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Stars:
Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, and Nicholas Parsons
Writer:
Ian Briggs
Director:
Nicholas Mallett
Producer:
John Nathan-Turner
Feature
length: 97 minutes for the broadcast version/104 minutes for the special edition
Extras:
Special Edition Version Of “The Curse Of Fenric” With Enhanced Effects,
Unseen Footage, And 5.1 Surround Sound, Commentary By Actors Sylvester McCoy,
Sophie Aldred and Nicholas Parsons, Music Only Option, Nebula 90 Convention
Panel, Take Two Behind-The-Scenes Report, Modeling The Dead Featurette, Claws
And Effects, Interview With Screenwriter Ian Briggs, Interview With Costume
Designer Ken Trew, “Recutting The Runs” DVD Production Featurette, Text
Commentary, Photo Gallery, Clean Title Sequence
Languages: English
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Sound
Subtitles: English
Captions For The Hearing Impaired
Packaging:
Single-Sized Two-Disc Keep Case
Chapter Stops: 24
Sound: Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Sound
Year Of Television
Broadcast 1989/DVD Release: 2004
Home Video
Distributor: BBC Video
MPAA Rating: Not
Rated
Reviewer: Mark A.
Rivera
“Doctor Who”
is televisions single longest running sci-fi program with approximately 29
seasons shot back to back from 1963 to 1989. The serialized adventures
collectively equal 129 stories. The average adventure can run between four and
six episodes each. Sylvester McCoy played the seventh Doctor from 1987 to 1989
and reprised his role to hand over the TARDIS to Paul McGann, who would play the
eighth Doctor in the Universal Television and BBC Co-Production that aired on
both sides of the Atlantic in 1996. “Doctor Who” as a franchise is at least
as large as “Star Trek” with audio adventures featuring actors reprising
their roles from the TV series as well as novels, conventions, magazines, and
toys. Christopher Eccelston (28 Days Later) will be playing The Doctor in a
series of brand new “Doctor Who” episodes in development with the BBC.
The next to last
BBC TV adventure to feature Sylvester McCoy as The Doctor has the TARDIS appear
near the site of a secret British naval base during World War II. The Army
church was built on a Viking gravesite where Nazi operatives have discovered
runes that detail a method of resurrecting an evil force that could give the
Third Reich a supernatural weapon against the Allies. A group of Russian
soldiers have also landed at the shores of the navel base with intelligence of
the Nazi plot. However only the Doctor knows what horrors await if this great
evil is awakened, but the Doctor still translates the inscriptions allowing
corpses to rise up from the sea and feed upon the blood of the living. The
Doctor’s reasons for his actions seem cryptic at first, but soon the
relationship between the Doctor as the entity that calls itself Fenric is
revealed in an explosive battle of wills with the fate of the universe at stake.
In some ways
“The Curse Of Fenric” reminded me a little bit of the John Carpenter horror
feature film “The Prince Of Darkness.” At this time in the long history of
“Doctor Who” the series had dropped in popularity since the days when Jon
Pertwee and Tom Baker played the Time Lord so I guess the writers and producers
tried to take the series in a more adult direction with darker stories.
Unfortunately somewhere along the line the series began to alienate the younger
viewers and failed to catch a larger share of the adult demographic it was
seeking. So it is not surprising that this season would be the last for quite
awhile. In America it appears the same thing is happening with “Star Trek”
now with the latest series “Star Trek: Enterprise” receiving renewal for a
fourth season by the UPN network late in the third season. I compare the two
franchises like this not to say one is better than the other because I like them
all, but to point out the similarity that after nearly twenty years of having
brand new first run episodes of “Star Trek” airing on American television
since the debut of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in 1987 that it is
possible that “Star Trek” might go on a hiatus of sorts until it is
rediscovered again by a new generation much as is the case with “Doctor Who”
now. I can only imagine for fans of “Doctor Who” in the U.K. in the 1980s,
the thought of a television season without some new “Doctor Who” series
running was as unimaginable as I find the thought of not having a new “Star
Trek” TV series airing first run episodes in the States. For the record I hope
“Star Trek” survives though I think some new creative blood is needed for
the show and I also hope that when the brand new episodes of “Doctor Who”
begin to air in the U.K, BBC America or SCI FI will broadcast them here in the
States if not PBS.
Unlike earlier
incarnations of “Doctor Who,” these episodes were shot entirely on video for
both the exteriors as well as the interiors and this new DVD release presents
“The Curse Of Fenric” in two different versions with a stunningly clear
(1.33:1) aspect ratio presentation that preserves the manner in which the show
was exhibited on television. On disc one, viewers get the original BBC broadcast
version, which can be viewed individually in four parts or as a whole with
English Stereo Sound. On the second disc there is a special edition with footage
that was cut out for the BBC broadcast version edited back in along with
enhanced visual effects and a new English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack.
The special edition is approximately 6 minutes longer than the BBC broadcast
version and the order of some sequences have been changed to match the original
manner in which the episodes were to be edited for greater dramatic effect. The
special edition soundtrack uses some new sound effects to enhance the overall
three dimensional field of sound six channel digital sound offers viewers as
well as expands upon the original English Stereo Soundtrack. The new 5.1 mix has
a definite higher fidelity over the Stereo version. The enhanced visual effects
are subtler because the intention is to present the story to a closer vision of
how it was originally supposed to be seen that includes some color grading to
add atmosphere to the adventure and not just to add CGI eye candy because now
they can. The extra footage expands upon the characters with more intrigue and
development in the first and fourth installments than was shown originally back
in 1989. While I have read that “The Curse Of Fenric” is the seventh
Doctor’s best-selling story, I personally felt the original broadcast version
seemed a bit too brisk so I prefer the longer special edition produced for this
DVD set because it explores and explains a lot more and ultimately feels more
satisfying at the end.
A 5.1 Surround
Soundtrack option is also provided for the clean opening title sequences on disc
one (2:12). Exclusive to the original version on disc one is a text commentary
with behind-the-scenes facts, trivia, and anecdotes about the episodes, a
retrospective audio commentary with Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Nicholas
Parsons, and a music only listening option. The extra value features on disc one
include featurettes on the creation of vampire like monster makeup in
“Modeling The Dead” (5:11), a look at the other visual effects work on
location in “Claws And Effects” (17:38), behind-the-scenes footage previewed
on the show “Take Two” (4:31), and footage from a panel discussion regarding
“The Curse Of Fenric” episode at the Nebula 90 convention (20:46). A motion
photo gallery is also provided on disc one (5:45).
Disc two features
an in-depth look at the creation of the special edition of “The Curse Of
Fenric” for this DVD in “Recutting The Runes” (15:05) and also features an
interview with Screenwriter Ian Briggs (24:51) and Costume Designer Ken Trew
(17:05). A 40th Anniversary Montage with footage featuring all eight
Doctors (3:01) and cast bios and credits conclude the extra features on disc
two. The interactive menus are well rendered and easy to navigate.
“Doctor Who: The
Curse Of Fenric: The Sylvester McCoy Years 1987-1989: 2-Disc Set” is available
now at retailers on and offline from BBC Home Video.
© Copyright 2004
By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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