Black Orchid (Doctor Who) 121 – Black Orchid Doctor Who serial Ann
Talbot, who bears a remarkable similarity to Nyssa Cast Doctor
Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor) Companions Matthew Waterhouse (Adric)
Sarah Sutton (Nyssa) Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka) Production
Writer Terence Dudley Director Ron Jones Script editor Eric Saward
Producer John Nathan-Turner Executive producer(s) None Production
code 6A Series Season 19 Length 2 episodes, 25 mins each Originally
broadcast March 1–March 2, 1982 Chronology ? Preceded by Followed
by → The Visitation Earthshock Black Orchid is a serial in the
British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was
first broadcast in two parts on March 1 and March 2, 1982. This
story was the first purely historical adventure for the Doctor —
featuring no science fiction elements save for the TARDIS — since
The Highlanders. Synopsis The Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric arrive
in England of 1925. At a masked ball at Cranleigh Hall a series of
murders begins, and Ann Talbot, who is the spitting image of Nyssa,
is abducted. The Doctor must uncover the secret the Cranleigh
family is hiding from the world. [edit] Plot In an English country
house two figures are seen struggling before one of them, a
servant, falls dead. A young woman is seen sleeping as a figure
enters her room. The figure is then seen tied to the bed guarded by
an Indian with a large ring distending his lower lip. It is June
11, 1925, and as a train departs Cranleigh Halt railway station,
the TARDIS materialises. The crew disembark before receiving an
explanation of the basics of the steam train from the Doctor. He
says that he has always wanted to drive one. Leaving the station,
they encounter the chauffeur of Charles, Lord Cranleigh, who has
apparently been expecting the arrival of "the Doctor". He stares at
Nyssa as if he recognises her. They are driven to a cricket match
where Lord Cranleigh's team is batting but not faring very well.
Lord Cranleigh greets them and seeing Nyssa exclaims the she is
exactly like his fiancée in appearance. They discuss cricket, the
Doctor says that he is a fast bowler. The Doctor goes into bat and
scores a plethora of runs. When Nyssa is introduced to his mother
Lady Cranleigh, she also exclaims how extraordinary a resemblance
between her and Ann, but is surprised that she is not a
"Worcestershire Talbot" Nyssa proudly declares that she is from the
Empire of Traken. The Doctor takes a turn at bowling and proves
equally prodigious managing to get several players out. Lord
Cranleigh congratulates him on a ripping performance and invites
him home to meet his mother. When introduced, Lady Cranleigh asks
"Doctor who?" but Lord Cranleigh says he deserves to remain
incognito after his fine cricketing performance. Sir Robert Muir,
the chief constable of the county, also congratulates the Doctor,
saying that his performance was "worthy of the Master". The Doctor
looks momentarily alarmed until he explains that he is referring to
"the other Doctor", W. G. Grace. Lord Cranleigh asks if they would
mind staying to the annual ball - a fancy dress party - on behalf
of sick children. Tegan says that they have no costumes, to which
Sir Robert comments that he was thinking how charming their outfits
were. Lord Cranleigh has a selection costumes that they can use.
They are introduced to Ann Talbot, Lord Cranleigh's fiancée, and
she looks identical to Nyssa. Ann also enquires if Nyssa is from
Worcester, and when Nyssa says that she is from Traken, Sir Robert
says that he believes it is somewhere near Esher. Ann wonders if
there could be Talbots from Esher. Lady Cranleigh thinks not as the
"hunt is not good enough". When Lord Craneligh offers them a drink,
the Doctor asks for lemonade. Tegan asks for a screwdriver, but
when Nyssa asks for "the same" the Doctor coughs in disapproval, so
instead Lord Cranleigh offers her orange juice. Nyssa tells Ann
that she doesn't know where Esher is, to which Lady Cranleigh
comments this demonstrates great taste, and that she should stop
probing into Nyssa's background. When Tegan admires a curious black
flower in the study, Lady Cranleigh explains that it is a Black
Orchid and that it was found on the Orinoco by her eldest son
George. Tegan recognises the name immediately as George Cranleigh,
a famous botanist and explorer. Lady Cranleigh goes on to say that
George never returned from his last expedition into the Brazilian
forests. Ann had been engaged to George before his disappearance.
