Monday, 5 August 2019

Who Reviews Black Orchid by Matt Rabjohns



"He won't harm her, he loves Ann!"
"And what do you think he will do when he realises, he has the wrong girl?!!"

Black Orchid is a small two-part oddity. But that is not in any way a downer on the massive amount of charm and pathos that get crammed into this delightful and yet tragic tale. What I mean by oddity is the fact that this story is not easily classifiable. An historic romp is not exactly correct, as romp implies some kind of good humour along the way, and actually Black Orchid is serious to a tee. And this is the first time in the shows history that the historical setting is not central to the story line, and no major historical happening surrounds the story either, which far from being dull is actually a nice touch and gives Black Orchid that totally standalone story feel.

What it has is Sarah Sutton getting to have a story where she is the focus. For a fan of Sarah's such as I, it is a delight to see her get a decent story for once. Sarah is one of the actresses you never hear many fans talking about, or I at least have never ever heard many people talking about the kind orphan Trakenite often. Sarah is though, a wonderful actress, and Nyssa never comes over as anything other than a wonderful, spirited and dependable character in Nyssa. And not only that, but a nice, charming character too. That she is so nice after her being an orphan and having lost her home world is another pointer to how great it is that she has not been turned into a stone by the fact. Her compassion and concern are wonderful to see in a character, and distinctly rare, one finds. It is wonderful to see her turn as Ann Talbot. She is very different to Nyssa. She is playful, but also very easily frightened as she is caught up in events as they quickly progress. Her scenes with Nyssa where they play with their identical costumes is mischievous and great fun.

There is just so much that is so rich and good in Black Orchid. It is for one a breather from the harder sci fi stories set around. It is amazingly designed too; the period costume is sumptuous and makes the show sparkle wonderfully well.

Then there is the absolutely first-class cast. Ron Jones may never be the most well remembered of Doctor Who directors, but here at least he does a fantastic job of directing a sublimely picked cast. Barbara Murray for instance as Lady Cranleigh is wonderfully two faced and hard. Lady Cranleigh's treatment of her disfigured son George is absolutely abysmal and shocking. Keeping a man, no matter how disfigured he may be in the mind or the body, hidden away and kept from people is always a recipe for severe unpleasantness and fallout.

Michael Cochrane is wonderful as Lord Cranleigh. And for once it is nice to see a Lord presented as being reasonable and sociable, and not overtly aloof and condescending. Indeed, before he suspects the Doctor of murder, he is elated to see just how formidable the Doctor's turn as cricketer is, almost making his team's score "respectable" after coming back from an almost certain thrashing.

Gareth Milne is absolutely stunning as George. That he kills three people is of course horrendous and wrong, but one can’t help but feel very sympathetic towards his tragic character. His make up is absolutely convincing, and his acting is even more wonderful. That he meets with such a shattering, and accidental, end aboard a rooftop is so gutting and gives the story a truly sombre finale indeed.

The cast is also bolstered no end by the excellent portrayal of Robert Muir by the ever-reliable Moray Watson. His police man is not the usual "Dr Who Dim wit yokel police man" act. He's given a great character and he shines in this story. That he is displayed as an approachable and agreeable man should be seen as a credit to the force, even if it is only in a fictional story.

Janet Fielding gets to show that she is not totally disastrous when it comes to dancing the Charleston, in fact she is pretty good. Adric of course is simply flat footed so he of course contends himself with the food instead! That the TARDIS team are for the most part of the opening episode seen to be unwinding and at ease is delightful to watch. Hardly ever do we get scenes of the TARDIS crew totally safe and at ease and getting to enjoy a break. And Black Orchid part one is a wonderful and relaxing, but still engaging break from the horrors soon about to come afterwards! But then with part two comes the murder mystery and of course the Doctor has to be blamed for it for a while. But this story is so wonderfully brought to life but such an exquisite cast that this story just can’t be accused of being boring or mundane.

From Black Orchid one can take away the feeling that this is rather unfolding like an Agatha Christie tale. It has so much of the tone and feel of an Agatha tone that one could easily mistake this story for being penned by her. 

Above all else Black Orchid is charming, distinctive and beautifully shot. The period feel is exceptionally well achieved. The main cast are all sublime. Peter Davison has already completely found his feet as the Fifth Doctor and it radiates from him like sunlight. His more human and open Doctor is well suited to a story of this type. It is actually a shame we never got a few more of these totally historical period pieces again after this in the show's original series. Well, one has to be glad that at least we have one treasure in that ilk to enjoy whenever we want to.

Terrence Dudley is an underrated writer. He had some really decent characters and some wonderful storylines which is more than just evident in Black Orchid. This is definitively the best of his three stories for the show though, that much has to be said. Yet another fine example of how unpredictable and different the show can be when it wants to be. There is nothing else quite like Black Orchid in the history of the programme. It is wonderfully and touchingly unique and deserves to be far better remembered that it often is.

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