Product Details

• Actors: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison
• Writers: Sydney Newman
• Producers: Peter Bryant
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: BBC Warner
• VHS Release Date: October 10, 2000
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000050ZF6
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,176 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
For an entire generation who hid behind the sofa during the scary bits, jokes about Doctor Who are almost inescapably funny. "The Curse of Fatal Death," an extended sketch for Comic Relief, stars more unlikely actors and comedians as the Doctor than anyone could have imagined plausible--Rowan Atkinson, to begin with, and both Hugh and Richard E. Grant. The last-named performance indeed gives one uncomfortable thoughts about roads not taken, as does Jonathan Pryce's remarkable tribute to Roger Delgado as the Master. The tape is filled out with an informative behind-the-scenes documentary and three Doctor Who-related sketches by Victoria Wood and Jim Broadbent, by Lenny Henry, and by French and Saunders. This last sketch, never before shown, with French and Saunders as extras playing reptilian aliens, is particularly hilarious. --Roz Kaveney

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'll explain later--just watch this video., April 13, 2002

By	Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

OK, they had The Three Doctors, the Five Doctors, and The Two Doctors, not to mention pairings of Doctors in the New Adventures and Missing Adventures. Well, how does five Doctors in a short comic special sound, especially if one of those Doctors is Rowan Atkinson?

The show mentions a lot of the cliches that made Doctor Who the show it was. To avoid program discontinuity or lengthy answers to questions, there's "I'll explain later." Then there's the escape up the ventilation shaft, endless gravel quarries. That's not to say the Comic Relief special disrespects Doctor Who, but merely has a lot of fun with it.

And talk about intentionally ridiculous dialogue! "The deadly vengeance of deadly revenge." And my personal favourite, "Prepare for 300 miles of fear and feces."

The end of episode I is a gag lifted from a scene in the revamped Star Wars, the part where Han Solo chases some stormtroopers on the Death Star and then...

Jonathon Pryce plays the Master (Evita, Tomorrow Never Dies, Stigmata) and probably has the most fun in this special. With the widow's peak and goatee, he's clearly modelled after Roger Delgado's Master, but he is really OTT, bringing about a manic megalomania that's exaggerated to amuse. He has the best lines here as well.

If they ever bring the show back, I'd nominate Julia Sawalha as a companion or a regular. Perky, gentle, bubbly, she's got the right stuff. I liked her here and in A Midwinter's Tale. More thrilling than an army of cybernetic slugs? Definitely. In simple terms, the most warm and lovable companion since Jo Grant.

And Rowan Atkinson or Hugh Grant would be perfect candidates to play the Doctor, although Hugh Grant has Hollywood commitments, and as much as I like the man, Rowan Atkinson seems to have peaked with Mr. Bean. Unless the show is spectacular and remains essentially British while still catering to Americans, a new series seems unlikely.

Wait, there's more. There's a making of documentary, Comic Relief Uncovered, that's about 26 minutes long. It's full of bloopers, behind the scenes stuff, interviews with the cast and crew, and clips from the original stories. I even found out how they make cobwebs, glue sprayed from an aerosol can. There are also scenes from amateur Doctor Who productions, and people who make TARDIS consoles and Daleks for them. It's a passion more than a mere hobby for these dedicated people.

Then there are three Who sketches from British TV programs--French and Saunders, Victoria Wood On TV, and The Lenny Henry Show, all which total 14 or so minutes. We are so isolated from what little we get of British comedies, except for more successful ones like Monty Python, Are You Being Served?, Allo Allo, Keeping Up Appearances on PBS or A&E, or the few video releases without esoteric references that only a Briton would understand, that anything else seems exotic.

Anyway, the French and Saunders sketch sends up Colin Baker's Trial Of A Timelord story, with jabs at program continuity, and the robot dog K9. French and Saunders play two silly, flibbertigibbet actresses playing Silurians who give the director of the story headache after headache. Comment: the actor is obviously doing the Tom Baker Doctor, but he seems to have stolen his scarf from Harry Potter.

The Lenny Henry sketch of Oct. 1985 is another jab at the Colin Baker era, especially the cancellation crisis, technobabble, Cybermen, and Margaret Thatcher. It's brief but fun.

Any Doctor Who or Rowan Atkinson fan will appreciate this spoof special. I know I did.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Curse of Fatal Editing, July 12, 2002

By A Customer

The earlier reviews posted here have pretty well covered the merits of the plot, but a brief note is needed on the technicalities, as this story has been re-edited for video.

When it was shown on television, "The Curse of Fatal Death" was in four parts, each one ending in a cliffhanger. But BBC Video, always happy to throw in a spoiler where it can, has chosen for no good reason to pointlessly spoil this story by re-editing it into a 2-parter.

So do be aware that this video is not what was presented on television.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Long on humor; short on time, March 20, 2001

By	tropic_of_criticism - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The primary content of this tape is not what the box would have you believe. The bulk of the material is not actually "The Curse of Fatal Death". Mostly this tape is a making-of vignette and a collection of three other brief DOCTOR WHO parodies. You'll probably be a bit disappointed if you buy this thinking you were getting a full-length parody episode.

However, if you understand you're buying a product which showcases the lighter side of the longest-running science fiction television show in history, then you'll likely be well-pleased.

"The Curse of Fatal Death" is itself incredibly good. Its only real fault--its length--is actually a hidden strength. Though its meager run time is unfortunate, this brevity also serves to tighten the comedy. There's very little time to do much BUT laugh. To be sure, DOCTOR WHO fans are going to get the most fun out of the piece, because they know what's being lampooned, but such a star-studded cast--including film stars like Hugh Grant and Jonathan Pryce--lends broader appeal to the general British comedy fan as well. The piece, after all, was part of a much larger COMIC RELIEF effort.

After "Curse" ends, however, the tape becomes of greater interest to DOCTOR WHO fans. A splendid "making of" vignette follows immediately. It may be the only such work which is actually longer than its subject. Chief amongst all the questions it answers is why all these celebrities were involved with this project in the first place. For serious fans of the show, it's got lots of great material on how Daleks work and the best way to build a TARDIS set in your spare time. But maybe most importantly, it shows that the reason "Curse" worked so well is that the people writing it were genuine fans of the show itself. This point is amply underscored by the presence of three other sketches, which, with the possible exception of the previously unaired French and Saunders bit, mostly show how easy it is to make a bad parody. Still, DOCTOR WHO completists will like to have even these sub-par sketches, because they only go to prove the point of DOCTOR WHO's longlived popularity.

[PARENTAL NOTE: Though DOCTOR WHO is itself largely an inoffensive kids' show, "The Curse of Fatal Death" was written for an adult audience. It was originally aired as a part of Comic Relief UK. As such, it contains some sexual suggestion and slightly off-color humor which is unusual to the series as whole.]