The Curse of Fenric
(DVD)

 

Starring Sylvester McCoy
4 Episodes
1989
96 minutes (color)
Double Disc



 

 

Production Notes
Doctor Who
Sylvester McCoy

Ace
Sophie Aldred

Written by
Ian Briggs

Directed by
Nicholas Mallett
Produced by
John Nathan-Turner

Original Airdate
Oct 25, 1989 - Nov 15, 1989

US  Release Date
June 2004

Warner Home Video
#E1993

U.K. Cover


 

 

 

Cover Blurb
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 seas, and the evil Fenric is now free to summon his wolves to a killing rampage.

 


 

 

 
DVD Features
 

Disc One
All 4 episodes as they were originally transmitted in 1989.

 
  • Information Text:
 An incredible amount of trivia and tidbits of Whovian detail are provided.  The text appears intermittently along the bottom of the screen and is written by Richard Molesworth of the Doctor Who Restoration Team.
 

 

  • Modeling the Dead:

 A 5 minute featurette taken from a weekend marathon of Doctor Who stories shown on the satellite station BSB.  In this segment special effects artists Sue Moore and Stephan Mansfield show viewers how to create Haemovore masks.
 

 

  • Claws and Effect:

 A 17 minute featurette showing behind the scenes filming of visual effects testing both in the workshop and also on location.  To the more casual fan this will be very dry.  The added information text does help this featurette, but it is still one of the weaker bonus features included.
 

 

  • Title Sequences:

 Here the viewer is given two options when viewing the opening and closing titles without text (a.k.a. clean titles)...
 
5.1 Dolby Digital Mix

-or-

Stereo Mix		 NOTE: Due to an authoring mistake on the disc, the stereo version is, in fact, mono (and without the "whoosh" sound effects as well).  The 5.1 version works perfectly fine.
 

 
  • Photo Gallery:
 Lots of rare and never before seen photos taken during the production of this story.  Very nice.
 

 
  • Audio Options:

Two options given here...

The first option is a commentary track including Sylvester McCoy (Doctor #7), Sophie Aldred (Ace) and Nicholas Parsons (Reverend Wainwright).

The second audio option is the isolated soundtrack.  With this feature you will hear the music Mark Ayres composed sequentially as it appears in the episode (rather than edited together as in the case of "The Five Doctors Special Edition" DVD).  This does mean that there are long gaps of silence in between music cues.

 

 

  • Nebula 90:

 A 20 minute featurette containing footage from a 1990 convention called Nebula.  In it many crew and cast recollect the making of this story.  As with other cast/crew panels, this is a very interesting glimpse into the production (and only a year later from the perspective of the panel).
 

 

  • Take Two:

 "Take Two" was a BBC Children's program in the late 80's.  In this segment they follow the effects planning stages including meetings with producer John Nathan-Turner and director Nicholas Mallett with effects artists.  We then go into the workshop with effects artists as they attempt to create the those effects and finally on-location filming of "The Curse of Fenric" and seeing the recording process.  This featurette lasts about 4 minutes and is surprisingly good.
 

 
  • Easter Eggs:
 Two are included.  One is six minutes long and the other is nearly two...  One egg on each disc.  Highlight the space below to find details on the egg located on the first disc.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.

 

#1. CONTINUITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Go to the 'Special Features' menu on Disc One.
Click on the hidden Doctor Who logo to the left of the 'Claws and Effect'

 
 

Disc Two
A special extended "omnibus" edition with updated special effects, additional footage added, newly scored soundtrack cues, and other bonus features.
 

  • Shattering the Chains:

 A 25 minute interview with writer Ian Briggs discussing various aspects of the story and the process in creating it.  This interview gives quite a bit of insight into the nuances of this story.  Great featurette.
 

 

  • Recutting The Runes:

 A 15 minute featurette detailing the making of the special edition.  Mark Ayres is interviewed and talks extensively on the new cut of the story including additional scenes, editorial choices, and special soundtrack cues created for the extended version.  Again, very informative and entertaining.
 

 

  • 40th Anniversary Celebration:

 A specially created "music video" celebrating the first 40 years of the show's history.  The video uses quite a few clips spanning the entire history of the series.  A variation of the signature theme song (as performed by the group Orbital) is used in the video.  It runs for approximately 3 minutes.
 

 

  • Costume Design:

 Ken Trew talks about his costume designs for this story.  Approximately 17 minute in length, this bonus feature gives another great angle on the making of this classic story.
 

 

  • Special Edition:

 A special extended "omnibus" edition with updated special effects, additional footage added, and newly scored soundtrack cues all presented in a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound mix.  It is THE major feature presented on this disc.  No one is quite sure why it is the 5th item on the menu list.  This new extended cut breathes new life into an already great story.
 

 
  • Who's Who:
 A feature unique to the North American DVD releases.  It lists short biographical information on many of the actors involved in the story.
 

 
  • Easter Eggs:
 Two are included.  One is six minutes long and the other is nearly two...  One egg on each disc.  Highlight the space below to find details on the egg located on the second disc.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.

#2. MARK AYRES INTERVIEW
Go to the 'Special Features' menu on Disc Two.
Click on the hidden Doctor Who logo to the left of the 'Recutting the Runes'

 
 

 

 

 

 

Additional Notes
  • "The Curse of Fenric" is the third story of the final season of Doctor Who, and continues the Ace centered theme started in the previous story "Ghostlight."  The final story in the Ace arc is also the final Doctor Who adventure to be broadcast, "Survival."
  • Although seen near the end of the final season of Doctor Who, "Curse" was actually recorded first.
  • The working title for this story was "The Wolves of Fenric."
  • "The Curse of Fenric" is considered by many fans to be one of the best Doctor Who stories and certainly one of the best McCoy adventures.  If its not at the top of your list of videos to buy, then it should be.
  • This will be a two disc release.  The first disc will contain all 4 episodes of the story as it was transmitted back in 1989.  The second disc will be a special extended version.  The episodes will be edited together, and additional footage inserted (even more than was included with the VHS release).  Some of the special effects will be tinkered with and improved upon and new musical cues have been re-scored by original composer Mark Ayers. 
  • The Doctor Who Restoration Team followed closely the notes of the late director Nicholas Mallett in order to re-edit the "omnibus" version as closely to the directors original vision as possible.
  • An additional 5 minutes of footage is included in the DVD version.  The original VHS release had about 7 more minutes, giving this release a total of nearly 12 minutes of extra scenes not in the original transmitted version from 1989.
  • A Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix will be available on this DVD release.