Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: Black Orchid

Doctor Who: 

Black Orchid 

By Terrance Dudley

“It wouldn’t be Cricket.”

The TARDIS arrives on a train platform in 1925  at  Cranleigh Halt and is mistaken for someone else.  This actually works out for The Doctor and his companions as they get to get some well-deserved rest while The Doctor gets to play in a Cricket match for Lord Charles Cranleigh’s side. Things are going great as The Doctor is able to bring Lord Cranleigh’s side to victory and on top of that get invited to a masquerade party. 

Everything is going really well.  Adric gets to eat and eat some more, Tegan is dancing the day away and Nyssa and her exact double Ann Talbot are having fun wearing duplicate costumes and making people wonder if it is Ann or Nyssa.  Unfortunately whenever The Doctor is involved something always goes wrong or in this case trouble is following him. It appears that the Doctor’s curiosity has gotten the best of him when he decides to follow a hidden passage in his room.  This leads to another part of the manor where Geore Cranleigh is kept. 

Apparently when he went in search of the Black Orchid the natives took offense and tortured him something nasty.  Lady Cranleigh has kept George in this part hidden from everyone and in the care of Latoni.  Well George is free and not very happy.  He has already killed his doctor and hid it in the closet where the body is discovered by The Doctor.  Now George is loose and wearing The Doctor’s Harlequin costume and searching for Ann and killing the butler in the process.  Unfortunately for The Doctor he is accused of the murder and must find a way to clear his name and prevent George from killing again.

Black Orchid was the story that John Nathan – Turner wanted to justify the Cricket costume for the Fifth Doctor. So they spend a majority of the first episode playing cricket and having a good time.  I actually found it interesting a good change of pace to see The Doctor and his companions enjoying themselves for once.  Plus it is cricket after all and for some of us American fans it was our first exposure to the sport even if it was a small sampling. Loved the 1920’s theme of the story as the party looked really fun and of course the music wasn’t bad either. 

Black Orchid is an interesting story with the crazy brother locked in the attic of the manor with a handler who does not know how to tie a knot.  It was a good side story and in fact there was hardly any science fiction involved with the exception of traveling in the TARDIS.  So this mystery of a story was outside the norm for Doctor Who and completely different.  The Fifth Doctor era is noted for trying different things and that really highlights the era.

But more importantly Black Orchid was a Nyssa story or more importantly a Sarah Sutton story as she played two roles.  She played Ann Talbot who was the exact twin of Nyssa.  Sarah Sutton was able to take center stage and show some acting skills instead of being the brainy girl.  Black Orchid is a fun story to watch from time to time even though it isn’t one of the better ones but it is a simple story and like I said it is a fun one to watch.

Grade B -