Saturday Night Showcase> Doctor Who & The First Rani Appearance

I hear that the Rani made her debut in the current series calling itself Doctor Who, but with not much explanation as to who she is. Russell T. Davies seems to be using classic Who to push the idea that his show still fits the rest of the series. It hasn’t done that since Chris Chibnall took over.

So some of you may have made the mistake of watching “The Wish World” and wondering what the deal is with this Rani, who also bigenerated because Russell has a new playtoy he wants to abuse. Well, the Rani is one of the other Renegade Time Lords, or Time Lady in this case, who the Doctor has run into. In addition to his usual nuisance, the self-styled Master, the Doctor’s first opponent, as the first Doctor, was the meddling Monk, then the War Chief in the episode that introduced Gallifrey and the Time Lords while sending away the second Doctor. He’s dealt with a few bad apples among his people, including the embodiment of evil between the 12th and 13th lives of the Doctor going by the Valeyard…though given the fubaring of the number system your guess is as good as mine which Doctors he’s actually between. The Rani is the only one besides the Master to make another appearance, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

“Mark Of The Rani” is a Sixth Doctor adventure, travelling with Peri (short for Perpugilliam–a totally American name honest wouldn’t the Brits know) Brown. Drawn to the time at the start of the Industrial Revolution, someone is out to stop the event before it happens, thus altering history. The Master is somehow also involved, but this time it’s the Rani that the Doctor and Peri must be on the lookout for. The Master isn’t the only one who breaks out disguises, but what is the Rani’s endgame and how is the Master involved? The Doctor and Peri will have to protect George Stevenson and his inventions to find out. The following video contains both episodes separated by intros and end credits. Enjoy.

If the Doctor Who Classic YouTube channel had her second appearance, “Time And The Rani” as of this writing I would have added that as well. The Seventh Doctor, newly regenerated and suffering from the usual ill effects, is tricked by the Rani, disguising herself as then companion Mel, into helping with her new experiment. The Rani has also appeared in a few Big Finish stories with an actress who really should have played the Rani because she looks the part in the promotional photos and art. Ah well. Now you know the rest of the backstory. Good day!

(And if they don’t explain Omega, who has no appearances on the Classic channel as of this writing and has also been in two episodes of the original series, then Davies really doesn’t know how to please the longterm fans AND the casual fans at the same time and thus further proof he shouldn’t have returned.)