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Doctor Who - Black Orchid (Episode 121) | 
 enlarge | Actor: Peter Davison
Studio: BBC Warner
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $8.45
You Save: $6.53 (44%)
New (32) Used (7) from $8.45
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 1129
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 49 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 1000038779
UPC: 883929020058
EAN: 0883929020058
ASIN: B0017XOFFK
Theatrical Release Date: September 29, 1975
Release Date: August 5, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Description
DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurette
Photo gallery
Production Notes
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Black Orchid August 23, 2008
E. davidson (mid missouri)
The use of "twins" in this story was a nice change for Peter Davidson's doctor role, and the setting was a good represintation of the 20's.
 "Why do I always let my curiosity get the better of me?" August 16, 2008
Crazy Fox (Chicago, IL USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
"Black Orchid" is like a trip back in time. Well, obviously so in that the Doctor and his three traveling companions wind up in 1925 where a series of mistaken identities and coincidences conspire to have them taking part in cricket matches and fancy costume balls as the guests of a certain Lord Cranleigh only to come under suspicion for murder. And this is the BBC, mind you, so all their expertise with period dramas comes to the fore in this relatively short "Doctor Who" storyline to convincingly authentic grand effect. But it's also a brief return (or the last belated gasp?) of this long-running show's original premise, wherein strictly science fiction stories alternated with strictly historical ones (not counting the Tardis, which lands the characters in a past time and so gets the ball rolling). This latter type of story gradually began to take a back seat and apparently saw its last with "The Highlanders" in 1966--until this story a full sixteen years later. No anachronisms, no aliens, no robots, no Cybermen, no lasers nor spaceships are to be found. Just a very terrestrially human and somewhat tragic threat.
Which is somewhat refreshing but also borders a tad on the dull side. It's a welcome change to see the Doctor along with Tegan, Nyssa, and Adric enjoying themselves for a change, living it up in good old 1925 fashion. After all, the vague suggestion (at least in my mind) was always that this is how the Doctor and company occupy themselves most the time, and the death-defying adventures come along ever so often in the meantime. Too much of a good thing could get tiresome, of course, which is why "Black Orchid"'s noticeable brevity betrays a canny wisdom here on someone's part. The belatedly appearing threat is less than earth-shattering but still very real all the same, giving just about the right amount of dramatic tension to the tale. The only actual downside really is that the whole plot is set up like a fine specimen of the British "whodunit", only the cat is unfortunately let out of the bag virtually from the get-go, leaving even the minimally attentive viewer with little doubt as to who actually did the murders. Leaving a little mystery here, maybe even leading one to wonder if the Doctor isn't somehow inexplicably the culprit, might've added nicely to the suspense and made for a somewhat more memorable story. But so it goes. "Black Orchid" keeps to the low-key from start to finish, and that is both its strength and its weakness. Anyway, as a brief respite for both the Tardis crew and us viewers, it's quite topping in its own manner.
"We're sorry if you enjoyed it!" August 12, 2008
Jason A. Miller (New York, New York USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm sorry to say that "Black Orchid" is one of the few misfires from the Doctor Who DVD restoration team. Not that there's much wrong with the story itself -- that's a genial little 45-minute murder mystery set in the 1920s, with lots of moments where the cast just gets to enjoy themselves (cricket matches, dances, buffet tables). Indeed "Black Orchid" is reflected heavily in this past TV season's "The Unicorn and the Wasp", another '20s-era skeletons-in-the-family-closet comedy.
The problem with the DVD release then is in the usually reliable extra features. Peter Davison, always the alpha male in the audio commentary booth and generally very funny and insightful, just doesn't have great fondness for the story and takes to mocking it relentlessly. This approach worked well for his commentary on leser-appreciated stories such as Doctor Who - Time-Flight (Episode 123) and Doctor Who: Warriors of the Deep (Story # 131), but for poor little "Black Orchid" one feels sorry for the whole affair and wishes Davison had given it a chance to breathe.
Reunited in the booth with Davison are his fellow TV cast members. Janet Fielding (Tegan) holds her own as usual, trading barb for barb with Davison. Fielding's distaste for the story is somewhat surprising, as "Black Orchid" is one of those few instances where the character of Tegan actually smiles and appears to be enjoying herself -- dancing throughout much of Part One and even flirting a bit with an older police constable. Sarah Sutton (Nyssa) gently leaps to the story's defense -- indeed "Black Orchid" was one of the rare moments she was allowed to dominate the screen as an actress across parts of three seasons on the show; here she plays a duel role and impresses as her innocent doppelganger Ann Talbot. Matthew Waterhouse (Adric), soon to be written out of the series, had nothing to do in the story but eat, and in the booth is a light foil to Davison, attempting to praise trivial aspects of the story while Davison laughs at him.
