Story #120 - Black Orchid (1982)

Sarah -
What Ho, Old Boy! I have to admit that I have a soft spot for "Black Orchid", and not just because it's the first pure historical since "The Highlanders". It's not the strongest story, but it's a topping little romp, don't you think?


Harry -
Absolutely, ducks. It's a ripping yarn, and rather the quintessential story of the Peter Davison era. A quaint historical setting, a cricket match, a fancy dress party, and a spot of murder mystery. I always identify the Davison era with this group of companions, and they get to have a wonderful time in the roaring twenties before things take a very dark turn. Looking at it now, it's the last hurrah for this TARDIS team, a lovely little two-parter that's roughly the length of a new series story.


Sarah -
The actors may disparage it on the commentary track, but it's always fun to watch!


Harry -
Whenever I watch "Black Orchid" it makes me wish that there were more of these two-parters sprinkled throughout the classic series. "Short trips" as it were. Although the opening flurry of images was baffling the first time I saw it. Someone, somewhere, is being strangled. Somewhere else, Nyssa appears to be sleeping in a plush bed. Quick cut to a pair of legs bound up. Another quick cut to a South American tribesman reading a book. What the what now? Maybe the two-part structure caused things to be too rushed at the start, but as this was a repeat viewing for us, the rapid-fire opening was a nice prelude/refresher.


Sarah -
Having started the Great Fire of London, the TARDIS team is flitting about the galaxy in search of new adventures. Tegan is finally fully on board, having decided that she'll stay a bit before finally beginning her glamourous air hostess career. She even tells the Doctor, upon finding they've landed back on Earth, that he doesn't need to try to get her back to Heathrow. Of course, being Tegan, she manages to work in a crack about his inability to pilot the TARDIS properly. You can't expect too much change in one episode.


Harry -
The production team must have decided that having a row about Heathrow to start every adventure was too repetitive.


Sarah -
And for this we can only thank them!


Harry -
Instead of an aeroport, the TARDIS has landed at a train station in 1925. By a stroke of luck, a chauffeur is waiting to pick up a cricket player nicknamed the Doctor. Ever affable, our Doctor steps into the role, piles his friends into the open-top and away they ride to Lord Cranleigh's estate.


Sarah -
A case of mistaken identity, of course, as the chauffeur was meant to pick up a friend of Old Smutty, but who skips the chance to fit in a bit of cricket?


Harry -
The upper crust lingo being tossed about in this story was amusing, twicely so as Adric and Nyssa found it all baffling. Then again, they found the idea of a railroad baffling, so you never know.


Sarah -
I love that scene. Nyssa dismissing railroading as "a very silly activity" always cracks me up.


Harry -
The Doctor strolls onto the cricket pitch and starts batting and bowling like a seasoned pro. Meanwhile, Nyssa is about to confront the plot device that distresses me to no end: the identical twin character. Aargh!


Sarah -
Ah, the identical twin trope. Ann -- the fiance of Lord Cranleigh and former fiancee of his brother George, who mysteriously disappeared in Brazil -- is the spitting image of Nyssa. Oh, how the hijinks ensue when Ann suggests that she and Nyssa wear the identical butterfly costumes to the fancy dress party that evening. No one will be able to tell them apart! What could possibly go wrong?


Harry -
What indeed. Everyone makes their way to the garden for the party -- everyone except the Doctor. Having stepped into a secret passageway, he finds himself wandering empty staircases and corridors in the upper area of Cranleigh manor. "Why didn't I leave after the cricket," he sighs, then starts exploring various closets. A closet with old botany books, a closet with somebody's clothes, a closet with a dead butler. Dead butler, what that what?


Sarah -
Well now, that's quite awkward, what with all of Lady Cranleigh's guests about. Let's just keep this teeny, tiny secret between ourselves, Doctor. No need to create a fuss.


Harry -
Meanwhile, our friends party on unaware. Tegan kicks up her heels to the Charleston, Adric stuffs his face at the buffet, and Nyssa and Ann have fun swapping identities...


