Customer Reviews

Doctor Who - The Visitation/Black Orchid [VHS]

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Doctor arrives at Heathrow Airport, only it's a few centuries too early, have the TARDIS and crew materializing just as the Plague is ravaging England. As the mystery unfolds, we learn that stranded reptilian-aliens, who are also escaped convicts, are accelerating the Plague in a typical half-baked fashion. As the newly regenerated 5th Doctor, played here by young Peter Davison, joins forces with Richard Mace, an actor turned highwayman. Keeping in the classic mold of the series, there is lots of running, capture, escape and escaping again, but very little story to tie up the historical elements.

Significant story points: THE DEATH of the SONIC SCREWDRIVER
(don't worry kids, it'll be back, check out the new season one DVDs in July)

With so many companions in the TARDIS a common flaw with the first Davison season is trying to find something for everyone to do, this is partly why Nyssa ends up in the TARDIS on a superfluous tech detail. Inspite of this I am still disappointed when Michael Robbins's Richard Mace remains behind, rather than add another mouth the feed (in the dialogue sense). The costumes are awkward, but performances bridge the gap. Locations are ok here and Peter Davison is so charming on screen that this below average concept becomes a very watchable piece of Dr. Who history. Unfortunately, Davison is less charismatic on the DVD commentary, filled with pauses and no real revelations, making for a is a less than interesting extra.

A marvelous psuedo-historical! One of Eric Saward's best scripts. Michael Robbins as Richard Mace shines with Davison, making a delightful pairing. Even the rest of the TARDIS crew have their part to play. The setting, the location, and even studio bound sets all help this one rise above. It's just a shame that Saward didn't give names to the Terileptils. Even the android(with cricket gloves that didn't bother me) comes across pretty good. A typical lyrical Davison story puncuated by a straightforward script and great timing by all involved.

If someone were to ask you to show them not the very best historical Doctor Who and also not the worst historical Doctor Who but the most average you could think of I'd recommend showing them this one. In fact it's not just average for historical Doctor Who is average for any type of Doctor Who story.

Not that average is bad mind you it's just that with with so few Peter Davison era Doctor Who episodes avalible on DVD I wonder why they picked this one. So far all the episodes on DVD of the Davison era have been important episodes. For example Earthshock with the Cybermen and death of Adric or Caves of Androzani not only featuring Davison's finial apearence but also one of the best written, best acted,best written episodes ever.But who knows maybe that was the point to show something average.

The plot the Tardis lands on Earth in 1666 during the plague. There are aliens trapped on Earth they decide to wipe out all humanity so all three of them can have Earth to themselves. The Doctor offers to help them go some place else but they reject his offer.The doctor must stop the aliens evil plan to wipe out humanity with a geneticaly altered plague virus before it's too late! We've seen this sort of thing before in fact it remined me a bit of the Time Warrior from the Pertwee era but it's not as good. If this story suffers from something it's from being too simple and the writter of the episode Eric Saward agrees that it is a simple story in an excellent interview on the DVD extras.

Now on to the extras and on that score the disk gets a 5 star rating the stand out features are.A funny and very informative audio comentary track with Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Matthew Waterhouse and director Peter Moffat. An interview with Peter Moffat about directing Doctor Who over the years. A interview with the episode writer Eric Saward. As well as an interview with the episodes composer. Honestly I really don't feel you can ask for much more BBC really went to town on this disk and I only mentioned some of what I think are the more interesting features. The episode may be average but the extras are far above average even by the high standards the BBC has set with other D.W. disks.

In conclusion this is a solid if not truely great episode. It's a good time but just not the best of the Davison era it is in a word average.

"The Visitation" A first rate adventure for the TARDIS crew finds the Doctor (portrayed with excellence by Peter Davison)discovering an alien presence at a sensitive time in English history. Will our favorite Time Lord, along with his compantions and an open-minded actor/highwayman, be able to stop this menace? Collector's Note: This story features the last use of the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver until the 1996 TV Movie! "Black Orchid" The Doctor remains in England, only travelling to the 1920's. While the Doctor enjoys a game of cricket, there are strange goings-on at Cranleigh House. A murder mystery ensues and the Doctor is the prime suspect!

Both of these episodes show the range of the Doctor Who series. While both utilize historical background, they have radically different approaches. One includes sci-fi elements, while another is a period costume drama. Neither suffers from these limitations and are suitable for the whole family.

