Reid returned to Doctor Who as a Plasmavore named Florence Finnegan in the Tenth Doctor episode "Smith and Jones". Actress Janet Henfrey was a schoolfriend of Sophie Aldred's mother. Her character of Miss Hardaker was modelled on the part she played, again as a school teacher, in two Dennis Potter dramas: Stand Up, Nigel Barton (1965) and The Singing Detective (1986). Henfrey returned to the series as Mrs. Pitt in the Twelfth Doctor episode "Mummy on the Orient Express". Sylvia Syms was originally offered the part of Miss Hardaker but played the character Mrs Pritchard in Ghost Light. Broadcast and reception Paul Cornell, Martin Day, and Keith Topping described the serial as "something special" with "many magical scenes" in The Discontinuity Guide (1995). In The Television Companion (1998), David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker praised the direction and horror. In 2012, Mark Braxton of Radio Times awarded it four stars out of five. He wrote that there was "much to enjoy and admire" and suggested it as an influence on the revived Doctor Who in terms of companions. However, he felt that it was "as if three scripts have been rewritten as one", considering the plot was too convoluted and observing that the special effects were "a mixed bag". Christopher Bahn, reviewing the serial for The A.V. Club, also commented on its influence on the modern series, but felt it hadn't "aged well visually" and "often looks cheap and feels cheesy, but the way it takes chances and stretches the boundaries of what Doctor Who was about is admirable, even if that might have been too-little-too-late for a show that would be off the air in two months." He also believed it "starts strongly and has some terrific moments, but gets convoluted and confusing toward the finale." He criticised the "less-than-graceful dialogue" and special effects, and felt that Fenric and the Haemavores lacked sufficient background. Commercial releases In print Ian Briggs novelisation was published by Target Books in November 1990. The novel features additional character information and an epilogue featuring an older Ace after she has left the Doctor. This formed part of the basis for Ace's departure in Kate Orman's Virgin New Adventures novel Set Piece, where she chooses to stay in Paris to monitor a time rift and at some point has a relationship with one of Captain Sorin's ancestors. Home media The Curse of Fenric was