The Curse of Fenric (TV story): Difference between revisions

{{Infobox Story SMW

|season number          = Season 26 (Doctor Who 1963)|

|featuring2            = Ingiger

|writer                = Ian Briggs

|broadcast date        = 25 October - 15 November 1989

|network                = BBC1

'''''The Curse of Fenric''''' was the third and penultimate serial of [[Season 26 (Doctor Who 1963)|season 26]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''. It revealed that the events of [[Ace]]'s arrival in the [[Seventh Doctor]]'s life, and the uncanny chance of their secondary foe during ''[[Silver Nemesis (TV story)|Silver Nemesis]]'' using proper time travel, were all part of [[Fenric|an evil entity]]'s plan to release itself and gain revenge on the Doctor for imprisoning it in its flask. The chessboard from ''Silver Nemesis'' was also a hint; the Doctor had initially beaten Fenric by using an unsolvable chess problem.

* [[Stunt double|Stunt Double (Ace)]] - [[Tracey Eddon]] ([[DOC]]: 'Buried Treasure: 30 Years of Fenric: 1989 - 2019')

== Worldbuilding ==

=== Languages ===

* [[Sylvester McCoy]] enjoyed a visit from his wife, Agnes, and their sons, [[Sam Kent-Smith|Sam]] and [[Joe Kent-Smith]]. As McCoy was busy and couldn't spend much time with the boys, [[John Nathan-Turner]] offered Sam and Joe the chance to play Haemovores in the mine shaft sequences. Their scenes were cut from the transmitted version of part four, but were reinstated for the extended BBC Video version and the Special Edition movie-length version included on BBC Worldwide's DVD release of the broadcast version.

* This is the first televised story to link together events and aspects from previous ones to a significant extent: Fenric is revealed to have caused the [[time storm]]s that sent Ace to [[Iceworld]] in ''[[Dragonfire (TV story)|Dragonfire]]'' and [[Lady Peinforte]] to 1988 England in ''[[Silver Nemesis (TV story)|Silver Nemesis]]'', and is implied to have manipulated up to the entirety of the Seventh Doctor's life up to that point as part of his revenge plot. Though ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'' previously provided an explanation for the [[CVE]] that took the [[Fourth Doctor]] and [[Romana II]] to [[E-Space]] in ''[[Full Circle (TV story)|Full Circle]]'', ''The Curse of Fenric'' provided a single plot point that tied together two other stories (and presumably the entirety) of the Seventh Doctor's tenure. The concept of linking stories together in this manner would reappear in [[Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)|Series 4]], approximately 20 years later, and would become a fundamental aspect of the series when [[Steven Moffat]] became the show's head writer and executive producer in 2010.

* Ace jumps into the sea because [[Sophie Aldred]] wanted to do it this season.

* [[James Warwick]] was considered for General Millington.

* Interestingly, the Doctor has to translate many of the languages for Ace in this story, such as [[Russian]], despite the fact that the [[TARDIS translation circuit]] had already been established at this point in the show. This issue is never addressed on-screen and it is never explained why the Doctor needs to do this for Ace, who has already been inside the TARDIS.

* [[Ian Briggs]] considered bringing back [[The Monk|the Meddling Monk]] for this story, but then decided against it. ([[DCOM]]: ''[[Buried Treasure: 30 Years of The Curse of Fenric (documentary)|Buried Treasure: 30 Years of The Curse of Fenric]]'')

* Ace giving Sorin her scarf was improvised by [[Sophie Aldred]].

* [[Nicholas Parsons]] was very proud of his role in the serial because he was a longstanding follower of the series and many people had either forgotten, or were completely unaware, that he had originally trained as a serious actor despite becoming known for his hugely successful comedy and light entertainment career.

* [[John Nathan-Turner]] was adamant that the monsters not be referred to as [[Vampire]]s, as they had previously appeared in ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]].'' Instead, [[Ian Briggs]] developed the idea of the Haemovore, literally, “blood eaters”.

* [[Michael Kerrigan]] was originally supposed to direct. He was assigned to ''[[Battlefield (TV story)|Battlefield]]'' instead.

* During rehearsals, [[Tomek Bork]] suggested to [[Nicholas Mallett]] that the Soviet troops should speak in Russian during the opening moments. Mallett agreed, as long as the Polish-born Bork was willing to translate the dialogue himself and assist the other actors with the delivery of their lines. It was also Bork who came up with the idea of the Russian soldiers scaling the walls of St Jude's, rather than ascending the stairs.

