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Colin Baker
The Mark of The Rani
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Synopsis


The Rani and The Master
The Rani and The Master
 The Doctor and Peri arrive in the north of England during the Luddite uprisings, and discover that brilliant but amoral Time Lord the Rani is stealing the chemical which promotes sleep from the mine workers' brains.

 The Master is also in town, planning to use the disruptive Luddites to deprive The Doctor of his TARDIS and destroy him once and for all.

Source: BBC DVD


General Information

Season: Twenty Two
Production Code: 6X
Story Number: 139
Episode Numbers:631 - 632
Number of Episodes: 2
Percentage of Episodes Held:100%
Working Titles:"Too Clever by Far" and "Enter the Rani"
Production Dates: October - November 1984
Broadcast Started: 02 February 1985
Broadcast Finished: 09 February 1985
Colour Status: Colour
Studio: BBC Television Centre (TC6)
Location: Shropshire: Blists Hill Victorian Town (Madeley), Granville Colliery Spoil Heaps (Telford), Coalport China Museum (Coalport, Telford).
Middlesex: Park Wood (Bury Street, Ruislip).
Writer:Pip and Jane Baker
Director:Sarah Hellings
Producer:John Nathan-Turner
Script Editor:Eric Saward
Editor:Ray Wingrove
Production Assistant:Carolyn Mawdsley
Production Associate:Sue Anstruther
Assistant Floor Manager:Penny Williams
Designer:Paul Trerise
Costume Designer:Dinah Collin
Make-Up Designer:Catherine Davies
Cameraman:Kevin Rowley
Lighting:Don Babbage
Visual Effects:David Barton
Incidental Music:Jonathan Gibbs
Special Sounds (SFX Editor):Dick Mills
Studio Sounds:Keith Bowden
Title Sequence:Sid Sutton and Terry Handley
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Peter Howell
Number of Doctors: 1
The Doctor: Colin Baker (The Sixth Doctor)
Number of Companions: 1The Companion: Nicola Bryant (Peri) Guest Cast: Anthony Ainley (The Master), Kate O'Mara (The Rani), Terence Alexander (Lord Ravensworth) Additional Cast: Gary Cady (Luke Ward), Peter Childs (Jack Ward), Gawn Grainger (George Stephenson), Richard Steele (Guard), William Ilkley (Tim Bass), Hus Levent (Edwin Green), Kevin White (Sam Rudge), Martin Whitby (Drayman), Sarah James (Young Woman), Cordelia Ditton (Older Woman)Setting: Killingworth, near Newcastle upon Tyne (circa 1820) Villains: The Master and The Rani

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
631Part 102 February 198545'01"6.3PAL 1" colour videotape
632Part 209 February 198544'32"7.3PAL 1" colour videotape

Total Duration 1 Hour 30 Minutes


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 6.8
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (1998)62.47%  (Position = 107 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)62.24% Lower (Position = 148 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)61.87% Lower (Position = 182 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023) Position = 5 out of 8


Archives


 Both episodes exist as PAL 1" colour videotapes. Also held in four 25-minute format episodes.



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Notes


This story sees the return of The Master as well as introducing The Rani (a villainous female Time Lord) and is the first story written by husband-and-wife team Pip and Jane Baker.

To write this story producer John Nathan-Turner approached Pip and Jane Baker, with whom he was collaborating on an unrelated project. Pip and Jane Baker were a veteran writing team who had worked together on books, word games, low-budget movies and television shows (including Z Cars, Space: 1999 and an unmade script for Blake's 7) since the late Fifties. Pip and Jane Baker however, were not keen on traditional science-fiction, and so it was agreed that their storyline would feature a historical setting.

Despite apparently killing The Master off, at the end of the 1984 Fifth Doctor story "Planet of Fire", it was decided, because of The Master’s continued popularity amongst fans, to bring The Doctor’s arch enemy back. Anthony Ainley’s contract had already expired with his appearance in "Planet of Fire" and so Anthony Ainley was offered and accepted a new contract which would commit him to one story a season. "The Mark of The Rani" being chosen as the story he would appear in for Season Twenty Two.

