Doctor Who (TV Series) Black Orchid: Part One (1982) User Reviews

A place for the Doctor's outfit, in this sweet little mystery.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 27 August 2015]

Lord Cranleigh is expecting the Doctor's arrival to take part in a cricket match, which he proves a worthy player. Nyssa is the spitting image of Anne Talbot, Lord Cranleigh's fiancée. They host a fancy dress ball, where Anne and Nyssa dress in the same costume. The Doctor wanders off down a secret passageway whilst getting ready, and his costume is taken. Whilst wandering the Doctor finds a body in a cupboard, while the thief of the costume dances with Anne, refuses to let her go, and murders a butler that tried to intercede.

Yesterday I watched the Unicorn and the Wasp, getting through it I thought of Black Orchid, the feel of the 20's I guess.

This episode feel so out of place in this series, it harks back to Hartnell's episodes. It's a good thing, a real change in pace and direction.

Really nice production values, they do historical better then they do space age, from the car, clothes and house to the ripping dialogue.

Is this possibly Adric's least irritating performance? I'm not noticing him so much. Michael Cochrane is always good for a ripping yarn.

I used to love my double VHS The Visitation/Black Orchid, they are both great stories.

This is actually a charming little tale. I find myself rather engrossed as I have absolutely no idea which way it's going to go. Some nice character work for Sarah Sutton too. Part 1 is a goody 8/10

"I've got a ripping idea!" A historical Doctor Who story.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 14 August 2007]

Doctor Who: Black Orchid: Part 1 starts as the TARDIS arrives at Cranleigh Holt train station at 3 O'Clock on June the 11th 1925, emerging from the TARDIS the Doctor (Peter Davison), Nyssa (Sarah Suton), Tegan (Janet Fielding) & Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) are greeted by a chauffeur named Tanner (Timothy Block) who works for Lord Charles Cranleigh (Michael Cochrane) & due to a case of mistaken identity the Doctor finds himself participating in a local cricket match. After the match Lord Cranleigh invites the Doctor & his friends to a masked fancy dress ball at his estate, the Doctor accepts although all is not as it seems as there seems to be someone or something loose in the house & it isn't friendly...

Episode 17 from season 19 this Doctor Who adventure was originally aired here in the UK during March 1982 & was Peter Davison's fifth story as the Doctor during his first season, directed by Ron Jones I really rather liked Black Orchid for what it was. This two part story (the show's shortest story since The Sontaran Experiment (1975) from season 12 & remained the shortest until the series ended) was written by Terence Dudley & was only commissioned because producer John Nathan-Turner disliked six part stories & since two episodes were left in season 19 this was the end result, I must admit I really liked the period 1920's setting & a lot of Black Orchid is building up the mood & atmosphere which I liked from the quaint cricket match to the costumes to the dialogue which is much better than usual as are the supporting character's. So far Black Orchid has moved along at a decent pace & I must admit it's one of the more unpredictable Doctor Who stories with a great air of mystery about it & I'm genuinely looking forward to Part 2 to see where it goes & what's going on. The story itself has featured no sci-fi elements at all apart from the TARDIS landing & has come across as an effective Agatha Christie style murder mystery which is just that bit different than usual & I've enjoyed it. Black Orchid has Nyssa look exactly like Ann for reasons I can't figure out because at the moment there's no reason for it, maybe it'll have more significance during Part 2.

This has to be one of the best looking Doctor Who stories ever & certainly one of the best stories from the 80's, the period is very well recreated in both the studio & on location at Buckhurst Park in East Sussex which was used as Lord Cranleigh's estate which was also used in the filming of Davison's opening story Castrovalva (1982). There hasn't been any monsters or a single bad special effect in Black Orchid for the simple reason there hasn't been any effects apart from when Nyssa & Ann need to be on screen at the same time, having said that I don't know if it's just me but I didn't think Ann looked like Nyssa anyway even though they are both played by Sarah Sutton, I think it was the totally different hairstyles that made them look so different to me. It was good fun to see Davison's Doctor play in a cricket match & judging by this he ain't half bad, he then gets out of his traditional Doctor outfit & spends most of the episode in a fetching silk bath robe!

Black Orchid: Part 1 is a departure from the normal Doctor Who story & I for one applaud that as it works very well, it has good production values, an engaging plot & has the Doctor play cricket, what more do you want?

An Undemanding Crime Drama

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 28 January 2014]

Landing in 1926 England The Doctor and his companions find themselves guests of Lord Cranleigh . Staying at Cranleigh Hall everyone are shocked to find that Cranleigh's fiancée Ann Talbot is physically identical to Nyssa . As things progress it becomes clear that Cranleigh Hall holds a very dark secret

Coming immediately after the pseudo-historical adventure The Visitation the production go all the way and introduce a purely historical drama for the first time since the mid 1960s . One criticism it deserves is deserves that it should have been broadcast between Four To Doomsday and Kinda where it would have contrasted better between two sci-fi tales , coming so soon after a story featuring renegade reptiles in 17th Century England the contrast is lost . It's also got one of those doppleganger/mistaken identity plots which like Meglos and Andriods Of Tara which is hardly groundbreaking and don't make the most involving of stories . Perhaps mindful of this the production team confine the story to a mere two episodes which is the first time since 1975 we've had a two episode story .

