'Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric' (1989)

It's a little late in the day but I'm a busy man at the weekends and this Saturday has been no different, I was a man in demand all day... Okay, I had a drawing competition with my youngest daughter (along with a little nap while she watched 'Teen Titans Go!') in the morning and then helped my ex tidy up the back garden in the afternoon (along with making a roast in the evening and putting a now ill youngest daughter to bed). Doesn't have the same ring does it...? ;o)

Anyway, welcome to another post where I have a little natter about the Doctor Who stories of old and how they hold up today. If they do that is... Oh who am I kidding? As far as I'm concerned, they all do in their way. Even if the production is a little off on occasion, there's still a certain something about the writing that carries it through and that's all I need when I'm watching 'Old Doctor Who'. This week's post takes us back to 1989 and the penultimate story of the last season of 'Classic Doctor Who' (that sounds much better than 'old', doesn't it?) A story that freaked me the hell out, as a kid, and left me with no hope of getting any sleep after I watched it. Funnily enough, a story that is now one of my favourite 'Doctor Who' stories (probably sits very comfortably in my top five). Yep, it's time for 'The Curse of Fenric'...

The Doctor and Ace find themselves at a secret military base, during the Second World War, where elements of the British army are about to lure their Russian allies into a deadly trap. A far deadlier trap is about to be sprung though as an ancient evil stirs beneath the waters of the bay and an old Viking Curse comes to fruition. Only those with faith will survive and, even then, they may not have much left afterwards…

There is a vein of horror running through 'The Curse of Fenric' that really makes the story stand out among what I saw as the more sci-fi based tales that the rest of the series focussed on. Not only are we in 'Dracula Country' (well, the bit where he came to England anyway), and all that entails for the story, but 'The Curse of Fenric' also looks at the horrors of war and what this can do to a person who must live with these horrors every day. What you get as a result then is a tale that is really creepy as we see what lurks beneath the waves, of the bay, slowly start to interact with people who have either lost their faith or whose faith is misdirected as the war asks them more and more to make hard choices in the name of their country. What comes out of this is worse than seeing mouldering 'vampires' coming in from the coast but there's no disconnect between these two threats, they dovetail perfectly and just push the temsion being higher. It's a smart move that helps the story become even more compelling and there is just so much at stake.

I'll be completely honest... As much as I'm growing to like Sylvester McCoy's Doctor, he is nothing less than bloody annoying here. McCoy has the gravitas to really look like he's squaring up to ancient evil but he's also got a nasty habit of keeping it all to himself and just not telling anyone, He is quite happy to let everyone trail in his wakebut he won't tell anyone what's going on until it is literally dragged out of him. While there are reasons why he would do something, none of them seem to apply here and I was left wondering what was going on. It all kind of makes sense at the ending but in the bits leading up to it, the Doctor comes across as a bit stuck up and pompous, in the meantime, and that's a shame because he just isn't that kind of Doctor, not once you get to know him. All I can really say is that if the writers can find time to hint at a romantic relationship between Commander Millington and Professor Judson, then I'm sure they can find time to make McCoy a little less cryptic.

This isn't a showstopper though as 'The Curse of Fenric' focusses on what it needs to do, then goes ahead and does it really well. Even if you've seen it more than once (me!), you can't help but watch as the vampires slowly advance on the base while betrayal and counter betrayal are happening within. 'The Curse of Fenric' works for me on more than one level and is pretty much all I want out of a Doctor Who story. A devilish plot and some rubbery (but scary!) vampires. I'd say that if you want to see what Sylvester McCoy was all about (back in the day) then this DVD should be your first port of call.