The Curse of Fatal Death (TV story): Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox | {{title dab away}} | ||
{{Real world}} | |||
{{ImageLinkTV}} | |||
{{Infobox Story SMW | |||
|image = DalekBumpiness.jpg | |||
|doctor = Ninth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death){{!}}Ninth Doctor | |||
|companions = [[Emma (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Emma]] | |||
enemy= | |enemy = {{Pryce|c}}, the [[Black Dalek (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Black Dalek]] | ||
|setting = {{il|[[Tersurus]]|A [[Dalek spaceship (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Dalek ship]]}} | |||
writer= | |writer = Steven Moffat | ||
director= | |director = [[John Henderson]] | ||
producer= [[Sue Vertue]]| | |producer = [[Sue Vertue]] | ||
broadcast date= | |broadcast date = 12 March 1999 | ||
format= | |network = BBC One | ||
production code= | |format = 4x5-minute episodes | ||
|production code = | |||
next story= | |series = [[List of Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television episodes]] | ||
|prev = Doctor Who (TV story) | |||
|next = Rose (TV story) | |||
|made prev = Doctor Who (TV story) | |||
|made next = Introduction to the Night (TV story) | |||
|series2 = [[Comic Relief]] specials | |||
|next2 = From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love (TV story) | |||
|fullvid = Rowan Atkinson is Doctor Who - Classic Comic Relief | |||
|clip = | |||
|epcount = 4 | |||
}} | |||
'''''The Curse of Fatal Death''''' was a [[Comic Relief]] segment created for part of [[1999]]'s [[Red Nose Day]] Celebration. | |||
This story served as a production bridge between the [[1963 (releases)|1963]] and [[2005 (releases)|2005]] versions of the programme. Most notably, it was the first script for televised ''[[Doctor Who]]'' by [[Steven Moffat]], who would later become a regular writer for the show between 2005 and 2008, starting with ''[[The Empty Child (TV story)|The Empty Child]]'', and [[executive producer]] and [[head writer]] between 2010 and 2017. As such, many of the themes introduced in ''Fatal Death'' would become major staples of his tenure as showrunner. | |||
This story also marked the first [[post-production]] work by [[the Mill]] who were the company most usually credited with [[visual effects]] from 2005 to 2013. It was also the last time that [[Roy Skelton]] lent his voice to the [[Dalek]]s, a role he was first credited with in 1967's ''[[The Evil of the Daleks (TV story)|The Evil of the Daleks]]''. Skelton's first work in ''Who'' was as the voice of the [[Monoid]]s in 1966's ''[[The Ark (TV story)|The Ark]]'' and he had also provided voices for the [[Cyberman|Cybermen]]. | |||
The | |||
While discussing the special in [[DWM 510]], Moffat discussed how the intent of the special was to make a regular episode of ''Doctor Who'' which happened to also be funny, rather than just a blatant spoof, meaning that extreme steps were taken to have it fit within the then-existing [[canon]]; for instance, the Doctor is explicitly said to be in his ninth incarnation to make him a successor to [[Paul McGann]]'s previously seen [[Eighth Doctor]]. Moffat went on to add that, while it has since been disregarded, it was seen as a legitimate continuation of the show at the time. | |||
The | The special's original edit went out of circulation for a time, before being re-released on [[24 March (releases)|24 March]] [[2017 (releases)|2017]] in honour of Comic Relief. | ||
== Synopsis == | |||
[[The Master#On Tersurus|The Master]] corners [[Ninth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|the Doctor]] and [[Emma (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Emma]] on [[Tersurus]], prepared to unleash the deadly vengeance of deadly [[revenge]]! | |||
== Plot == | |||
=== Part one === | |||
{{Pryce|c}} pursues [[Ninth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|the Doctor]] in [[The Master's TARDIS|his TARDIS]], maniacally bellowing that the Doctor's certain [[death]] awaits him on [[Zaston IV]]. The Doctor, from [[The Doctor's TARDIS|his own TARDIS]], replies that the Master really ought to learn to turn off his [[speaker]] before he blabs his entire [[plan]], and that he wants to meet him on the [[planet]] [[Tersurus]] to give him an important piece of [[news]]. | |||
The | [[File:Sofa of Comfort.jpg|thumb|left|The Doctor and Emma emerge on the Sofa of Reasonable Comfort.]] | ||
The Doctor and his assistant, [[Emma (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Emma]], land in the empty [[Castle Tersurus]]. He explains that the [[Tersuron]]s were a kindly, peace-loving race, but shunned and abhorred due to their [[Communication|communicating]] solely through precisely modulated [[farting]]. They [[Destruction|destroyed]] themselves after discovering [[fire]]. The Master pins them to the [[wall]] with energy pulses, and having arrived a [[century]] earlier to [[bribe]] [[Architect (The Curse of Fatal Death)|the castle's architect]], prepares to subject them to the [[Spikes of Doom]]. Instead they find themselves relaxing in the [[Sofa of Reasonable Comfort]], the Doctor having anticipated this and bribing the architect first. However, the Master declares that he anticipated this anticipation, and bribed the architect even earlier, and drops [[Block (The Curse of Fatal Death)|a giant block]] on their [[head]]s. The Doctor and Emma emerge from a [[door]] in the hollow block, with the Doctor saying he arrived even earlier. | |||
Emma interrupts to prompt the Doctor to announce what he has come to say: Emma and he are in [[love]], and the Doctor plans to [[retire]] from travelling through [[time]] and [[space]], having saved every planet in the [[universe]] a minimum of [[27 (number)|twenty-seven]] times, and settle down in domestic [[bliss]]. Horrified and nauseated by this prospect, the Master announces that he will go back in time, buy the architect an expensive [[dinner]] and persuade him to place a [[lever]] next to where he is [[standing]] and a [[trap door]] where the Doctor and Emma are standing. He prepares to plunge them into the vast and disgusting [[sewers of Tersurus]], warning them to prepare themselves for "[[500 (number)|five hundred]] [[mile]]s of [[fear]] and [[faeces]]!" | |||
== | === Part two === | ||
