Doctor Who - Black Orchid (DVD)

Arriving in 1920s England, The Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan find themselves on the Cranleigh estate where they enjoy the hospitality of an old-fashioned cricket match and the promise of a costume party. Introduced to the occupants, the travellers are intrigued to find that Lord Cranleigh's daughter, Ann, is the spitting image of Nyssa, but with food, drink and music to dance to, they quickly start to enjoy a rather more pleasant outing than their usual adventures. But in the depths of Cranleigh Hall lurks a secret. A murderer is on the loose, and when the Doctor is accused of the heinous crime, it soon becomes a tricky case of mistaken ...  Read the complete review

It may be considered that the writers of Doctor Who sometimes sat down and decided that either the actors, or the budget, or the special effects, needed a break from the grave peril and fighting that the Doctor invariably found himself in. That, instead, a more gentler narrative was, at times, called for, one which would have some element of danger within it, but not to any great effect. If this was their intention then we may surmise that "Black Orchid" falls into this category. Concerning the fifth Doctor and his companions Tegan, Adric and Nyssa, the plot commences with The TARDIS landing at a railway station on Earth in 1926. Somewhat to ...  Read the complete review

Peter Davison Doctor Who story from his first season as the doctor. Many stories from the 80s era of Doctor Who get a very rough ride by critics. This is NOT one of the classics. Peter Davison sums up the problem well in the commentary when he states that this was basically a low grade Miss Marple which the BBC did well when it actually WAS Miss Marple but here we are supposed to be dealing with Science Fiction and where is the sci-fi?. It seems to have been 'hack' written, during a time when the Doctor Who office was struggling to find talented new writers of sci-fi. The story is set in 1920s England and the Doctor and his companions arrive and ...  Read the complete review

Black Orchid was originally broadcast in March 1982 and was the first 2 part story since The Sontaran Experiment in February 1975. The Tardis arrives on Earth in 1925 when after a case of mistaken identity the 5th Doctor ends up taking part in a cricket match. Afterwards the Doctor and his companians (Nyssa, Tegan and Adric) are invited to a masked fancy dress ball at Cranleigh Hall by Lord Cranleigh (Michael Cochrane) who is very impressed by the Doctor's performance in the cricket match. "First class bat and a demon bowler", he says. During production Peter Davison genuinely bowled out the batsman he was facing. Lady Cranleigh (Barbara Murray) is ...  Read the complete review