The Curse of Fenric

SYNOPSIS Ace and the Doctor arrive at an army base in World War II. The base is home to the Ultima Machine, a device able to decrypt coded German signals. Shortly thereafter, the base is invaded by Russians after the Ultima Machine and Vampires (er, haemavores) after a "treasure" which happens to hold Evil, who sometimes goes by the name Fenric.

In the course of the story, friends are made and betrayed, Ace discovers more about her mother than she knew, and the Doctor's past catches up with him.

REVIEW Fenric has managed to stay as my second favorite Doctor Who story for over a decade, now. (Ghost Light is my favorite.) This is despite the excellent New Adventures of Doctor Who (Virgin Publishing's book series) and the many audio adventures (some of which have been excellent). So I was thrilled when it came to DVD. Thrilled enough that I bought it before it was available in the US. (OK, so I was a bit eager.) Hey, I'll be the same way with Ghost Light. And probably The Happiness Patrol and That Circus Episode of Doctor Who (AKA The Greatest Show in the Galaxy).

The DVD boasts a "Director's Cut" which, alas, was done after the director has passed away. But Mark Ayres (my favorite of the Doctor Who composers) had the original notes and they dusted off the extended scenes, remastered the music, and put together a movie-version of the story that improves upon the already exceptional story. They include the original story as aired, for those who prefer the original. And that has an entertaining commentary by Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, and Nicholas Parsons (the vicar, Wainwright). Definitely worth getting early. :-) (OK, so it's probably worth waiting for too, but in this day and age, who wants to wait?)

PRODUCTION INFO Produced by BBC in 1989.

AVAILABILITY Available.

• Play.com: £11.99 (Region 2 & 4 DVD)
• Choices Direct: £16.99 (Region 2 & 4 DVD)
• DeepDiscountDVD: $26.23 (Region 1 DVD)
• Buy.com: $29.62 (Region 1 DVD)

VHS Video: Amazon.com has the NTSC video for $4.96.

SOUNDS As with all my wavs, I have compressed and uncompressed versions.

For the regular 11,025 Hz, 16 bit, Mono sounds, click on the button. For the compressed MPEG Layer-3 sounds, click on the button.

Phyllis (or is that Jean?): "Don't be such a baby doll!"

The Doctor whistling like a bird.

"Evil! Evil since the dawn of Time!"

Phyllis and Jean: "There's evil in the wotuh!"

"Nyet!"

Doc7: Speaking Russian
Ace: "I only took French O Levels."

"Go to Sleep!"

"Oh whine, whine, whine, whine."

Jean (or is that Phyllis?): "You should have come into the wotuh wiv us!"

The Doctor.

Ace in period clothing.

Snow on set - let's hear it for brollies!

Sophie, Sylv (bearded?) and Nicholas Parsons.

The Doctor and Ace in front of St. Jude's.