However, when the Master pulls said lever, the trap door opens under his own [[feet]], the Doctor having already bought the architect an expensive dinner. As they go to leave, the front doors burst open and the Master appears, significantly [[age]]d, having spent [[312 (number)|three hundred and twelve years]] [[climbing]] through the [[sewer]]s, locating his TARDIS and [[Time travel|travelling back in time]] to the current [[day]]. Accompanying him are the [[Dalek]]s, the only creatures not repulsed by the Master's [[smell]], having no [[nose]]s. The Master boasts that his [[body]] has been augmented by [[Dalek technology]]; he now has a [[plunger]] in place of a [[right hand]], though Emma quickly figures out that he doesn't know what it can do. | |||
[[File:Room of Daleks.jpg|thumb|A room full of Daleks!]] | |||
The Daleks prepare to [[Extermination|exterminate]] them, but the Master decides he will [[Murder|kill]] them with his bare hands. He charges forward, but the Doctor steps aside and the Master plunges straight through the trap door again. He comes in again, another three hundred and twelve years older. The Daleks pursue the Doctor and Emma through the numerous and very similar looking [[Corridors (The Curse of Fatal Death)|corridors]], but one Dalek accidentally bumps into the Master, causing him to fall through the trap door yet again. An extremely old Master then walks into view, complaining about having spent a grand total of [[936 (number)|nine hundred and thirty six]] years in a sewer. The Doctor and Emma find what they believe to be the way out of the castle, but in fact turns out to be a room full of Daleks. | |||
== | === Part three === | ||
''to | The Daleks have captured the Doctor and Emma rather than exterminating them and tied them to [[Chair (The Curse of Fatal Death)|chairs]], much to Emma's confusion. They've also restored the Master to his original age and augmented him further to have [[Sense globe|Dalek sensor bumps]] on his [[chest]]. The Master insists that these are [[etheric beam locator]]s and they're very firm, but the Doctor mocks him over the sensors' resemblance to [[breast]]s. The Master announces that in exchange he has given the Daleks the [[secret]] to controlling a [[Zectronic beam|Zectronic energy beam]], which will give them [[power]] over the entire universe in only [[minute]]s. | ||
[[File:Final message.jpg|thumb|left|The Doctor delivers his final message to Emma in Tersuran.]] | |||
The Master charges up the beam, but [[Black Dalek (The Curse of Fatal Death)|the Dalek Supreme]] whispers to the Doctor that they plan to exterminate the Master after the beam is active rather than share the power withhim. The Doctor realises that both he and the Master [[Speech|speak]] fluent [[Tersuran]], so he farts a [[warning]] to him. The Master speaks the [[message]] out loud as he receives it, though without the Daleks hearing, but Emma inadvertently ruins the plan by breaking wind, causing the Master to suddenly start shouting gibberish, which does alert the Daleks as to what's going on. This gives the Daleks the [[excuse]] they need to get rid of the Master, but they accidentally end up [[shooting]] both the Doctor and the [[Zectronic generator]] instead. The overloading [[generator]] is beyond the Master's capabilities to repair; only the Doctor can fix it. The Doctor tells Emma, ''"I [[love]] you"'', in Tersuran, with the Master [[Translation|translating]], before seemingly dying. Emma is distraught at his apparent death, but the Master reassures her that the Doctor is in his [[9 (number)|ninth]] body and has many more [[Life|lives]], as he begins to [[Regeneration|regenerate]]. | |||
=== | === Part four === | ||
' | The result of the Doctor's regeneration is [[Tenth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|a quite handsome, if a bit vain, persona]]. He confirms that Emma is still very much interested in marrying him and prepares to leave with her, but the Daleks beg the Doctor to help deactivate the Zectronic beam generator in exchange for his life, to which he agrees as a perfect way to finish his "[[career]]." However, an [[explosion]] causes him to regenerate again, this time into [[Eleventh Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|a shy persona]], very nervous around [[girl]]s, and the Master with his oddly-placed etheric beam locators, and Emma is visibly disheartened by this new version, finding him nowhere near as attractive as his [[2 (number)|two]] predecessors. He goes to try again to deactivate the beam, when another burst of [[energy]] causes him to regenerate yet again. | ||
[[File:Female Doctor and Master.jpg|thumb|The Doctor and the Master walk off together.]] | |||
[[Twelfth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|The new Doctor]], very handsome and charming indeed, is rather embarrassed that he wasted [[3 (number)|three]] bodies in under a minute simply because he forgot to unplug the generator first. The [[crisis]] appears to be over, and Emma is quite looking forward to getting to know this new Doctor, when a residual burst of pure Zectronic energy knocks him down. With the Zectronic energy preventing his regeneration, the Doctor appears to die permanently. The Master and the Daleks resolve to permanently forswear [[evil]] to honour the Doctor's [[sacrifice]]. Yet, to everyone's amazement, the Doctor's features begin to change and he regenerates, this time into [[Thirteenth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|a very buxom woman]]. Emma, however, calls the wedding off, due to the Doctor being, in a very literal sense, "no longer the man [she] fell in love with". The new Doctor is quite excited to discover that her [[the Doctor's sonic screwdriver (The Curse of Fatal Death)|sonic screwdriver]] has three [[setting]]s, but then she and the Master lock [[eye]]s. The two express their mutual [[Sexuality|attraction]] and go off together, the Master [[Laughter|laughing]] maniacally again. | |||
== | == Cast == | ||
' | * [[The Doctor]]s - [[Rowan Atkinson]], [[Richard E Grant|Richard E. Grant]], [[Jim Broadbent]], [[Hugh Grant]], [[Joanna Lumley]] | ||
* [[Emma (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Emma]] - [[Julia Sawalha]] | |||
* [[The Master (The Curse of Fatal Death)|The Master]] - [[Jonathan Pryce]] | |||
* [[Dalek]]'s Voices - [[Roy Skelton]], [[Dave Chapman (actor)|Dave Chapman]] | |||
=== | === Uncredited cast === | ||
'' | * [[Dalek Operator]]s - [[Ashley Neal Fuller]], [[Stephen Cranford]], [[David Clarke]], [[Chris Kirk]]<ref name="Devious">https://www.doctorwho-devious.com/comicrelief/fond-look-back-curse-fatal-death-2019-1999</ref> | ||
* The Master's [[stunt double]] - [[Gabe Cronelly]] ([[DOC]]: ''[[Comic Relief Doctor Who Uncovered]]'') | |||
==Continuity== | == Crew == | ||
' | {{wales crew | ||
|1stAD=Tim Lewis | |||
|2ndAD=Sharon Ricketts | |||
|ProductionManager=Alison MacPhail | |||
|StageManager=Mark Palmer | |||
|ProductionRunner=Charlotte Browne | |||