Pip and Jane Baker devised a storyline titled "Too Clever By Far". This was later renamed to "Enter the Rani" before it eventually become "The Mark of The Rani".

Unfortunately when the scripts were delivered it was discovered that Pip and Jane Baker had misunderstood the circumstances of The Master’s last appearance, believing that he had been abandoned on Sarn in his diminutive state, when in fact that planet’s numismaton flames had restored his height but apparently burned him to death. Script Editor Eric Saward therefore excised the relevant dialogue, but - perhaps because of his apathy towards the character’s resurrection - he neglected to substitute an explanation for The Master’s survival in its place. Therefore no explanation however, is given as to how he managed to escape death at the end of "Planet of Fire".

Further rewrites were necessary when John Nathan-Turner decided to take advantage of a logistical error by the BBC, enabling him to trade one of the two studio blocks allocated to this story for extra location time.

Pip and Jane Baker named the evil female Time Lord as being ‘The Rani’ after the Hindu word for ‘Queen’ or ‘Mistress’.

Actress Kate O'Mara was chosen to play the pivotal role of The Rani. Kate O'Mara would later feature in the popular American soap opera Dynasty.

A myth existed amongst fans that John Nathan-Turner cast Kate O'Mara as The Rani because of her starring role in the popular American soap opera Dynasty. However, Kate O'Mara had yet to begin work on Dynasty when she was cast as The Rani. She was however well known for her appearances in programmes such as The Avengers and Triangle, and had acted alongside Colin Baker in The Brothers. Her appearances on Dynasty were filmed between production of this story and her later return in the 1987 Seventh Doctor story "Time and The Rani".

The director assigned to this story was Sarah Hellings, who had contacted John Nathan-Turner in late 1983 requesting the chance to direct a historical story. This story though would become her only Doctor Who assignment.

Being a historical adventure, set at the time of the Industrial Revolution, the main location chosen was the Ironbridge Gorge Open Air Museum at Blist’s Hill, near Telford in Shropshire. Although this location was generally ideal for this story, some key elements of the Bakers’ storyline - including overhead coal tracks and a switching station on the rails - were not available, necessitating further amendments to the scripts.

For a time, during filming, Nicola Bryant was forced to wear a neck brace between shoots after awakening one morning with sharp pains in her neck. Heavy rain was a constant threat, becoming predominant toward the end of the two scheduled weeks. Despite having one day held in reserve as a contingency, the inclement weather prevented the completion of the necessary shots. Some of this material had to be rewritten for the studio, while other scenes, that could not be accomplished indoors, were filmed during a one-day remount at a new location in the Queen Elizabeth Country Park, West London as the funds available would not permit the cast and crew to travel back to Blist’s Hill.

Because of the extra material having to be carried over from the location shoot, the schedule for the studio recording was very tight resulting in a half-hour overrun on the final day. Because of this lack of time, the first TARDIS scene had to be discarded when a boom mike shadow was noted to be visible onscreen. This consisted of Peri emerging into the Console Room wearing her period costume, only to be mocked by The Doctor.

Unusually, the original commission for providing the incidental music for this story went outside the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, to John Lewis. Unfortunately, John Lewis, died during the production of this story. His estate was paid but none of his work was used although he had composed thirty-two minutes of music. Radiophonic Workshop employee Jonathan Gibbs was therefore tasked with putting together a new score for this story. John Lewis’ score for the first episode was included on the DVD of this story that was released in September 2006.

Although being the fourth story to be filmed this story was the third story to be broadcast for Season Twenty Two as it swapped places with "The Two Doctors".

The credits for both episodes of this story include the acknowledgement: ‘The BBC wish to acknowledge the cooperation of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum’.

This story was shown in four 25 minute episodes in the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

This was the last story of the original run of the show to be directed by a woman. The next such occasion would be the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Blink" (which was directed by Hettie MacDonald).

This was the first story since the 1966 First Doctor story "The Gunfighters" to feature a specific historical character (in this case George Stephenson).

