Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding, Matthew Waterhouse, Barbara Murray, Moray Watson, Michael Cochrane, Ivor Salter, Ahmed Khalil, Brian Hawksley, Gareth Milne
Written by Terence Dudley
UK certification PG | UK RRP £12.99
DVD Region 2 | Runtime 49 minutes
Directed by Ron Jones
Now here's a funny thing. This is easily one of the crappiest Doctor Who stories ever made (well, up until the Sylvester McCoy era, anyway). But it does have what is probably the best commentary track ever on a Doctor Who release. More on that in the discussion of the Extras.
Black Orchid is a simple little two-parter that takes place in rural England in June of 1925. It's basically a murder mystery, very Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie in tone and execution. The Tardis arrives at a railway station, where the Doctor and his companions — Nyssa, Tegan and Adric — are surprised to be met by a chauffeur who appears to be expecting them. They are taken to Cranleigh Hall, where they learn that the Doctor has been mistaken for a doctor friend of the family who was on his way down from London to play cricket. After the match the gang are invited to stay for a masked ball, and there are some hijinks involving a couple of bodies and a strange South American chap with a huge bottom lip. The Doctor is accused of murder, and Nyssa has a double, Anne. All in all, this is a most silly episode (see the Extras for details on what the actors think of it). There's very little action, some awful dialogue, shoddy "stuntwork" and a story that is as dull as dishwater. Davison clearly appears as though he'd rather be anywhre else, and the only other member of the cast who appears to be having any fun at all (watch the outdoor scenes closely and marvel at how the actors take the nasty weather in their stride) is Fielding, who performs a mighty mean charlston. But despite this, Black Orchid is certainly not Doctor Who's finest moment.
EXTRAS **** "I have to confess in advance, although I'll try to find positive things to say about this, but this is not my favourite story," says Davision. "Me neither," says Fielding. "Nor mine," chips in Waterhouse. And thus the commentary is off to a roaring start, and it just keeps on getting better. Davision doesn't pull his punches regarding his disdain for this particular Who outing: "Terence Dudley wasn't my favourite writer and I think this is a kind of lazy story. It's not really related to any kind of science fiction; it's almost as if, dare I say it, he'd got it out of the drawer having written it for something like a Victorian mystery sort of thing and turned it into a Doctor Who story." And so it goes in the same vein for both parts of the episode. They all say it's a badly-done melodrama without enough sense of fun. What is fun, though, and has been well documented over the years, is the wicket that Davison took during the first episode, which was caught on film. Davison enjoys the chance to boast about his cricketing skills, and yes, the footage of him clean bowling the batsman is indeed genuine. "Look at that action!" he exclaims in delight. Anyway, for the rest of the commentary, you'll have to buy or rent the DVD. And if you do, the other extras that you will be able to enjoy are: Now And Then, a featurette about the locations; deleted scenes (parts of which are in black & white); a documentary about the film restoration; a Blue Peter clip; a featurette about the fifth Doctor in comics, called Stripped For Action; an episode of the BBC's Points Of View; a photo gallery; trailers for future Doctor Who releases; and Radio Times listings. But all in all, this is worthwhile simply for the commentary.