Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death

Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death was a four-episode special of Doctor Who made for Red Nose Day in the United Kingdom, and broadcast on BBC One on 12 March 1999.

Notes

• When originally broadcast, the title of the story was Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death. In the VHS release, the title was simply reduced to The Curse of Fatal Death.
• The title "Curse of Fatal Death" is a tautology ("fatal" and "death" being words identical in meaning). This is not the first time such a play on words has appeared in a Doctor Who title (for example, The Deadly Assassin).
• The planet Tersurus was first mentioned in The Deadly Assassin, where a severely deteriorated Master, at the end of his last regeneration, was found. The spin-off novel Legacy of the Daleks by John Peel relates the events leading up to the Master's arrival there.
• Dalek bumps were originally referred to as "etheric beam locators" in the story Genesis of the Daleks.
• All the actors playing the Doctor in the special had been previously rumoured to have been up for the regular role at some point or another, including Lumley. Atkinson was one of many actors considered for the role of the Eighth Doctor in the 1996 Doctor Who television movie.
• Richard E. Grant was later cast as the Doctor in the animated 40th anniversary adventure Scream of the Shalka, though his Ninth Doctor was relegated to unofficial status following the announcement of a new series in September 2003.
• Jim Broadbent had previously played a spoof Doctor in a sketch on Victoria Wood, mocking the impenetrable continuity of 1980s Doctor Who.
• Steven Moffat is a famous fan of Doctor Who, and included many small continuity references in the script. He has subsequently written two episodes for the new 2005 series (The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances), and will pen a third for the 2006 series.
• Julia Sawalha's first major role was Lynda Day, editor of youth newspaper The Junior Gazette in the series Press Gang, created by Steven Moffat. She was considered for the role of the Doctor's companion during the series run, but turned it down. Prior to Fatal Death, a "what if" article in Doctor Who Magazine #255 featured her as companion to a hypothetical Eighth Doctor played by Richard Griffiths.