“The Mark of the Rani” is an adventure of the twentysecond season of “Doctor Who” classic series which aired in 1985. It follows “Vengeance on Varos” and it’s a two parts adventure written by Pip and Jane Bake and directed by Sarah Hellings.

The story

The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) and Peri (Nicola Bryant) arrive in the English village of Killingworth in the nineteenth century, where they see a group of men trying to destroy one of the modern machines used in the Industrial Revolution. The vandals are considered Luddites but the Doctor has reason to believe that the situation is more complicated, especially after discovering that even the meekest people can suddenly become violent.

At the local bathhouse, the Rani (Kate O’Mara), an outlaw Time Lady, extracts from customers some compounds and the neurochemical imbalance that results makes them violent. The Rani prefers to pursue her activities in secret but is discovered by the Master (Anthony Ainley), who wants to once again change Earth’s history and take revenge on the Doctor.

Extras

This DVD is rich in extras. There are typical contents such as production subtitles, Radio Times Billings and a gallery of pictures from this adventure.

There are comments in the adventure alternative audio track by protagonists Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant and actress Kate O’Mara.

Lords and Luddites. A 43-minute documentary on the production of this adventure.

Deleted Scenes. Nearly 10 minutes of additional material from the first episode of this adventure.

Now and Then. A look at one of the locations used for the shooting to see what it looked like at the time and what it looks like now.

Playing with Time. An interview with the composer of the soundtrack of this adventure Jonathan Gibbs.

Blue Peter. A clip broadcast in “Blue Peter” in February 1978 which explores the history of Ironbridge Gorge and Blists Hill.

Saturday Superstore. An excerpt from “Saturday Superstore” aired in March 1984. Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant answer question and receive an unexpected phone call.

Alternative Soundtrack. The option to have in the first episode the original soundtrack composed by John Lewis for this adventure and then discarded when the author left it unfinished because of health problems.

Isolated Music Score. The option to have the music composed by Jonathan Gibbs for both episodes.

The Doctor Who Annual 1985. The 1985 issue of the magazine “The Doctor Who Annual” in PDF format.

There’s also an “Easter egg” but it contains only BBC annoucements.

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The contract with actor Anthony Ainley expired with the adventure “Planet of Fire” so the Master was killed at its end because it wasn’t supposed to be renewed. The character, however, was popular among “Doctor Who” fans and producer John Nathan-Turner changed his mind and was able to reach an agreement with Ainley to have him in another adventure.

Pip and Jane Baker, the authors billed to write a new adventure with the Master, also incorporated into their story an outlaw Time Lady, the Rani. Among the possible candidates for the role Kate O’Mara was eventually chosen, an actress who had already had a career in cinema and television and already worked with Colin Baker.

The Rani isn’t just a female version of the Master, in fact in some ways she’s his opposite. The outlaw Time Lady is amoral too and pursues her goals with no interest in what happens to her victims but prefers to act keeping a low profile.

The contrast fully emerges when the Master discovers the Rani and decides to use her against the Doctor. The result is far from an alliance between two criminals because the Rani is just interested in going ahead with her plan and isn’t interested in the Master’s megalomaniac machinations.

Unfortunately, in the ’80s the Master had become almost a parody of the character that had worked so well in the previous decade. In “The Mark of the Rani”, he tries once again to interfere with the Earth’s history and at the same time to take revenge on the Doctor. It’s therefore appropriate that the Rani mocks his obsessions and cooperate with him only because she is forced to do so.

Actor Anthony Ainley still managed to give a some life to a character at that point rather flat contributing to one of the strengths of “The Mark of the Rani”, the various interactions among the three Time Lords. For once, the Doctor has to face two different villains each with their own agenda but killing two birds with one stone isn’t easy.

Around the three Time Lords there’s the setting in the England of the Industrial Revolution for a pseudo-historical adventure. Probably a number of BBC productions were set in the nineteenth century and that was a great advantage when “The Mark of the Rani” was filmed. The possibility to use existing costumes allowed to have an adventure with high production values despite the limited budget and various scenes bring out the best of it.

The story of the Industrial Revolution and the Luddites who opposed it is inevitably simplified and the various elements of the story end up being a bit loose. The Doctor must escape the Luddites and the Rani’s victims and that seems a filler that has the purpose to try to add some tension and also to create a cliffhanger at the end of the first episode.

“The Mark of the Rani” needed a better script for the particular clash among the three Time Lords and the good acting of the three actors who play them to show to better advantage. The rest of the cast provide generally good performances as well so in the end the problem is in the story development.

With its flaws, I think that “The Mark of the Rani” overall is still pretty good. The extras on the DVD are abundant and of good quality, which is why even though this adventure isn’t one of the great “Doctor Who” classics I recommend it to the fans of the show and those who are interested in learning more about the Sixth Doctor.