The Curse of Fenric is the third story of season 26. Supposedly it was meant to be the first story of the season but this doesn't matter. It stars Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace, and it starts with spooky music and some mannys on a boat. They have guns and subtitles, because they are Russian soldiers. I wonder if those guns are Chekhov's guns?
The TARDIS arrives in a field and the Doctor and Ace come out. British soldiers capture them and the Doctor escapes by trying the "act as if you own the place" plan that didn't work so well back in Silver Nemesis, but which does work out for him here. This is a minor bit of internal continuity that often goes unremarked by Doctor Who fans, perhaps because it doesn't feature a returning old monster, UNIT, or Atlantis?
The Russian soldiers decide to dispense with their subtitles and speak in English from now on. This scene ends up having a (probably unintentional) resemblance to a certain Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch.
The Doctor and Ace go in to meet Dr Judson, who is played by the superb Dinsdale Landen, best known to us cats for being Matthew Earp in Thriller. Purr, I can tell we're in for a treat with this story. They impress him by knowing things from the future that he has only just invented, which is one of the simplest but most effective means of using time travel as a plot device. The Doctor fakes up a letter that allows him to be there for when the "we own the place" effect wears off.
One of the soldiers finds a photo of Dinsdale Landen on the beach, which he decides to keep for later. Naughty soldier! But I can't find it in me to blame him for that, any cat would have done the same.
Already it seems it is time for sleeps, or maybe the Doctor and Ace are just tired out from the excitement of meeting Dinsdale Landen, so they go to bed.
One of the soldiers gets chased by a good old-fashioned Point Of View Monster.
Who's this in the next scene playing a vicar..? Nicholas Bloody Parsons! He's outside a church arguing with another manny without using hesitation, repetition or deviation. The Doctor successfully interrupts him (and so gains an extra point) so that he can get taken to Dr Judson, who is now in the church crypt looking at Viking runes.
Commander Millington has a Nazi office, just in case it wasn't obvious enough yet that this was World War 2. Dr Judson and Commander Millington have a machine to break the Nazi secret codes.
The Doctor and Ace go to the beach where the soldiers were earlier and find the packet that they left behind to be a clue. The Doctor seems to be making up clues of his own when he says
"Where have they come from? From the north, like Vikings."
Back at the church, the Doctor sees Nicholas Parsons has a translation of the ancient Viking runes in his basement. Why didn't he do that when he was at the church earlier? The Doctor is going from location to location, collecting clues and plot points along the way, like he's a character in a point-and-click computer game.
Ace is still at the beach where she sees two other mannys go swimming but Ace doesn't join in because, like cats, she doesn't want to get wet. There is sinister music in the water, proving that Ace is sensible. Like cats.
The Doctor takes Nicholas Parsons's translation to give to Dr Judson. Use BOOK on DR JUDSON.
A soldier throws a thingy into the sea and a monster's paw catches it, giving us our first glimpse of the POV Monster from earlier.
The Doctor and Ace meet a group of mannys and they have a tiny manny with them. The tiny manny is called Audrey, and this annoys Ace because it is the same name as her mother's name - Ace obviously not wanting to get confused by there being two characters with the same name, which is an understandable concern. Commander Millington comes in and says they have 24 hours to get rid of the tiny manny (or else they're off the case), so he clearly doesn't like to be confused either.
Commander Millington is also interested in the Viking translation because it is full of foreshadowing. He reads it out loud for our benefit:
"'I warn of the day when the earth shall fall asunder, and all of heaven too. The wolves of Fenric shall return for their treasure, and then shall the dark evil rule eternally.'
This is it, the final battle between the gods and the beasts. It's now, Judson. The Curse of Fenric."Clang!
The Doctor and Ace go back to the beach to look for more clues, and this time they find a ded soldier. Then a lot of other soldiers rush in from just out of camera shot and point their guns at them - cliffhanger!
While not exactly finishing on a first-rate cliffhanger moment, this is nevertheless a first-rate first part, introducing interesting characters and setting up an intriguing plot while keeping the monsters mostly unseen for now - properly old school.
On top of that, the presence of Dinsdale Landen seems like it is merely an added bonus. Purr.
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