I love this story to pieces. There's an extended version of this with a lot of cut scenes reinserted which is even better. This was originally intended to be the season opener, but got moved to the penultimate slot, making a line that's supposed to foreshadow Ghost Light a callback instead.
I met loads of people from this, Tomek Bork (Sorin) Mark Ayres (music guy) Sophie and Sylvester who need no introduction and Ian Briggs and Nick Mallet, writer and director at a convention in Liverpool in 1990...
This is the very best Seventh Doctor story imho. Even better than Remembrance of the Daleks. Eerie, spooky and weird! Working titles for the story were 'Sealed Orders' and 'The Wolves of Fenric'. Such a shame the show was cancelled after this season, it was really getting good.
I agree. Production-wise it really benefits from being location-based and the interior sets are brilliant, the special effects are well done (something that isn't the case in a lot of late '80s stories), with the exception of the two evacuees the supporting cast is superb, the music is wonderfully atmospheric and of course the story itself is excellent. A top 10 story for me.
@@jjc5407 absolutely spot on. I never saw the televised version when it went out and my first experience was with the VHS release and later, I saw the original version in the dvd release. It just has so many positive things going on. The WW2 setting, the Soviet Commandos, the Curse itself, of course. Then there's the Doctor....well...he is at his darkest and most manipulative in this serial. He and Ace are both fantastic in this story. The settings are superb and the musical tone is perfect.
One of the best stories of all time. There's a lot of subtext in this story and the characters have a lot of hidden depths which the waters are a metaphor for. If you haven't seen it watch the special edition there was a lot of extra material filmed that had to be edited out so if you like the broadcast version its worth checking it out.
@@frankshailes3205 That's a common trap I've seen people fall into with the likes of Billie Piper, Kylie Minogue, Catherine Tate and - most recently - Aisling Bea. We might know them as pop/comedy stars, but they trained as actors.
@@frankshailes3205 agreed, he had a very solid career in Rep. By the late 80s practically everyone (including schoolboy me) thought of him as a gameshow host and definitely the sort of household name that would draw attention to the show. Seeing him in Curse of Fenric was a revelation, he absolutely delivers and shows how talented he is. I won't give spoilers but you know the scenes I'm talking about. As a grown up I've been a longterm fan of Just A Minute and was so sad to hear of his passing.
@@ftumschk yeah lots of comics in particular take on straight acting roles. Billy Connelly, Victoria Wood, Omid Djalili, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Gareth Hale (in an episode of The Last Detective starring Peter Davison), Andi Osho (Line of Duty), John Bishop, Rowan Atkinson, Bob Monkhouse to name just a few.
Hmm, it's just occurred to me that maybe that moment when the Doctor used the typewriter, (perhaps along with at varying degrees other times before like this but specifically here) was the very moment that inspired him to invent the Psychic Paper used in newWho..?
Ah the days before the physic paper, I love how when Terrance Dicks found out about it from RTD, he made a background story for it, and it became part of a few items given to the Second Doc by the CIA (Celestial Intervention Agency), when they sent Pat on secret missions, and then somehow he mislaid it in the wardrobe
I've just realised what it is that I love about watching yours, and a few others, reactions to Classic Who, and it took getting to this era for me to realise - - It was McCoy's era that I started watching as a "real fan" of WHO, reading all the magazines and books and everything I could, and then when we actually got new episodes to enjoy - WOW! I'd watch it, and then be on the phone for half an hour decompacting what I'd just seen with my best friend. Watching your comments at the end of each episode, the guesses you are making about what's going on, where it's going... It's what I've been missing throughout most of NuWho. As for Fenric... Gold. :)
Mark Ayres' music is wonderfully atmospheric, isn't it? Although I've not heard/read him mention it, I'm pretty sure Ayres was inspired by Stravinsky's "Firebird" and "Rite of Spring", and there may also be fragments of musical DNA from Britten's opera "The Turn of the Screw" in there too. Whatever, it's definitely one of my favourite Classic Who scores.
I believe I have this on CD somewhere along with the score for The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. This one was definitely the better of the two, but then the other of course had to incorporate circus-style melodies which are rather less enjoyable to listen to in isolation.