|Continuity=Lorraine Anderson | |||
|CameraOperator=Martin Foley | |||
|CameraOperator2=Jamie Harcourt | |||
|VisionEngineer=Simon Lyon | |||
|KeyGrip=Ray Hall | |||
|Grip=Darren Quinn | |||
|CameraAsst=Stuart Clayton | |||
|CameraAsst2=David Hedges | |||
|CameraTrainee=Sarah Welsh | |||
|BoomOperator=June Prinz | |||
|BoomOperator2=Clive Osbourne | |||
|LightingGaffer=Colin McCarthy | |||
|Electrician=Paul Barlow | |||
|Electrician2=Dick Crane | |||
|Electrician3=Martin Plumley | |||
|StuntCoOrdinator=Gabe Cronelly | |||
|ProductionBuyer=Bobby Warans | |||
|StandbyProps=Andrew Mortimer | |||
|StandbyProps2=Steve Smith | |||
|StandbyProps3=Gary Watson (props) | |||
|StandbyCarpenter=Phil John | |||
|PropsMaster=Paul Emerson | |||
|WardrobeSupervisor=Clare Grant | |||
|Make-upArtist=Julie Dartnall | |||
|Make-upArtist2=Mandy Gold | |||
|WithThanksTo=Pinewood Studios | |||
|WithThanksTo2=Comac Lighting | |||
|WithThanksTo3=Positive Film & Television | |||
|WithThanksTo4=Arri Media | |||
|WithThanksTo5=The Mill | |||
|WithThanksTo6=Willie's Wheels | |||
|WithThanksTo7=Videosonics | |||
|WithThanksTo8=The Spot Co | |||
|WithThanksTo9=Michael Samuelson Lighting | |||
|WithThanksTo10=The Location Cafe | |||
|WithThanksTo11=Ashley Neal Fuller | |||
|WithThanksTo12=Stephen Cranford | |||
|WithThanksTo13=David Clarke | |||
|WithThanksTo14=Chris Kirk | |||
|WithThanksTo15=Gary Gillatt | |||
|WithThanksTo16=David Saunders | |||
|WithThanksTo17=Andrew Beech | |||
|ArtistBooker=Samantha Taylor | |||
|ProductionAccountant=Debbie Somerville | |||
|SoundRecordist=John Midgley | |||
|DubbingEditor=Glenn Calder | |||
|DubbingEditor2=Philip Meehan | |||
|CostumeDesigner=Rebecca Hale | |||
|Make-upDesigner=Jan Sewell | |||
|VisualEffects=Andy McVean | |||
|PostProductionEffects=Liz Browne | |||
|PostProductionEffects2=Dave Houghton | |||
|PostProductionEffects3=Ben Turner (post production) | |||
|OfflineEditor=Nick Arthurs | |||
|MusicConsultant=Mark Ayres | |||
|ProductionDesigner=Simon Kimmel | |||
|DOP=Chris Howard | |||
|Writer=Steven Moffat | |||
|Producer=Sue Vertue | |||
|Director=John Henderson | |||
|ExecutiveProd=Richard Curtis | |||
|ArtDirector=Sarah Milton | |||
|CraneOperator=Dave Foster | |||
}} | |||
== Worldbuilding == | |||
=== The Doctor === | |||
* The Doctor is initially in his ninth incarnation. | |||
* The [[Ninth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Ninth Doctor]] has calculated he has saved every [[planet]] in the [[known universe]] a minimum of [[27 (number)|twenty-seven]] times. | |||
* The Ninth Doctor lists the endless [[evil]] and [[gravel]] [[Quarry|quarries]] in the [[cosmos]] among the reasons for his [[retirement]] and [[marriage]] to [[Emma (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Emma]]. | |||
* The [[Tenth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Tenth Doctor]] suffers from some [[post-regenerative amnesia]]. | |||
* The [[Twelfth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Twelfth Doctor]] comments that he used up three [[Incarnation|bodies]] in less than a [[minute]] because he forgot to unplug the [[Zectronic generator]]. | |||
== | === The Master === | ||
[[ | * The first time {{Pryce}} falls in the [[sewer]]s it takes him [[312 (number)|312]] [[year]]s. This then increases to [[624 (number)|624]] and later [[936 (number)|936]] years. | ||
* | * The Ninth Doctor refers to the Master as "the [[beard]] and the [[Breast|bosoms]]" after he is augmented to include [[etheric beam locators]]. | ||
=== People === | |||
* The Tenth Doctor refers to Emma as the only [[Time travel|time-travelling]] [[companion]] he's "[[Sex|had]]". | |||
* The [[Thirteenth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Thirteenth Doctor]] asks if [[Emma's mother (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Emma's mother]] will get a shock at their [[wedding]] when they both wear [[white]]. | |||
* Emma is already familiar with the [[Dalek]]s. | |||
== | === Technology === | ||
*[[ | * The Master bribes [[Architect (The Curse of Fatal Death)|the architect]] to create the [[Spikes of Doom]] as a trap in [[Castle Tersurus]], while the Ninth Doctor counters this by bribing him to make the [[Sofa of Reasonable Comfort]]. Both attempt to bribe him to place a [[trapdoor]] under where the other is standing, with the Doctor convincing him in the end. | ||
*[[ | * The [[Dalek]]s augment the Master's right [[hand]] and replace it with a [[manipulator arm]] and [[suction cup]]. They later revert this change and rejuvenate his physical appearance by augmenting him with [[Dalek bump]]s. The Ninth and Tenth Doctors both joke about their resemblance to [[breast]]s while the [[Eleventh Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Eleventh Doctor]] genuinely believes that's what they are. | ||
* The Master's Dalek bumps can locate ion-charged emissions and can act as [[etheric beam locator]]s at a distance of up to [[20000 (number)|twenty thousand]] [[light year]]s. | |||
* The Master implies Emma has had [[breast implant]]s. | |||
* The Ninth Doctor claims that with a [[zectronic beam]] the Daleks could conquer the universe in [[minute]]s. | |||
* The [[Zectronic Beam Controller]] contains [[zectronic energy]]. | |||
* The Thirteenth Doctor uses [[The Doctor's sonic screwdriver (The Curse of Fatal Death)|her sonic screwdriver]], which she remarks has three settings. | |||
== | === Culture === | ||
* [ | * The Ninth Doctor and the Master both speak perfect [[Tersuran]] as a result of their [[meal]]s with the architect. | ||
* Much to Emmas's confusion, there are [[chair]]s on the [[Dalek ship]]. | |||
* Emma gets a bottle of [[champagne]] from [[the Doctor's TARDIS]]. | |||
* When she believes him to have perished, Emma describes the Doctor as like [[Father Christmas]], [[Oscar Diggs|the Wizard of Oz]] and [[Scooby-Doo (character)|Scooby-Doo]]. | |||
{{ | === Species === | ||
[[ | * The Ninth Doctor states the [[Tersuron]]s were the most [[peace]]-loving race he had ever encountered. | ||
[[ | * The Ninth Doctor calls Emma more exciting than an escape up a [[ventilation shaft]] and more thrilling than an [[army]] of [[cybernetic slug]]s. | ||
[[ | * While in the [[sewer]]s, [[dung slug]]s were the Master's only source of [[food]] and company on lonely nights. | ||
[[ | * The Master refers to [[regeneration]] as the [[miracle]] of a [[Time Lord]]. Emma did not know of the process until the Ninth Doctor regenerated. | ||
[[ | * The Master and the Twelfth Doctor both believe a Time Lord cannot withstand a blast of pure [[zectronic energy]]. To everyone's astonishment, the Doctor still regenerates into his thirteenth incarnation. | ||
