Dr Who - Black Orchid (1982)
The TARDIS, it's crew having escaped from the responsibility of 1666's Fire of London, arrive on Earth 1925, at a train station. The mystery of why trains never arrive on time is never explained. Even The Doc has no answer to that universal mystery! For once, they receive a decent, yet confusing, welcome. The Cranleigh's offer a jolly nice cricket game followed by a dose of "screwdriver?" & a fancy dress party. Surely all things should be a withering, jolly, breeze, eh, what? In cheap, Agatha Christie meets Stephen King mode, a serial killer, complete with Darth Vader breathing capabilities, is on the loose & is practicing his hobby only too well.
Nyssa finds she has a cosmic twin, in Lady Talbot, which can complicate matters slightly, if our killer is like us in Sci-Fi fandom & prefers originals to copies. Of course The Doctor is framed for murder as he conveniently wears the same creepy, clown costume as our in need of an inhaler, killer at the fancy dress do. A noble Brazilian Indian chief is looking after the killer, not very well by the looks of it! He turns out to be the older brother of Lord Cranleigh, George, & his tongue was cut out by an Indian tribe for desecrating their Black Orchid. Fortunately, Orinoco of the other tribe rescued him & brought him back. Now, that's admirable!
Even after showing Scotland Yard the interior of his TARDIS, maybe not a first, but desperate considering there's a noose with your name on it, Doc, & the TARDIS actually gets from A to B, this time! They're sterling chaps & their badges maybe the brightest thing about them, but they are very thorough & have a killer to catch, & you're still a prime suspect, Doctor. Typically, George catches Nyssa as the mansion burns (more fires, Doc?) thinking she's Talbot. So, no reward for that prediction. Darth-breathing George falls to his death in spite of both his brother & The Doctor trying to help him, & Nyssa.
So now, I hear you cry! Why this one & not the brilliant Visitation or classic Earthshock sandwiched between this two-parter, WHY? Good question. For a start I like this one, savvy? We have our first pure Historical since 1966's The Highlanders, which introduced Jamie Robert McCrimmon of the Clan McCrimmon. One thing the BBC does well is period dramas, aliens or not, pseudo-historic or not! The previous story may have been pseudo, but is this pure historic. Allegedly, Fires Of Pompeii was supposed to be pure historical until some knee-jerk BBC lady insisted on monsters for the kiddo's. Vincent & The Doctor should have been "purified", also! It would have been better minus that monster & more focused on Van Gogh's Depression.
The Master pun though obvious is still hilarious. Yes, H.G. Wells gets a mention as per tradition in these type eras of Doctor Who. Yes, looking forward to the new adaptation of War Of Worlds from the BBC. Peter Davison gets to show off his prowess at cricket, ironically he was that good! The 5th Doc steals the thunder! Only Aussie companion, Tegan understands what's going on unlike Nyssa & Adric, &..yours truly at any sport. There's tons of delicious padding via the Charleston, but I love it! Peter is, to quote Tegan, a "hoot" at cricket, my brother being more the sports buff, looking after my VHS collection whilst I was in America, thought so!
Sarah Sutton who plays Nyssa has an understandable love of this, her story, a mutual love as far as I'm concerned. Both Sarah & Janet Fielding prove to be formidable, Travolta warriors, on a 1920's setting dancefloor, I might as well have a third left foot! The 80's synth incidental maybe in contrast to the 20's music, but I love it. It could parallel the time-travel nature of this show,
Watching this as a child, the creepy clown, Vader-breath & all, left me in awe. What was in that clown costume?! With a vast Universe of infinite possibilities why is the TARDIS only interested in Earth-site seeing? Different writers? Poor Professor Cranleigh, he can't help something as trivial as getting his tongue cut out by an outraged Indian tribe turn him into a homicidal maniac! He was, after all, to originally marry Lady Talbot not his brother, seriously. This is a mini-nugget of a two-parter! This "monster" is no more than you or I under such circumstances, driven insane by his "punishment" for stealing the sacred orchid. Let's look into those archaeologist's & explorers of the same era, that plundered the tombs of ancient Egypt. A Cambridge degree gives you an excuse? Like those tomb robbers, down the Centuries?
Each one of us has that "monster" waiting to get out.
Silly serious mode off,
Borgduck,
Stewart.
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