There is a reference to the Daleks at the onset, as The Doctor mentions the time distortion could be a result of their handiwork.

The Master’s Tissue Compression Eliminator now makes people vanish totally (this was what he was working on prior to "Planet of Fire").

It is revealed that both The Rani and The Master were exiled from Gallifrey and that The Rani has extracted brain fluid from people from the Trojan war, the Dark Ages and the American war of Independence. The Rani was also aware of The Master’s failed plan on Sarn and had thought he was dead.

It is revealed that The Rani has her TARDIS connected to a Stattenheim remote control.

The Doctor claims he is ‘expressly forbidden’ to change the course of history.

The Doctor repeats that he has met William Shakespeare (see the Fourth Doctor stories "Planet of Evil" and "City of Death").

Once again Peri is seen to show some botanical knowledge.

Real maggots were used except when the actors had to eat them, in which they were substituted with marzipan.

This story contains a number of errors. Namely: The Doctor is seen gurning above the pit while Peri throws small lumps of coal at the Luddites; The influence of the production team upon the trolley to which The Doctor has been secured at the end of the first episode is a bit too obvious as it unaccountably manages to steer itself when careering down the hill; Lord Ravensworth’s amateur botany is the source of the drugs required but was there no local medic?; Strange that three Time Lords turn up in the same place for entirely different reasons; No Luddites ever attacked pit machinery, which didn’t threaten their livelihoods; Kew Gardens was not open in the 1820’s and Thomas Edison was not born until 1847 which was well after the Luddite riots.

Despite John Nathan-Turner hoping that The Rani might become a new recurring enemy for The Doctor this story was the first of only two television appearances for this character (she later returned in "Time and The Rani").

Kate O'Mara also returned to reprise her role as The Rani again in the Thirtieth-Anniversary Children In Need special "Dimensions in Time", in 1993, and later for the BBV audio adventure "The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind".

The Rani was later named Ushas (her true Gallifreyan name) by author Gary Russell in the BBC Books’ The Past Doctors Stories novel "Divided Loyalties". The Rani also appears in Virgin Books’ The Missing Adventures story "State of Change" written by Christopher Bulis.

The possibility of The Rani returning to the revived show has been a source of fan speculation since 2005, with virtually every female character from Rose Tyler to Donna Noble to Lucy Saxon being considered possible Rani’s-in-disguise.

A character called Rani (played by Anjli Mohindra) can also be seen in the spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. This though is a completely different character.

The Target novelisation of this story, published in June 1986, appears to assume that the reason why The Master did not die in "Planet of Fire", and so is able to return for this story, was because he had actually been shrinking out of existence. It also gives the explanation that the flames generated gases that saved him.



First and Last

The Firsts:

 The first appearance in the show of The Rani played by Kate O'Mara.

 The first story to feature a specific historical character (in this case George Stephenson) - since the 1966 First Doctor story "The Gunfighters".

 The first Doctor Who story to be written by Pip and Jane Baker.

 The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Sarah Hellings.


The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):

 The last Doctor Who story to be directed by Sarah Hellings.

 The last Doctor Who story to be directed by a woman - until the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Blink".


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The Plot

WARNING: May Contain SpoilersHide Text
The Doctor and Peri
The Doctor and Peri

Deflected off course, the TARDIS materialises in the north of England, near the village of Killingworth. The Doctor and his companion, Peri, have arrived in the Nineteenth Century at the dawn of the industrial revolution, a critical period in Earth's history. The introduction of machinery has met with much opposition from working people, some of whom have begun attacking and destroying it. But the Luddites around the village of Killingworth are strangely much more violent and active than anywhere else in the country.

The Doctor though is not the only alien visitor in Killingworth, nor is he the only Time Lord. His arch enemy The Master is plotting to use Earth as a base for his operations, and it is he who is responsible for diverting the TARDIS. There is also another Time Lord at work in the village. This is The Rani, an exile from Gallifrey and a brilliant biochemist.

