The Curse of Fenric

The Doctor chants the names of his former companions to ward off the Haemovores. Most of the names he chants are inaudible, but a few can be made out, including Susan, Barbara, Vicki and Steven, all companions of the First Doctor.[2] Ace mentions an old house in Perivale. This was originally intended as a foreshadowing of Ghost Light; the resequencing of the broadcast schedule, however, altered it into an apparent reference to a past story.[2] Similarly, the Doctor's new wardrobe for season 26 was hidden throughout part one by a long duffel coat, setting up a dramatic revelation when he removed the coat.[2] Sylvester McCoy, however, has stated that he was given the coat to shelter from the cold weather on location, and was permitted to retain it on-screen.[3][4]

Writer Ian Briggs based the character of Dr Judson on Alan Turing. In an interview for the DVD release of this story, Briggs said that since at that time it was not considered appropriate to depict a character's struggle with homosexuality in a family programme, he transformed Turing's frustration at being unable to express his true sexual identity into Judson's frustration at being disabled. In the same interview, Briggs stated that he intended to suggest that both Judson and Millington were gay and had a shared past, although this was not realised in the finished programme.

This story was originally going to be titled The Wolves of Fenric (and before that, Wolf-Time). Fenric does refer to his servants as his "wolves" (and wolves play a strong role in Norse mythology, especially the monster Fenrir). However, Nathan-Turner felt that as the "wolves" connection was not revealed until quite late in the story, the title would not initially make sense to the audience.

Although there are several references in the story to the Norse belief in a final battle at the end of the world, the word Ragnarok was removed from the script to avoid confusion with the Gods of Ragnarok from the previous season's The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.

This story is the second in what some have called the "Ace Trilogy", a three-story arc that explores elements of Ace's past before she met the Doctor. This was not an intentional trilogy, since Fenric was originally intended to start the season. Fenric was moved to third in the season because its horror themes were seen as more fitting for airing in October.[2]

The Curse of Fenric was originally to have been shot, as with most Doctor Who serials, as a mixture of studio interiors and location exteriors. However, after reading the script, director Nicholas Mallett persuaded producer John Nathan-Turner that given the settings involved, the serial could be made more effective and realistic by shooting the entire production on location, to which Nathan-Turner eventually agreed. Shooting on the serial went over-length to such a degree that consideration was briefly given to editing the story into five rather than four episodes. However, Ian Briggs strongly opposed this, feeling that the narrative flow would be badly disrupted.

The exact setting of the story is disputed as either Northumberland[5] or near Whitby, North Yorkshire,[6] although Reverend Wainwright's mention of Dracula coming ashore there indicates the latter. The scenes set in the fictional location of Maiden's Point were shot on location at Lulworth Cove in Dorset.[7] The production also visited Kent and filmed at Lillesden Manor which doubled as the laboratory under the church, Roses Farm in Hawkhurst, which doubled as Mrs Hardaker's Cottage and St Lawrence Church in Hawkhurst which doubled as St Judd's Church.[8]

• Marek Anton, who played the Destroyer in the first story of the season Battlefield, is the Russian soldier Vershinin.
• The infant Audrey was the son of the proprietors of the Bush Hotel on Shepherd's Bush Green, familiar to the production team as it was near the Doctor Who offices.[9]
• This serial features guest appearances from Dinsdale Landen as Dr Judson and Nicholas Parsons as Reverend Wainwright. See also list of guest appearances in Doctor Who.
• Two of the Haemovores in this story are played by Sylvester McCoy's sons: Sam and Joe Kent-Smith.
• Anne Reid returned to Doctor Who as a Plasmavore named Florence Finnegan in the Tenth Doctor episode "Smith and Jones".
• Actress Janet Henfrey was a schoolfriend of Sophie Aldred's mother. Her character of Miss Hardaker in this serial was modelled on the part she played, again as a school teacher, in two Dennis Potter dramas: Stand Up, Nigel Barton (1965) and The Singing Detective (1986). Henfrey returned to the series as Mrs. Pitt in the Twelfth Doctor episode "Mummy on the Orient Express".
• Sylvia Syms was originally offered the part of Miss Hardaker but played the character Mrs Pritchard in another story of the season, Ghost Light.

A novelisation of this serial, written by Ian Briggs, was published by Target Books in November 1990. The novel features additional character information absent from the serial and an epilogue featuring an older Ace after she has left the Doctor. This formed part of the basis for Ace's departure in Kate Orman's Virgin New Adventures novel Set Piece, where she chooses to stay in Paris to monitor a time rift and at some point has a relationship with one of Captain Sorin's ancestors.

The Curse of Fenric was released on VHS in 1991. The release included about six minutes' worth of the extra scenes. This story was released on DVD in the United Kingdom in October 2003 in a two-disc set as part of the Doctor Who 40th Anniversary Celebration releases. This consisted of the original four broadcast episodes, with an additional DVD commentary recorded by Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Nicholas Parsons, plus a 'Special Edition' edited into one movie-length adventure including 12 minutes of unbroadcast material. This version has reworked special effects and music arranged by Mark Ayres based on notes written up by himself and the late Nicholas Mallett; it also sees several scenes re-edited to produce a more coherent narrative. This serial was also released as part of the Doctor Who DVD Files in issue 39 on 30 June 2010.

Mark Ayres's music from this story was released on CD in 1991 by Silva Screen Records.[15][16][17]

All tracks are written by Mark Ayres, except where noted.

• The Curse of Fenric title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database