Who Review: Time and the Rani

The TARDIS experiences extreme buffeting from energy pulses as it flies near the planet Lakertya. Caught in its tractor beam, the TARDIS is pulled to the planet’s surface. Meanwhile, the violent shaking has caused the Doctor to fall, triggering a regeneration. On entering the TARDIS, the Rani directs her Tetrap minion to retrieve the unconscious Doctor. The Rani relies upon the Doctor’s addled post-regenerative state to get him to help her fix the machine at the heart of her latest scheme. Thinking she’s his companion, Mel, the Doctor assists in the repairs, but he can’t shake the feeling there’s something wrong. When he eventually regains his senses, he discovers the Rani has created a device that combines the intellectual power of some of the greatest minds in the galaxy, whom she is also holding hostage, hooked into the device. But to what end? The secret lies beyond a closed door. If only the Doctor could get inside, he would be able to discover the Rani’s plan, and stop her before she destroys Lakertya, and alters the course of history…

SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those that haven’t seen this serial. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!

If you’ve read my review of the previous story, “The Ultimate Foe,” you’ll know that this was a particularly turbulent time in Who history. Both the lead actor and the script editor had left with sore feelings, and the producer, John Nathan-Turner, had tried to quit, but was told if he went, the show would more than likely be cancelled because no-one else (so the BBC high-ups were convinced) wanted to take it on. “Time and the Rani” was, therefore, commissioned by Nathan-Turner prior to replacing his Doctor and his script editor. When the new guys came on board, some re-writing was done to fit the story to the new Doctor’s more “comedic” persona, and the fresh-faced, young and enthusiastic new script editor, Andrew Cartmel, was too busy learning the ropes to be paid any attention to when he suggested the script sucked and could be better. Ha! What did he know? Quite a bit, so it seems.

Okay, so I’m not a fan of Pip and Jane Baker’s stories, and I wonder if Nathan-Turner really was since he only seemed to commission them as a last resort. In any case, here again we have the Bakers trying to make the best of a bad situation, and trying to have fun in the process. There are terrible things in the script that they were told to include by Nathan-Turner, and, being the consummate professional team-players they were, duly included them. Such as the inane misquotes. If we recall, the Sixth Doctor like to quote notable people from time to time. Throughout this story, the Seventh Doctor quotes proverbs and other popular sayings, but gets them wrong (“A bad workman always blames his fools,” “Time and tide melt the snowman,” etc.), as a way of saying “Look! I’m different!” At first these misquotes are cute. But by episode four, they’ve become so frequent, they’re downright annoying! Much like Mel’s constant screaming. Yes, the girl can scream. We know that. But every five minutes?! This just plays into the Bonnie Langford stereotype–remember “Just William”? Young Bonnie as Violet Elizabeth? “I’ll thqueam and thqueam and thqueam until I’m thick!“? That’s who they’re writing for, it seems, not the grown up actress who’s better than that. I believe this aspect of the Doctor’s character was dropped fairly quickly as soon as Cartmel started getting his way.

I think Cartmel also toned down the Doctor’s prat-falling, comedic tendencies. As happened with Mel (see “Terror of the Vervoids”), the producer and the writers appeared to conspire to write the character along the lines of the actor, as opposed giving the actor a character and letting him flesh it out. A good example of this is the way the Doctor, for no apparent reason, plays the spoons. Nathan-Turner saw Sylvester McCoy play the spoons one time (something McCoy did as part of his act) and insisted they find a way to incorporate that into Doctor Who. For those who don’t know, Sylvester McCoy was well-known to British kids prior to Who as the funny guy on “Vision On” and various other shows. He would play the spoons, stuff live ferrets down his trousers, and engage in other acts of physical humor. To say his casting was a shock to many of the more serious-minded Whovians (myself among them) would be an understatement. Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, and Bonnie Langford as his assistant confirmed to many that no-one at the BBC was taking Doctor Who seriously any more. And the writers didn’t seem to be trying to dispel those fears, writing to the actors, not the characters. Thankfully, as the show continued and Cartmel exerted more influence, the writers started digging into character a bit more, and both McCoy and Langford were able to exhibit their not inconsiderable acting chops. Though I’m afraid that for many, by then, the damage had been done. It took me years to appreciate the contributions of both Sylv and Bonnie, and I attribute that, in, part to the poor decisions made at this point in time.

