Episode 120: Black Orchid.
Companions: 5th Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric.
Air Date: 1st to 2nd March 1982.
The TARDIS arrives on Earth in 1925 where, due to a case of mistaken identity, the Doctor ends up playing in a local cricket match. The travellers then accept an invitation to a masked fancy dress ball, but events take on a more sinister tone as a number of murders are perpetrated at the country home of their host Lord Cranleigh.
Black Orchid is just the sort of story that every time travel show needs to have. With this one we return to a purely historical story with no science fiction elements. In the past I did grumble about them but here we have one that is so well made that I can find nothing wrong with it all. Coming in at the length of a modern episode does help I think.
The black orchid of the title is a flower brought back from the Amazon. It has no role in the story itself but is the ultimate cause for the events that the time travellers have found themselves involved in.
The story is perfect for the actors as everyone gets something to do, though Adric is perhaps left out just a little. Everyone fits in well with a 1920's environment whether it be Tegan showing off her dancing skills or Nyssa having a double in the daughter of the household. Even the Doctor gets to partake in a cricket match. Speaking of the cricket match, Peter Davison is a keen cricketer and he in filming a scene where he was the bowler, actually bowled the batsman out on the first take.
Some fans find the story weak but I cannot for the life of me see why. It has a well written murder mystery, some good character dialogue and comes in at just the right length. Historical stories in Doctor Who don't get much better than this.
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