Customer Reviews

Doctor Who - Time and the Rani [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The TARDIS hijacked! The Doctor is forced to Regenerate, and so begins, possibly, the silliest and funniest Sylvester McCoy adventure ever! We jump right into the main action, with the renegade Time Lord, the Rani, highjacking the TARDIS to use the Doctor's knowledge in one of her unorthodox experiment. There many great things about "Time and the Rani"; The production values, the design, costumes, the Tetraps and their quadruple vision, the Lakyrtians, the giant brain, the special effects and the wonderful OTT acting and over blown dialogue. McCoy's potrayal of the sixth Doctor(in the multi covered coat) is absolutely wonderful as is with the mis-quotes throughout the adventure. Even Mel's part is well written and played out. There's not a scene or a line that needs to be added or deleted. The funniest, silliest McCoy story ever, it's just a shame that more fans don't enjoy this one more.

Strange title, but that is what I thought when I saw Time and the Rani. Mary Whitehouse and the BBC had been forever whinging and whining about Doctor Who, what with Whitehouse's comments about the show being "too violent" for "kids" and constantly trying to get it toned down (honestly, who did she think it was being made for? Three year olds? What did she think this was? Sesame Street? Play School?), this season-opener (and indeed, the rest of McCoy's first season) must have been a dream come true for her.

Because that is what it feels like. With most of this season, for the first time, I'm feeling like I'm watching a children's show. And a horribly made children's show at that. Time and the Rani brought on the Dark Ages of Doctor Who (yes, Time and the Rani. Trial was for the most part an intriguing mystery season). From the moment of the ridiculous opening where we see the monster turning over the "Sixth Doctor" (and you can tell it's not Baker, that costume is wayyyyyy too big on the person) and we're forced to endure McCoy in a blonde wig (Why couldn't you just have him lying on the floor in Baker's costume, having regenerated unseen?) I cringe in embarrassment, and wonder what it was I liked about the show again.

The Rani? Oh, no, far from the intelligent and rational scientist in her first outing, doing what she merely wants to do. Oh, no, now she's a meglomaniac, another imitation of the Master. Arrgh, was it so hard to think of a storyline to better suit the character? The Mel disguise is probably the only thing worth remembering... simply for the "so bad it's good" factor, and O'Mara relishing the scene.

Oh, and Mel... talk about your "typical screaming companion?" More like an insult to every companion whose been in the series. In a way, I've felt a lot of the 80's female companions were WORSE than the 70's or even 60's at times... What was the best thing about Mel, her best trait? Oh, yeah, to scream for three minutes in the reprise of the end of Episode One, trip over, get unconscious... I read the rough inital character sketch off the Net that she was supposed to be this smart computer programmer and feminist... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Oh, stop, I can't breathe, that was better than any stand-up comic.

I haven't mentioned McCoy yet, but that was because I was trying to avoid it. JNT and co. have set up a situation similar to Twin Dilemma, a completely forgettable and awful story, but this time around, Colin and Nicola aren't around to save it. Twin became a good story because of its real storyline of The Sixth Doctor's regeneration trauma. With McCoy and Mel, there's no real electrifying scenes, and the only one that really sticks out is where they suspect each other of being impostors. After that it was back to business. The played down of the scene worked in Robot, with a fun adventure to get into, but when one lead actor is barely acting, and the lead actress makes you want to shoot yourself, that leaves... nothing.

Time and the Rani. The gateway to the sorry state of what Doctor Who was (with some exceptions). It's one thing if the writers intended the story to be a humourous one, but Pip and Jane apparently thought this was a dramatic way to start the season! And you can tell how prejudiced Michael Grade was against Baker, after this season he declared Sylvester McCoy the man who saved Doctor Who!

New theme -- the most emotional theme of the Doctors! It gives you the feeling "it's the last doctor theme." First time computer graphics were used. The best theme, in the 1980's is Colins' when he did Trial of a Timelord, which sounds very "dream like." It says Part 1,2,3 4 in the episode rather than on title theme -- much rather like in 1960's Doctor Who. The first story explains the use of the Tardis in the bubble.

I love the quarry set, the special effects! It looks more 3-dimensonal! It looks like one big area of caves and amongst a huge quarry! I was initially upset that that Colin was fired previously! I didn't enjoy seeing McCoy in Colin's outfit -- he looked awful in it and he was in it for quite a long time almost entirely in episodes 1 and 2. And yes I actually like Mel as a character (she reminds me of Jo so much -- particularly with that similar dialect of the English accent! I don't know why other people didn't pick that up!) but she does scream rather much! It gets on your nerves at times! Especially when she is trapped in one of the Rani's bubbles -- at least the special effects are good though. The screaming is fairly frequent, but it doesn't ruin the story. But...you think to yourself, I don't think someone her age in real life would scream that much! Maybe a teenager 15 years old, no more!

