Doctor Who: Black Orchid (Story 121)
by Ron James
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DVD details
Actor: Janet Fielding, Matthew Waterhouse, Peter Davison, Sarah SuttonDirector: Ron James
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 50 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-08-05
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Worldwide
DVD Reviews of Doctor Who: Black Orchid (Story 121)
DVD Review: "We're sorry if you enjoyed it!"
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Description of Doctor Who: Black Orchid (Story 121)
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