Cast out from Gallifrey because of her dangerous and callous experiments, having caused mice to be turned into monsters which ate the President's pet cat and who then bit the President himself, The Rani has now become dictator of a planet called Miasimia Goria. There, she has altered the metabolism of the populace, heightening their awareness but also, as an unfortunate side-effect, lowering their ability to sleep. In order to correct this defect, she has been extracting a chemical from the brains of humans, unconcerned by the fact that this leaves the humans aggressive and unable to sleep themselves. She has been conducting this operation at various points throughout Earth's history, some of her previous visits having aggravated the Trojan Wars, the Dark Ages and the American War of Independence. Now she is adding to the unrest caused by the Luddites.

The Rani In Disguise
The Rani In Disguise

When The Rani discovers that both The Master and The Doctor have arrived, and so could risk her whole operation on Earth, she is less than happy. She initially refuses The Master's pleas to help him in his continuing attempts to kill The Doctor but is forced to change her mind when he steals a vial of precious brain fluid from her and uses it to blackmail her.

Lord Ravensworth, the owner of the mine in the village, has invited a number of the finest engineering geniuses - including Humphrey Davey, Thomas Telford, Michael Faraday, Mark Brunell and George Stephenson - to a meeting where they are to view George Stephenson's latest steam engine. The Master realises that, with the aid of some maggots which The Rani has chemically impregnated with an obedience-inducing drug, he can control these key figures in Earth's history and thereby change the future, ensuring that the Industrial Revolution never happens. But first he has to deal with The Doctor.

Meeting George Stephenson
Meeting George Stephenson

First The Master arranges for a group of aggressive miners to push The Doctor’s TARDIS down a mineshaft. The Doctor meanwhile has dressed as a miner and infiltrated the bath-house that The Rani is using to extract the chemical from the brains of the miners. He soon deduces The Rani's schemes but she entraps him and straps The Doctor to a trolley. With the assistance of Peri he manages to escape even though he is still strapped to the trolley. But worse is to come when he is discovered by the group of aggressive miners who place The Doctor onto the top of a mine cart and then push him down a slope. The mine cart rattles along its rails, fast approaching the gaping entrance to the mineshaft...

Luckily The Doctor is rescued by George Stephenson, who is preparing for his meeting. Then using one of The Rani's maggots, The Master takes over George Stephenson's apprentice, Luke, and uses him to spy on The Doctor and George Stephenson. The Doctor meanwhile locates and enters The Rani’s TARDIS.

Operating her time-machine using a Stattenheim remote control, The Rani brings it into the mine where she and The Master are waiting. Unaware that The Doctor is hiding on board, and so can overhear them, they plot to set a trap for George Stephenson in Redfern Dell. When they have gone, The Doctor sabotages her TARDIS's navigational system and velocity regulator.

The Master
The Master

To make herself useful, and to make use of her botanical knowledge to make a sleeping draught for the afflicted miners, Peri has also gone to Redfern Dell. The Doctor arrives just in time to prevent her from suffering the same fate as Luke, who has stumbled on to one of The Rani's chemical land-mines and has been converted into a tree. The Doctor forces The Rani to lead Peri out of danger. However, once Peri has left to escort The Rani and The Master as prisoners back to The Rani's TARDIS, The Doctor is again captured by the aggressive miners. He is tied hand and foot to a pole, but manages to escape when the two miners who are carrying it simultaneously step on to landmines and become trees.

Following Peri to the mine, The Doctor finds that her prisoners have outwitted her and escaped. Inside the mine The Master fires his tissue compression eliminator at The Doctor but hits a support beam instead, causing the roof of the mine to collapse. The Doctor and Peri are forced to head for the exit while The Rani and The Master enter The Rani's TARDIS. However, affected by The Doctor's sabotage, The Rani's TARDIS spins out of control through the vortex. The resultant time spillage causes a tyrannosaurus rex embryo, collected by The Rani on an earlier visit to Earth, to crash to the floor. The Master and The Rani find themselves trapped against the TARDIS walls by the G-force and can only look on in horror as the dinosaur begins to grow.

