Horror of Fang Rock

Premise: The TARDIS lands on the small island of Fang Rock just off the coast of England where a glowing green light is spotted landing in the sea… and a lighthouse keeper disappears.

Notes: Writer Terrance Dicks originally submitted a vampire story called The Witch Lords but the BBC decided that this would be inappropriate due to a new adaptation of Dracula being scheduled to show at around the same time. This vampire story would later the revisited and turned into the 1980 serial, State of Decay. Dicks then wrote this story as a replacement. Louise Jameson stopped using brown contact lenses in this story as they were causing her considerable discomfort. This was explained in story by the light from the lighthouse causing temporary blindness and turning her brown eyes blue.

Verdict: A realistically claustrophobic location coupled with a tense atmosphere makes for a rather spooky tale which makes an asset of its restrictions. With the monster relatively unseen until the final episode and the small glimpses we do get racking up the tension, it's no surprise this story is one of the strongest ever told 10/10

Pyramids of Mars

Premise: The TARDIS takes the Doctor and Sarah to England in 1911 where they discover that Egyptologist Marcus Scarman has been taken over by Sutekh, last of the powerful Osirans.

Notes: The story was originally written by Lewis Greifer but this version was considered unworkable and when he proved unavailable for rewrites, current script editor Robert Holmes took over and rewrote much of what Greifer had originally done. Because of this, Griefer decided to have pseudonym Stephen Harris used on transmission. This story is that last appearance of the traditional TARDIS console room until it was reintroduced in The Invisible Enemy in 1977. For the following season it was replaced by a new wooden walled console room.

Verdict: A brilliant episode featuring many great moments. The cliff hangers are all suspenseful and I can't imagine having to wait another week to find out what's happened. However, there is some padding that does ruin the pace a bit 9/10