10 thoughts on “(Classic) Doctor Who Historical Costumes: Black Orchid

  1. I vaguely remember this one. Dr. Who us on my perennial rewatch list. I need to see them again. But the nonfrock series I’m streaming are The Windsors (hilarious) Lucy Lawless in Murder is My Life and Dublin Murders.

  2. I adore this one. It’s so nice to see the crew, especially Tegan, just enjoying themselves for a change – before everything goes pear shaped. And the lip was necessary to add to the unbelievable quality of the Doctor’s story.
    The looks on Adric and Nyssa’s faces as they watched the cricket match were uncannily similar to the looks on the faces of my American Who club as our sole English member tried to explain the game to us.

  3. I could never bring myself to watch anything with sci-fi or time travel elements…never understood the premise of this show. But it sure gets its share of love lol

  4. I remember it as being especially entertaining. I’ve seen a number of interesting historical outfits on the show, often with no especial historical context.

    1. The original concept of the program was to teach children about history using a sci-fi framework. The first seasons included the Crusades and the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, in addition to the Aztecs, Rome, and the French Revolution.

  5. You’re incorrect about the first two doctors not having historical episodes with few Sci fi reasons. most of them were erased or lost. but the first doctor was mostly history visits: the Aztece, Marco Polo, the French Revolution, ancient Rome, etc. the second Doctor had the Highlanders, and a few others, not at many as the first doctor. then Tom Baker had a few. but that was it until the new series. now THEY never go historic without an alien in it. which is tiresome and dull. they also VERY rarely dress correctly, which is bizarre as no one seems to notice a woman dressed for 2019 in 1850! at least the earlier doctors companions dressed correctly for the era!!!! the Doctor even referred to Sarah Jane Smith in Pyramid of Mars as Vicky!

  6. The butterfly costume at least isn’t entirely unlike some of those late 1910s/early 20s transitional type evening/dance frocks, so I give it a pass.

  7. Ebbutt definitely had a flair for very colourful designs, her other Classic Doctor Who gig ‘The Greatest Show in the Galaxy’ had a lot of very colourful outfits even if none were ‘scifi’…except, maybe Nord’s piped denim biker deal…
    https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mca9rPS-4UI/XGodtSTl_6I/AAAAAAAADPI/f1C0uWnklNYsD4XpT7vWO2fWh-S50PuNwCLcBGAs/s1600/25-2-greatestshowgalaxy-7.png
    https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bKieLja1mjo/XGoeAfPlH8I/AAAAAAAADQg/qImdLG5Xu9QzC8U5pL3MRl399F32fpCUACLcBGAs/s1600/who-costumes-42.png

    She did one (well, two) ‘proper’ scifi gigs too, The Flipside of Dominic Hyde & its sequel Another Flip for Dominic…

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