- You may wish to consult
The Curse of Fenric (disambiguation)
for other, similarly-named pages.
The Curse of Fenric was the sixth and penultimate episode in the Tales of the TARDIS series, released on BBC iPlayer on 1 November 2023 by the BBC, written by Pete McTighe and directed by Joshua M.G. Thomas.
This story consists of two newly recorded scenes bookending the omnibus version of the TV story The Curse of Fenric.
Synopsis[]
The Doctor and Ace meet again and remember their battle against an ancient evil in World War Two where a Viking curse is bringing the dead back to life.
Plot[]
Ace appears in the remembered TARDIS and looks around to find both the Seventh Doctor's hat and the baseball bat that she used to damage an Imperial Dalek. After the Seventh Doctor says that she gave the Dalek quite a beating, Ace embraces him before he takes his hat from her.
Ace tells the Doctor that he was a hologram the last time she saw him and he has become older. The Doctor goes on to explain that time streams are funny things and there are some time streams where he doesn't regenerate. After Ace explains that she was in a meeting when she appeared in the TARDIS, the Doctor explains that they are standing in a memory TARDIS where old friends come together to remember certain events.
The Doctor sits in a chair and moves a chess piece across the board before telling Ace that he thought about her every day. Ace says that she wishes she never left the Doctor, prompting the Doctor to tell her that the remembered TARDIS is forever and they can return to it whenever they like with a wish.
Ace remembers that she wished she was somewhere else, and she soon got her wish when she was transported to Iceworld by Fenric as part of his game of traps. She then becomes reluctant to remember her encounter with Fenric, but the Doctor tells her that they both should remember as pain comes to define them along with the joy. As the Doctor decides to remember the day that both he and Ace met Fenric, he takes Ace's hand as the memories begin to flood back.
Cast[]
Crew[]
Executive Producers Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter with Joel Collins and Phil Collinson |
Written by Pete McTighe |
Produced by Scott Handcock |
Directed by Joshua M.G. Thomas |
Director of Photography Ryan Eddleston |
Production Designer Phil Sims |
Visual Effects Painting Practice | |||||
Make-up Designer Julie Kendrick
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Casting Director Andy Pryor
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Music Sam Watts
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Costume Designer Pam Downe |
Edited by Joseph Keirle | ||||||
Original theme music by Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop • Titles by Painting Practice |
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Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources. |
Worldbuilding[]
- When Ace asks why he looks so old, the Doctor cryptically replies how "time streams are funny things" and that his regenerating is "all a matter of perspective."
- The Doctor mentions the Rani, and suggests she may have played a role in his and Ace's falling out.
- After she left the Doctor, Ace visited Kathleen Dudman before she died in a care home, and believes she recognised her as the young woman who helped her flee Maiden's Point for London.
- The chess set set up between the two chairs is set up in the same way the Doctor set up the game for Fenric. The Doctor also plays the solution.
Notes[]
to be added
Continuity[]
- A Red Kang flag hangs from one of the consoles. (TV: Paradise Towers)
- Ace finds her baseball bat while searching the console room, and the Doctor reminds her how she used it to destroy a Dalek. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
- The Doctor quotes himself when he retrieves his Panama hat from Ace, using the same words when he reclaimed it from her in Perivale. (TV: Survival)
- Ace says that the Seventh Doctor was a hologram the last time she saw him. (TV: The Power of the Doctor)
- Ace recalls how she met the Doctor on Iceworld (TV: Dragonfire) after being transported there by Fenric, as part of one of Fenric's games. (TV: The Curse of Fenric) This alludes to her and Hex being part of another one of his games. (AUDIO: Gods and Monsters)
- Ace recalls the deaths of Sorin, (TV: The Curse of Fenric) Mike Smith, (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks) Karra, (TV: Survival) and Bellboy. (TV: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy)
- The Doctor learns that he once again dropped off a departing companion in the wrong place. (TV: The Hand of Fear)
- Ace keeps her old jacket on a hanger in her office. (WC: The Promise)
- The Doctor mentions an encounter with the Rani as one of his and Ace's final adventures before they fell out. (TV: Dimensions in Time)
- As the Doctor and Ace prepare to take off, they take turns quoting the speech the Doctor gave as they left Perivale. (TV: Survival)