This is my fav story from the McCoy era, and possibly my second fav 80s story after ‘The Caves of Androzani’. They really hit a high note in season 26 - I remember talking with my friends in school about how excellent the latest stories were… and then there was no series the following year :(
7 at his darkest....you can really see how Doctor Who would have progressed if only Mr Grade didn't have his way ....Great story for Ace too..Eagerly awaiting further reactions
@@robalexander8065 Cregeen is still very proud of being the man that killed Dr Who! He directed some very good SF earlier in his BBC career including for Out of the Unknown...
Taking its influence from John Carpenter's The Fog. This is a brilliant story. It's not a spoiler but it adds something when you read the novelisation because Judson and Millington were lovers as young men and I believe Millington was responsible for Judson becoming disabled. On an unrelated note, my mum was an evacuee during the war and when she saw this, she said it was accurate.
One of my favourite stories. Up there with the best classic stories, as well as the new. Also spot on casting. Also no fat on the story at all, even the extended version (my preferred version) I don't think has much if any padding.
This story is bitter sweet. For one thing its excellent. Can easily hold its own against the best stories prior and future but it showed the potential that 7 and Sce could have offered if the BBC just took a chance.
For me, The Curse of Fenric is the best Dr Who story, certainly the best of classic Who & is only really beaten by the stand alone 50th anniversary special the Day of the Doctor! I grew up watching Tom Baker & Peter Davison as a kid but Sylvester McCoy is my favourite Doctor! None of the modern actors come close to what McCoy brings, the cold calculating puppet master willing to sacrifice anyone to win!
Originally this was going to be 1st story of the season & the debut of the brown jacket in place of the cream one, hidden under the Doctor's/Sylvester's duffle coat, since during the JNT era any major change to the Doctor's costume was rare. Like S25, half of s26 aired out of order (though unlike s25 where continuity errors began appearing like Ace's Bag being destroyed in Silver Nemesis, then lost in the TARDIS during Greatest Show In The Galaxy & the ear ring being on her jacket in stories that aired before the one where she finds it, because of Greatest Show In The Galaxy & Happiness Patrol switching, luckily nothing like that happened with the S26 switching airing orders). In this case JNT felt Curse Of Fenric suited Halloween better than Battlefield which would've been the 3rd story of the season (which tbf imo it does), so it and Battlefield switched airing slots.
In this case, the coastal scenes were filmed at Lulworth Cove. Our family had been to that part of the world the previous summer so I was thinking "This looks a bit familiar..."
Well sometimes it's a quarry in Kent, as in 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'. Not far from where I live, and visible from the train from London to Dartford.
They rarely traveled to Wales between 1963-89, as production was based in London. Due to budgetary reasons, they rarely traveled outside the Home Counties. The usual quarry they used was in Gerrards Cross.
@@dngillikin I believe only six Classic stories were filmed in Wales: Abominable Snowmen; Green Death; Masque of Mandragora; Pirate Planet; Five Doctors and Delta & The Bannermen. I might have missed one or two, but I'm not far off.
Something similar to this happened to me when I was swimming at the beach outside Butlins. But that's another story I haven't made up yet. This is a very Good story. Keep your eyes on Ace.
Good story, this. Although I've seen the original a few times, your video appearing in my timeline inspired me to look for the extended edition which is also very good!
The reason the doctor wears a big overcoat in this story is because this was the first story filmed for season 26, intended to be the season opener. So they wanted to hide the doctor’s new dark brown coat.
I'd like the first story to have subtitles when the cavemen speak Caveman. In Mandragora, could there have been a case for Italian with subtitles when the Doctor wasn't in the scene?
I hope you got to see on Blu-ray and DVD the Directors cup and producers cut of this episode. It’s the way Mallard mallard meant to be seen and the way John Nathan Turner would’ve liked to been seen but had he walked into the BBC and asked the executives up on the sixth floor that he walked in with the TV movie of the week. They would’ve said we gave you the money for a regular episode and you give us a TV movie of the week that we now have to figure out where to fit it in the schedule he would’ve gotten in a lot of trouble but today in video we can see it the way the Director and the producer originally intended it to be seen which is really nice. Hope you got to see it that way although we’re probably gonna do it the way you do these reactions in pieces .
