The Curse of Fenric

Time for the final game then.

The Curse of Fenric is a difficult story to fully judge. The broadcast version of the story was rather horribly edited mostly due to time limitations. Those edits were undone in a special edition released in 2003 which added 12 minutes of footage. Unfortunately, I have not seen the special edition so I can only judge the story based on what I've seen which is the broadcast version.

I've heard stories of how the editing and time compression make Ghost Light a difficult story to enjoy the first time around and The Curse of Fenric would seem to fall into that category as well. Perhaps most frustrating is watching this episode and knowing that there is so much good about it if it were just done better.

First the good. The use of location is very well done. The whole story is shot on location and it looks good. There is an ethereal feel that comes from the filming, which is also very 80's and appeals to my nostalgia. The acting was also good for the most part. Nearly all the actors turned in strong performances and it was quite good to see. I will also note that on the lecherous side of things, I enjoyed the quick flash of Sophie Aldred's garters in episode three. Since she was 27 at the time (even if she was supposed to be a teenager) I'm not going to feel creepy about it either.

Now the not so good. I did have a bit of a minor annoyance in that I had a very difficult time understanding some of the actors, especially the Doctor. Some of that is the accent combined with the rapid pace of speech, but I think the sound in general was not that great with this story.

But the real killer here is the editing. Nearly the entire time, you are filled with this idea that there is a big element of the story that is missing. It can be glossed over in the first couple of episodes as you wait for the back story fill in. But then the story progresses and no back fill comes. There are also hard jumps between story elements where it feels like you are entering mid-conversation. I had no idea why the story contained the bits where Ace met her grandmother and infant mother. It seemed like a long set up for the quick bit at the end to help destroy Ace's faith in the Doctor. There was also scant little information given about Fenric and the game that he played with the Doctor both in the past and now. More time also needed to be given over to understanding the Haemovores and why the Doctor trusted the Ancient One to turn on Fenric once his control was released. It just seemed too quick and easy a solution.

I can understand why people like this one and why it is considered the best Seventh Doctor story by some. Perhaps if I ever see the extended version I can revise my opinion. But judging it by the same merits on when it went it out, I can say that it left me more frustrated than entertained.

Overall personal score: 2 out of 5