Meanwhile, the bound figure struggles against his bonds. The Indian
goes to the secret room to inspect the figure, but he sees the
untied ropes before he is hit on the head from behind. The Doctor
picks a Harlequin outfit to wear to the ball. When he tells Lord
Cranleigh that Adric is from Alzarius, Lord Cranleigh says that he
could never remember all those Baltic bits. Tegan and Nyssa discuss
the Charleston, with Tegan giving a demonstration. Nyssa says that
dancing on Traken is much more formalised and that she learnt how
to dance as part of her training. Ann comes to their room, and
presents Nyssa with a dress identical to her own, so that the ball
attendees will not be able to tell them apart. Ann reveals the only
difference between them is that she has a mole on her left
shoulder. As the Doctor gets himself ready for the ball, a figure
enters his room from a secret passage. On hearing a noise, the
Doctor returns to the room but sees no one, only the newly revealed
opening. He enters the opening and finds the secret passage, but
the panel slams closed behind him, trapping him. The figure
reenters the Doctor's room and with his deformed hands takes away
the Harlequin mask and costume. In the gardens, the ball has now
started and the guests have arrived. Nyssa asks Adric to dance with
her, to his consternation, while Tegan dances with Sir Robert, who
is amused by some of her colloquialisms. Lord Cranleigh is dancing
with Ann. Nyssa and Ann run inside the building and emerge — now
nobody knows which of them is which. They resume dancing with their
partners, but Adric stops dancing saying he would rather eat. Lady
Cranleigh spots the Indian and goes aside to talk to him. He
informs her that his "friend" has escaped. Tegan gets to show her
Charleston. When one of Ann and Nyssa starts dancing, Adric turns
to the other believing it must be Nyssa as Nyssa would not know how
to do that dance. She confounds him by joining in. The figure
wearing the Harlequin costume arrives at the party and begins to
dance with the girl that it thinks is Ann. The Doctor finally finds
his way out of the passage and finds a room full of botany
textbooks. Trying to ascertain his whereabouts, he finds a
staircase and ascending them he finds the secret room where the
figure had been bound. Searching it, he finds a book written in
Portuguese. When he leaves the room, he wanders down the corridor,
examining the cupboards, and in one of them he discovers a corpse.
Meanwhile the Harlequin figure enters the building with Ann. Ann
tells it that they should return to the party, but when it rasps at
her and she queries who it is, it grabs her by the wrist and will
not let her go. Ann screams for help and a butler rushes to her
assistance. The Harlequin grabs him by the throat and starts to
throttle and kill him, causing Ann to faint as the Harlequin
lurches over her prostrate body… The Doctor returns to the secret
room and finds, to his surprise, Lady Cranleigh and the Indian, who
she introduces as Latoni — an old friend from Brazil. The Doctor
informs them that he has found a dead body and when he shows it to
her, she identifies it as one of the servants. She requests that he
does not alarm the other guests by informing them. The figure is
seen returning the Harlequin costume to the Doctor's room. It goes
to a room where Ann is lying, and a hideously deformed face is
revealed. Ann awakes and seeing the figure flees outside the room
where Lady Cranleigh and Latoni are waiting. Latoni enters the room
and gathering some rope advances on the deformed figure. At the
party Adric is berated by Nyssa for eating so much food. The
servants inform Lord Cranleigh of events inside the house. He finds
the body of the dead butler, and Ann's discarded mask. The Doctor
arrives now wearing the Harlequin costume, but when Ann also
arrives, she points him out as the man who attacked her. Ann
implores Sir Robert to arrest the Doctor, and Sir Robert assumes
control of events. He asks Lord Cranleigh to tell the remaining
guests to go home. The Doctor insists on his innocence, and
suggests that someone else has an identical costume. However, as
Ann was in charge of the costumes, she knows that there was only
one Harlequin. He looks to Lady Cranleigh to provide an alibi but
she stays silent. Sir Robert questions the Doctor as to his true
identity, which he replies would be rather difficult to explain. He
says he is a Time Lord and that he travels in time and space, in a
time machine, like that from the works of H. G. Wells. Again
looking to Lady Cranleigh he mentions the other body, but she
denies seeing it. Showing Sir Robert the cupboard, the body has
vanished and has been replaced by a doll. Lord Cranleigh receives a
telephone call from his friend "Smutty" Thomas who he thinks sent
the Doctor to the cricket game, and he realises it is not the right
man. Lord Cranleigh informs Sir Robert that the Doctor is an
impostor, and that the real doctor missed his train. The Doctor is
arrested on suspicion of murder, and his companions are accused of
being accessories. They are driven off to the police station. The
Doctor asks the police sergeant to divert to the railway station to
show Sir Robert the TARDIS, but to his dismay it is no longer on
the platform. However, when they arrive at the police station, they
find that the TARDIS has been brought there. Back at the house Lady
Cranleigh tells Lord Cranleigh about the other body, that of Digby
the servant. Realising that the Doctor must be innocent, he argues
with her. When Ann approaches them he informs her that there is
something she must know. In the secret room, the bound figure once
again slips his ropes, and attacks and kills Latoni, but not before
he hides the room key between the floor boards. Not able to find
the key, the figure starts stuffing newspapers under the door, and
then sets them on fire. The Doctor unlocks the TARDIS and allows
Sir Robert and the police sergeant to enter. Sir Robert is
astounded by what he sees and offers the Doctor an apology, but he
is still concerned about the murder. Lord Cranleigh telephones the
police station and informs them of the second body. The Doctor uses
the TARDIS to get them all back to Cranleigh Hall as quickly as
possible. After furiously denouncing her parents, Ann runs out of
the house and throws her arms around Sir Robert. The secret room is
now ablaze with the fire started by the deformed figure, who breaks
out, and goes to the main hall where Lord and Lady Cranleigh are
talking. He backs away from them, but the Doctor's group arrive
from behind. The figure grabs hold of Nyssa and throttling her,
drags her upstairs. The Doctor cannot follow him due to the fire
which has now spread to the corridors. Sir Robert demands to know
what the deformed figure is, and Lady Cranleigh reveals that it is
her eldest son George, which the Doctor had already worked out from
seeing the Black Orchid and Latoni. She insists that George would
not harm Ann, but the Doctor points out that he has the wrong girl.
