''Time and the Rani'' is the first serial of the 24th season of the British

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 7 to 28 September 1987. It was the first to feature

Sylvester McCoy Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...

as the

Seventh Doctor The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and the final incarnation of the original Doctor Who series. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy. W ...

, who regenerates from the

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual time on the series was comparatively brief and turbulent, Ba ...

at the start of the story after

Colin Baker Colin Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor who played Paul Merroney in the BBC drama series '' The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series ''Docto ...

was dismissed from the role. In the serial, the renegade Time Lady

the Rani The Rani is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. She was played by Kate O'Mara. The Rani is a renegade Time Lord, an amoral scientist who considers everything secondary to her research; she h ...

(

Kate O'Mara Kate O'Mara (born Francesca Meredith Carroll;Michael CoveneObituary: Kate O'Mara ''The Guardian'', 30 March 2014 10 August 1939 – 30 March 2014) was an English film, stage and television actress, and writer. O'Mara made her stage debut in a ...

) brings the greatest geniuses from time and space to her laboratory on the planet Lakertya so she can use their minds to power her time manipulator.

Plot

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Whilst in flight, the

TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior a ...

is attacked by

, an amoral scientist and renegade

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, the Doctor, is a member. Time Lords are so named for their command ...

. The TARDIS crash-lands on the planet Lakertya. On the floor of the console room, the

regenerates into the

. In his post-regenerative confusion the Doctor is separated from

Mel Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

and tricked into assisting the Rani in her megalomaniac scheme to construct a giant time manipulator. Lost on the barren surface of the planet, Mel has to avoid the Rani's ingenious traps and her monstrous, bat-like servants, the Tetraps. She joins forces with a rebel faction among the Lakertyans, desperate to end the Rani's control of their planet. The Doctor must recover his wits in time to avoid becoming a permanent part of the Rani's plan to collect the genius of the greatest scientific minds in the universe, of which she has captured many including

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

, in order that she can create a time manipulator, which would allow the Rani to control time anywhere in the universe, at the expense of all life on Lakertya. The Doctor manages to foil her plan and free the Lakertyans of her evil control. The Rani escapes in her TARDIS, but it has been commandeered by the Tetraps, who take her prisoner. The Doctor takes all the captured geniuses on board his TARDIS so that he can return them home.

Production

This story's working title was ''Strange Matter''. The story was initially written for Colin Baker and the Sixth Doctor, with the opening scene, intended to be a depiction of the

Judgement of Solomon The Judgement of Solomon is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which Solomon ruled between two women both claiming to be the mother of a child. Solomon revealed their true feelings and relationship to the child by suggesting the baby be cut in two, ...

, dropped to accommodate the regeneration.

Cast notes

Wanda Ventham and Donald Pickering previously appeared together in ''

The Faceless Ones ''The Faceless Ones'' is the mostly missing eighth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 April to 13 May 1967. In this serial, the Sec ...

''. Donald Pickering also appeared in ''

The Keys of Marinus ''The Keys of Marinus'' is the fifth serial in the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC TV/BBC1 in six weekly parts from 11 April to 16 May 1964. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Joh ...

''. Wanda Ventham also appeared in ''

Image of the Fendahl ''Image of the Fendahl'' is the third serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 29 October to 19 November 1977. The serial was Chris B ...

''. Due to

being fired, the role of the sixth doctor was also played by Sylvestor McCoy.

Broadcast and reception

Reviewing ''Time and the Rani'', Tat Wood criticised the story's dialogue and plot, but praised the direction as "visually impressive". A 2014 poll held by '' Doctor Who Magazine'' ranked ''Time and the Rani'' as the third worst story in the show's run, behind only "

Fear Her "Fear Her" is the eleventh episode of the second series of the British science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 24 June 2006. It was written by Matthew Graham and directed by Euros Lyn. The episode takes place in L ...

" and ''

The Twin Dilemma ''The Twin Dilemma'' is the seventh and final serial of the 21st season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 22 March to 30 March 1984. In the serial, the al ...

''. Newly appointed script editor

Andrew Cartmel Andrew J. Cartmel (born 6 April 1958) is a British author and journalist. He was the script editor of ''Doctor Who'' during the Sylvester McCoy era of the show between 1987 and 1989. He has also worked as a script editor on other television serie ...

said there were many things he disliked about the script, which he felt lacked depth: "This was a story which wasn't about anything—and, frustratingly, it was Sylvester McCoy's debut." Cartmel also stated that the Bakers’ scripts were also disliked by other members of the cast and crew including producer John Nathan-Turner.

Commercial releases

In print

A novelisation of this serial, written by

Pip and Jane Baker Ernest Albert "Pip" Baker (3 January 1929 – 14 April 2020) and Iris E. E. "Jane" Baker (30 December 1924 – 29 August 2014), professionally known as Pip and Jane Baker, were an English husband-and-wife team of television writers known mainly ...

, was published by

Target Books Target Books was a British publishing imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company. The imprint was established as a children's imprint to complement the adult Tandem imprint, and became wel ...

in December 1987. The novel features a longer finale for the Sixth Doctor (and reveals that the regeneration into the Seventh Doctor was caused by "tumultuous buffeting" when the Rani attacked the TARDIS), while the Tetraps seem to speak English backwards.

Home media

''Time and the Rani'' was released on VHS by BBC Worldwide in July 1995. It was released on region 2 DVD on 13 September 2010, and on region 1 DVD on 14 June 2011. In June 2021 it was released as part of the Doctor Who: The Collection Season 24 blu-ray box set, which includes an optional extended cut of all four episodes. This serial was also released as part of the

Doctor Who DVD Files This is a list of ''Doctor Who'' serials and episodes that have been released on DVD and Blu-ray. DVD Release Most ''Doctor Who'' DVDs have been released first in the United Kingdom with Region 2, and released later in Australia and Ne ...

in Issue 99 on 17 October 2012.

References

External links

Target novelisation

* {{Regeneration stories Doctor Who serials novelised by Pip and Jane Baker Seventh Doctor serials The Rani (Doctor Who) stories 1987 British television episodes Sixth Doctor serials Television episodes written by Pip and Jane Baker