In 1910 three lighthouse keepers share duties to protect unwary craft from the deadly rocks of Fang Rock.

But when a strange and deadly alien life-force attacks the lonely island, who will protect the keepers?

Well, by strange coincidence, the alien arrives just as the good Doctor (Tom Baker in this incarnation) and his companion Leela (Louise Jameson) decide to park the Tardis on the island on the way to Brighton. The Doctor finds very quickly that his task is not just to protect the lighthouse. It's to save all of Mankind.

This is a pleasing, if somewhat claustrophobic Doctor Who, from 1977. It was written and produced at breakneck speed, at minimal cost, to replace another more thoughtfully-planned episode the BBC in its wisdom had decreed should not be made. And it was produced with just a tad of tension in the works.

For a start, Tom Baker was having a hissy-fit. At one stage in rehearsals he threw the script to the floor, saying he couldn't read such crap, and stormed out. For another thing, he and Louise Jameson weren't exactly companions at this stage -- they couldn't stand each other.

Special effects were cheaper than usual, looking as if all of $200 were spent on them. But that doesn't matter. If the Doctor Who series were measured by their special effects, we wouldn't love the series half as much.

What's important is that the Terrance Dicks script moves things along quite nicely, and Paddy Russell, the BBC's first-ever female director, draws out some nice performances, especially from Colin Douglas as the Jekyll and Hyde character of lighthouse keeper Reuben. This is not a high-point of the Doctor Who series by any means. But for casual return visitors to the series such as myself, it's a lively excursion to nostalgia-land.

This is a nicely rounded package, certain to please devotees. The movie seems to be presented in optimal condition, given its age. And watch for the super-sizzling special-effect near the start of the first episode as an alien rocket passes across the sky, to plunge into the sea. They just don't do special effects like that nowadays.

After the popcorn, we get a 36-minute documentary on the career of veteran Doctor Who scriptwriter, script-editor and producer Terrance Dicks. The documentary features Dicks in conversation with producer Barry Letts, along with a cluster of other Who-creators. It gives quite substantial insight into the mid-period of the series.

There's a shorter second documentary on the career of Paddy Russell (14 minutes), in which she recounts her career from the day she decided to give up acting for a life behind the camera. She became the BBC's first-ever female Stage Manager, following this by becoming its first-ever television director. This memoir was filmed only last year, and it's a great look back at a 40-year career she clearly loved.

Next up is a short (five minutes) documentary done in the style of the BBC's Antiques Road Show -- The Antique Doctor Who Roadshow. We visit an antique market and watch an expert appraise all the odd marketing paraphenalia collected over the years by various very nerdish individuals, clutching their miniature Tardises and Jon Pertwee chocolate-bar wrappers.

The Photo Gallery is more interesting than most of these unloved creatures. It runs for almost four minutes, in a well-presented full-screen montage of production photographs and some very tasty storyboard drawings and paintings.

The Audio Commentary from Terrance Dicks, Louise Jameson and John Abbott (who played the youngest lighthouse keeper, Vince) is warm and friendly, as if we're listening to their intimate conversation. And the final special feature are production and technical subtitles, filling you in as you watch on a miscellany of trivia about the production.

It's a well-rounded package which makes up for the fact that the four-episode show itself isn't one of the strongest of the series.