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BLACK ORCHID

2 episodes. Approx. 50 minutes. Written by: Terence Dudley. Directed
by: Ron Jones. Produced by: John Nathan Turner.


THE PLOT

The TARDIS materializes at a railway station in 1925, where the Doctor
is mistaken for a cricket player being sent for a match at a party at
Cranleigh Hall. The Doctor is happy to go along with this case of
mistaken identity, enjoying the chance to show off his skill at the
game. But Cranleigh Hall hides a secret - a mysterious figure, held
captive in a hidden room.

Soon, the Doctor and his companions are dealing with multiple murders.
The killings are somehow linked to Ann Talbot, who is engaged to Lord
Cranleigh (Michael Cochrane) - and who also just happens to look
exactly like Nyssa! It's a relatively minor murder mystery, a case of
family skeletons bringing themselves violently out into the light. The
sort of thing the Doctor can sort in minutes. Except the Doctor
happens to be the prime suspect!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Enjoys the chance to relax and play a game of cricket,
which he plays with preternatural skill. Shades of the Eleventh Doctor
playing football in The Lodger, as he joins a team suffering a
miserable defeat and transforms it into a victory with seemingly no
effort. When he's questioned for a murder in Part Two, he is unable to
make himself believed. The more he talks, the more he makes himself
look like a crazy man.  He finally just stops talking and gives up - a
scene Davison plays wonderfully.

Nyssa: This story gives Sarah Sutton a dual role. Though actual
character work is light, we do learn that Nyssa is an accomplished
dancer, part of her training on Traken - a detail that fits perfectly
with her established character. Despite her aristocratic bearing, she
is a young girl and can't help but be taken with Ann's suggestion of
doubling up their outfits for the party. As Ann, Sutton gets virtually
nothing to work with.  Ann doesn't even register as a character, just
as a plot device to justify Nyssa's being in danger at the end.

Adric: He can't dance, so spends the party stuffing his face at the
buffet table. Which actually may be one of the more reasonable things
he's done across Season 19! His general lack of common sense shows
itself when he responds to the Doctor's arrest by protesting that it's
Ann's word against the Doctor's... hardly the best way to try to
garner sympathy or even willingness to listen by either the family or
the police chief who is the family's friend.

Tegan: Opens the story by saying that she's decided to stay with the
crew and that the Doctor can stop trying to deliver her to Heathrow -
a major character shift, and one which apparently happened offscreen
between stories. It is nice to see Janet Fielding giving a more laid-
back performance, allowing Tegan to be something other than strident
and high-strung. Her scenes opposite Sir Robert (Moray Watson) show a
genuinely sweet side, and she seems to actually be enjoying herself
for a change.


THOUGHTS

Director Ron Jones' first Doctor Who story. Though fandom tends to
lump Jones in with Peter Moffatt as a director largely unsuited to
Who, I've long felt that he's gotten a bit of a bad rap. He's
certainly not up there with Peter Grimwade or Fiona Cumming, but he
does understand the value of dramatic lighting.  This greatly enhances
some of the scenes in the house, especially in the secret passages. He
also deals well with large groups of actors, cutting between different
groupings without losing track of where the characters are in the room
or making the scene feel like something out of a stage play. He may
not be a brilliant television director - but he is a competent one.

Black Orchid works better than most of the classic series' 2-parters,
thanks to a narrative that is deliberately slight. There are no
aliens, no science fiction elements, just a very minor period
melodrama about family secrets.  Just about right to sustain 50 fairly
laid-back minutes.

The first episode is quite good. The 1920's setting is impeccably
rendered, and this is a rare classic Who story with no embarrassing
production aspects. The tone is generally relaxed, with some pleasant
scenes of the companions enjoying themselves at a costume party. The
mystery is nicely built up in the background, from the cutaways to the
mysterious figure who escapes his bonds, to the Doctor's crawling
around the mansion's mazelike corridors after discovering a secret
passage.

Once the Doctor is arrested in Part Two, however, it all goes a bit
off the rails. There's a rushed and unconvincing scene in which the
Doctor convinces Sir Robert to let him show off the TARDIS. While this
little diversion is going on, the main story at the house becomes
rushed. All entirely avoidable, as the story doesn't actually require
the Doctor be taken off the grounds at all! Give that 5 - 10 minutes
over to investigation within the house, and the script could jettison
the silly TARDIS tour and give more breathing space to the
resolution.

Despite the flawed ending, Black Orchid is an entertaining little
diversion, a nice breather before the heavy action of Earthshock. The
first episode, in particular, has a pleasant overall atmosphere, and
both regulars and guest cast are in fine form. It could have been
better with a little bit of rewriting to the second episode, but it's
still highly watchable.


Rating: 6/10.

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