The Curse of Fenric

The Doctor and Ace arrive at a top secret naval base in 1943, but while they come in through the front foor and bluff their way into the confidence of the genius Dr Judson, a group of Russian commandos have arrived on the beach with a mission of their own. The area is steeped in mystery, all of it coming from old Viking rune stones in the cellar of the local church, St Jude's. But there is an evil rising from the sea, and a lethal poison has been seeping out of the ground. And before the day is over, the opposing military factions will be battling ancient monsters from the future, and the Doctor will be confronted by a nameless evil intent on destroying him and the world.

From the very first minute, The Curse of Fenric establishes a fantastic air of mysery and fear through a combination of atmospheric incidental music, rolling fog across the sea and an underwater shot of a sunken Viking ship. And from then on it's go go go. The production never stops throwing new elements at the viewers through a dialogue-heavy script with a good balance of action to words, and some of the best moments ever for the seventh Doctor and Ace as a team. The production is also packed with incredible characters aside from the regulars, starting with the Russians led by Captain Sorin, and moving to the British soldiers under the command of Millington (note a very young Christien Ainholt from Relic Hunter as private Perkins), the incredible Kathleen Dudman. and carrying right through to the civilian characters such as Dr Judson, the stuffy Miss Hardaker and her two charges Jean and Phyllis, and reverand Wainwright. And then come the Haemovores; hideous bloodsucking monsters that the Doctor says are what humans will evolve into towards the end of their time on Earth as the pollution of industry ruins the world.

Fenric adds another layer to the whole backstory of Ace, not by delving back into her past again but with her coming into direct conflict with the Doctor when she realizes that he is starting to play games on the side wherever they go and she's starting to feel like one of his pawns. And when the people around them start to die, she lashes out at him and makes him explain what he's doing, and why.

And what is he doing? Fighting evil, pure and simple. But not just something evil, an evil that has no name, although Commander Millington has created a bit of mythology around it and named it Fenric. But Fenric and the Doctor go back a long way to what one might assume is the Doctor's first incarnation where Fenric failed to solve a puzzle the Doctor had made for it and was thus imprisoned like a genie in a bottle. But over time Fenric has made plans and spread its influence, quietly playing its own game and using agents of its own as pawns to set it free. And now there's hell to pay.

Excellent. Brilliant. Fantastic. Not flawless, mind you; there are a few science fiction cliches in there that we could do without, and the Haemovore masks could have looked a bit better (yes I know, BBC budget and all that). Easily the high point of the season, almost tied with Ghost Light.

BBC Video released an extended version of the show on VHS back in the early 90's by dropping additional footage back into place and then re-scoring the whole adventure with a new soundtrack, resulting in some freakishly long episodes. On the DVD release, the original broadcast versions are presented on one of the discs in the set, and the second disc holds yet another remix of the material, this time in a feature length movie format. The material is edited again and the music is done again, but the end result is something that could be on par with the feature-length Christmas episodes we have been enjoying with the new series. I just hope they don't get it in their heads to start doing this with every episode; the old VHS titles at the very beginning were made into feature length shows and it wasn't as much fun to watch. This time it works quite well; Jay and I enjoyed it a few weeks ago. Actually, I think he requested we watch the movie version.

And that's the second last classic adventure done. One more to go.

NEXT EPISODE : SURVIVAL