Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric (Story 158)

Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric (Story 158)
by Nicholas Mallett

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Sophie Aldred, Sylvester McCoy
Director: Nicholas Mallett
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-06-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Video / Warner Bros.

Movie Reviews of Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric (Story 158)

Movie Review: Great Ingredients, Incompetent Recipe
Summary: 2 Stars

In search of GOOD Sylvester McCoy stories for my classic Who collection, I finally purchased this one and watched it. I had been a little curious about the mixed reviews here, and now I know why it has had such an uneven reception.

Although the fact that the BBC is saturated with leftists is no secret, this one really slaps the viewer in the face with it. The main human baddy is a british naval commander wanting to make a preemptive strike against the russians before WW2 ends. He rants maniacally that they will never be allies, revealing his unreasoning prejudice. I guess the writer forgot all about the actions of Stalin and Kruschev in the decades to follow. At one point, as a scientist is explaining to him about the machine that thinks (a computer integral to the plot), he muses out loud about whose thoughts it will hold, revealing his motivation and casting him as enemy to free thought, the inference being that free thought is communism. Hopefully, the viewers are educated enough to be familiar with the mass imprisonment and persecution of college professors as well as any individuals or groups with dissident viewpoints immediately after socialist revolutions (interestingly, in the case of college professors, the reasons given for this in revolutionary doctrine is that since these usually helped to overthrow their own government, they are not to be trusted. Lenin refers to them in his book as "useful idiots"). In this story, faith is protection against the evil forces summoned, so a russian officer, armed with his faith in communism, walks unharmed through a horde of zombies that shrink back fearfully from his Order of Lenin medal. Later, there is a scene where a priest (who questions his faith, no doubt because it isn't as pure as communism) with a crucifix tries the same thing, but is killed because he "had no goodness in him." Give me a break! The russian commandos murder a group of british soldiers running down the beach for no apparent reason, the leader being shown to be properly contrite at this "necessity of war", while the british are shown to be harsh and xenophobic. In the climax, a british and russian soldier joins forces, the russian saying that war is between politicians, not soldiers, but by this time, the message is clear that we are talking about western politicians, not "revolutionary leaders". The russian calls the brit a brother, presumably a brother in socialism. I couldn't help but be reminded here about all the "brothers" the russians sent to Siberia because they didn't embrace socialism. However, this scene need not be taken politically. In fact, it was almost naively heart-warming if the director hadn't smashed us over the head with it by having the actors repeat the same lines with different words about 3 times. There's more (much more) showing the brave, heroic russians among the hateful british, but I think I made my point.

All this is not to say that all is lost in this story. The real star here is the directing. Fast paced, the story practically hurtles along skilfully blending its mishmash of elements, first, into an intrigueing mystery, then, into a horrific pot-boiler. The cast is superb, particularly the actors that portray the priest, the scientist, and the naval commander. The creatures are imaginative, and the "ancient one" may be the most convincing monster ever seen in classic Who. Photography was particularly good in this one as well. The only further con I'd add, though, is that this story seems to take itself a little too seriously to be fun, as if the director forgot he was doing Doctor Who and thought he was making a hammer film. Indeed, there is almost a slight touch of the avant garde in the directing, as might have been encountered in the best of Hammer.

All in all, one of McCoy's better ones, but so heavily laced with political propoganda that it is an extremely sweet chocolate bar that leaves the bitterest of aftertastes. One wonders why it rated a 2-DVD release, or why this story had some of the highest production values ever seen in Who. For these reasons, I am forced to give it just 2 stars. In closing, I can't help but wonder what the script writer thought when, shortly after this story was made, the Soviet Union collapsed.

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Summary of Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric (Story 158)

The Doctor and Ace are put to the ultimate test when the TARDIS materializes in Second World War England at a top-secret naval base. The army church, built on Viking graves, bears inscriptions calling for the wolves of Fenric to return for their treasure. Thereafter, evil will reign. Even as the Doctor translates the inscription, hideous corpses rise up from the sea, and the evil Fenric is now free to summon his wolves to a killing rampage.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Extended takes
Featurette
Interviews
Music Only Track
Other
Photo gallery
Production Notes

Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric is one of the best of Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor adventures, a complex tale set around a naval installation on the North Yorkshire coast during WWII. The busy plot involves a Russian commando unit, a code-breaking computer, opening gambits in the Cold War, ancient Norse inscriptions concerning even more ancient evil, a new twist on vampirism, chess, global pollution, and a creature from the end of human history. Key to all this is the theme of faith and a time paradox centred on Ace (Sophie Aldred), which ultimately turns out to be the resolution to mysteries that have haunted the Doctor's companion all her life (they were first touched upon in 1987's Dragonfire, also written by Ian Briggs).

The show was shot entirely on location and has above-average production values, generating tension and exciting set-pieces even when the plot threatens to get lost in its own tangles. Nicholas Parsons complements McCoy and Aldred by turning in a strong performance as a the local minister and the tale pays homage to such horrors as Plague of the Zombies (1966), Night of the Living Dead (1968), and John Carpenter's The Fog (1980) and Prince of Darkness (1987) with aplomb. Sadly there would only be one more story, the disappointing Survival (1989), before the BBC put the Doctor into suspended animation. --Gary S. Dalkin

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