[[Category:1999 television stories | |||
=== Daleks === | |||
* The Master and the Ninth Doctor both claim only the [[Dalek]]s don't have [[nose]]s. | |||
* The Daleks accompanying the Master come in several [[casing]] variants. The light of their [[bulb]]-shaped [[head lamp]]s vary from [[orange]], [[yellow]] or [[red]]. | |||
** [[Black Dalek]]s with [[gold]] accessories ([[neck ring]]s, [[slat]]s, [[weapons platform]]/[[base unit]] rim, [[sense globe]]s). | |||
** Light [[grey Dalek]]s (including neck ring) with [[black]] accessories (slats, weapons platform/base unit rim, sense globes). | |||
** Dark [[grey Dalek]]s (including neck ring) with [[black]] accessories (slats, weapons platform/base unit rim, sense globes). | |||
** Mostly [[silver Dalek]]s with [[blue]] sense globes. | |||
=== Locations === | |||
* The Master plans for the Ninth Doctor's death on [[Zaston IV]]. | |||
* Emma calls [[Tersurus]] the "Planet of the [[Farting|Bottom Burps]]". | |||
* At the time of the Ninth Doctor's and the Master's meeting in [[Castle Tersurus]], it had been [[100 (number)|one hundred]] years since anybody last stepped foot there. | |||
== Story notes == | |||
[[File:The Curse of Fatal Death logo 1.jpg|thumb]] | |||
[[File:The Curse of Fatal Death title card.jpg|thumb]] | |||
[[File:The Curse of Fatal Death logo 2.jpg|thumb]] | |||
* In his column for [[DWM 417]], [[Steven Moffat]] said that [[Richard Curtis]], who would later write ''[[Vincent and the Doctor (TV story)|Vincent and the Doctor]]'' was the person who invited him to write the segment. | |||
* Filming took place between [[22 February (production)|22nd]] and [[24 February|24th February]] [[1999 (production)|1999]] at [[Pinewood Studios]]. ([[DWM 560]]) | |||
* Under the Master's cloak, [[Jonathan Pryce]] wore his costume from ''[[Tomorrow Never Dies|Tomorrow Never Dies.]]''{{Fact}} | |||
* [[Louise Jameson]] gave [[Julia Sawalha]] advice on playing the Doctor's companion. {{fact}} | |||
* When he was interviewed on the set, [[Jonathan Pryce]] remained in character as the Master. | |||
* This story reuses music from previous stories such as ''[[Meglos (TV story)|Meglos]]'', ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'', ''[[Warriors of the Deep (TV story)|Warriors of the Deep]]'' and ''[[Resurrection of the Daleks (TV story)|Resurrection of the Daleks]]''. | |||
* The opening credits and logo from the 1974-80 era are reused. During the original broadcast on Red Nose Day, the spherical Red Nose logo was superimposed over the "O" in "WHO." | |||
* Visual effects footage of the TARDIS from the opening credits of the [[Doctor Who (TV story)|1996 TV movie]] is reused for the opening scene in which the Master views the exterior of the Doctor's TARDIS on his scanner. As the TV Movie had not been released in the US on home video at this time, the 1999 US VHS release of the segment constitutes the first time footage from that movie appeared on any official US home video release. | |||
* The [[TARDIS console]], TARDIS walls, and two Dalek props were provided by a group of fans who had made them for their fan-film ''[[Devious]]''.<ref name="Devious" /> | |||
* The music from [[Tom Baker]]'s regeneration scene in [[TV]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'' can be heard briefly during the first regeneration sequence when Rowan Atkinson regenerates into Richard E. Grant. | |||
* [[Gabe Cronelly]] was the [[stunt double]] for [[Jonathan Pryce]] and stood in for him during the scene where the Master falls through the trapdoor. ([[DOC]]: ''[[Comic Relief Doctor Who Uncovered]]'') | |||
* An ad-lib by [[Jonathan Pryce]] in which {{Pryce}} calling [[Emma (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Emma]] "Mrs. Who" was vetoed in an effort for the special to fit within the established “[[canon]]”. | |||
* [[Joanna Lumley]] becomes the first woman to play the Doctor in an officially licenced production. | |||
** The idea of the Doctor changing genders during regeneration is not new, having been postulated as early as [[Tom Baker]]'s time on the series.{{fact}} | |||
* In ''[[Talking 'Bout My Regeneration]]'', when asked if any other Doctors would be joining the lineup seen in ''[[The Sirens of Time (audio story)|The Sirens of Time]]'', [[Gary Russell]] said: "''It's certainly our intention, uh, to try to get as many Doctors as we can to do plays for us, um, it would be very foolish for us not to try to get [[Paul McGann]], [[Tom Baker]], hey, we may even go for [[Rowan Atkinson]], who knows.''" | |||
* [[Richard E Grant]] would later play [[Ninth Doctor (Scream of the Shalka)|another Doctor]] in [[WC]]: ''[[Scream of the Shalka (webcast)|Scream of the Shalka]]''. | |||
* In an episode of ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]'', [[Russell T Davies]] says that Hugh Grant's Doctor is one of his favourites. | |||
* In 2021, after [[Chris Chibnall]] had featured the "[[The Doctor (The Brain of Morbius)|Morbius Doctors]]" in ''[[The Timeless Children (TV story)|The Timeless Children]]'', Moffat remarked that he should email Chibnall and say, "while you're having flashes of ''Brain Of Morbius'', could you just get a frame of ''The Curse Of Fatal Death'' in?"<ref>https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/steven_moffat/features/steven-moffat-interview/</ref> | |||
=== Recurring === | |||
* Some themes presented here echo themes present in the [[2005 (releases)|2005]] revival, especially in episodes penned by [[writer]] [[Steven Moffat]]. These include: | |||
** Romance between companions was briefly explored with [[Grace Holloway]] in 1996's ''[[Doctor Who (TV story)|Doctor Who]]'', but returned in the revival with people such as [[Rose Tyler]] and [[River Song]], as well as with [[Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson|Madame de Pompadour]]. Moffat wrote the latter two examples. The Doctor married River Song in 2011's ''[[The Wedding of River Song (TV story)|The Wedding of River Song]]''. | |||
** Aliens that [[fart]] would be realised in [[Series 1 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 1]] with the [[Raxacoricofallapatorian]] [[Slitheen family]]. | |||
** Emma questions the use of a [[manipulator arm]]. This has been repeated multiple times, for example in 2005's ''[[Dalek (TV story)|Dalek]]''. | |||
** The [[Tenth Doctor]] promised to his companions that he would "[[I'll explain later|explain later]]" in the Moffat-penned episode ''[[The Girl in the Fireplace (TV story)|The Girl in the Fireplace]]''. | |||
** The Doctor retires from his travels in 2012's ''[[The Snowmen (TV story)|The Snowmen]]'', albeit