Sarah -
I love the party scenes. Check out Tegan making time with Sir Robert. That's the most flirting we've seen in Doctor Who in a good long time! And then there's the look of adoration on Adric's face when Nyssa cuts a rug on the dace floor. It seems there's just something irresistible about a fancy dress ball.


Harry -
...until the mysterious figure that snatched the Doctor's harlequin costume kills off another butler and attacks Ann next.


Sarah -
Now, this really is getting quite awkward. How is One to retain One's social standing with all this going on? Even more embarrassing, it seems to be Lady Cranleigh's allegedly missing son, George who seems to be the source of the kerfuffle. Poor George -- "Gee, thanks Mom for locking me in the attic so no one will know I'm horribly deformed and unable to speak. I wouldn't want to put a cramp in your social calendar." Bunch of upper-class twits!


Harry -
Although George causes the most death and destruction in this story, he ends up a tragic character worthy of the viewers' sympathies. The real villain of the piece is Lady Cranleigh, who puts public appearances above her own son's fortune, stowing him away like a broken lamp. Then she stands mutely by as the Doctor is accused of murder. She was ready to sell him down the river to protect herself from embarrassment. "How very unpleasant" indeed.


Sarah -
George's death is just brushed away. It's as if they're relieved to be rid of him!


Harry -
What awful people. On top of that, the Cranleighs all treated Ann like so much chattel to be handed off from one brother to the next as a matter of convenience.


Sarah -
What are they, bloody Tudors? Does Ann have no agency in this? Stand up for yourself, woman, you don't have to marry that prat!


Harry -
Then! At the end of the story, when the truth comes out, Lady Cranleigh buys her guests off with some gifts and party favours as though they'd only been inconvenienced in the mildest of ways.


Sarah -
Lalalala, here's a pretty dress and book. Off with you, now, peasants.


Harry -
If you scratch the surface of elegant Cranleigh Manor, there's nothing but foul gunk underneath. Can you imagine if we were doing a Marxist reading of "Black Orchid"? This review would be formatted in a raging ALL CAPS BOLD RED FONT, such would be our distaste with the British aristocracy.


Sarah -
The Cranleighs get my vote for first up against the wall when the revolution comes!


Harry -
I need a moment to calm down. And have a sippy of something.


Sarah -
May I suggest a screwdriver? Tegan finds them quite refreshing. Perhaps just orange juice for the children.


Harry -
I just can't think of Nyssa and Adric as children.

When the TARDIS team was bundled off to the police station, what did you think of that side jaunt to see the TARDIS?


Sarah -
Look, Old Chaps, it couldn't possibly be me -- here's my time machine! Can you imagine any other Doctor trotting the local constabulary into the TARDIS? The Doctor has been accused of murder dozens of times and this the lamest way he's gotten himself off the hook. And the best part is the cops' reaction, "Oh, well then, clearly you are a time traveler. That's all good, then. Carry on!"

What the what is going on here, Harry?


Harry -
That was one of the most ridiculous scenes in all of Doctor Who. "Blimey, it's bigger on the inside! Well no time to dawdle in here, we've just been called back to the old Cranleigh place. We'll forget all this the moment we step outside again. Hurry on, let's go!"

Rid. Ic. Ulous.


Sarah -
Can I just rant -- again -- that none of the previous Doctors would have engaged in this nonsense. Standards are slipping and I don't like this one bit!


Harry -
Anyway, everyone gets back to the manor in time to see a kind of King Kong/Phantom of the Opera melodrama play out as George starts a fire, breaks out of his room, snatches Nyssa and heads for the roof. I've never been wild about this ending because it's George who loses his life while the snooty snoots survive and move on as if nothing happened. I'm sure after the Cranleighs finally -- FINALLY -- got rid of that Doctor and the other riff raff, they had one of the servants sweep it all under one of the less expensive rugs.


Sarah -
Someone should have shoved Lady Cranleigh off the roof!


Harry -
Awful people. Let's move on.

Best line:
Stunned constable: "Strike me pink!"

Favourite moment: Tegan, Nyssa and Adric enjoy the fancy dress party.

Lasting image: the Doctor playing cricket.