You can tell this story was written by HP Lovecraft fanboys, just like the writers of The film Alien, you’d be amazed how many films and sc-fi stories are inspired by the father of cosmic horror and just how may writers worship him
Superb story. Cannot believe you're at the penultimate story!! Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us - it's been wonderful to come along!
I love this story to pieces. There's an extended version of this with a lot of cut scenes reinserted which is even better. This was originally intended to be the season opener, but got moved to the penultimate slot, making a line that's supposed to foreshadow Ghost Light a callback instead.
You can see how settled Ace and 7 are. She bounces off his plan almost *immediately* to sneak their way in.
One of the very best stories ever in the entire history of Dr Who.
I met loads of people from this, Tomek Bork (Sorin) Mark Ayres (music guy) Sophie and Sylvester who need no introduction and Ian Briggs and Nick Mallet, writer and director at a convention in Liverpool in 1990...
So nice to see the late great Nicholas Parsons from Just a Minute here as the priest.
This is the very best Seventh Doctor story imho. Even better than Remembrance of the Daleks. Eerie, spooky and weird! Working titles for the story were 'Sealed Orders' and 'The Wolves of Fenric'. Such a shame the show was cancelled after this season, it was really getting good.
I agree. Production-wise it really benefits from being location-based and the interior sets are brilliant, the special effects are well done (something that isn't the case in a lot of late '80s stories), with the exception of the two evacuees the supporting cast is superb, the music is wonderfully atmospheric and of course the story itself is excellent. A top 10 story for me.
@@jjc5407 absolutely spot on. I never saw the televised version when it went out and my first experience was with the VHS release and later, I saw the original version in the dvd release. It just has so many positive things going on.
The WW2 setting, the Soviet Commandos, the Curse itself, of course. Then there's the Doctor....well...he is at his darkest and most manipulative in this serial. He and Ace are both fantastic in this story. The settings are superb and the musical tone is perfect.
One of my all time favourite stories - so well done! As others have said, thank you for sharing this journey with us all.
One of the best stories of all time. There's a lot of subtext in this story and the characters have a lot of hidden depths which the waters are a metaphor for.
If you haven't seen it watch the special edition there was a lot of extra material filmed that had to be edited out so if you like the broadcast version its worth checking it out.
Easily the best McCoy story but also one of the best ever. Up there with Caves of Androzanni.
*Really* well filmed, this story. It's the one where you start out thinking "Nicholas Parsons? Really?" but he ends up doing a great job.
Sometimes JNT's stunt casting really worked.
@@OldManFerdiad Parsons started out as an actor anyway after WWII. He didn't start stand-up until 1952 and had a good stage career before then.
@@frankshailes3205 That's a common trap I've seen people fall into with the likes of Billie Piper, Kylie Minogue, Catherine Tate and - most recently - Aisling Bea. We might know them as pop/comedy stars, but they trained as actors.
@@frankshailes3205 agreed, he had a very solid career in Rep. By the late 80s practically everyone (including schoolboy me) thought of him as a gameshow host and definitely the sort of household name that would draw attention to the show. Seeing him in Curse of Fenric was a revelation, he absolutely delivers and shows how talented he is. I won't give spoilers but you know the scenes I'm talking about. As a grown up I've been a longterm fan of Just A Minute and was so sad to hear of his passing.
@@ftumschk yeah lots of comics in particular take on straight acting roles. Billy Connelly, Victoria Wood, Omid Djalili, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Gareth Hale (in an episode of The Last Detective starring Peter Davison), Andi Osho (Line of Duty), John Bishop, Rowan Atkinson, Bob Monkhouse to name just a few.
Hmm, it's just occurred to me that maybe that moment when the Doctor used the typewriter, (perhaps along with at varying degrees other times before like this but specifically here) was the very moment that inspired him to invent the Psychic Paper used in newWho..?
Brilliance. Shows NuWho what they should be doing!!!
Nail on the head! This is a 90 minute story that could stand up well in the modern era. NuWho rarely does 2 parters (ie 90 mins) well...