There are strange creatures that serve the rani -- which have eyes all around their heads which speak in a rather inaudible voice at times. They throw spider webs on their victims to trap them and are quite a bit agile in nature compared with other monsters in Doctor Who.

In a funny way, when the Rani wants her machine fixed and impersonates Mel, she does look similar I wouldn't mind her as a substitute! ha ha But Mel is a very nice person in the show -- she actually likes the doctor and does everything in her will to help him -- like the way she did with Colin's doctor was on trial. I'd certain want someone to rely on like that!

I had doubts about this, but the more I watched it, the more I liked it. Throughout the episode, Sylvester gets familiar sayings mixed up. At the end, for example, he says "Time and tide waits for no man." I think when he said "I'll grow on you Mel, I'll grow on you," I think that sums it up pretty well.

Let's be honest. Colin Baker was NOT bad. He was not a bad actor, or a bad Doctor. Sure, he was uppity, arrogant, boisterous, loud, and a little rude, but I found that to be a very interesting way to portray the character. As much as I love Peter Davison, Colin Baker was a pleasant change. And really, he wasn't as bad as people claimed he was (minus the choking scene in Twin Dilemma). He genuinely loved Peri, and you could tell. His tenure was a bit more violent, but they were trying to make it a bit more adult by putting the show back on Saturdays and with new 45 minute episodes. We got some classics in the form of Vengeance on Varos and Revelation of the Daleks, and some blunders in the form of Timelash and Attack of the Cybermen (which wasn't too bad, just not great). And people complained. The violence was too much. Those 7 million faithful viewers were letdown and so was Colin Baker. His next season sucked. And he got sacked.

Enter Time and the Rani, the beginning of the McCoy era. Where to begin? Yes, it is a very, very, very hated story (not so much as Twin Dilemma, but still). The story is goofy, Kate O'Mara is starring in a panto, and McCoy is literally clowning around, rolling his rrrrr's and acting like a child's street performer. And yet, there's a little bit of pity that goes into this. The writers didn't know Colin wouldn't be coming back, and so they did their best to reincorporate new elements into the script. On the DVD, the writers even mention a request to make the script funnier, and that they could write comedy and they could write drama, but they couldn't do both in the same script. And it shows. The story is a mess. It doesn't really make since, and it drags on a lot. I hate the Tetraps, they're annoying and not well designed in my opinion. They don't scare anyone and they're goofy. And what's the point of 4 eyes if you don't ever use them? They snuck past them so many damn times. Are those eyes just for show?

The Lakertyans, the natives to the planet or generic quarry as I see it, look well enough. Their make up doesn't come off and some thought seems to be put into them and they genuinely feel alien (although they look ridiculous running with their hands jammed straight down). Faroon and Beyus are good characters and their actors are fantastic. Ikona is a bit annoying but he does the part well I suppose.

The special effects are good though, and as dumb as this sounds, the bubble traps look cool. The sets don't look too bad, although the Center of Leisure was a bit of an undercooked idea and just reminded me of the Leisure Hive. Mel is okay in this episode. She does scream a load though, and is a bit useless, but that's alright. She could've been a good companion had they have just done more with her. Bit of a wasted opportunity. McCoy stumbles to find a good medium in a not-so-great script and the classic sayings screw ups is annoying. Thank God that was dropped.

So why buy this disc? The extras! And what a good load they give you here. I guess this is pure compensation. You get a great commentary where Bonnie Langford and Sylvester McCoy are fun to listen to, but Pip and Jane Baker (the writers) can be a bit of a bore. There's a fascinating documentary explaining the rough beginning of the McCoy era and the sacking of Colin Baker with a few interviews from JN-T himself and Sylvester McCoy's audition with Janet Fielding. One feature talks about how Lakertya was planned to be a forest and one about Kate O'Mara's experience with her co-stars. There's a feature on visual effects and a look at the creation of the first CGI title sequence, an on location look and a small Blue Peter segment. Wrapping up the extras is an 8-minute photo gallery, production notes subtitles, radio times listings, and remastered picture and sound.

So, if you were going to buy this, the extras make it worth your money. And the story is probably fun to watch... if your not quite sane at the moment, give or take a little tipsy. As much as people hate it, it is a definite turning point in the series. Luckily, the McCoy era would see much, much better days to come and a return to the show's former glory.

Following the unceremonious dismissal of Sixth Doctor Colin Baker, the BBC appointed Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy as the new Doctor, and presumably to gain viewers, brought back Kate O'Mara as the deadly Rani, the cold scientific Time Lord from the Mark Of The Rani story two seasons back.