6/10


Sarah -
Best lines:
Adric : "So what is a railway station?"
The Doctor : "Well, a place where one embarks and disembarks from compartments on wheels drawn along these tracks by a steam engine - rarely on time."
Nyssa : "What a very silly activity."
The Doctor : "You think so? As a boy, I always wanted to drive one."

Favorite moment: When Lady Cranleigh asks Nyssa is from and Nyssa responds, "The Empire of Traken." Lady Cranleigh, mutters, "Really..." and turns to watch the cricket, seeming appalled to be so close to anyone from vulgar Trakken.

Lasting image: The TARDIS crew in their fancy dress -- I do love those costumes!

6/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #121: Earthshock...

Story #119 - The Visitation (1982)

Harry -
If I had it all to choose, I would swap my life as a quiet Civil Servant & Blogger for that of a dashing Thespian & Highwayman.


Sarah -
HARRY, MY GOOD FELLOW! ARE YOU SURE YOU HAVE THE VOCAL FORTITUDE TO UNDERTAKE A MISSION SUCH AS THIS. THE LIFE OF THE THEATER IS NOT FOR THE WEAK OF VOICE AND STAMINA!


Harry -
Hmm, my voice lacks a certain panache, and I'd be concerned about spending all that time sitting in trees. Imagine the back spasms. It may be for the best to stick to blogging.

But how about that Richard Mace? He's got the panache and a strong back, just don't ask him to do too much running.


Sarah -
Fortunately, there's not a whole lot of running to do in "The Visitation". Still, do be careful, Adric, you may trip on that fallen branch and hurt your ankle.


Harry -
That was a faceplant right out of the Carole Ann Ford school of tumbling.


Sarah -
Going back to the beginning, we start by meeting a charming 17th century family -- a surly son, apparently drunken father, cheerful daughter, and faithful servant. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for the viewers, they're all dead within moments of our meeting them.


Harry -
They weren't missed, really.


Sarah -
Cut to the TARDIS, where Tegan is about to be dropped off at Heathrow, just in time for her first flight as an air hostess! She and Nyssa have a touching farewell conversation, which quickly turns into Tegan yelling at the Doctor when they realize that they've arrived at Heathrow a few centuries too early. That's our Tegan!


Harry -
I didn't realize that Getting-Tegan-to-Heathrow was a season-long story arc. It doesn't come off as a comedic side story with much staying power. She's still flying off the handle after every botched attempt by the Doctor, and he still hasn't convinced her that time travel means that she won't miss her flight. He is doing an awful job of it, though.

Meanwhile, Nyssa and Adric are getting really good at finding something fascinating to stare at each time one of these little rows breaks out.


Sarah -
The Getting-Tegan-to-Heathrow arc doesn't quite have the same majesty as the Key to Time, but whaddayagonna do? Budgets were tight at the time.


Harry -
Anyway, now that we're 300 years in the past, let's enjoy this SF historical. Breathe in that air. Careful, though -- the villagers are alarmed and they're lighting fires. Oops! And now they've surrounded our friends. That was predictably quick.

But what ho! A mysterious highwayman in a tree! His pistols scatter the locals and he helps our friends escape. Richard Mace provides the most stylish of introductions.


Sarah -
"Stand and Deliver! Your Lupins or Your Life!" Oh wait, that was Dennis Moore, not Richard Mace. Back in the public television days, Monty Python was on before Doctor Who on Sunday nights, so the two are never far apart in my heart.

Harry -
These villagers would have torched all the lupins in their purifying bonfires.

Mace guides everyone to the squire's house, recently vacated but for a miller who continues to take deliveries away by cart. Inside, a disco android creeps around. To top it off, the Doctor vanishes behind a brick wall, leaving the others to face the peril alone.


Sarah -
Or has he? It seems our alien friends have created an optical illusion to keep out the tourists.


Harry -
Our historical takes a further sci fi twist as the Doctor discovers the hidden lair of some fugitive Terileptils whose ship crashed near the squire's house. Both the Terileptils and their dazzling droid were visually arresting. I would definitely like to see them make a return to the new series.


Sarah -
Glam Rock Robot is the best thing about this story! Yeah, the Terileptils are interesting baddies and it would be fun to bring them back, but Glam Rock Robot is where it's at!