The acting in the Doctor Who series is typically very good. The producers had to hire talented actors in order to detract from the occasionally rough special effects. Peter Davison brought an enthusiam and joy to the role of the Doctor that had been missing for a few years. Sarah Sutton is an excellent addition to the cast, playing a young scientist who is the last survivor of her world. She shows great range in "Black Orchid" where she takes on a second role. Janet Fielding offers her role of Tegan with great gusto, demonstrating a strength that is missing from many women's roles in family drama of the 80's. Matthew Waterhouse as the much-maligned Adric shows improvement, though he is certainly not adding much to the procedings. Watch for his amusing turn at the buffet in "Black Orchid."

These were two of my favorites growing up. I am glad to call them part of my home video collection. - CCH

A refreshing script filled with engaging, well written and well acted characters, with a simple and straightforward plot that's refreshingly novel in its use of aliens attempting to conquer Earth and commit genocide in the process. And the production is top-rate, rushing nothing and being properly paced. There are even some nice period pieces that, in their own arcane way, are educational. What more could one ask for?

What's not to like? Even the story's most glaring oversight is EASILY forgiven, given the weight and credibility this story otherwise carries. Eric Saward's first script is stellar (and his subsequent "Earthshock" is also very effective). (that oversight? Nyssa suggests historians will be baffled if they discover any strewn power packs (which are smaller than the size of a pill bottle). Yet the Tereleptils' escape pod never got dealt with and is rather easier to find, thanks to its size. But, again, the story makes it easy to overlook that.)

Best of all are the one-liners and jibes each character makes at apropos moments during the story; it's the quality and quantity of dialogue that sets this story (nevermind the series "Doctor Who") from any given sci-fi drivel produced today, let alone back then.

As usual, the restoration work never ceases to impress and, indeed, for a single layer disc the transfer looks very good indeed. (UK customers are treated with dual-layer discs and, as such, get much better looking copies, but the US releases have generally been quite passable too.)

And the sound is, as usual, superlative.

And there's a slew of extras: An isolated soundtrack of the music score, which only made me happy. The style of music used in this era could never be matched, and it's great to have the music separated so it can be enjoyed on its own. Also included, much to my surprise and delight, was a decent documentary of the scoring of the story that includes composer Paddy Kingsland. A fanboy's dream! Or the dream of anybody who'd want to know about how a story is composed, or anyone who likes to know how shows and movies are put together. It's informative and Paddy's musical style is easily one of the best the series has ever had... But yet this doco wasn't as good as others. That's not to say I didn't welcome this extra! Very few series get this sort of treatment and I must say many more series deserve this sort of treatment! It's still B+.

I've not yet watched the other documentaries and extras, but I'd easily guess they'd be of the usual quality. But I can say the audio commentaries from the main cast is, as with Earthshock, wonderful to listen to. Great to have the four of them back together for reminiscing, even if they rib their performances or how it was filmed. :-) (Heck, it's entertaining and the chemistry between them is wonderful, though I won't reveal any spoilers there... heh. )

Ask any Doctor Who fan to pick their favorite era of the show and they will each pick a different Doctor as their favorite, and likely decry the others as being nowhere near as good. It all seems to depend on your age and when you first became interested in the show. For me, who started watching in the Patrick Troughton tenure as the Doctor and became riveted to the show in the Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker eras, I find it hard not to be disappointed with what came later. The BBC have again released two stories on DVD from opposing eras of the show and certainly nothing here is likely to change my mind about what I like most.

First up is the Jon Pertwee story ending his fourth season as the intrepid Time Lord - The Green Death. For many, this is one of the most evocative and best-remembered stories from his five-year stint in the role. With a remarkable eye on future events, this story has once again led the way from being science fiction to many science facts. The storyline of a mega-corporation polluting the planet and sinisterly controlling our behavior is hardly stuff of fantasy anymore, alas. But thirty years ago, it was only a nightmare of a possibly frightening future.

The problems with many of the Pertwee stories were of length and budget. Six part stories tended to be heavily padded to make the money go further and often sagged badly in the middle. I'm glad to say The Green Death is not one of those. Of course, it might have been tighter had it only stretched to four episodes and undoubtedly if it was made today it would be trimmed to one fifty minute romp, but it works very well in it's longer format. There are flaws of course, but all these can be washed away by the very, very poignant and indeed tear-jerking ending that sets the show apart from much of what had gone before. Losing one of the show's regular characters was often hard on viewers but somehow the departure of Jo Grant, the third Doctor's long standing second assistant, had a very big impact on the audience, possibly more so than the exit of any previous leading lady in the show. By far one of the most successful partnerships ever created for the show, even now, viewers can tell that the acting by the two leads as they parted ways was heightened by very real sadness. Indeed, Katy Manning, the lovely actress who played Jo for three years, becomes very emotional in her commentary for this release as she relives the parting scene all these years later.