With The Rani and The Master disposed of George Stephenson arranges for a group of men to get The Doctor's TARDIS out of the pit, and The Doctor and Peri give Lord Ravensworth a vial of the brain fluid, which The Doctor had retrieved from The Master, with instructions to administer it to the affected miners.

Then the TARDIS dematerialises leaving Lord Ravensworth and George Stephenson puzzled as to where The Doctor and Peri have gone.

 
The Rani Captures The Doctor
The Rani Captures The Doctor
The Rani Threatens Peri
The Rani Threatens Peri
A Stroll in the Woods
A Stroll in the Woods
The Doctor Trussed Up Between Two Trees
The Doctor Trussed Up Between Two Trees
 
Inside The Rani's TARDIS
Inside The Rani's TARDIS
The Doctor and Peri in The Rani's Console Room
The Doctor and Peri in The Rani's Console Room
The Rani
The Rani
George Stephenson and Lord Ravensworth
George Stephenson and Lord Ravensworth




Quote of the Story


 'What is he up to now? Something devious and over complicated! He’d get dizzy if he tried to walk in a straight line!'

The Rani (about The Master)



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Release Information

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
Video
VHS
The Colin Baker YearsMarch 1994BBCV 5324PhotoClip only Introduced and commented on by Colin Baker
Video
VHS
The Mark of the RaniJuly 1995BBCV 5603Colin Howard
Video
DVD
The Mark of the RaniSeptember 2006BBCDVD 2224Photo-montage
Audio
CD
The 50th Anniversary CollectionDecember 2013Photo-montageOriginal Television Soundtracks
Video
Blu-Ray
Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 22 (Limited Edition)June 2022BBCBD 0555Photo-montageBlu-Ray Limited Edition boxed set containing 6 specially restored stories
Video
Blu-Ray
Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 22 (Standard Edition)June 2024BBCBD 0599Photo-montageBlu-Ray Standard Edition boxed set containing 6 specially restored stories


In Print

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)PublisherAuthorCover ArtRemarks
Novel
Novel
The Mark of the RaniJune 1986Target No. 107Pip and Jane BakerAndrew SkilleterISBN: 0-426-20232-5
CD
CD
The Mark of The RaniApril 2018Target No. 107Pip and Jane Baker Andrew SkilleterAudio version of the Target Novel read by Nicola Bryant (Peri).
Doctor Who CMS Magazine (In Vision)Issue 81 (Released: November 1998)
Doctor Who Magazine - PreviewIssue 97 (Released: February 1985)
Doctor Who Magazine - ArchiveIssue 217 (Released: September 1994)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of FictionIssue 343 (Released: May 2004)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time TeamIssue 393 (Released: April 2008)
Doctor Who DVD FilesVolume 63 (Released: June 2011)

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Photo Gallery


The Doctor and Companion

 
Colin Baker
The Sixth Doctor

   

 
Nicola Bryant
Peri
 
   




On Release

Colin Baker Years VHS Video Cover
Colin Baker Years VHS Video Cover

BBC
VIDEO
VHS Video Cover
VHS Video Cover

BBC
VIDEO
DVD Cover
DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
   
The 50th Anniversary Collection Cover
The 50th Anniversary Collection Cover

BBC
AUDIO
The Collection Season 22 Limited Edition Blu-Ray Cover
The Collection Season 22 Limited Edition Blu-Ray Cover

BBC
VIDEO
The Collection Season 22 Standard Edition Blu-Ray Cover
The Collection Season 22 Standard Edition Blu-Ray Cover

BBC
VIDEO
   


In Print

Target Book Cover
Target Book Cover

Target
NOVEL
 
Target Audio CD Cover
Target Audio CD Cover

BBC
CD
   


Magazines

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (In Vision): Issue 81
Doctor Who CMS Magazine (In Vision): Issue 81

CMS
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 97
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 97

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 217
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 217

Marvel Comics
   
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 343
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 343

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 393
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 393

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 63
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 63

GE Fabbri
   

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