The production notes option is also surprisingly light. The first such option I've seen not written by either Richard Molesworth or Martin Wiggins, the new text commentator on the block stops dispensing information early in Part Two and chimes in only occasionally the rest of the way only to mock the story (while not telling us, for example, how the impressive in-studio fire stunts were performed).
The rest of the included featurettes are nicely done. The recurring "Now and Then" segment seamlessly contrasts clips from location filming against how the areas look today, played over with a 1920s soundtrack. Seven minutes of deleted scenes are impressively portrayed, with existing material screened in sepia and only the "missing" segments aired in full color. Finally, the nifty new "Stripped for Action" segment features several talking heads from Doctor Who Magazine describing the early 1980s "Doctor Who" comics, examples of which are unfortunately not included on DVD-ROM.
A different sort of Who, with some great extras August 7, 2008
Readz Alot (USA)
"Black Orchid" is not your typical Doctor Who story. Not only isit the first (and only) historical story since the beginning of the Troughton era, but it's the only historical story that isn't set in a particularly eventful time, or with famous people. No Marco Polos or French Revolutions here ... just a country house in 1925. A country house inhabited by a young woman who looks exactly like Nyssa, a mysterious Amazonian servant, and hiding a variety of secrets in the attic. A fancy dress ball, a secret doorway, and a body in a cupboard round out the pleasures.
The story is more like a cozy mystery than a Doctor Who adventure, but that isn't a bad thing. At least not in my opinion.
In the opinion of the cast, it WAS a bad thing. The commentary track on this disc is among the best in the series. The entire regular cast is there (Davison, Sutton, Fielding and Waterhouse), and one suspects that they've just come from the local pub because they are having a marvelous time. Aside from Sarah Sutton, (who enjoyed her dual role) none of them much cared for the episode, (for reasons having to do with both the writing and some miserable weather during location filming), so they don't have very much *good* to say .. but they have a blast all the same as they talk about the costumes, the weather, the dancing, the cricket match, the acting by the guest cast, and the script.
The episode is a two parter, so even if the storyline doesn't grip you, you won't suffer for very long.
Extras, besides the commentary track and info-text include a short documentary on the location filming, some examples of the restoration done on the original film, a Blue Peter episode that briefly mentions costume designs for the story and (part of a new series of extras), a look at the Fifth Doctor in the Doctor Who comic strips.
Whew! This TARDIS crew CAN get along!! June 6, 2008
The Cougar (Australia)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
If it weren't for this story, I would be left scratching my head and wondering why the hell these four individuals (they were barely a TARDIS team) would hang around each other for so long. Adric just becomes an obnoxious brat with the Fifth Doctor, Tegan just wants to go home, and Nyssa gets shunted to the sidelines every damn time. With the Sixth Doctor and Peri, there were moments in every story where you could tell they were close friends, which is absent with this team.
Except for this story.
Black Orchid, a two-parter that's a bit of a diversion, but it was needed, in my opinion, before the emotional-roller coaster known as Earthshock. A light-hearted adventure that you can sit down and relax to after doing a long shift of work, or even if you've come from a night about the town (like I did on the day I bought this.) The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa, the best Fifth Doctor combination, both get to shine here, Nyssa with Sarah Sutton's double role with Ann, finally giving Nyssa something to do in a story, and the Fifth Doctor, who shows off his amazing cricket skills, bringing a team back from a pathetic score (though I don't think even the Fifth Doctor could help England against Australia!)
And where the TARDIS crew get along? The scenes at Cranleigh Manor are easily some of my favourite of the Fifth Doctor era, where Tegan shows Nyssa some of the Earth dances and cheering on the Doctor in cricket, and Nyssa just looks more amused than ever at these bizarre rituals. Not to mention where they both gently mock Adric about his constant eating (how large are Alzarian stomachs anyway?) Adric for once is actually likeable.
Surprisingly, there are no science fiction elements whatsoever, a throwback to the early Doctor Who days where sci-fi and history genres went hand-in-hand, it's more like a murder mystery, a whodunit, where the Doctor becomes trapped while getting ready for the costume ball at Cranleigh Manor, and someone takes his place wearing the clown costume, "Attacking" Ann, and killing a servant who tries to help her...
All in all, one of my favourite Davison stories, and one you can watch and just enjoy.
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