It's the commentary and the extras that always make these releases so special and Katy, together with Script Editor Terrance Dicks and Producer Barry Letts, provide a genuinely interesting narrative, which is hugely enjoyable. Clearly a close team, they all lament the absence of the Doctor himself, the late Jon Pertwee. There could have been a certain amount of discomfort in the commentary, since Jo Grant leaves the Doctor when she falls in love and intends to marry Professor Jones. In reality, Katy Manning was indeed engaged to the actor playing Jones, Stewart Bevan, and their subsequent marriage only lasted a few months. Tactfully, none of this is mentioned in the commentary or by Bevan's own contribution to the disc. In addition, a terrifically funny documentary on what happened after the show is worth purchasing the disc alone.

I can't say the same for The Visitation, the second of the new releases, pulled from the first season to feature Peter Davison in the Time Lord's shoes. It's certainly not a bad four part romp and there's a lot to commend it in terms of production values and a fine guest cast, but it's symptomatic of the era that the squabbling and frankly badly acted regular cast get in the way of a good story. Interestingly, in this story, Davison's Doctor loses his temper with all three of his companions and as a viewer, you really can't blame him. Individually they may have all worked as characters, but there were just too many of them to make scenes work effectively. But it's another twist on the Doctor explaining Earth history via science fiction and a clever idea in itself and well executed.

Recorded second, but transmitted fourth, Davison was still finding his way in the part but he was hampered by the inexperience of the cast he was expected to carry and alas the story fails as a result. Things certainly did improve later, but these were still very early days. Thankfully, the on screen bickering of the four main leads clearly didn't translate into `real life' and their commentary is genuinely funny and entertaining, particularly as they gleefully point out each other's rather limited acting ability.

The extras on this disc are slightly less impressive and almost became tedious, but they're still worthy of inclusion and hardcore fans will certainly be pleased to have them.

All in all, another great pair of releases showcasing different approaches to the long running classic adventure serial. Well worth the investment and a must for any collector.

The most charming Davison adventure. a 2-part historical(do we have to mention the last "true" historical?) where the Doctor and his companions are mistaken for a friend of the Cranlieghs filling in at a Cricket match. Davison is a delight as well as the regulars having loads of fun. The story is devoid of padding, which helps the pace of the story where a strange figure stalks Cranliegh Hall. Sarah Sutton gives a great performance as Ann. A breath of fresh air!

Visitation

This episode was great, great, great, and really great. You just can't say that this episode is great once and leave it at that. Like I usually do, if you havent purchased this movie I wont say too much. ( where's the drama if I tell ya everything?) Its got a babe, actually two of them. Tegan the hotty with a body... put simply. And Nyssa the nice, sweet, intelligent girl, with a cute little figure. Its got a historical earth setting; which I particularly like. I believe its the 17th century. Aliens; you just cant have a good episode without aliens. (you ever notice?) -To ellaborate on the aliens briefly.- The aliens are fairly cunning and actually surprising well made costume wise. One of the first DW episodes to feature animatronics on an alien costume.

The story also has Likeable Characters. I gaurantee youll thoroughly enjoy the "thespian" character. He's laugh out loud funny for just about everything he says. "To be or not to be." -doggonit. Last but not least is the story. It has a good plot though somewhat weak in some areas. A standard Alien Takeover DW script. All said and done. If you really like doctor who, or you couldnt give a rats fuzzy behind about DW(small hint on the story). You'll still like this episode.

-Sir Josh

This particular story was one of the better storylines in the classic Doctor Who's in my opinion. It brought in some history and how the Doctor was even involved in bringing it about. I also thought it was very well directed and written. Just keep in mind this is Doctor Who and the monsters are on a budget.

With this double tape set, viewers are treated to two stories with similar themes. Both are historical in context and both deal with monsters, of a sort. In The Visitation, the Doctor must stop the evil Terrileptals from overrunning a 17th century earth with a massive plague that would wipe out the entire population. In Black Orchid, we are treated to the first purely historical story since te days of Patrick Troughton's Doctor. Here, the Doctor discovers murder in the home of the Cranleighs. What dark secret is Lady Cranleigh trying to hide and how does it relate to Nyssa? Both stories are well paced, well acted stories, worthy of being included in anyone's video collection.