* The production team struggled to locate a church which could pose as St Jude's and its graveyard, since they required both a bell tower and a flat roof which could support the cast and crew. In the end, advertisements were placed in newspapers asking for the public's assistance, and a historian recommended St Laurence's Church in Hawkhurst, Kent. It was suitably ancient: much of the building had been constructed in the fifteenth century, but the oldest sections dated from the early years of the second millennium.

* [[John Nathan-Turner]] directed second-unit in St. Laurence's Church and some underwater photography.

* In post-production, [[Nicholas Mallett|Nichoals Mallett]] was distressed to learn that one of the videotapes from a recording at Crowborough had been reused the following day, with all of the footage wiped as a result. In particular, this meant that he had lost various close-up and insert shots from the climactic confrontation between Fenric and the Ancient Haemovore. With no option to remount the affected material, Mallett had to assemble the scene using mostly wider-angled shots. As a result, some of the Ancient Haemovore's dialogue was dropped, as was a shot which suggested that only Ingiga's remains were left behind in the gas chamber, the implication being that Fenric had contrived a way to escape.

* After the first edits were compiled, the story was found to exceed its allotted twenty-five-minute timeslot in spectacular fashion, with part four especially overlong. Consideration was given to re-editing it as a five-part story, but the total overrun of about twelve minutes was not sufficient to warrant another instalment; furthermore, [[Ian Briggs]] was concerned about the effect this would have on the story's pacing. Amongst the most drastic trims Mallett was forced to make were a scene of soldiers staking Haemovores on the roof of St Jude's from part three, and more of the exchange between the Doctor and the Ancient Haemovore from part four.

* Norse Mythology - There are many references to Norse Mythology. The Doctor mentions the primordial spring Hvergelmir. Millington mentions "the Great Ash," referring to Yggdrasil. Fenrir is the huge wolf chained up by the gods, who shall break his chains and kill Odin at the end of time.

* ''[[Swamp Thing]] -'' [[Andrew Cartmel]] suggested aquatic vampires from the story "Still Waters".

* The Doctor tries to communicate with baby [[Audrey Dudman]] using [[whistle]]s and high-pitched noises. The [[Eleventh Doctor]] later claimed to be able to speak baby. ([[TV]]: ''[[A Good Man Goes to War (TV story)|A Good Man Goes to War]]'', ''[[Closing Time (TV story)|Closing Time]]'')

* The Doctor uses [[St. Jude's Church]] to hide from the Haemovores. The [[Ninth Doctor]] later uses a church to try and protect a group of people from the [[Reaper]]s. ([[TV]]: ''[[Father's Day (TV story)|Father's Day]]'')

* ''Take Two'' - The [[BBC]] children's show looks behind the scenes of this story

* Clean title sequences - 1987-1989 version

* ''[[Shattering the Chains (documentary)|Shattering the Chains]]'' - Author [[Ian Briggs]] talks about writing ''The Curse of Fenric''

* ''[[Recutting the Runes (documentary)|Recutting the Runes]]'' - Behind the scenes of this new DVD version

* [[Easter Egg]]s:

** Continuity announcements. To access this hidden feature, press left at ''Claws and Effect'' on Disc One's Special Features menu to reveal a hidden ''Doctor Who'' logo.

** Mark Ayres bonus interview. To access this hidden feature, press left at ''Recutting the Runes'' on Disc Two to reveal a hidden ''Doctor Who'' logo.

** Opening and closing theme tune sans sound effects. To access this hidden feature, enable Isolated Score in the Audio Options section of Disc One's Special Features menu, then enter the Episode Selection menu and select Part Two, at which point the feature will play.

** Sound effects sans the opening and closing theme tune. To access this hidden feature, enable Isolated Score in the Audio Options section of Disc One's Special Features menu, then enter the Episode Selection menu and select Part Three, at which point the feature will play.

** 'Spot the Haemovores' challenge. To access this hidden feature, enable Information Text in Disc One's Special Features menu, then return to the Main Menu and select Play All. In between Parts Two and Three, a text screen will appear telling the viewer about the nicknames assigned to the ten Haemovores present on set, and encouraging the viewer to guess which nickname belonged to which Haemovore. The correct answers are then subsequently given in another series of text screens between Parts Three and Four.

File:Curse us.jpg|Region 1 US cover

File:The Curse of Fenric DVD Australian cover.jpg|Region 4 AUS cover