In the summer of 1925, Sir Robert Muir was one of the guests at the cricketing weekend hosted by his friend Lady Cranleigh and her son Charles. Sir Robert was Chief Constable of the district.
The Doctor and his companions Tegan, Nyssa and Adric found themselves invited also, due to a case of mistaken identity.
The Cranleighs harboured a terrible secret. Charles' famous explorer brother George was widely believed to have died on an Amazonian expedition to discover the rare black orchid. However, he was being concealed in an attic wing of their home, having been horribly mutilated by native tribesmen which had driven him insane. A fancy dress party was held after the cricket match, in which Sir Robert enjoyed Tegan's company. During the event George murdered the servant helping to guard him, then stole downstairs disguised in the Doctor's harlequin costume. He attacked his fiancée Ann Talbot - killing a butler who came to her assistance.
The Doctor found himself accused of the killings, and was arrested by Sir Robert.
The Doctor took him and the local policemen to see the TARDIS in order to help prove his innocence. They were given a trip back to Cranleigh Hall in the ship to confront Lady Cranleigh and Charles.
George escaped again and mistook Nyssa for Ann, with whom she bore a striking similarity, attempting to abduct her.
Sir Robert was witness to George's death, when he fell from the roof of the Hall during a fire.
Played by: Moray Watson. Appearances: Black Orchid (1982).
- Watson, who died in 2017, appeared in the very first Quatermass serial in 1953, playing the professor's assistant Peter Marsh.
- He later appeared opposite Peter Davison, in another 1920's setting, in the detective series Campion.
- Like a great many of the actors cast by JNT, he had appeared in period drama The Pallisers.
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