not to get [[married]]. | |||
** Emma's brief eulogy for the Doctor, "[[Never cruel or cowardly|Never cruel, never cowardly]]" reappears in 2013's ''[[The Day of the Doctor]]'', also written by Moffat. In the anniversary episode, the phrase is given as part of the Doctor's promise to the universe. This phrase, however, first appeared in the 1972 reference book ''[[The Making of Doctor Who]]'' and was frequently used by Moffat's friend [[Paul Cornell]]. | |||
** Steven Moffat would later explore, through [[Rusty (Into the Dalek)|Rusty]] and [[Missy]], the idea of the Daleks and the Master turning good. | |||
** The fact that the [[Dalek]]s possess [[chair]]s despite their lack of [[leg]]s reappears as a joke in 2015's ''[[The Magician's Apprentice (TV story)|The Magician's Apprentice]]''. | |||
** Moffat would later explore the idea of [[the Doctor's death]] in several storylines, with ''[[The Doctor Falls (TV story)|The Doctor Falls]]'' in particular showing the Doctor coming back from bodily death after his companion declares that he cannot die because the universe needs him too much. | |||
** The [[Thirteenth Doctor]] who debuted in 2017's ''[[Twice Upon a Time (TV story)|Twice Upon a Time]]'' and first regularly appeared in [[Series 11 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 11]] was also a woman. | |||
=== Appeal === | |||
[[File:Atkinson appeal.jpg|thumb|The appeal.]] | |||
After the credits of the final episode of ''The Curse of Fatal Death'' and a short shot of the live audience applauding, [[Rowan Atkinson]], still in-character as the [[Ninth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Ninth Doctor]], asked for the viewers to donate to [[Comic Relief]] in an appeal which lasted roughly ten seconds. | |||
:: ''On [[Tersurus]], the Doctor approached [[The Doctor's TARDIS|his TARDIS]] and said when he wanted to save the [[world]] he used a [[police box|phone box]] but that the audience could do it from [[home]]. He then recited the [[telephone number]] viewers could call to donate and at the same time it apppeared below him with onscreen text.'' | |||
If taken as a separate entity to ''Curse'', it marked the only other televised appearance of Atkinson's Doctor and concluded a trio of appearances on [[12 March (releases)|12 March]] [[1999 (releases)|1999]], which had started with the short story ''[[Who's After Your Cash (short story)|Who's After Your Cash]]''. The appeal has never been officially repeated following its original broadcast, having not appeared on the September 1999 [[VHS]] release, the [[2009 (releases)|2009]] edit of the story for [[YouTube]], or the [[2017 (releases)|2017]] YouTube edit. | |||
=== Myths === | |||
* This production is often assumed to have been a [[Children in Need]] charity event. ''This confusion likely stems from the 2005 series' dedication to CIN. In reality, this serial was made for [[Comic Relief]].'' | |||
* The title of the story is often misnamed as ''The Curse of the Fatal Death''. | |||
=== Production errors === | |||
* At several points, the Dalek operators can be seen in the section below the eyestalk. | |||
* While following the Master, several Daleks repeatedly collide. | |||
* The re-edited version posted by Comic Relief to [[YouTube]] is missing the visual effects of the [[gunstick]] beams. | |||
== Continuity == | |||
* The TARDISes use [[TARDIS console (An Unearthly Child)|the console layout]] used predominantly by the [[First Doctor|First]] and [[Second Doctor]]s on television. | |||
* The Doctor's control room has the [[hatstand (The Invisible Enemy)|hatstand]] seen from [[TV]]: {{cs|The Invisible Enemy (TV story)}} to {{cs|Frontios (TV story)}}, as well as [[the Doctor's scarf]] and the [[Second Doctor's stovepipe hat]]. | |||
* The Doctor asks the Master to meet him on [[Tersurus]], the same planet where the [[Decayed Master]] was found by [[Goth]] in [[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]''. | |||
* The Master shouts, ''"Die, Doctor! Die!"'', in a similar vein as the [[Tremas Master]] did when interfering with the [[Fifth Doctor's regeneration]] in [[TV]]: ''[[The Caves of Androzani (TV story)|The Caves of Androzani]]''. | |||
== Home video and audio releases == | |||
[[File:Australian VHS TheCurseofFatalDeath cover.jpg|right|thumb|Australian cover]] | |||
* [[BBC Video]] released ''The Curse of Fatal Death'' in September 1999 and treated it like any other ''Doctor Who'' story. The VHS release contained a two-part version with a new opening for part one, plus a "making of" feature titled ''[[Comic Relief Doctor Who Uncovered]]''. Also included as special features were ''[[Untitled (The Lenny Henry Show)|The Lenny Henry Show]]'' skit and ''[[The Silurian Disruption (home video)|The Silurian Disruption]]'', a short parody sketch filmed but never aired for ''[[French and Saunders]]''. As the special was never broadcast in North America, it was a video-exclusive release for that audience. | |||
* The Australian release (right) used the diamond-logo and 1990s "Classic Series" fonts; the North American release used the current "Classic Series" logo and fonts. | |||
* The full story has also been released in the UK iTunes Store as part of the ''Best of Comic Relief'' series. | |||
* Money from each purchase of both the video and download is donated to Comic Relief. | |||
* No [[DVD]] release has occurred, besides from a clip of the [[Ninth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Ninth Doctor]] communicating to {{Pryce}} in [[Tersuran]] on [[Comic Relief]]'s ''25 Monster Years'' release. | |||
== External links == | |||
{{dwrefguide|fatal.htm|The Curse of Fatal Death}} | |||
{{chakoteya|Extras/cufd.htm|The Curse of Fatal Death}} | |||
== Footnotes == | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
{{DWTV}} | |||
{{regeneration stories}} | |||
{{Post-regeneration stories}} | |||
{{Master stories}} | |||
{{Dalek stories}} | |||
{{TitleSort}} | |||
[[es:The Curse of Fatal Death]] | |||
[[fr:The Curse of Fatal Death]] | |||
[[he:הקללה של מוות קטלני]] | |||
[[Category:Doctor Who television stories]] | |||
[[Category:1999 television stories]] | |||
[[Category:Stories with unique variations of the Doctor Who opening titles]] | |||
[[Category:The Master television stories]] | |||
[[Category:Dalek television stories]] | |||
[[Category:Regeneration television stories]] | |||
[[Category:Ninth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death) sources]] | |||
[[Category:Post-regeneration stories]] |
Latest revision as of 01:02, 5 November 2024
The Curse of Fatal Death was a Comic Relief segment created for part of 1999's Red Nose Day Celebration.