Black Orchid has a relatively languid pace which is in no way a criticism and feels and looks like one of those Agatha Christie mysteries broadcast on Sunday evenings . You do expect David Suchet to turn up at any moment introducing himself as a Belgian detective and everything benefits from a great deal of location filming . It also gives Sarah Sutton a chance to shine in a dual role and perhaps because it's a straight historical drama the regulars give much better performances than expected . The only fly in the ointment is contemporary characters entering the Tardis only to exclaim " Strike me pink " which damages the illusion you're watching the show combine realism with drama

Black Orchid might have been inconsequential and in many ways it is but taken on its own terms it is a very likable tale . The problem watching this in 1982 was the fan press was hyping up the next story which was hinting it was going to be very special indeed

A fun, charming little story

[ametaphysicalshark · 20 November 2008]

I quite like the two-part "Doctor Who" story format (with 25-minute long episodes, that is, although both "Revelation" and to a lesser extent "Resurrection of the Daleks" make good use of 45 minute long episodes). It's much preferable to such stories being dragged out to four episodes, and although most of such stories aren't stunning, and are ultimately rather small-scale, 'let's take a little break' stories, I find most of them thoroughly enjoyable, and "Black Orchid" to be one of the finest and most re-watchable of them all (along with the other Peter Davison story "The Awakening").

For the sake of convenience a lot of people refer to it as a 'whodunit', but it's not really a whodunit as we are with the criminal every step of the way. "Black Orchid" could be described as 'lightweight', and it is honestly quite a lot of fun with a lovely, humorous script by Terence Dudley, but the story is ultimately very tragic and sad, and succeeds on that level through the excellent makeup and Gareth Milne's solid performance as George, as well as good writing.

At just fifty minutes in length, "Black Orchid" is one of the most purely enjoyable "Doctor Who" stories. I don't think it quite manages to achieve genuine greatness outside of certain moments, but it manages to be a fun, light comic adventure in its first episode and an effective, more serious drama in its second. It's great to see the TARDIS crew relaxing, and the Doctor even plays cricket! The direction by Ron Jones is poor, though, and it's fortunate that this was such a small-scale story without any special effects outside the makeup, or it could have turned out much worse (*cough*Time-Flight*cough*), although I'll give Jones credit for doing a decent job on "Vengeance on Varos".

Good pure historical, the first and only one of its kind since the sixties.

8/10

Solid as heck.

[wetmars · 10/10 · 27 February 2020]

Damn, this really felt historically accurate. I just love the companions now.

Murder at the Masquerade

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 10/10 · 28 September 2019]

Review of both parts:

I can see why some fans do not like this story because really it veers quite far from what you expect from the show. It is more like an Agatha Christie story than a Doctor Who story.

Some fans never liked the pure historical stories which had no real science fiction element (other than the Doctor and his companions arriving in the TARDIS) and that type of story was dropped way back in the mid 1960s with Season 4's The Highlanders being the last one (and not a great one). However, I loved many of the pure historicals such as Marco Polo, The Aztecs, The Reign of Terror, The Massacre, The Crusade and The Myth Makers. I loved them because of their quality but also as a story type because it is not just a space travel show or a futuristic show, it is a time travel show and showing adventures in history makes use of that which I think is an important feature that makes Doctor Who special.

I love pseudo historicals where aliens attack in Earth's past or whatever but I also feel it gives added diversity and interest to sometimes just have an adventure in the past. As long as a story has the Doctor, his companions and the TARDIS that is enough sci-fi for me as long as the story is high quality for an occasional different kind of story. This is a perfect example because it really is superb quality in every way in my opinion and the Doctor creates a really fun interaction within the period setting whilst the TARDIS is used in a lovely way adding a bit of an H. G. Wells touch which works well for the period.

The TARDIS takes them to 1920s England where the Doctor is mistaken for another doctor who is meant to be arriving to play cricket and attend a party. The Doctor demonstrates his cricket skills in a fun segment and then they attend for the masquerade party and find a girl who looks miraculously like Nyssa and discover a murder. A mysterious man steals the Doctor's fancy dress and there is a terrifying and brilliant cliffhanger before the second episode steps up the creepiness and the drama. I find the whole story fun, engrossing and beautifully done.

All the guest cast are superb with Moray Watson, Michael Cochrane and Barbara Murrey putting in fabulous performances as rich and interesting characters. The dialogue is wonderful with intelligence, charm and great delivery. The plot is excellent for a murder story and the additional Doctor Who elements just add the magic icing on the cake.

The mystery disfigured man adds a fantastic gothic horror feel and some really scary moments and the make up works really well.

The fire is done brilliantly, the period setting is magnificently evocatively created and there is lots to enjoy with little fun touches like Tegan dancing and Adric greedily devouring the buffet which I find hilarious. In fact, Tegan has never been better or more likable and Nyssa and Adric are the most fun they have ever been. Peter Davison puts in a strong performance as The Doctor and even the cricket playing adds an extra something different.

I love this story and the ONLY thing I find less than perfect is the coincidence of Nyssa looking exactly like Ann. Even that is really not a problem and has been done lots of times in Doctor Who, not always this effectively. The double role is achieved very well technically and works in the context of the story.

I cannot really fault this adventure apart from the coincidental lookalike/soundalike for Nyssa so I rate Part 1 as 9.5/10 and Part 2 it is just about a 10/10 in my opinion as I find it thoroughly enjoyable and so does my young son who is not usually interested in classic Who.

I feel it was heavily influential of the 10th Doctor story The Unicorn and the Wasp.

My ratings: Part 1 - 9.5/10, Part 2 - 10/10.