In the pre-title sequence, the Rani hijacks the TARDIS. It crash lands, knocking both Mel and the Doctor unconscious and triggering the latter's regeneration, done by McCoy donning a blonde wig while some special effects complete the regeneration.

"The Rani always dabbles on a grand scale" the Doctor tells Mel, and this involves an asteroid made of a super-dense "strange matter." However, the Rani needs the Doctor to repair something faulty in one of her machines. To that end, she has commandeered the planet Lakertya, inhabited by yellow-skinned humanoids with reptilian influences and wild hairdos at home on members of Sigue Sigue Sputnik, and taken hostage Beyus, the leader. There isn't much resistance because the Lakertyans are an indolent race. The exception is the young Ikona, who survives on the surface avoiding the Tetraps, the Rani's alien servants. And in a moment that stretches credibility and might even make the Rani retch at doing something so undignified, the Rani disguises herself as Mel, down to her clothing and red wig.

In The Mark of the Rani, the Rani laid some ingenious mines in the forest. Here, she has more deadly traps, requiring special effects, which involves an energy bubble that traps the victim and sends it flying until it hits a solid surface and then...BOOM! Pretty devious.

Ikona takes Mel hostage, thinking she is in league with the Rani, but is convinced that she is good and helps her get into the Rani's citadel in search of the Doctor.

The new snazzy title sequence by CAL video used computer graphics for the first time, along with a souped-up keyboard synth version of the theme tune. The animation of the sequence also used a digital editing system and the Quantel Paintbox colouring system.

Sylvester McCoy has the misfortune of being the Doctor with the worst debut story, but that's not his fault, as his acting of someone in the throes of artificially-induced memory loss, and his rapid-fire delivery is superb. It's more the plausibility of the story. I And the first two episodes seem to consist of the Rani leading the Doctor to her damaged machine and the Doctor getting distracted and wandering around the lab, only to have the Rani lead him back to the machine. However, he does have a funny time misquoting sayings: "Fit as a trombone," "drawing the short plank", and my favourite, "absence makes the nose grow longer," to the exasperation of the Rani. Oh, and he has fun playing the spoons.

Another debit is the Tetraps. Furry dog-faced creatures with bat-like wings, they have four eyes, one on either side of their head, so why does one have to turn around when it can see in all directions? Their leader Urak seems very impressed with the Rani, though.

Bonnie Langford does good as the vivacious Mel, but I wonder if she outdoes Deborah Watling (Victoria in the Patrick Troughton series) as being the queen screamer, as she exercises her lungs a couple of times upon seeing a Tetraps.

Kate O'Mara shines again as the Rani, even more ruthless than in her debut role two seasons before. A new hairstyle, maroon outfit, and some makeup are further assets. Her indifference to the Lakertyans are enhanced by her cold scientifically progressive approach: "Am I to abandon my research because of the side effects on inferior species? Are you prepared to abandon walking in case you squash an insect underfoot?" she asks the Doctor.

Wanda Ventham, who plays Faroon, Beyus's wife, appeared in the Doctor Who story Image of the Fendahl as Thea Ransome.

Apart from the aforementioned debits, Time of the Rani isn't as bad as its reputation, but could've been better.

Well. I don't want to write too much here, though I often do... um... anyway... I just want to say that I do appreciate the swell of frustration with McCoy's first season and its severely orginal and comic bent. However, I say (!)NEVER(!) has a Dr. Who story been so misguidedly underrated than this one by fans, if you ask me.

Clearly, it is silly in its way... withdrawing enormous dramatic potentials from a regeneration story -- always a high-dramatic-potential situation in Dr. Who. Colin's departure from the series was most tragicly timed and handled, surely.

However, so much looked-over good is here in the shadows of the comic and wacky Pip-'n'-Jane-ity nonsense. What I like here, anyway, is the freshness of this production. I had never seen anything like it until it came along. The effects and makeup are really better than practically anything seen before on Doctor Who (and I believe that anyone that says otherwise is really saying so only because they want to hate this difference -- this weird new show -- along with the rest of the unrestfuls... who I'm not better than...). The fun of it all (instead of the twisted mania of the C. Baker Era) -- the zaniness of "first" McCoy (I also love "more hasta less vista"!) -- Mel's nutty apparel and the Rani's impression of her -- is really a charmingly appropriate element in this setting. And pretty much everything about this setting is uniformly well-mixed and handled, actually -- from the Rani's manic over-the-top-ness to the Tetraps' goofiness-and-horror-at-once.

Fun is rarely as appreciated as it should be in Doctor Who fandom -- especially by the most serious fans. "Time and the Rani" is no masterpiecely marvel, but it is easily enjoyable on the level of, say, (another zany underrated charmer) "The Horns of Nimon" or (a true classic in Dr. Who fun) "The Romans". For that matter, I must say that not all "fun" Doctor Who stories are all that defensible (e.g. "Delta and the Bannermen" later this same season).