This story served as a production bridge between the 1963 and 2005 versions of the programme. Most notably, it was the first script for televised Doctor Who by Steven Moffat, who would later become a regular writer for the show between 2005 and 2008, starting with The Empty Child, and executive producer and head writer between 2010 and 2017. As such, many of the themes introduced in Fatal Death would become major staples of his tenure as showrunner.
This story also marked the first post-production work by the Mill who were the company most usually credited with visual effects from 2005 to 2013. It was also the last time that Roy Skelton lent his voice to the Daleks, a role he was first credited with in 1967's The Evil of the Daleks. Skelton's first work in Who was as the voice of the Monoids in 1966's The Ark and he had also provided voices for the Cybermen.
While discussing the special in DWM 510, Moffat discussed how the intent of the special was to make a regular episode of Doctor Who which happened to also be funny, rather than just a blatant spoof, meaning that extreme steps were taken to have it fit within the then-existing canon; for instance, the Doctor is explicitly said to be in his ninth incarnation to make him a successor to Paul McGann's previously seen Eighth Doctor. Moffat went on to add that, while it has since been disregarded, it was seen as a legitimate continuation of the show at the time.
The special's original edit went out of circulation for a time, before being re-released on 24 March 2017 in honour of Comic Relief.
Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Master corners the Doctor and Emma on Tersurus, prepared to unleash the deadly vengeance of deadly revenge!
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Master pursues the Doctor in his TARDIS, maniacally bellowing that the Doctor's certain death awaits him on Zaston IV. The Doctor, from his own TARDIS, replies that the Master really ought to learn to turn off his speaker before he blabs his entire plan, and that he wants to meet him on the planet Tersurus to give him an important piece of news.
The Doctor and his assistant, Emma, land in the empty Castle Tersurus. He explains that the Tersurons were a kindly, peace-loving race, but shunned and abhorred due to their communicating solely through precisely modulated farting. They destroyed themselves after discovering fire. The Master pins them to the wall with energy pulses, and having arrived a century earlier to bribe the castle's architect, prepares to subject them to the Spikes of Doom. Instead they find themselves relaxing in the Sofa of Reasonable Comfort, the Doctor having anticipated this and bribing the architect first. However, the Master declares that he anticipated this anticipation, and bribed the architect even earlier, and drops a giant block on their heads. The Doctor and Emma emerge from a door in the hollow block, with the Doctor saying he arrived even earlier.
Emma interrupts to prompt the Doctor to announce what he has come to say: Emma and he are in love, and the Doctor plans to retire from travelling through time and space, having saved every planet in the universe a minimum of twenty-seven times, and settle down in domestic bliss. Horrified and nauseated by this prospect, the Master announces that he will go back in time, buy the architect an expensive dinner and persuade him to place a lever next to where he is standing and a trap door where the Doctor and Emma are standing. He prepares to plunge them into the vast and disgusting sewers of Tersurus, warning them to prepare themselves for "five hundred miles of fear and faeces!"
Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]
However, when the Master pulls said lever, the trap door opens under his own feet, the Doctor having already bought the architect an expensive dinner. As they go to leave, the front doors burst open and the Master appears, significantly aged, having spent three hundred and twelve years climbing through the sewers, locating his TARDIS and travelling back in time to the current day. Accompanying him are the Daleks, the only creatures not repulsed by the Master's smell, having no noses. The Master boasts that his body has been augmented by Dalek technology; he now has a plunger in place of a right hand, though Emma quickly figures out that he doesn't know what it can do.
The Daleks prepare to exterminate them, but the Master decides he will kill them with his bare hands. He charges forward, but the Doctor steps aside and the Master plunges straight through the trap door again. He comes in again, another three hundred and twelve years older. The Daleks pursue the Doctor and Emma through the numerous and very similar looking corridors, but one Dalek accidentally bumps into the Master, causing him to fall through the trap door yet again. An extremely old Master then walks into view, complaining about having spent a grand total of nine hundred and thirty six years in a sewer. The Doctor and Emma find what they believe to be the way out of the castle, but in fact turns out to be a room full of Daleks.
Part three[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Daleks have captured the Doctor and Emma rather than exterminating them and tied them to chairs, much to Emma's confusion. They've also restored the Master to his original age and augmented him further to have Dalek sensor bumps on his chest. The Master insists that these are etheric beam locators and they're very firm, but the Doctor mocks him over the sensors' resemblance to breasts. The Master announces that in exchange he has given the Daleks the secret to controlling a Zectronic energy beam, which will give them power over the entire universe in only minutes.
The Master charges up the beam, but the Dalek Supreme whispers to the Doctor that they plan to exterminate the Master after the beam is active rather than share the power withhim. The Doctor realises that both he and the Master speak fluent Tersuran, so he farts a warning to him. The Master speaks the message out loud as he receives it, though without the Daleks hearing, but Emma inadvertently ruins the plan by breaking wind, causing the Master to suddenly start shouting gibberish, which does alert the Daleks as to what's going on. This gives the Daleks the excuse they need to get rid of the Master, but they accidentally end up shooting both the Doctor and the Zectronic generator instead. The overloading generator is beyond the Master's capabilities to repair; only the Doctor can fix it. The Doctor tells Emma, "I love you", in Tersuran, with the Master translating, before seemingly dying. Emma is distraught at his apparent death, but the Master reassures her that the Doctor is in his ninth body and has many more lives, as he begins to regenerate.