Ah the days before the physic paper, I love how when Terrance Dicks found out about it from RTD, he made a background story for it, and it became part of a few items given to the Second Doc by the CIA (Celestial Intervention Agency), when they sent Pat on secret missions, and then somehow he mislaid it in the wardrobe
I've just realised what it is that I love about watching yours, and a few others, reactions to Classic Who, and it took getting to this era for me to realise - - It was McCoy's era that I started watching as a "real fan" of WHO, reading all the magazines and books and everything I could, and then when we actually got new episodes to enjoy - WOW! I'd watch it, and then be on the phone for half an hour decompacting what I'd just seen with my best friend. Watching your comments at the end of each episode, the guesses you are making about what's going on, where it's going... It's what I've been missing throughout most of NuWho.
As for Fenric... Gold. :)
Mark Ayres' music is wonderfully atmospheric, isn't it? Although I've not heard/read him mention it, I'm pretty sure Ayres was inspired by Stravinsky's "Firebird" and "Rite of Spring", and there may also be fragments of musical DNA from Britten's opera "The Turn of the Screw" in there too. Whatever, it's definitely one of my favourite Classic Who scores.
I believe I have this on CD somewhere along with the score for The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. This one was definitely the better of the two, but then the other of course had to incorporate circus-style melodies which are rather less enjoyable to listen to in isolation.
This is my fav story from the McCoy era, and possibly my second fav 80s story after ‘The Caves of Androzani’. They really hit a high note in season 26 - I remember talking with my friends in school about how excellent the latest stories were… and then there was no series the following year :(
7 at his darkest....you can really see how Doctor Who would have progressed if only Mr Grade didn't have his way ....Great story for Ace too..Eagerly awaiting further reactions
Except Michael Grade was at Channel 4 by 1989. The series was cancelled by Peter Cregeen.
@@robalexander8065 Cregeen is still very proud of being the man that killed Dr Who! He directed some very good SF earlier in his BBC career including for Out of the Unknown...
Taking its influence from John Carpenter's The Fog. This is a brilliant story. It's not a spoiler but it adds something when you read the novelisation because Judson and Millington were lovers as young men and I believe Millington was responsible for Judson becoming disabled. On an unrelated note, my mum was an evacuee during the war and when she saw this, she said it was accurate.
Another story on broadcast as a child that terrified me.
My favourite story of rhe classics! Excited
Fenrir is the wolf in Norse mythology who kills Odin during Raganrok.
Possibly the best 7th Doctor story, but 100% one of the best all-time Doctor Who adventures.
God I love Ace so much
Such amazing development
one of my favourite stories ever!
The penultimate and possibly the best story. Ace definitively at her best.
Absolutely! Sophie Aldred gives her best performance in Dr. Who. And her 40s outfit really works for her.
This is a great story! One of my favorites from Sylvester's era, in fact. Lots of creepy stuff, and a great soundtrack on this as well.
And of course both Anne Reid and Janet Henfrey making their first guest appearances in Doctor Who. Both come back in the modern era.
I love that Anne Reid gets turned into blood-sucking monster in this one and reappears in Smith and Jones as a blood-sucking monster.
One of the very best 7th Doctor stories - classic!
One of my favourite stories. Up there with the best classic stories, as well as the new.
Also spot on casting.
Also no fat on the story at all, even the extended version (my preferred version) I don't think has much if any padding.
This story is bitter sweet. For one thing its excellent. Can easily hold its own against the best stories prior and future but it showed the potential that 7 and Sce could have offered if the BBC just took a chance.
For me, The Curse of Fenric is the best Dr Who story, certainly the best of classic Who & is only really beaten by the stand alone 50th anniversary special the Day of the Doctor! I grew up watching Tom Baker & Peter Davison as a kid but Sylvester McCoy is my favourite Doctor! None of the modern actors come close to what McCoy brings, the cold calculating puppet master willing to sacrifice anyone to win!
Day of the Doctor doesn't come close for me. There are a load of better stories than that one.
@@jjc5407 It's not so much about the story but the 100's of tiny moments calling back to 50 years of Who.
Brilliant story, probably one of the best from the 7th doctor.