Harry -
I liked that they were given a bit of backstory, and their leader even had some physical scarring.


Sarah -
The Terileptil costumes were actually quite impressive. They looked like they'd been dragging around the universe for a while.


Harry -
As it turns out, this particular group of space lizards has no desire to return to their home world, something the Doctor could relate to. He offers to help transport them to a safe new home, anywhere in the universe, but they have already planted their stakes on Earth. Their aim is nothing short of genocide via plague - to wipe out the human race and claim the entire planet for themselves. How rude!


Sarah -
It is quite the presumptuous plan, isn't it? Also a bit presumptuous of the Doctor to take them off any-old-where to start their new lives.


Harry -
I wonder if this story - the debut effort by Eric Saward - was penned long before the present group of Doctor and companions was assembled. You get the sense that Tegan, Nyssa and Adric are having to share the workload that may have been intended for just one companion. Tegan and Adric keep falling victim to the locals or the lizards, while Nyssa is dispatched to work on a sonic disruptor device for a long stretch of story time. I have to admit, one of my favourite moments in the story was when Adric got bored with waiting around inside the TARDIS and he boldly set off to search for the Doctor... only to be captured by some villagers three seconds after stepping outside the ship. Woops!


Sarah -
We can certainly understand his desire to do SOMETHING. We should note that when Adric pilots the TARDIS into the manor house to rescue the Doctor, Tegan, and Mace, the Doctor ends up berating him for taking so long. So much for doing something the Doctor couldn't manage himself.


Harry -
There's a lot of fillerish toing-and-froing in this story, as the Doctor and Mace sneak around between the squire's house, the Terileptil ship, a barn for a random horse stealing caper, and so on. Did you find yourself wishing they would just cut to the chase?


Sarah -
It was, in fact, my fondest wish. There are some nice moments here and there, but overall the story is so amazingly tedious that I really just wanted it to move along. When we finally reach the end, the Terileptils have set off for London to dispatch the plague that will kill all the humans. The Doctor manages to get the TARDIS exactly where it needs to be to stop them and, in doing so, inadvertently starts the Great Fire of London. Whoops!


Harry -
It was unique that the final showdown came down to an old fashioned punch up between our friends and the villains. That scene foreshadowed some of the "violent" Saward era to come. It also showed that try as he might, this Doctor's affable, sensitive approach is not really the best way to deal with malevolent aliens. For many seasons now, we've been watching Doctors who could hold their own in a physical confrontation. Pertwee would have had the Terileptils flipping, flying and landing on their arses with some Venusian akido moves. Tom Baker would have used his cunning to rig up a trap that also would have had them flipping, flying and landing on their arses. It's interesting to have a Doctor who isn't so much a bold man of action - unless pressed into it by dire circumstances.


Sarah -
I have to admit that I've been feeling a bit discontent with the Fifth Doctor era so far. The affable uncle keeping his young charges in line is already getting on my nerves.


Harry -
Overall, I liked the historical setting of "The Visitation," but it did seem to drag in places. The characters did a lot of drifting from one set to another, but I'm glad that most scenes featured the gravel voiced Mace, who stole the show here.

Well, let's find out if Getting-Tegan-to-Heathrow meets with success in the next adventure.


Sarah -
Best Line:
The Doctor : "How do you feel now?"
Tegan : "Groggy, sore and bad tempered."
The Doctor : "Almost your old self."

Favorite Moment: Tegan unloading on the Doctor for failing to get her to Heathrow in the correct century.

Lasting Image: Glam Rock Robot is where it's at!

5/10


Harry -
Best Line:
Mace: "I'm so impetuous, I'm always looking at the hills and missing the treasure at my feet."

Favourite Moment: Adric's 3-second capture by the villagers.

Lasting Image: the Terileptil leader.

7/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #120: Black Orchid...

Story #118 - Kinda (1982)

Harry -
I had very little recollection of this one, other than it had a jungle setting. It was like watching a brand new Fifth Doctor story.


Sarah -
It's been a while since I've seen it, as well.