Part four[[edit] | [edit source]]
The result of the Doctor's regeneration is a quite handsome, if a bit vain, persona. He confirms that Emma is still very much interested in marrying him and prepares to leave with her, but the Daleks beg the Doctor to help deactivate the Zectronic beam generator in exchange for his life, to which he agrees as a perfect way to finish his "career." However, an explosion causes him to regenerate again, this time into a shy persona, very nervous around girls, and the Master with his oddly-placed etheric beam locators, and Emma is visibly disheartened by this new version, finding him nowhere near as attractive as his two predecessors. He goes to try again to deactivate the beam, when another burst of energy causes him to regenerate yet again.
The new Doctor, very handsome and charming indeed, is rather embarrassed that he wasted three bodies in under a minute simply because he forgot to unplug the generator first. The crisis appears to be over, and Emma is quite looking forward to getting to know this new Doctor, when a residual burst of pure Zectronic energy knocks him down. With the Zectronic energy preventing his regeneration, the Doctor appears to die permanently. The Master and the Daleks resolve to permanently forswear evil to honour the Doctor's sacrifice. Yet, to everyone's amazement, the Doctor's features begin to change and he regenerates, this time into a very buxom woman. Emma, however, calls the wedding off, due to the Doctor being, in a very literal sense, "no longer the man [she] fell in love with". The new Doctor is quite excited to discover that her sonic screwdriver has three settings, but then she and the Master lock eyes. The two express their mutual attraction and go off together, the Master laughing maniacally again.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctors - Rowan Atkinson, Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Joanna Lumley
- Emma - Julia Sawalha
- The Master - Jonathan Pryce
- Dalek's Voices - Roy Skelton, Dave Chapman
Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Dalek Operators - Ashley Neal Fuller, Stephen Cranford, David Clarke, Chris Kirk[1]
- The Master's stunt double - Gabe Cronelly (DOC: Comic Relief Doctor Who Uncovered)
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
Executive Producer Richard Curtis |
General production staff
Script department Camera and lighting department
|
Art department
Costume department |
Make-up and prosthetics
Movement General post-production staff Special and visual effects Sound |
|
|
Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources. |
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor is initially in his ninth incarnation.
- The Ninth Doctor has calculated he has saved every planet in the known universe a minimum of twenty-seven times.
- The Ninth Doctor lists the endless evil and gravel quarries in the cosmos among the reasons for his retirement and marriage to Emma.
- The Tenth Doctor suffers from some post-regenerative amnesia.
- The Twelfth Doctor comments that he used up three bodies in less than a minute because he forgot to unplug the Zectronic generator.
The Master[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The first time the Master falls in the sewers it takes him 312 years. This then increases to 624 and later 936 years.
- The Ninth Doctor refers to the Master as "the beard and the bosoms" after he is augmented to include etheric beam locators.
People[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Tenth Doctor refers to Emma as the only time-travelling companion he's "had".
- The Thirteenth Doctor asks if Emma's mother will get a shock at their wedding when they both wear white.
- Emma is already familiar with the Daleks.
Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Master bribes the architect to create the Spikes of Doom as a trap in Castle Tersurus, while the Ninth Doctor counters this by bribing him to make the Sofa of Reasonable Comfort. Both attempt to bribe him to place a trapdoor under where the other is standing, with the Doctor convincing him in the end.
- The Daleks augment the Master's right hand and replace it with a manipulator arm and suction cup. They later revert this change and rejuvenate his physical appearance by augmenting him with Dalek bumps. The Ninth and Tenth Doctors both joke about their resemblance to breasts while the Eleventh Doctor genuinely believes that's what they are.
- The Master's Dalek bumps can locate ion-charged emissions and can act as etheric beam locators at a distance of up to twenty thousand light years.
- The Master implies Emma has had breast implants.
- The Ninth Doctor claims that with a zectronic beam the Daleks could conquer the universe in minutes.
- The Zectronic Beam Controller contains zectronic energy.
- The Thirteenth Doctor uses her sonic screwdriver, which she remarks has three settings.
Culture[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Ninth Doctor and the Master both speak perfect Tersuran as a result of their meals with the architect.
- Much to Emmas's confusion, there are chairs on the Dalek ship.
- Emma gets a bottle of champagne from the Doctor's TARDIS.
- When she believes him to have perished, Emma describes the Doctor as like Father Christmas, the Wizard of Oz and Scooby-Doo.
Species[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Ninth Doctor states the Tersurons were the most peace-loving race he had ever encountered.
- The Ninth Doctor calls Emma more exciting than an escape up a ventilation shaft and more thrilling than an army of cybernetic slugs.
- While in the sewers, dung slugs were the Master's only source of food and company on lonely nights.
- The Master refers to regeneration as the miracle of a Time Lord. Emma did not know of the process until the Ninth Doctor regenerated.
- The Master and the Twelfth Doctor both believe a Time Lord cannot withstand a blast of pure zectronic energy. To everyone's astonishment, the Doctor still regenerates into his thirteenth incarnation.
Daleks[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Master and the Ninth Doctor both claim only the Daleks don't have noses.
- The Daleks accompanying the Master come in several casing variants. The light of their bulb-shaped head lamps vary from orange, yellow or red.
- Black Daleks with gold accessories (neck rings, slats, weapons platform/base unit rim, sense globes).
- Light grey Daleks (including neck ring) with black accessories (slats, weapons platform/base unit rim, sense globes).
- Dark grey Daleks (including neck ring) with black accessories (slats, weapons platform/base unit rim, sense globes).
- Mostly silver Daleks with blue sense globes.
Locations[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Master plans for the Ninth Doctor's death on Zaston IV.
- Emma calls Tersurus the "Planet of the Bottom Burps".
- At the time of the Ninth Doctor's and the Master's meeting in Castle Tersurus, it had been one hundred years since anybody last stepped foot there.
Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- In his column for DWM 417, Steven Moffat said that Richard Curtis, who would later write Vincent and the Doctor was the person who invited him to write the segment.
- Filming took place between 22nd and 24th February 1999 at Pinewood Studios. (DWM 560)
- Under the Master's cloak, Jonathan Pryce wore his costume from Tomorrow Never Dies.[source needed]
- Louise Jameson gave Julia Sawalha advice on playing the Doctor's companion. [source needed]
- When he was interviewed on the set, Jonathan Pryce remained in character as the Master.
- This story reuses music from previous stories such as Meglos, Logopolis, Warriors of the Deep and Resurrection of the Daleks.
- The opening credits and logo from the 1974-80 era are reused. During the original broadcast on Red Nose Day, the spherical Red Nose logo was superimposed over the "O" in "WHO."