Running outside, they see George carrying Nyssa out onto the roof.
The Doctor asks Lord Cranleigh to hold George's attention, whilst
he tries to find a way through the house to their position. Lady
Cranleigh confesses the truth to Sir Robert: George's hideous
injuries were caused by the Kojabe Indians, who also cut out his
tongue because they held the Black Orchid sacred. Losing his mind,
he was rescued by another tribe of Indians, of which Latoni was a
member. She admits that George killed Digby. Lord Cranleigh climbs
onto the roof to confront George, and the Doctor has also reached
the roof. The Doctor implores him to release Nyssa, telling him to
look down and see Ann on the ground. Seeing it to be true, he
releases Nyssa. Charles approaches his brother to thank him. George
recoils, but he is too close to the edge. He trips and falls, and
is killed. After the funeral, the Doctor departs. Ann has given
Tegan and Nyssa their costumes as a present, and Lady Cranleigh
presents the Doctor with a copy of George's book: Black Orchid.
Cast * The Doctor — Peter Davison * Adric — Matthew Waterhouse *
Nyssa / Ann Talbot — Sarah Sutton * Tegan — Janet Fielding * Lord
Cranleigh — Michael Cochrane * Lady Cranleigh — Barbara Murray *
The Unknown / George Cranleigh — Gareth Milne * Sir Robert Muir —
Moray Watson * Sergeant Markham — Ivor Salter * Constable Cummings
— Andrew Tourell * Latoni — Ahmed Khalil * Brewster — Brian
Hawksley * Tanner — Timothy Block Cast notes * Michael Cochrane,
who plays Lord Cranleigh, also appears in the 1989 Seventh Doctor
serial Ghost Light. * To avoid giving away the plot surprise,
Gareth Milne was credited as "The Unknown" for Part One and in
Radio Times, and as "George Cranleigh" for Part Two. Continuity *
The character of Ann Talbot reappears in the spin-off novel The
Sands of Time by Justin Richards as Lady Ann Cranleigh. * This
story was the first two-part serial since The Sontaran Experiment
(1975); each Peter Davison season would include at least one
two-parter. * This was the first purely historical serial (with no
science fiction elements beyond the Doctor and his TARDIS) since
The Highlanders in 1966-67; unlike previous ones, it does not
revolve around a well-known historical event. To date, it is also
the last purely historical story. The next televised story taking
place within the Doctor Who universe to contain no science fiction
or supernatural elements at all is Countrycide, an episode of the
spin-off series, Torchwood, broadcast in 2006 and taking place in
the present day. Production * The working title for this story was
The Beast. * Producer John Nathan-Turner had originally considered
directing this story himself, thus become the first producer to do
so since Barry Letts during the early 1970s. However, due to time
constraints, Nathan-Turner abandoned the idea and hired Ron Jones
to direct. In print Doctor Who book Book cover Black Orchid Series
Target novelisations Release number 113 Writer Terence Dudley
Publisher Target Books Cover artist Tony Masero ISBN Release date
September 1986 (Hardback) 19th February 1987 (Paperback) Preceded
by The Seeds of Death Followed by The Ark A novelisation of this
serial, written by Terence Dudley, was published by Target Books in
September 1986. It was the final Fifth Doctor story to be
novelised, but did not complete the Fifth Doctor's era -
Resurrection of the Daleks has to date not been novelised due to
disputes with the estate of Terry Nation. Broadcast, VHS and DVD
release * This story was released in a twin VHS set with The
Visitation in July of 1994. * Black Orchid will be released on DVD
on April 14th 2008 with; Now & Then special feature of filming
locations • 4 Deleted scenes • an Easter Egg • a Blue Peter item •
Stripped for Action a feature on comics of the Fifth Doctor •
Poinst of View • a Coming Soon Trailer for the The Invasion of Time
DVD.