The Curse of Fenric - Plot

Plot

The Doctor and Ace arrive at a British naval installation near Maiden's Point on the Northumbrian coast during World War II. Befriending the base personnel, they learn that the base, run by Commander Millington, is being used as a listening post to intercept and translate German coded messages using the ULTIMA supercomputer, and to stockpile a supply of a lethal nerve gas. Meanwhile, wheelchair-bound Dr. Judson has also been using ULTIMA to help decipher Viking runes found in catacombs beneath the base, warning of a being called Fenric, which has attracted Millington's attention believing he can gain Fenric's power. Outside the base, the Doctor and Ace discover a covert Russian troop, led by Captain Sorin, who are seeking to capture ULTIMA for themselves; the Doctor warns them to stay low, while Ace and Sorin become smitten with each other.

The Doctor and Ace find a glowing Oriental vase, a treasure captured by the Vikings and left in the catacombs, but it is taken by Millington when they return to the base. As Millington and Judson prepare to use ULTIMA to decipher the writings on the vase, vampire-like Haemovores begin to emerge from the sea, attack and convert the English and Soviet troops and other residents into more Haemovores. When Judson runs ULTIMA with the vase, energy strikes Judson, and he becomes infused with Fenric. Fenric begins to give orders to the Ancient One, an old Haemovore in control of the other monsters, to continue to assault anyone in their path. Ace is able to warn one of the WRNS, Kathleen, in time for her to escape with her newborn child, Audrey.

The Doctor reveals he has previously faced Fenric, an ancient evil since the dawn of time, besting him by challenging him at a chess problem. Arranging another chess problem in the same room where the nerve gas has been stockpiled, the Doctor is able to delay Fenric while he runs off to seek a more permanent solution. Sorin, the last remaining member of his squad, enters the room and prepares to shoot Fenric, but Fenric reveals that Sorin is one of his "wolves", having descended from the Vikings that carried the cursed vase to the English shores, and takes over his body. When Ace returns to the room, she unwittingly helps Fenric, in Sorin's body, to solve the chess problem. The Doctor arrives too late, as Fenric can no longer be stopped. Fenric orders the Ancient One to attack the Doctor, but a psychic barrier created by Ace's trust in the Doctor prevents the Ancient One from acting. The Doctor is forced to reveal to Ace that she too is one of Fenric's pawns, as it was he that created the time storm that transported her to the alien world where she met the Doctor the first time. Furthermore, by saving Kathleen and Audrey, she has assured that the cycle remains unbroken, as Audrey will grow up to become Ace's mother whom she despises. Ace's faith shatters, causing the psychic barrier to drop, but instead of attacking the Doctor, the Ancient One grabs Fenric, pulls him into a sealed chamber and releases a lethal dose of the gas. The chamber explodes, killing them both. As the Doctor and Ace recover along the shore, Ace takes a moment to contemplate why she hates her mother and to absolve her irrational fear of the water before she and the Doctor return to the TARDIS.