- Visual effects footage of the TARDIS from the opening credits of the 1996 TV movie is reused for the opening scene in which the Master views the exterior of the Doctor's TARDIS on his scanner. As the TV Movie had not been released in the US on home video at this time, the 1999 US VHS release of the segment constitutes the first time footage from that movie appeared on any official US home video release.
- The TARDIS console, TARDIS walls, and two Dalek props were provided by a group of fans who had made them for their fan-film Devious.[1]
- The music from Tom Baker's regeneration scene in TV: Logopolis can be heard briefly during the first regeneration sequence when Rowan Atkinson regenerates into Richard E. Grant.
- Gabe Cronelly was the stunt double for Jonathan Pryce and stood in for him during the scene where the Master falls through the trapdoor. (DOC: Comic Relief Doctor Who Uncovered)
- An ad-lib by Jonathan Pryce in which the Master calling Emma "Mrs. Who" was vetoed in an effort for the special to fit within the established “canon”.
- Joanna Lumley becomes the first woman to play the Doctor in an officially licenced production.
- The idea of the Doctor changing genders during regeneration is not new, having been postulated as early as Tom Baker's time on the series.[source needed]
- In Talking 'Bout My Regeneration, when asked if any other Doctors would be joining the lineup seen in The Sirens of Time, Gary Russell said: "It's certainly our intention, uh, to try to get as many Doctors as we can to do plays for us, um, it would be very foolish for us not to try to get Paul McGann, Tom Baker, hey, we may even go for Rowan Atkinson, who knows."
- Richard E Grant would later play another Doctor in WC: Scream of the Shalka.
- In an episode of Doctor Who Confidential, Russell T Davies says that Hugh Grant's Doctor is one of his favourites.
- In 2021, after Chris Chibnall had featured the "Morbius Doctors" in The Timeless Children, Moffat remarked that he should email Chibnall and say, "while you're having flashes of Brain Of Morbius, could you just get a frame of The Curse Of Fatal Death in?"[2]
Recurring[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Some themes presented here echo themes present in the 2005 revival, especially in episodes penned by writer Steven Moffat. These include:
- Romance between companions was briefly explored with Grace Holloway in 1996's Doctor Who, but returned in the revival with people such as Rose Tyler and River Song, as well as with Madame de Pompadour. Moffat wrote the latter two examples. The Doctor married River Song in 2011's The Wedding of River Song.
- Aliens that fart would be realised in series 1 with the Raxacoricofallapatorian Slitheen family.
- Emma questions the use of a manipulator arm. This has been repeated multiple times, for example in 2005's Dalek.
- The Tenth Doctor promised to his companions that he would "explain later" in the Moffat-penned episode The Girl in the Fireplace.
- The Doctor retires from his travels in 2012's The Snowmen, albeit not to get married.
- Emma's brief eulogy for the Doctor, "Never cruel, never cowardly" reappears in 2013's The Day of the Doctor, also written by Moffat. In the anniversary episode, the phrase is given as part of the Doctor's promise to the universe. This phrase, however, first appeared in the 1972 reference book The Making of Doctor Who and was frequently used by Moffat's friend Paul Cornell.
- Steven Moffat would later explore, through Rusty and Missy, the idea of the Daleks and the Master turning good.
- The fact that the Daleks possess chairs despite their lack of legs reappears as a joke in 2015's The Magician's Apprentice.
- Moffat would later explore the idea of the Doctor's death in several storylines, with The Doctor Falls in particular showing the Doctor coming back from bodily death after his companion declares that he cannot die because the universe needs him too much.
- The Thirteenth Doctor who debuted in 2017's Twice Upon a Time and first regularly appeared in series 11 was also a woman.
Appeal[[edit] | [edit source]]
After the credits of the final episode of The Curse of Fatal Death and a short shot of the live audience applauding, Rowan Atkinson, still in-character as the Ninth Doctor, asked for the viewers to donate to Comic Relief in an appeal which lasted roughly ten seconds.
- On Tersurus, the Doctor approached his TARDIS and said when he wanted to save the world he used a phone box but that the audience could do it from home. He then recited the telephone number viewers could call to donate and at the same time it apppeared below him with onscreen text.
If taken as a separate entity to Curse, it marked the only other televised appearance of Atkinson's Doctor and concluded a trio of appearances on 12 March 1999, which had started with the short story Who's After Your Cash. The appeal has never been officially repeated following its original broadcast, having not appeared on the September 1999 VHS release, the 2009 edit of the story for YouTube, or the 2017 YouTube edit.
Myths[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This production is often assumed to have been a Children in Need charity event. This confusion likely stems from the 2005 series' dedication to CIN. In reality, this serial was made for Comic Relief.
- The title of the story is often misnamed as The Curse of the Fatal Death.
Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]
- At several points, the Dalek operators can be seen in the section below the eyestalk.
- While following the Master, several Daleks repeatedly collide.
- The re-edited version posted by Comic Relief to YouTube is missing the visual effects of the gunstick beams.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The TARDISes use the console layout used predominantly by the First and Second Doctors on television.
- The Doctor's control room has the hatstand seen from TV: The Invisible Enemy [+]Loading...["The Invisible Enemy (TV story)"] to Frontios [+]Loading...["Frontios (TV story)"], as well as the Doctor's scarf and the Second Doctor's stovepipe hat.
- The Doctor asks the Master to meet him on Tersurus, the same planet where the Decayed Master was found by Goth in TV: The Deadly Assassin.
- The Master shouts, "Die, Doctor! Die!", in a similar vein as the Tremas Master did when interfering with the Fifth Doctor's regeneration in TV: The Caves of Androzani.
Home video and audio releases[[edit] | [edit source]]
- BBC Video released The Curse of Fatal Death in September 1999 and treated it like any other Doctor Who story. The VHS release contained a two-part version with a new opening for part one, plus a "making of" feature titled Comic Relief Doctor Who Uncovered. Also included as special features were The Lenny Henry Show skit and The Silurian Disruption, a short parody sketch filmed but never aired for French and Saunders. As the special was never broadcast in North America, it was a video-exclusive release for that audience.
- The Australian release (right) used the diamond-logo and 1990s "Classic Series" fonts; the North American release used the current "Classic Series" logo and fonts.
- The full story has also been released in the UK iTunes Store as part of the Best of Comic Relief series.
- Money from each purchase of both the video and download is donated to Comic Relief.
- No DVD release has occurred, besides from a clip of the Ninth Doctor communicating to the Master in Tersuran on Comic Relief's 25 Monster Years release.
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Curse of Fatal Death at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- The Curse of Fatal Death at Chrissie's Transcripts Site
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
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