Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4853 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-04-14
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 49 minutes

Synopsis
Arriving on Earth in 1925, the Doctor—after be mistaken for someone else—ends up having to play cricket for a local team. The travellers are then invited to a masked ball at the country home of Lord Cranleigh, where events take a sinister turn after a number of murders are committed.

Customer Reviews

Doctor Who + Agatha Christie - the original you might say
I really like this story. As other reviewers have stated it's an Agatha Christie style mystery with the Doctor thrown in for good measure. I do feel that part 1 drags in places - how many shots of Adric stuffing his face or Tegan trying to dance do we really need. Luckerly things really do spped up in part 2. In fact they could have made it a 3 part story for better pacing.

As per usual Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Mathew Waterhouse and Janet Fielding provide a very entertaining commentry track. You can tell they do not like this story very much. It's nice to hear actors enjoying themselves rather than woodenly chatting about how great this scene or that actor was.

The extras are up to the high standard we have come to expect on the classic Doctor Who stories. So all in all a very enjoyable dvd in a year that has provided some slightly dissapointing releases.

Pleasant
I had never seen this particular story and was not very excited about the DVD release. However, I had a voucher so I got it, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Peter Davison is not one of my favourite Doctors overall but he suited this mild gentlemanly story down to a 'tea'! He fits right in in his old cricketers costume as he is immediately called for a cricket match.

This DVD is a delightful way to pass 50 minutes; it was absorbing and the time flew by. The TARDIS aside this made a great period drama that has dated really well partly because of the lack of anything alien. This really cheered me up after that rubbish 'The Unicorn and the Wasp'.

Excellent value for money release of a weaker story
At one point in the commentary for 'Black Orchid', someone remarks that this story feels like Terrence Dudley just dusted off a Miss Marple-style story he had written and added the Doctor into it. This tale has no science fiction elements at all, relies on heavy levels of coincidence to power its narrative.

The change of pace both marks it out in the season and also contributes to many of its weaknesses. There is so little narrative that the production resorts to a five minute cricket sequence in the first part (more on that later!) and corridor-wandering galore.

Still, it is hard to deny that the story has a unique feel and it is nice to see the Doctor go back in time.

The commentary for this story features the entire TARDIS crew who are on fine form. As others have noted, this is much more negative than most Davison commentaries because of the four actors only Sutton has a soft spot for the story. Whilst some will feel that they are too negative about a well-loved story, the commentary is frequently very funny indeed. One highlight for me is Peter Davison's synopsis of the cricket scene where he refers to an off-scene character, "Smutty", whose friend he has been mistaken for.

I emerged from the commentary more aware of the story's faults but much more fond of the story despite them. I may no longer be able to take it seriously but in many ways that is not such a bad thing as it has increased my enjoyment of it no end.

Amongst the other extra features there are also deleted scenes, a now and then featurette looking at the locations and a featurette on the Fifth Doctor's era in the comics. This last item is the sort of thing that will either appeal to you hugely or not at all. Suffice it to say that if you enjoy Doctor Who comics it is an interesting overview of the era from Doctor Who Monthly editors and artists - if not you will likely be skipping over it.

'Black Orchid' is certainly not one of the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time but the BBC has put together a good package of extras at an excellent price.