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The Mark of the Rani Format Reviewed: DVD Review The Mark of the Rani is a story I have owned for a considerable length of time on VHS, and have consequently watched it over and over again. It is a story that is quite unique in that three rogue Time Lords, each with their own agenda meet on Earth. Far from the pomp and pageantry of Gallifrey, the Earth during the industrial revolution is the setting for a pseudo-historical piece. I say pseudo as the only real bit of history learnt is that luddite riots happened, the rest is science fiction with with old Earth costumes. The story opens with the TARDIS being drawn off course, and it lands in the industrial revolution in the North of England. Fellow Time Lords the Master and the Rani are already here, the Master being the one who drew the Doctor in to try to kill him. The Rani has set up a base of operations in the bath house to collect the chemical in the Human brain that promotes sleep as her subjects on Miasimia Goria are now deviod of this following the Rani's experiments. Collecting this makes the Humans restless and they become Luddites, attacking machinery. The Master blackmails the Rani into joining forces and they set about trying to influence a planned meeting between most of the eminent scientists of the day. The plot is foiled though when the Doctor sabotages the Rani's TARDIS and the Master and Rani are sent into the mists of time and space. Whilst I have seen this story again and again, it must be noted that I havn't watched it in quite some time. With that thought in mind it was with eager anticipation that I received and opened the shiny new DVD when it arrived. I was then slightly disappointed by the story that followed. The first thing that struck me was the pointlessness of the Master being included in this story. I like the Rani as a change from the Master, but there didn't need to be them both here. One or the other would have been better in my opinion. The Masters explanations for his schemes also appear to be illogical and full of holes. I simply cannot see how he could achieve what he wants through the methods he describes. Then there was the fact that the story really failed to grab my full attention throughout. There are many stories, both old and new, that really grab one and never let go. After watching this story once more I found that this wasn't one of them. It is far from boring, but it did move at a pace that, for me, proved to be far too slow. Regulars Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Doctor and Peri respectively put in decent performances in their now relatively well extablished roles. I'm still not massively keen, and probably never will be, about Colin Baker played the Doctor early on, and there is still some the attitude that occasioanally gets my back up in there here. Returning actor Anthony Ainley once again plays the Master, and is probably the most subdued performance he gave throughout the entire series. This is due mainly to the plethora of rogue Time Lords appearing giving Ainley a back seat. Kate O'Mara is the real star of this story though. She plays a character that essentially she knows very well from her many other roles as 'the bitch', not least of course in Dynasty. For the style of this story though, her performance is excellent and she really does well in bringing another potentially recurring character to Doctor Who. The highlight of this story for me is the dialogue between the exiled Time Lords. All three are in the same position, albeit for different reasons, in that they are 'outisders' to Gallifreyan society. To me it is very interesting that each knows the others so intimately that they have an instant appreciation of where they are coming from, and what they are doing. This also means they all know how to manipulate each other and that's really where the Time Lord interplay is at its best. Overall, Mark of the Rani is one of the better examples of story from the Colin Baker era. There are issues I have with it, mainly in the fact that judging it with todays eyes it looks a tiny bit stayed and old fashioned. This is mainly due to the slow pace of the story, which was probably brought about by the format of two 45 minute episodes. This format didn't work until Christopher Eccleston had his turn and the series was revived after the hiatus. Rating:  |