My fave Classic Who story! Yays!
Mine too. Overlooked too often.
One of the best of all the Classic Who stories....and my favorite. Everything about it is brilliant.
One of my favourite Doctor Who of them all.
Woohoo! My favourite classic Who story! (In answer to your question, it was filmed at Durdle Door)
Durdle Door standing in for the North East Coast... hmm.
Originally this was going to be 1st story of the season & the debut of the brown jacket in place of the cream one, hidden under the Doctor's/Sylvester's duffle coat, since during the JNT era any major change to the Doctor's costume was rare.
Like S25, half of s26 aired out of order (though unlike s25 where continuity errors began appearing like Ace's Bag being destroyed in Silver Nemesis, then lost in the TARDIS during Greatest Show In The Galaxy & the ear ring being on her jacket in stories that aired before the one where she finds it, because of Greatest Show In The Galaxy & Happiness Patrol switching, luckily nothing like that happened with the S26 switching airing orders). In this case JNT felt Curse Of Fenric suited Halloween better than Battlefield which would've been the 3rd story of the season (which tbf imo it does), so it and Battlefield switched airing slots.
"I wonder where this is filmed"
Wales, in a quarry. It's always Wales in a quarry.
In this case, the coastal scenes were filmed at Lulworth Cove. Our family had been to that part of the world the previous summer so I was thinking "This looks a bit familiar..."
Well sometimes it's a quarry in Kent, as in 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'. Not far from where I live, and visible from the train from London to Dartford.
They rarely traveled to Wales between 1963-89, as production was based in London. Due to budgetary reasons, they rarely traveled outside the Home Counties.
The usual quarry they used was in Gerrards Cross.
@@dngillikin I believe only six Classic stories were filmed in Wales: Abominable Snowmen; Green Death; Masque of Mandragora; Pirate Planet; Five Doctors and Delta & The Bannermen. I might have missed one or two, but I'm not far off.
Something similar to this happened to me when I was swimming at the beach outside Butlins. But that's another story I haven't made up yet. This is a very Good story. Keep your eyes on Ace.
Good story, this. Although I've seen the original a few times, your video appearing in my timeline inspired me to look for the extended edition which is also very good!
A crypt seems the natural place for a cryptologist to be.
Good point!!
Lol! It's lucky he wasn't a zoologist ;)
An excellent story. The Special Edition is better, but the original is still one of the best.
Nicholas parsons was in doctor who. That is all I ask for in life and makes this story automatically perfect!
Battlefield was also a 4 parter
Sylvester had been wearing his coat on location with it being so cold, however production liked it and let him wear as part of costume
Yeah, the coat is perfect 7, and is the last touch his costume needed. Pity it came so late in his run.
@@williammcnirlan4820 had he not been wearing the question marks, it would’ve been amazing 🤩
The reason the doctor wears a big overcoat in this story is because this was the first story filmed for season 26, intended to be the season opener. So they wanted to hide the doctor’s new dark brown coat.
I'd like the first story to have subtitles when the cavemen speak Caveman. In Mandragora, could there have been a case for Italian with subtitles when the Doctor wasn't in the scene?
Curse of Fenric is such a classic 💪
I hope you got to see on Blu-ray and DVD the Directors cup and producers cut of this episode. It’s the way Mallard mallard meant to be seen and the way John Nathan Turner would’ve liked to been seen but had he walked into the BBC and asked the executives up on the sixth floor that he walked in with the TV movie of the week. They would’ve said we gave you the money for a regular episode and you give us a TV movie of the week that we now have to figure out where to fit it in the schedule he would’ve gotten in a lot of trouble but today in video we can see it the way the Director and the producer originally intended it to be seen which is really nice. Hope you got to see it that way although we’re probably gonna do it the way you do these reactions in pieces .
I loved this!!!
Not a spoiler but fenric is another name for loki
You can tell this story was written by HP Lovecraft fanboys, just like the writers of The film Alien, you’d be amazed how many films and sc-fi stories are inspired by the father of cosmic horror and just how may writers worship him
I could tell you an amusing story about when I met Nicholas Parsons.
Finally, the best Who ever made.