Doctor Who: The Curse Of Fenric

3 min read

Mark Ayres’ synth-symphonic score to the penultimate Doctor Who story shot in Britain was the first complete score of a single Doctor Who story to be released in its entirety, and with good reason. Many people associate the music of Doctor Who with the abstract Dudley Simpson music of the 70s, and the slightly less abstract electronic music of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the 80s. In the twilight years of the show as it was originally broadcast, the music became somewhat more straightforward, owing a lot to the contemporary neo-classical treatment which science fiction is so fond of. However, unlike Star Trek, Doctor Who could only afford a boy and his synthesizer. In this case, the composer was Mark Ayres, a Doctor Who fan who had persistently bugged producer John Nathan-Turner into allowing him to work on the show. The first story Ayres scored was The Greatest Show In The Galaxy, which was released later (see below); the second – though it was the last of his scores to be broadcast – was 1989’s very sinister Curse Of Fenric, a four-part story which was a bit ambiguous on the point of whether the Doctor’s (Sylvester McCoy) means to his end in the eternal fight against evil were as bad as, or worse than, his enemies’ approach to the battle. It was an excellent show and got a lot of wonderful music which perfectly combined an 4 out of 4orchestral feel – very well achieved even on synths – with the electronic atmosphere which is typical of the series. I have but a singular complaint about the soundtrack from Fenric – the overuse of a cymbal crash sample which, after about the 100th time, grates on the nerves. This is one of two Who CDs on my Damn Near Perfect album list.

Order this CD

  1. introduction – Doctor Who theme (0:40)
  2. The Boats (0:47)
  3. Beach-Head and Rat-Trap (2:06)
  4. Sealed Orders (1:21)
  5. Eyes Watching (1:03)
  6. Commander Millington (0:47)
  7. Viking Graves (0:54)
  8. Maidens’ Point (1:17)
  9. The Translations (3:23)
  10. Audrey and Millington’s Office (2:13)
  11. The Curse of Fenric (2:32)
  12. High Stakes (0:34)
  13. The Crypt (1:21)
  14. The Ambush (0:42)
  15. The Well of Vergelmir (1:16)
  16. The Ultima Machine (2:00)
  17. Dangerous Undercurrents (1:02)
  18. The Seduction of Prozorov (1:54)
  19. Halftime Score (0:40)
  20. Exit Miss Hardaker / The Vicar and the Vampires (2:25)
  21. Stop the Machine! (2:25)
  22. The Haemovores (1:49)
  23. The Battle for St. Jude’s (4:27)
  24. The Mineshaft (1:51)
  25. Sealing the Hatch (1:55)
  26. House Guests (1:35)
  27. The Telegram (0:50)
  28. Evil from the Dawn of Time (1:10)
  29. The Storm Breaks (3:33)
  30. Ancient Enemies (3:46)
  31. Shadow Dimensions (1:10)
  32. Chemical Grenade (1:00)
  33. The Great Serpent (0:40)
  34. Pawns in the Game (3:16)
  35. Kathleen’s Escape (2:08)
  36. The Wolves of Fenric (3:08)
  37. Black Wins, Time Lord! (2:22)
  38. The Final Battle (2:48)
  39. epilogue – Doctor Who theme (2:12)

Released by: Silva Screen
Release date: 1991
Total running time: 71:02