Friday, September 19, 2014

Black Orchid

The TARDIS crew demonstrating some
very bad dancing
Two episodes (Part One, Part Two)
First broadcast Mar 1 to 2 1982
Average audience for serial: 10.0m

REGULAR CAST

Peter Davison (The Doctor) Born Apr 13 1951 Click here for Peter Davison's entry on Logopolis

Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) Born Dec 19 1961 Click here for Matthew Waterhouse's entry on Full Circle

Sarah Sutton (Nyssa) Born Dec 12 1961 Click here for Sarah Sutton's entry on The Keeper of Traken

Janet Fielding (Tegan) Born Sep 9 1953 Click here for Janet Fielding's entry on Logopolis

GUEST CAST

Timothy Block (Tanner) Born Nov 6 1944
Career highlights
Timothy's first acting credit was on Coriolanus (1965), followed by Troilus and Cressida (1966), Shoestring (1979), The Enigma Files (1980), Minder (1982), The Professionals (1983), The Keep (1983), Boon (1986), Casualty (1986), The Franchise Affair (1988), The Woman in Black (1989), Poirot (1990), 99-1 (1995), Silent Witness (1996), Senet (2012), Frequencies (2013), Arthur & Merlin (2015) and The Quarry (2016).
Facts
Timothy's brother Giles appeared in The Dominators in 1968.
In 2018 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Timothy here.

Michael Cochrane (Lord Cranleigh) Born May 19 1947
Doctor Who credits
Played: Lord Cranleigh in Black Orchid (1982)
Played: Redvers Fenn-Cooper in Ghost Light (1989)
Career highlights
Michael's earliest role was in Bonny! (1974), followed by The Pallisers (1974), Love Thy Neighbour (1975), Love in a Cold Climate (1980), The Citadel (1983), The Far Pavilions (1984), Frankenstein (1984), The Detective (1985), The Collectors (1986), Fortunes of War (1987), Number One Gun (1990), No Job for a Lady (1990), Keeping Up Appearances (1993), The Saint (1997), Coronation Street (1998), Big Bad World (1999), Perfect World (2000-01), Rosemary and Thyme (2003), Spooks (2003), Murphy's Law (2004), The Government Inspector (2005), Suez: A Very British Crisis (2006), To the Manor Born (2007), Criminal Justice (2009), Holy Flying Circus (2011), The Iron Lady (2011), Titanic: Blood and Steel (2012), Downton Abbey (2011-15), The Musketeers (2014), Vicious (2015), Agatha Raisin (2016), The Crown (2016), Man Down (2015/17) and 10 episodes of Doctors between 2005-19). He regularly played Charles Gaylion in Wings (1977-78), Nigel Crimmond in The Chief (1990-95) and Sir Henry Simmerson in the Sharpe franchise (1993-2008). He also plays Oliver Sterling in radio soap The Archers.
Facts
He is married to actress Belinda Carroll, sister of Rani actress Kate O'Mara.

Brian Hawksley (Brewster) Apr 8 1920 to Sep 28 2001
Career highlights
Brian debuted in 1959's The Voodoo Factor, then Secret Beneath the Sea (1963), Mike (1964), Death is a Good Living (1966), Man in a Suitcase (1968), South Riding (1974), Colditz (1974), Whose Child Am I? (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1978), Black Jack (1979), Grandad (1979), The Haunting of Cassie Palmer (1982), Nancy Astor (1982), Dempsey and Makepeace (1985), Half Moon Street (1986) and The Witches (1990).
Facts
Brian was married to textile artist Rozanne Hawksley, who studied with Lucien Freud and Francis Bacon.

Ahmed Khalil (Latoni) Born Jul 13 1941
Career highlights
Ahmed's first role was in The Further Adventures of Lucky Jim in 1967, followed by parts in Paul Temple (1969), The Mummy (1969), The Alf Garnett Saga (1972), Till Death Us Do Part (1975), Are You Being Served? (1976), Gangsters (1976-78), Mind Your Language (1979), The Gentle Touch (1980), Only Fools and Horses (1981), The Irish RM (1984), Mr Palfrey of Westminster (1985), The Piglet Files (1991), Civvies (1992), Son of the Pink Panther (1993), EastEnders (1995), Shooting Fish (1997) and The Hamburg Cell (2004). Ahmed moved to the Middle East and has appeared in various Egyptian productions, including El-katl El-laziz (1997), Malak rohi (2003), Reesh Naam (2010) and Kayd El-Nisaa (2012).
Facts
In February 2019 there were reports of Ahmed having died due to a "sudden health crisis", but this was proven untrue by the Egyptian Actors' Syndicate.

