5.5: Black Orchid

In which Sarah Sutton underwhelms – twice!

Broadcast: March 1982

Watched: November 2020

Black Orchid, Part One

“I’d rather eat.” Me too, Adric, me too.

Well, this is completely charming, isn’t it? With the cricket and then the ball and everyone being pleased to see each other, and with stakes so low... it feels like a sort of holiday.

Also, given how well the BBC can handle costume dramas, it's strange in its way that it takes the show this long to do anything golden-age-of-murder-y. The only other mystery I can think of this far into the series is The Rescue, and even that’s pushing it. Given this works so well, it’s strange that they never really come back to it as a genre. (Vervoids, a bit, I guess?) You can sort of imagine it being a running thread, with the Doctor landing in the same bit of the 1920s to solve a murder every season. Maybe it’s not felt to be Who-ish enough, which is a shame.

I think it is quite a big influence on Gareth Roberts at least. Obviously he’s an Agatha Christie nerd, but also The Lodger basically rips off the cricket bit doesn’t it.

Other things: You can see how bad an actress Sarah Sutton is from the fact she gives Nyssa and Anne identical line readings. Tegan is again far more agreeable than I remembered her being, not at all fussed about getting home and just enjoying the journey. The bit where the lord of the manor refers to “the master” and the Doctor visibly shits himself is hilarious.

Black Orchid, Part Two

“Like the Indian! With the lip!” In all the extremely gentle excitement I forgot to comment on the fact that the Amazonian Indian is maybe a little bit problematic in 2020. Also, “Brazil! Where the nuts come from!”

Love that the Cranleighs are so polite and sporting while accusing the Doctor of murder. Even as Lady Cranleigh is cheerfully framing him to hide her own secrets. The fact the Doctor tries to get out of trouble by announcing that he’s a time traveller is... unusual.  

Oh right he’s showing the police the TARDIS now this is in no way stupid. And now Lady Cranleigh has confessed, this is lots of fun but the plotting is *insane*.

Other things: I like that a) Adric is still eating this episode and b) he correctly identifies Nyssa because she tells him off. Sir Robert stops him from running into a burning building before he even bothers trying.

George’s make up is abysmal. Charles going to hug him and accidentally knocking him off the roof is *hilariously* bathetic.

“I’m grateful you stayed for the funeral”... Perhaps there are a whole series of missing adventures in which the fifth Doctor solves murder mysteries and we just haven’t seen them yet.

FinaA thought: the last few years we’ve grown very used to the idea that each season will try to mix past, present and future, light and shade, sci-fi and horror... RTD set that as a template, and the seasons since have largely stuck to it.

In the 20th century series, seasons 2-3 do this, but after that... 19 is the first to bother trying, isn’t it?