But still, folks. You simply have to be easier on the "debut stories" of our various Doctors. They are, all of them, bound to be VERY different from what comes immediately before and what comes immediately after -- the show is still learning how to handle the change. Their inadequacies must be forgiven a bit more readily than other stories' inadequacies. This new McCoy-Doctor does indeed extend into the rest of his era -- he is not completely reborn at any time later on. (From here straight on until Lungbarrow in the NAs Books or, if you like, "Survival" at the end of season twent-six, he is, clearly, the same man.) And the freshness of it all is really what should be judged, if you ask me -- and the consideration of just how well the new Doctor is introduced there -- alon with, as always, how well the story is told.

My last little sermon: The only "debut story" that deserves high criticism and ridicule for its mishandling is "Enemy Within", the 1996 TV movie. Now THAT didn't feel like Doctor Who (a complaint about the also underrated "The Twin Dilemma" and "Time and the Rani"). I suppose that's another discussion, though.

[BTW, if I could, I'd give this one three and a half stars out of five instead of three... but I do think it deserves placing closer to three than to four.]

I wasn't to impressed with "The Mark of the Rani", but "Time and the Rani" is an excellent Dr. Who story. This is by far the best one out of Season 24, which is considered by most people, me included, to be one of Doctor Who's worst seasons. The special effects are pretty good for the most part (I really loved the spinning death globes), the story is exciting and action-packed, performances are great, Sylvester McCoy makes a great Doctor - a great change from Colin Baker's, and even Bonnie Langford as Mel is better in this one than she was in her other stories. And considering that they only had one actor to do the regeneration scene, I thought it was quite effective. Although it still would have been better if they had Colin Baker to do the scene with. Over all, I thought this made a great and exciting Dr. Who adventure.

Highly recommended!

poor acting, good special effects. My favourite bit was the line "more hasta, less vista".

poor showing, and you can tell they are starting to downramp the show for cancellation.

Except for "Silver Nemesis," this is probably the least popular McCoy episode. Personally, though, I've always liked it. Even if the regeneration was poorly explained, I was very glad to be rid of the obnoxious sixth doctor. I thought the strange matter asteroid and the chronon manipulating device were clever uses of physics concepts (the McCoy era would later drift more and more toward mysticism, something rather at odds with most of Who history). The Rani herself is a fun character who should have been used more (she was dispassionately amoral rather than actively cruel like the Master). And I must admit to being greatly amused by the silly closing bit with the Doctor rescuing history's scientists and returning them home in the TARDIS, with Einstein giving a baffled glance at the TARDIS control panel.

McCoy's characterization as a manipulator and pacifist had not been established yet, but I think that's forgiveable in a regeneration episode, the gist of which must always be the new Doctor trying to determine just what his new persona will be like. I'm fond of the scene where, after being misled by the Rani concerning his past, the Doctor comments that he's afraid that he may not like himself very much.

Lastly--and this point must be emphasized--this episode taught me that absolutely any story can be improved by the inclusion of a giant disembodied brain as a plot point. Giant disembodied brains are simply cool. The Brain of Morbius was on the right track, I suppose, but the Rani's synthetic gestalt brain is the size of a Volkswagon, and in my opinion, that makes all the difference in the world. (For the record, other plot points which improve almost any story in which they appear are meditations on the relationship of the soul to physical reality, magnetic railguns, bellbottom trousers, and elephants).

This was a good episode, a return to older styles of storytelling with a modest, comprehensible plot, a sense of humor, and a welcome departure from the violence and bullroar of the 6th Doctor's era.

It has been said that anyone writing the first story for a new Doctor is in trouble, as they're not yet certain how the still-to-be-cast actor will adopt in the role of the series' central character.

But that is hardly an excuse for coming up with a story which is uninspired and uninspiring. Despite the flashy special effects, nice-looking sets and imaginative design, this story gets off to a bad start and never really improves. After a pathetic regeneration sequence (though I suppose we should be thankful there was one at all), the whole thing descends into farce as the Doctor blunders about. The story just seems to consist of characters running about.

You get the feeling it was all written with Colin Baker in mind. The Doctor's arrogance, brutality (showing a Tetrap to its death) and general carrying-on throughout this story is totally at odds with McCoy's more psychological, sophisticated incarnation. It makes me really furious when people base their views on the McCoy era on episodes such as this. Most of the stories in his era are strong and well-written, especially during Seasons 25 and 26. Meanwhile, Time and the Rani gets two stars for at least being mindly entertaining, if hardly a classic.