Harry -
And the experience was... peculiar. Once again, we leap right into the story. The TARDIS has already landed on a verdant, tropical planet. After awkwardly bundling Nyssa inside to recover from her recent fainting spells, the others set out to explore. Did you happen to listen to the commentary for this story, Sarah? I'm wondering if Sarah Sutton was off on vacation and unavailable for filming, as things were back in the 60s. Remember when William Hartnell would be written out of entire episodes because he'd gone on holiday?

Anyway, more likely, was she ill? Later on, Janet Fielding will vanish for an entire episode. What was up with these absences?


Sarah -
I listened to the commentary, but there was no mention of why Sarah Sutton wasn't there. I've always thought that the bundling off of companions was for the benefit of the writers. It gives them fewer regulars to contend with while they get to focus on developing their own characters. This happens over and over in the Davison Era, to varying levels of success.


Harry -
To this point, the formula for Doctor Who had been mainly "two-lead-characters-with-an-occasional-tin-dog" for over a decade, so to be confronted with a bustling troupe of new characters to write for may have put some writers off. I would think it would have presented a great new challenge to a writer, rather than the same old same old.


Sarah -
While I stand by my theory, according to tardis.wikia.com, the scripts had been completed before Nyssa was brought back as a companion and fitting her character in would have meant an entire rewrite.


Harry -
Well, the story itself gets off to a weak start regardless. I rolled my eyes when the three members of the expedition were introduced. The stereotypical gruff commander, the stereotypical security maniac, and the stereotypical sensitive scientist, all very unoriginal and borderline uninteresting. These three, Sanders, Hindle and Todd respectively, are conducting a survey of the planet S14 (Deva Loka to the natives) to determine its suitability for colonization. British imperialism played out in a sci-fi setting, the ultimate stereotype. Oh, and the faux-Polynesian natives, that was a nice touch. Five minutes in and I was dreading having to watch this story, but "Kinda" ended up pleasantly surprising.


Sarah -
"Kinda" is one of those stories that often ends up being slagged off by fans, but it's really much stronger than its reputation. Much of that credit goes to the wonderful guest actors. Nerys Hughes (Todd), Richard Todd (Sanders), and Simon Rouse (Hindle) all turn in brilliant performances, more than making up for the gaps in the storytelling and poorly realized effects.


Harry -
Exactly! The amazing performances by these guest actors were highly watchable.


Sarah -
Todd almost becomes a pseudo-companion in this story. The Doctor spends more time with her than he does with Tegan and Adric and their chemistry is wonderful. Todd made me think of Ann Travers in "Web of Fear", whose character, of course, eventually led to the creation of Liz Shaw. They work so well together that I can't help wondering what the Fifth Doctor Era would have been like if he had been partnered with a more mature companion, rather than younger characters.


Harry -
That's a fantastic observation. Did you notice at the end of the story how the Doctor seemed almost reluctant to part with her? That was a sweet moment. I was waiting for him to ask, in a squeaky voice, if she'd like to come along in the TARDIS.


Sarah -
Honestly, I thought he looked disappointed when she only offered her hand for a farewell shake. Perhaps the Doctor had higher hopes!


Harry -
There's a fan fiction for that.

As for Sanders and Hindle, they underwent incredible transformations as the story went on. Sanders was a classic old school hard man reduced to a wide eyed pussycat when ensnared by the mysterious powers of the Kinda. Richard Todd was brilliant acting as a simpleton. Hindle's breakdown was one of the highlights of the whole adventure. I'm pressed to remember another character who went so utterly doolally like that.


Sarah -
They were both amazing performances. Hindle's breakdown was absolutely brilliant and completely terrifying because there was no way to tell what he might do next. You can't mend people, Harry!


Harry -
Another riveting performance was the one delivered by Mary Morris as the Kinda elder, Panna. I don't know if it was lucky or inspired casting to ask someone with eyes as wide as saucers to play a blind woman, but I couldn't take my eyes off her (pardon the pun).


Sarah -
She was spectacular. What a face!


Harry -
In keeping with the formulaic depictions of exploited or suppressed native cultures in Doctor Who, the rest of the Kinda were less memorable. In fact, most of them were literally rendered mute.


