Episode #139 : The Mark of the Rani

"He'd get dizzy if he tried to walk in a straight line!"

Episode 139:   The Mark of the Rani.
Companions:   6th Doctor and Peri.
Air Date:        2nd to 9th February 1985.

In 19th century England, the Doctor finds himself facing two competing enemies: his old adversary, the Master, and the Rani, another Time Lord with a sinister plan. The local population is turning violent and unpredictable. With a major meeting of the brains of the Industrial Revolution due to happen in the village soon, the Doctor must work out what exactly is causing all the problems. Only the Doctor can stop the Master and the Rani's evil plans.

The Mark of the Rani is the sort of story that quite frankly is terrible but at the same time has a certain something that prevents you from just outright hating it, and there is a lot to hate. To start with we have the return of the Master who again is playing the short game and just trying to interfere in Human history, when we are used to him playing the bigger game. Also, just how did he survive his last encounter with the Doctor? Second we are introduced to the Rani, another renegade Time Lord who at least has motivations that we can understand even if she seems as useless as the Master at them. Then there are the historical inaccuracies and the weirdness... the Rani's minefield which turns living tissue into trees. Strangely rubbery and slightly animate trees.

The Rani, as I mentioned, seems a lot easier to identify with than the Master. With the Rani it isn't power or destruction that she craves. She is simply a scientist who has little to no ethics and just wants to stay out of the way and continue her experiments. Only this time she has been caught up in the feud between the Master and the Doctor. The interactions between all three are quote well written and hammed up just right by the actors.

If you are the sort of person who likes complete accuracy in your historical stories you may want to skip this one or risk pulling your hair out. Dates are wrong, characters about who wouldn't be and Luddites in completely the wrong era. I'm not a history buff so it never bothered me but I can imagine that it would some.

I see this as a fun story rather than something to take too seriously which is why I don't rate down like I should do. If you can just watch this adventure for the time travel fun then go for it, just don't expect too much from it otherwise.