Gareth Milne (George Cranleigh) Born May 7 1953
Doctor Who credits
Played: George Cranleigh in Black Orchid (1982)
Stunts: Warriors of the Deep (1984, uncredited)
Played: Mortuary attendant in Vengeance on Varos (1985, uncredited)
Career highlights
Gareth is a stuntman turned actor who first appeared in 1978 in Sweeney 2. Over the years he has received acting and stuntwork credits on more than 200 productions, including Blake's 7 (1980), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Kessler (1981), Krull (1983), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Bergerac (1985), Howards' Way (1986), Filthy Rich and Catflap (1987), Star Cops (1987), Red Dwarf (1989-92), Taggart (1993), Bugs (1995), Charlotte Gray (2001), Nice Guy Eddie (2002), The Second Coming (2003), Sea of Souls (2007), Death at a Funeral (2007), He Kills Coppers (2008), Dread (2009), Vera (2011), The Shadow Line (2011), Sherlock (2012), Skyfall (2012), Lucan (2013), Off Their Rockers (2014), Strike Back (2013-15), Partners in Crime (2015), Downton Abbey (2015), Dad's Army (2016) and The Missing (2016).
Awards
2008: Screen Actors' Guild Award for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture (The Bourne Ultimatum)
2013: Screen Actors' Guild Award for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture (Skyfall)

Barbara Murray (Lady Cranleigh) Sep 27 1929 to May 20 2014 (heart attack)
Career highlights
Barbara debuted uncredited in Anna Karenina (1948), and subsequently appeared in Badger's Green (1949), Passport to Pimlico (1949), Mystery Junction (1951), The Frightened Man 91952), Hot Ice (1952), Doctor at Large (1957), The Widow of Bath (1959), The Escape of RD7 (1961), The Punch and Judy Man (1963), Juke Box Jury (1963), The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling (1964), A Dandy in Aspic (1968), The Caesars (1968), Strange Report (1970), The Morecambe and Wise Show (1970), Never a Cross Word (1969-70), Up Pompeii (1971), Albert and Victoria (1971), Jason King (1971), Call My Bluff (1966-71), His and Hers (1972), Heartbreak House (1977), The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (1980), Robin's Nest (1979-80), The Power (1984), Never the Twain (1984/88), Coach (1996) and The Harpist (1999). Barbara's most remembered role was as (Lady) Pamela Wilder in The Plane Makers (1963-64) and The Power Game (1965-69), while she also enjoyed regular roles as Marie Finn in The Pallisers (1974) and Lydia in The Bretts (1987-89).
Facts
Barbara's first husband was actor John Justin, while her second was actor and teacher Peter Holmes (who appeared as an extra in The Daleks' Master Plan). In 1976, Barbara spent six weeks in hospital after breaking her jaw when a car she was travelling in was involved in a collision during a British Council-sponsored acting tour of Brazil. In retirement, she moved to Alicante in Spain where she fell and broke her hip in 2014. Admitted to hospital for an operation to fix her injury, she suffered a heart attack.

Ivor Salter (Sergeant Markham) Aug 22 1925 to Jun 21 1991
Doctor Who credits
Played:
 Morok commander in The Space Museum (1965)
Played: Odysseus in The Myth Makers (1965)
Played: Sergeant Markham in Black Orchid (1982)
Career highlights
Ivor's career began in The Heart Within (1957) and went on to see roles in Police Surgeon (1960), The Six Proud Walkers (1962), Dog Eat Dog (1964), Adam Adamant Lives! (1966), Here Come the Double Deckers! (1970), In for a Penny (1972), Westway (1976), All Creatures Great and Small (1978), Crossroads (1979-80), The Invisible Man (1984), In Loving Memory (1986) and Executive Stress (1987).

Andrew Tourell (Constable Cummings) Jan 18 1946 to Jan 17 2004 (heart attack)
Career highlights
Andrew's other credits include Dixon of Dock Green (1976), Shelley (1979), Just Good Friends (1984), No Place Like Home (1986-87) and Terry and June (1987). His most memorable roles were as Napley in 18 episodes of It Takes a Worried Man (1981-83) and Geoffrey Ballard in 46 episodes of the sitcom Waiting for God (1990-94).

