that Terrance Dicks had written Horror Of Fang Rock with Sarah Jane Smith in mind

Also frustrated with Horror Of Fang Rock was Louise Jameson. She felt that the scripts required Leela to behave uncharacteristically on several occasions -- apparently even screaming at one point -- and she had to fight to ensure that these issues were addressed. Jameson came to believe that Dicks had written the serial with Leela's predecessor, Sarah Jane Smith, in mind; this was a character he had helped develop while still Doctor Who's script editor. One bright spot for the actress was that Horror Of Fang Rock would fulfil a promise Williams had made to her when she agreed to return for a second year. During Season Fourteen, Jameson had worn special contact lenses to make her blue eyes appear brown, but she had found them very uncomfortable. Williams had agreed to dispense with them during the new recording block, and Dicks duly included Leela's experience of “pigmentation dispersal” following the explosion of the Rutan mothership.

Yet another problem for Horror Of Fang Rock arose when it was discovered that there was no space available at BBC Television Centre during the scheduled production dates. The only feasible solution was to decamp to Pebble Mill Studio A in Birmingham, West Midlands -- marking the first time that Doctor Who would leave London for its principal studio work. But although the change of venue was driven by necessity, some crewmembers were nonetheless wary of the Pebble Mill facilities. Doctor Who would be the most ambitious drama production ever staged there, and would require the installation of new equipment.

First, though, model filming took place at the new Visual Effects Department Model Stage in Acton, London between April 26th and May 2nd. This was followed by the scenes on the rocks, which were completed at the BBC Television Film Studios in Ealing, London from May 4th to 6th. Rehearsals for Horror Of Fang Rock marked a turning point in the relationship between Jameson and Tom Baker. To date, Baker had been dismissive of his co-star, both because he felt that Leela's violent tendencies were inappropriate for Doctor Who, and because he did not want to be saddled with a companion of any sort. By now, Jameson had appeared on Doctor Who long enough that she was beginning to stand up for herself and her character, which finally prompted Baker to apologise for his attitude.

Meanwhile, the Doctor Who production team was also undergoing its latest evolution. Holmes had originally considered leaving the show at the end of Season Fourteen, alongside former producer Philip Hinchcliffe. However, he had persuaded him to stay on for six additional months, to help ease the transition from Hinchcliffe to Williams. By the end of April, Holmes had confirmed that he did not intend to prolong his stay on Doctor Who any further. As his replacement, Holmes first suggested inviting Dicks back to his old job. However, Dicks was not interested in returning to the Doctor Who production office full-time. Holmes then recommended Anthony Read, whom he and Williams had both known for several years, and who had recently approached the Doctor Who production office about contributing to the series. With Graeme MacDonald's support and encouragement, Read was offered the script editor's post. In early May, he agreed to handle the final serials of the current season, as well as the entirety of Season Sixteen.

The Pebble Mill staff made an exceptional effort to be helpful and efficient

Despite the misgivings about Pebble Mill's ability to accommodate the recording of Horror Of Fang Rock, Russell and her team quickly discovered that the studio's lack of established pedigree was a blessing in disguise. The Pebble Mill staff were keen to attract more productions away from London, and consequently made an exceptional effort to be as helpful and efficient as possible -- even stealing cameras from an adjacent studio to ensure that one sequence could be recorded the way Russell wanted.

The first studio session took place on May 25th and 26th, covering Episodes One and Two, respectively. Baker had now developed a tense relationship with Russell, who found the series star much more implacable than when she had directed him in Pyramids Of Mars. Baker, in turn, was frustrated that Russell turned a deaf ear to any discussions about enhancing the material. During the recording a scene in the crew room on the 26th, Baker repeatedly entered too quickly to be kept in shot; Russell finally gave up, and instructed the cameraman to train his lens on Jameson instead.

The cast and crew returned to Birmingham for the second studio block, which spanned June 7th to 9th. The 7th was devoted to Episode Three, while most of the concluding installment was taped on the 8th. June 9th was reserved for various effects sequences -- especially the climactic confrontation between the Doctor and the Rutan in its native form, as well as the point-of-view shots of the lamp room for Episode Two. Unfortunately, this final day was plagued with delays owing to both the complexity of the chroma key effects and the discovery that the filmed material had been inadequately processed. Tempers frayed on set as Russell required an additional hour to complete the recording. Exhausted and frustrated, Russell vowed never to work on Doctor Who again.

Doctor Who's fifteenth season began with Horror Of Fang Rock Episode One on September 3rd. During the programme's five-month hiatus since the conclusion of The Talons Of Weng-Chiang, its timeslot had largely been filled by Saturday Night At The Movies. With Williams having been mandated to ensure that Doctor Who's content was less controversial than in recent years, the new run was positioned slightly earlier in the evening, at 6.15pm. It was preceded by the variety show Star Turn, and was followed by the seventh -- and, as it would turn out, final -- season of Bruce Forsyth And The Generation Game. The same day, in an interview to promote the programme's return, Louise Jameson revealed that she would be leaving Doctor Who at season's end.

• Doctor Who Magazine #319, 24th July 2002, “Archive: Horror Of Fang Rock” by Andrew Pixley, Panini Publishing Ltd.
• Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #8, 1st September 2004, “Nobody Does It Better” by Andrew Pixley, Panini Publishing Ltd.
• Doctor Who: The Complete History #27, 2017, “Story 92: Horror Of Fang Rock”, edited by John Ainsworth, Hachette Partworks Ltd.
• Doctor Who: The Handbook: The Fourth Doctor by David J Howe, Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker (1992), Virgin Publishing.
• Doctor Who: The Seventies by David J Howe, Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker (1994), Virgin Publishing.
• In·Vision #24, May 1990, “Production” edited by Justin Richards and Peter Anghelides, Cybermark Services.
• P.S.: The Myth Of Fang Rock by Paul Scoones (2024).