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George Cranleigh was an explorer and botanist. Scion of an aristocratic Oxfordshire family, he was the son of Lady Cranleigh and brother of Charles Cranleigh. He was engaged to Ann Talbot.
Biography
Returning from a trip to the Amazon, searching for the black orchid, he was deranged and disfigured. He had been captured, tortured and mutilated by the natives in the jungle. A friendly tribe led by Latoni returned him home where his engagement was cancelled.
Lady Cranleigh locked him up in a secret section of the house for two years to keep him safe from the outside world with the help of Latoni and one of their servants Digby.
George was still in love with Ann. He stalked her round the house and murdered Digby and another servant called James. He captured Nyssa, mistaking her for Ann, took her to the roof where he was followed by Charles and the Doctor, but soon realised it was not Ann. He returned Nyssa to the Doctor but then fell from the roof to his death. He was the author of the book Black Orchid. (DW: Black Orchid)
Behind the scenes
To preserve the mystery of his character's identity, Gareth Milne was credited as The Unknown for Part One and in Radio Times before being revealed as George Cranleigh for Part Two.