Moray Watson (Sir Robert Muir) Jun 25 1928 to May 2 2017
Career highlights
Moray first appeared in The Quatermass Experiment (1953), then took roles in Find the Lady (1956), No Wreath for the General (1960), Compact (1962-63), Operation Crossbow (1965), The Avengers (1966), The Expert (1969), Rookery Nook (1970), Hadleigh (1971), Upstairs, Downstairs (1972), But Seriously, It's Sheila Hancock (1972-73), Rooms (1975), Return of the Saint (1978), The Sea Wolves (1980), Pride and Prejudice (1980), Union Castle (1982), The Cleopatras (1983), Who Dares Wins (1986), Still Crazy Like a Fox (1987), Rude Health (1987), Sir Norbert Smith, a Life (1989), Haggard (1992), The Vicar of Dibley (1994), Dangerfield (1995), Kavanagh QC (1999), Bertie and Elizabeth (2002), My Family (2011) and Ace (2014). He had regular roles as Lord Collingford in Catweazle (1971), Barrington Erle in The Pallisers (1974), Angus Kinloch in Quiller (1975), Judge George Frobisher in Rumpole of the Bailey (1978-88) and the Brigadier in The Darling Buds of May (1991-93).
Facts
Moray's daughter is actress Emma Vansittart, who is married to actor Rupert Vansittart (he appeared in Aliens of London in 2005). Before she left acting to home-school her children, Emma performed under the name Emma Watson (her birth name) but was asked by Equity in 2000 if she would relinquish her stage name so that newcomer Emma Watson (aka Hermione in the Harry Potter franchise) could be credited as such. Emma has since returned to acting using her married name. Moray's wife Pam was the daughter of early cinema star Percy Marmont, and sister of actor and acting agent Patricia Marmont.

CREW

Terence Dudley (writer) Sep 28 1919 to Dec 25 1988 (cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Directed: Meglos (1980)
Wrote: K-9 & Company (1981), Four to Doomsday (1982), Black Orchid (1982), The King's Demons (1983)
Career highlights
Terence started out in the 1950s as a playwright and soon went into script writing, his early credits including The River Flows East (1962), and then Moonstrike (1963), Detective (1964), Boy Meets Girl (1967), Doomwatch (1970-72), Survivors (1977) and All Creatures Great and Small (1978-80). He became a BBC producer and director in the early 1960s, and in this capacity worked on productions such as The Nightwatchman's Stories (1959), The World of Tim Frazer (1960-61), The Men from Room 13 (1961), Cluff (1964-65), Champion House (1967), Doomwatch (1970-72), Colditz (1972), Survivors (1975-77), Secret Army (1978), To Serve Them All My Days (1980-81), Triangle (1983) and All Creatures Great and Small (1978-83).
Facts
In 1963 he was invited by Doctor Who's original producer, Verity Lambert, to write the very first story (as a replacement for Anthony Coburn's 100,000 BC), but declined. His son is child actor Stephen Dudley, who appeared in over 20 episodes of Survivors (1975-77) as John Millon.

Ron Jones (director) Aug 6 1945 to Jul 9 1993
Doctor Who credits
Directed: Black Orchid (1982), Time-Flight (1982), Arc of Infinity (1983), Frontios (1984), Vengeance on Varos (1985), The Trial of a Time Lord (1986)
Career highlights
Starting out as a BBC Radio studio manager in the 1960s, Ron worked for a time as a researcher and writer for the children's show Blue Peter, before acting as an assistant floor manager and production manager on series such as Bergerac and Secret Army. Ron's few other directing credits include Juliet Bravo (1985), the German soap Lindenstraße (1987-88) and the TV movie Burg Wutzenstein (1988). In the 1970s Ron worked as a researcher and writer on the children's show Blue Peter. Ron's partner was Gordon Elsbury, who directed shows such as Are You Being Served?, Top of the Pops and Spitting Image (he was also production assistant on the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest).

John Nathan-Turner (producer) Aug 12 1947 to May 1 2002 (liver failure) Click here for John Nathan-Turner's entry on The Leisure Hive

Eric Saward (script editor) Born Dec 9 1944 Click here for Eric Saward's entry on on Castrovalva

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