Plot hole: A line of dialogue in "The Curse of Fenric" indicates that the Russians planned to make their escape by "going to the North Way", in other words, escaping to Norway. However, the story is set in the summer of 1943, when Norway was under Nazi occupation. It would not be a smart idea for any Russian military personnel to head for Nazi-occupied Norway.
Plot hole: In episode 4 of "The Curse of Fenric", the weather is supposed to change for the worse and become very stormy. The Doctor and Ace are seen to be sheltering under an umbrella from the torrential downpour. Yet the skies in the background are bright, blue and sunny...
Plot hole: One sequence which makes little sense is when Ace triggers the booby-trap gas grenade on the chess board. Although the Doctor places a wastepaper basket over the grenade, the green toxic gas is very much present for the rest of the scene but does not harm either the Doctor or Ace, despite it being shown to have been lethal to the soldiers in a preceding scene. (NOTE: This error only applies the TV broadcast and the original video release; the error was noticed and corrected in 2003 for the DVD release of this Doctor Who story).
Chosen answer: No, it was the result of the Cybermen's draining Earth of energy to their world, that also affected the Doctor, draining his energy as well, causing him to regenerate.
Also In the episode it's said that his body was wearing thin.
Dan23