Doctor Who/The Curse of Fenric

The Curse of Fenric
Season 26, Episode 3
Airdate	October 25, 1989 - November 15, 1989
Production Number	7M
Written by	Ian Briggs
Directed by	Nicholas Mallet
← 26x02 Ghost Light	26x04 → Survival
Doctor Who — Season Twenty-Six

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The Curse of Fenric is the third serial of the twenty-sixth season of Doctor Who, and the one-hundred and fifty-eighth serial overall.

Guest Stars: Christien Anholt (Perkins), Dinsdale Landen (Dr Judson), Nicholas Parsons (The Rev. Mr Wainwright), Marek Anton (Vershinin), Alfred Lynch (Commander Millington), Peter Czajowski (Sgt Prozorov), Janet Henfrey (Miss Hardaker), Raymond Trickitt (Ancient Haemovore), Tomek Bork (Captain Sorin), Joan Kenny (Jean), Joanne Bell (Phyllis), Stevan Rimkus (Captain Bates), Marcus Hutton (Sgt. Leigh), Cory Pulman (Kathleen Dudman), Anne Reid (Nurse Crane), Aaron Hanley (Baby)

Plot Overview

At a secret naval base in Northumberland on May 1943, Commander Millington and Dr Judson crack German cipher codes. Russian special forces have been sent to capture Judson's Ultima machine, their orders oddly similar to Viking runes carved beneath the local church. What is in the ancient flask? That lurks beneath the sea to lure swimmers to their deaths? What will happen when the Ultima machine decodes the Viking inscriptions? And will the Doctor defeat his ancient enemy Fenric once more in the game of traps.

Arc Advancement

Characters

The Doctor

The Doctor forges the signature of the Prime Minister and Head of the Secret Service - with a pen in each hand. He recognises Viking runes as ninth century, and can translate Russian sealed orders.

When Kathleen Dudman, one of the bas personnel, asks him if he has any family, the Doctor replies: "I don't know."

Fenric says of the Doctor: "For 17 centuries I was trapped in the Shadow Dimensions because of him. He pulled bones from the desert sands and carved them into chess pieces. He challenged me to solve his puzzle. I failed."

Ace

When she learns that the baby daughter of Kathleen Dudman has the same name as her mother - Audrey - Ace hands it back. But despite her name, Ace goes back to ensure the baby is all right. She sends the escaping Kathleen to her nan's house - 17 Old Terrace, Streatham - to escape the Haemovores. She later learns from Fenric that Kathleen Dudman is her nan, and Fenric tells her, "In 30 years the baby will be grown. She will have a daughter - that daughter will be you. You have just created your own future. The baby is your mother, the mother you hate."

Ace's faith in the Doctor is so strong that it holds back the Ancient One, stopping him from destroying Fenric. The Doctor is forced to undermine this faith by telling Ace she is a social misfit - an emotional cripple he only took with him because he knew she was somehow infected by Fenric.

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

Missing Scenes

The sequence where Ace is rescued from the Haemovores on the roof of the church originally ended with Sorin's soldiers driving stakes through the Haemovores to kill them. This scene was removed because it was felt that it was too strong for the intended audience.

The DVD version of the episode includes a recut and remastered version with several scenes lengthened or added. There was enough footage for five episodes, but fearing that it would let the BBC justify cutting their budget even more, they decided to cut it from the aired version.

Quotes

Commander Millington: I can't take any more risks. I want all radio transmitters and outside telephone lines disabling... And if there are any chess sets in the camp, I want them burned.