Aside from the above, there are numerous plot points that make “Time and the Rani” appear like a rush job to fill the time slot. Here are a few:

• The Doctor’s regeneration is precipitated by him falling off his stationary bicycle (never stated, but implied by the location of the Doctor’s body in the TARDIS relative to the overturned bike). Yes, the TARDIS was severely buffeted. But the TARDIS (with crew inside) has been tossed and thrown about many times, and to a greater degree than that, in the past. And, unlike many other past regenerations, this one has no bearing at all on the story. The TARDIS gets knocked around a bit, the Doctor regenerates, but then he gets up and carries on with the adventure (so to speak). It’s as if he cut himself on the TARDIS console, slaps a Band-Aid on the wound, and continues with his life. Sorry, it doesn’t happen that way. Better stories have anticipated the regeneration. They are constructed so the change plays a big part in the overall story structure and what happens. This is a useless, pointless regeneration. If you want a much better Sixth Doctor regeneration story, get hold of the Big Finish series, “The Last Adventure.“
• How is it the Lakertyans know how to spell “Einstein” when they’re not from Earth, and have no clue who he is?
• Mel says, “I know all about regeneration, of course!” Why, “of course”? Unlike just about every other companion, Mel seems unfazed by the fact the Doctor has changed. Granted, she didn’t witness the transformation, but I doubt this is comparable to any concept of regeneration she might have known about before. This comes across as an easy way to explain Mel’s unperturbed attitude to what has happened to the Doctor.
• When Mel was captured by the Tetraps, why didn’t she just run away? She’s a fitness fanatic, and undoubtedly considerably faster than the hulking beasts. In the time it would take to aim a blaster at her, she could have run behind a rock or something. Inexplicably, she expends her energy standing and screaming, not running.
• To any evil genius with an ounce of sense, let alone a Time Lord, the Rani’s plan to turn Lakertya into a time manipulator that she can use to change history in her favor, to correct what she perceives as mistakes made in the past, is utter foolishness. As a Time Lord, the Rani would be well aware of the ripple effect, and the fact that any change in history could have unforeseen repercussions down the line. By altering the development of humanity, for example, she could cause a ripple that erases herself from history, or prevents all the geniuses she used to make the time manipulator from being born, creating quite the paradox for herself!
• How come the Rani’s TARDIS doesn’t blend with it’s surroundings like TARDISes are supposed to? It’s parked out in the rocky, quarry-like terrain of Lakertya, and yet it’s a shiny pyramid. Does she need to fix her chameleon circuit, too?

Believe it or not, “Time and the Rani” has some good points. This is the first time computer generated graphics are used, both in the redesigned title sequence, and for some of the special effects. For the most part, they look very good and stand up well even today. The bubble effect is particularly successful, I think, and one of the most effective and chilling death devices in the series. Episode 1’s cliffhanger, where Mel is caught in one of these death bubbles, is a great way to end the episode.

Despite the script, there are some excellent performances. Kate O’Mara’s Rani is superlative. As a seasoned Hollywood actress, Kate knows how to pull off the melodrama without going over-the-top, or making it too theatrical. And while it’s a little hokey to have her impersonating Mel, she does it so well, it’s hard not to enjoy. Even Sylv and Bonnie manage to have some good moments.

Should you bother with “Time and the Rani”? Of course, the die-hard Whovian simply has to grin and bear it. But for the casual viewer, I think your appreciation of the Seventh Doctor would be greatly helped if you skip this one. Just accept the fact that the Sixth Doctor regenerated, and move on to “Paradise Towers.”