wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (10/09/84)
The local (St. Louis) station showed the "Black Orchid" story Sunday night. It was the absolute WORST Dr. Who program I have ever seen! It had the dubious advantage of being only 45 minutes long; what is bad about that is that they showed this on one of the few Sunday nights before a holiday when I could stay up and watch an entire long episode! (Our outlet has the despicable habit of scheduling Dr. Who at 10:30 PM Sunday nights, so I tend to see the first half of most programs and then fall asleep...) It's hard to enumerate the many faults of this story; first off, it is only an ordinary 20's country-house murder story, with nothing to tie in the presence of the Doctor or the companions; they just happen to be there but take no real part in the story, except for the silly idea of having one of the locals being an exact duplicate of Nyssa. Among other defects that spring to mind: the Tardis is moved by the local police; I thought it had the effect of being super-massive or somehow immovable except by internal control (maybe I'm wrong on this). The murderer has some kind of super-strength which is NEVER explained by the reasons given for his condition. There's an Indian who cannot tie knots, and doesn't learn to keep from being knocked out repeatedly from behind. The Doctor takes the Tardis on one of those infamous "short hops" that are always supposed to be so difficult, but this time works perfectly and is done merely to save a few minutes of driving. The insane thing is that he could have just as easily moved in time as well as space and prevented the murders from happening (and himself from being suspected) in the first place! Only the convention of the "short hops" being tricky and un-repeatable prevents this simple solution from eliminating 90% of the plot twists and situations in all the Dr. Who episodes! I wish they really DID take advantage of the time-travel aspects; then their writers would really have to WORK instead of churning out the usual drivel... Anyway, "Black Orchid" is an episode you DON'T want to use to introduce someone to the Doctor; it will have the effect of making them avoid any other Dr. Who programs. Miss it if you can... Will Martin PS -- the only good part of this was the cricket game; we American viewers could identify with Adric and Nyssa in being completely mystified by it...
hobbit@sunybcs.UUCP (Thomas Pellitieri) (10/10/84)
In article <5151@brl-tgr.ARPA> wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) writes: >The local (St. Louis) station showed the "Black Orchid" story Sunday night. >... >It's hard to enumerate the many faults of this story; first off, it is only >an ordinary 20's country-house murder story, with nothing to tie in the >presence of the Doctor or the companions; they just happen to be there but >take no real part in the story, except for the silly idea of having one >of the locals being an exact duplicate of Nyssa. Get use to it. One of the things that John Nathan-Turner likes about the series is that they don't ALWAYS have to do something related to science fiction. It leaves a bit of freedom for the story writers, and the plots tend not to be so repetative. >Among other defects that >spring to mind: the Tardis is moved by the local police; I thought it had >the effect of being super-massive or somehow immovable except by internal >control (maybe I'm wrong on this). I think you are. The TARDIS (it IS an anacronym!) is moved in several other stories: Full Circle, The King's Demons, Time Flight, The Armageddon Factor, and The Carnival of Monsters come readily to mind. Romana states the weight of the TARDIS in Full Circle, but I don't remember it off hand. >The murderer has some kind of super-strength >which is NEVER explained by the reasons given for his condition. There's >an Indian who cannot tie knots, and doesn't learn to keep from being knocked >out repeatedly from behind. The only author I know who takes the time to explain EVERYTHING is Charles Dickens. One can't expect everything to be explained. Also, I don't see where it is an inherent quality that Indians can tie knots. That's the same as saying that all Negros are good basketball players! (No offense intended) >The Doctor takes the Tardis on one of those >infamous "short hops" that are always supposed to be so difficult, but >this time works perfectly and is done merely to save a few minutes of driving. >The insane thing is that he could have just as easily moved in time as well >as space and prevented the murders from happening (and himself from being >suspected) in the first place! Only the convention of the "short hops" being >tricky and un-repeatable prevents this simple solution from eliminating >90% of the plot twists and situations in all the Dr. Who episodes! I wish >they really DID take advantage of the time-travel aspects; then their writers >would really have to WORK instead of churning out the usual drivel... You may recall that in "Logopolis" the Doctor says he's getting rather better at these short hops. And Yes, he could have jumped through time, but that would contradict the First Law of Time. The Doctor does have some scruples. See the beginning of the story after Earthshock, when Nyssa begs the Doctor to go back and prevent Adric's death. >Anyway, "Black Orchid" is an episode you DON'T want to use to introduce >someone to the Doctor; it will have the effect of making them avoid any >other Dr. Who programs. Miss it if you can... This is not necessarily the case. If you have a person who absolutely hates ray guns and bug-eyed monsters, but loves mysteries, this may be the BEST episode for an introduction. >PS -- the only good part of this was the cricket game; we American viewers >could identify with Adric and Nyssa in being completely mystified by it... Not really. It give a good idea where Baseball and Cricket have their similarities. It also gives us an idea of What IS Cricket. Additionally, it shows WHY the Doctor feels at home in a Cricket uniform. Watch Davison's smile in this scene, he's not really acting -- he's being himself! I happen to like Black Orchid very much. The idea of the confusion at the Fancy Dress party has been used, I know, but it was quite enjoyable. Also, folks, THIS is the episode in which Janet Fielding does "The Charleston". According to the choreographer, Gary Downie (who appeared at Panopticon West 1984, who will be attending Buffalo Who-Fest 1984 Nov. 9-11, and happens to be John N-T's best friend) says that teaching her that dance was worse than having Henry Higgins teach Eliza Doolittle how to speak proper English! Happy Times and Places, -- -The Parker Hobbit UUCP: {allegra, seismo}!rochester!rocksvax!sunybcs!hobbit or try decvax!sunybcs!hobbit "When your song is over and the words have all been sung We'll hold on to the meaning. Keep your love alive and young"
chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Zonker T. Chuqui) (10/12/84)
> >Anyway, "Black Orchid" is an episode you DON'T want to use to introduce > >someone to the Doctor; it will have the effect of making them avoid any > >other Dr. Who programs. Miss it if you can... > >PS -- the only good part of this was the cricket game; we American viewers > >could identify with Adric and Nyssa in being completely mystified by it... > > it shows WHY the Doctor feels at home in a Cricket uniform. Watch Davison's > smile in this scene, he's not really acting -- he's being himself! > > I happen to like Black Orchid very much. The idea of the confusion at the > Fancy Dress party has been used, I know, but it was quite enjoyable. I have to agree with the hobbit. Black Orchid wasn't like a lot of other Dr. Who episodes-- that is one reason I liked it. It wasn't the best, of course, but it was good. Remember also that the Black Orchid was done back when Davison was still new to the job and they were trying to find and develop his character. One thing Turner is adamant about-- each Doctor is about as far from the previous one as possible to keep things from stagnating (his word for Davison 'preppy' his word for Colin Baker 'tacky', for example). Tom Baker's stuff was very technological and SFish. It's good to see them spreading out away from that towards more people oriented stories, mystery, and other forms. If nothing else, it IS different. -- From the Department of Bistromatics: Chuq Von Rospach {cbosgd,decwrl,fortune,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!chuqui nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA How about 'reason for living?'