Sarah -
"Kinda" provided a few nice moments for Adric. The scene where he teaches the Doctor a magic trick was charming and they both had the opportunity to test their skills later in the story. Adric, once again, allies himself with the opposition, but this time it's clear that he's planning to subvert Hindle's authority and break the Doctor and Todd out of the cell.

There's another nice moment near the beginning where the Doctor chastises Adric for playing with the chimes, and then plays with them himself when no one is looking. It made me think of Adric as a younger version of the Doctor -- brilliant, but awkward, not really fitting in anywhere.


Harry -
Gosh, we haven't even talked about Tegan's Adventures Through the Looking Glass yet. What did you think?


Sarah -
That was some wild stuff! Her encounter with Dukkha, as he tried to bend her to the Mara's will, was really creepy, as was the two Tegans arguing over which one was real. And then there were ten Tegans -- as if the universe could handle that!


Harry -
Every once in a while, Doctor Who takes us into an alternate reality and it's always mind-bending fun. Tegan meeting herself in the dream world took this story to one of those places. She was genuinely distressed by the encounter, as well as the encounters with Dukkha, Annica and Anatta - three names plucked right out of Buddhist teachings.

Every once in a while, Doctor Who also delves into Buddhism (most prominently in "Planet of the Spiders"). Here, we see Buddhism's characteristics of existence manifested in the dream characters that Tegan meets. The Kinda profess belief in the Great Wheel (a Buddhist concept), which turns as civilizations rise and fall, and they also show the capacity for reincarnation as the deceased Panna's life experiences transfer into the body of Karuna. I liked how much thought went into creating the Kinda civilization, making them more than just shirtless story fodder.


Sarah -
Creating a Buddhist parable was writer Christopher Bailey's intention. The results are mixed, but it's always interesting.


Harry -
Insert the malevolent threat of the Mara into the story, and now it's a real corker. Through Tegan, the Mara escapes from the dream world and possesses the body of Kinda Aris. He rallies his people to launch an assault on the expedition's dome, in order to drive them off the planet. Hindle meanwhile is on the verge of detonating an explosive combination of acid and fire for a 50-mile radius around the dome, which would annihilate everyone. With Nyssa, Tegan and Adric all unable to help, it comes down to the Doctor and Todd to first neutralize Hindle, then formulate a plan to capture and purge the Mara from Aris, then from this reality.


Sarah -
Fortunately the Doctor and his surrogate companion Todd are a dynamic duo, who are more than up to the challenge...


Harry -
Which brings us to something we haven't really seen for several seasons in Doctor Who - silly prop monsters. Oh that giant snake, oh my.


Sarah -
...The challenge of defeating one of the lamest monsters in the history of Doctor Who! The snake really is unfortunate. It has almost singlehandedly undermined "Kinda"'s reputation.


Harry -
I genuinely harkened back to the days of Colour Separation Overlay from the Pertwee era. Some close ups of a live snake transposed over its area of confinement might have looked better than the inflatable rubber thing that was hoisted over everyone's heads. What can you do.


Sarah -
At this point, not so much.


Harry -
But let's not let one weak note ruin this one for us. After all, the Doctor got a round of applause after driving the Mara back to the dark places of the inside or wherever. Who wouldn't like to receive a round of applause for a job well done?


Sarah -
Huzzah! Was that the strangest moment in the story, or what?


Harry -
I went into "Kinda" without remembering much of it. It got off to an uninspired start, but was saved by fantastic performances by the entire cast. It's the acting I'll remember from this one, more than the story or the special effects.


Sarah -
Which reminds us that there's always something to appreciate in Doctor Who!


Harry -
The Davison era seems to have hit its stride. Shall we see where our friends land next?

Best Line: The Doctor: "There's always something to look at if you open your eyes."

Favourite Moment: Hindle snaps and declares "I have the power of life and death over ALL of you!"

Lasting Image: Dukkha menaces Tegan in the dream world.

8/10


Sarah -
Best Line: "YOU CAN'T MEND PEOPLE, CAN YOU? YOU CAN'T MEND PEOPLE!"

Favorite Moment: Panna repeatedly dismissing the Doctor.

Lasting Image: You've taken my first lasting image, so I'll go with my second -- Sanders cutting paper dolls.

7/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #119: The Visitation...