Doctor Who Story 121: Black Orchid by Ron Joens (1982)
8 April 2009An honestly very mediocre two parter starring Peter Davison as the fifth Doctor. This one is really a throw away, and not too enjoyable, except seeing Tegan dancing and having fun. Not much of a good episode, but it was followed by the excellent Earthshock. This is also only a 2 episode story, so it does seem like filler, and the unexplained woman who looks just like Nyssa is not very well used, and not at all very good. Pretty much just a waste.
In a house in the English countryside two people figtht, and a servant is killed. The killer goes into the room of a young woman. We then see the man tied to the bed, and guarded by an American Indian. The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) plans to take Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) and Adric (Matthew Waterhouse), but the Tardis takes them to Earth in 1925, they arrive at a train station, and when the step out a chaffuer walks up to them and tells them that Lord Carnleigh (Michael Cochrane) is expecting the Doctor. Intrigued they get in the car. They arrive at the estate, and Lord Cranleigh is blown away, because Nyssa looks just like his fiancée. Meanwhile they get the doctor into their Cricket game, and he proves both good at bowling and batting, and wins the game for them, so they take them up to the house for the nights events.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
They meet Lady Cranleigh (Barbara Murray) as well as Sir Robert Muir (Moray Watson) the constable in the area, who congradulates the doctor on his cricket skills, saying he is worthy of the Master, though he means the other Doctor W. G. Grace (which I assume is a cricket joke). And they tell them there is a fancy dress party than night, and Lord Carnleight says he has costumes for them all.
They also meet Lord Carnleight’s fiancée Ann Talbot (also Sarah Sutton) and everyone is amazed. They all order drinks, Tegan getting a screwdriver, and the rest Lemonades.
Tegan sees a black Orchid in the lviing room, which Lady Cranleigh says was found by her eldest son George who was an explorer, and botanist, but died in the Brazillian rainforest. Anne and him had been engage to him before he disappeared.
We see the bound figure struggle and escape, and the Indian is hit on the head.
Lord Cranleigh takes the Doctor and Adric to take showers and get dressed, giving the doctor a clown outfit with mask.
Nyssa is given an identical outfit to Ann’s, by Ann to confuse everyone, though Tegan learns that Ann has a mole to tell them apart. They join the party, and Tegan even gets to do the charleston.
While the Doctor showers the figure comes in from a secret passage and takes his costume, the Doctor sees the passage and goes into it.
The man in the Doctors costume comes in and dances with Ann, and brings her inside.
The Doctor follows the passages and finds a room filled with stuff from from George’s travels as well as a dead servant in a cupboard. He runs into Lady Cranleigh and the Brazillian indian named Latoni, and shows them the body, who she identifies as the servant, and asks him to keep it quite until after the ball as to not alarm the guests.
The figure in the Doctor’s costume grabs ann, and when a butler rushes to aid it kills him, causing Ann to faint. It them returns the costume, but when it goes to Ann’s room, Latoni captures the horribly disfigured man.
Lord Cranleigh is told about the killing, and when the Doctor arrives in Costume Ann says he is the killer, so Sir Robert wants to arrest him, and send the guests home. The Doctor look to Lady Cranleigh to tell them what they just saw, but she remains mute. So the Doctor tells the truth that he is a time traveller like in H.G. Wells, and in the cupboard is now a doll. The also find out that the Doctor that was supposed to play cricket couldn’t come, so they don’t know who the Doctor is, and they arrest him.
On the way to the police station they stop off at the train station, but the TARDIS is missing, but at the police station it is there, and the Doctor takes them inside, and proves he is not lying, and uses it to return to the Cranleigh house.
The figure has again escaped, this time killing Latoni, and then burns his way through the door to escape.The figure grabs Nyssa thinking it is Ann and runs to the roof, and the Doctor follows.
Lady Cranleigh reveals the figure is her eldest son George (Gareth Mine), which the Doctor had figured out from seeing the Orchid and Latoni.
Lord Cranleight admits the truth, that George was injured by indians for taking the orchid and was disfigured and had his tongue cut out, but he was saved by by another tribe which Latoni was a member and that George killed Digby the servant. Lord Cranleigh goes to confront George along with the Doctor. Nyssa is freed and George falls to his death.
At the funeral Ann gives Tegan and NYssa their costumes, and Lady Cranleigh gives the Doctor a copy of George’s book, the Black Orchid.
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Nothing too special about this one.
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