Harry -
Unless I've suppressed some memories, this is the one and
only pseudo-historical of the Colin Baker era.
Sarah -
Fun fact: The inclusion of George Stephenson in "The Mark of
the Rani" makes this the first historical since "The Gunfighters" to feature an
actual historical figure.
Harry -
On the surface, the story is very simple -- the Doctor goes
back in Earth's history to stop a renegade Time Lord whilst staving off the
meddling machinations of the Master. Seems simple enough, but so many little
things in this story didn't work for me, resulting in a negative impression
overall.
Sarah -
There are some interesting things in the story, but in the
end the script is just a mess. There are six words that can strike fear in the
heart of even the most steadfast of Doctor Who fans: "Written by Pip and
Jane Baker."
Harry -
We are about to view all the Pip and Jane Baker stories in
quick succession, so we'll be able to confirm whether or not their
much-maligned reputation is deserved.
Sarah -
And then they will all be out of the way. Huzzah! (Aren't I
the cynic today?)
Harry -
One thing they did differently was to start the story
without any console room bickering between the Doctor and Peri.
Sarah -
Refreshing, isn't it?
Harry -
Right away, we see that the Doctor is distracted because the
TARDIS is being manipulated off course. There is puzzlement, rather than pandemonium.
Are the Time Lords at it again? we wonder. Whatever or whomever is behind it,
the TARDIS makes its way to 19th century Earth, in the northeast of England --
land of the Geordies!
Sarah -
I love the establishing shots in Killingworth. They're so good
you can almost smell the grit in the air. The use of Ironbridge Gorge is brilliant.
Harry -
Unfortunately, to foreign ears the Geordie accent,
vocabulary and syntax can at times be almost indecipherable. It was for me and
I'm usually good with accents. Most of the dialogue from the early scenes with
the miners at the bath house was completely lost on me.
Sarah -
I've known some Geordies, so their accents weren't a problem
for me, but I wondered if they might be for other North American viewers.
Harry -
The jist of the opening scene was: local miners, tired and
dirty, head to the bath house, where they are promptly gassed.
Sarah -
That was unexpected. Even more unexpected was their unhinged
behavior upon leaving the bathhouse -- rampaging through the village, smashing
equipment, assaulting wagon drivers. What are the chances of the Doctor and
Peri wandering into all this?
Harry -
They weren't guided there by accident. The TARDIS lands in a
muddy patch just outside of town. The Doctor strides out for a looksee,
followed by Peri in her Disney Princess costume -- she really nailed that look.
One of the things that bugged me here was Peri's accent. Did it seem all over
the place to you? Maybe the Geordies were throwing her off.
Sarah -
Her accent is usually all over the place. I usually decide
to ignore it, as a kindness.
Harry -
Soon enough, our friends hear a ruckus and run to
investigate. They save a man from the rampaging miners and he obliges them with
a lift into town.
Little did they know... but the Master was watching
everything unfold while pretending to be a scarecrow.
And little did they know... but when the Doctor's time
disturbance doohickey picked up a time disturbance emanating from the bath
house... it wasn't foolin'.
And little did they know... but they were about to meet
George Stephenson, father of the Industrial Revolution and what have you!
While the Doctor and Peri talk their way into a meeting of
the minds about to be convened there in Killingworth, the Master does some
Mastery things. When a lovely black dog is spooked by his presence, he does
away with it using his Tissue Compression Eliminator (poor doggy). The Master
also kills one of the men guarding Lord Ravensworth's office -- where his lordship is
greeting the Doctor and Peri. The Master then sets the miners after the Doctor
and they quickly set out after him.
Sarah -
This entire story feels like a bunch of things happening
because things have to happen in a story, even if they don't make a whole lot
of sense -- so let's talk about the Rani! I've always enjoyed Kate O'Mara's
portrayal of the Rani. She's a renegade Time Lord like the Doctor and the
Master, but her motivations are entirely her own. She's a dedicated scientist,
who isn't concerned with being good or evil. She just wants to get on with her
work, regardless of the consequences to those around her.
Harry -
Kate O'Mara brings a much-needed shot in the arm to Doctor
Who villainy. Her single-minded determination is chilling.
Sarah -
Having been exiled from Gallifrey, she has enslaved the
planet Miasimia Goria, where her experiments have resulted in an restless,
uncontrollable population that can't sleep. Ever the pragmatist, she heads to
Earth during eras of upheaval to extract a chemical from the minds of humans
that can be used to sedate the residents of Miasimia Goria. Unfortunately for
the people of Earth, this process makes them restless and uncontrollable.
Harry -
The Rani probably reassures her Miasimia Gorian slaves by
telling them they are more special than her Earth slaves.
Sarah -
Ha! The Master, whom we thought dead, has apparently arrived
in Killingworth because the Rani is there, or is that a coincidence? Has he
brought the Doctor to Killingworth or was that the work of the Time Lords?
Harry -
The Master could easily have been replaced with a different
character, perhaps a younger Gallifreyan held in sway by the Rani, or even a
human whom she'd brainwashed. It seemed, well, wasteful to have Anthony Ainley
here.
Sarah -
In any case, the Master forces the Rani into a partnership,
which leads to some of the best scenes in the story. I love the Rani's contempt
for both the Doctor and the Master. She rolls her eyes at their ongoing
adversarial relationship and the bro-mance that keeps bringing them back
together. But most of all she just wants to get back to her damn work without
the interference of these silly boys.
Harry -
She is utterly unimpressed with the Doctor and Master's
relentless battling, which to her seems no more weighty than a Spy vs Spy
comic. No longer the smartest mind in the room, the Master is relegated to an
unexpected supporting role here. This is probably my least favourite Master
story -- he's reduced to playing nothing more than an annoying troll.
Sarah -
I have to agree that it's a bit of a waste to use the Master
this way.
Harry -
Even when the Doctor is captured and brought to the Rani's
lair, the Master serves no purpose but to gloat. The Rani zeroes in on Peri and
her useful human brain. The Master, however, demands that he take the Doctor
away. As he does so, with both Peri and a vial of brain fluid as hostages, they
roll the Doctor outside on a stretcher... right into the path of the rampaging
miners. Peri accidentally sends the Doctor's stretcher hurtling downhill, right into the
miners' hands. They propel him towards the open hole of a pit -- but wait, it's
George Stephenson, action hero! He blocks the opening of the mine shaft and
rescues the Doctor. With Peri in tow, they retreat to Lord Ravensworth's digs
to regroup.
Sarah -
Did you notice that the hole looked barely large enough for
Colin Baker to fit through, yet somehow the locals managed to chuck the TARDIS
down what seemed to be the same hole?
Harry -
Well spotted.
Sarah -
Speaking of the TARDIS, this leads me to my favorite thing
in the entire story -- the Rani's TARDIS! It's gorgeous and absolutely perfect
for her character. I want a spinoff just so we can see more of her TARDIS!
Harry -
Yes! I was wondering if we'd have a difference of opinion
about the Rani's TARDIS.
Sarah -
We are of one mind on this.
Harry -
I love the interior -- the combination of dark grey and
pinkish-red accents screams 80s. The dinosaur embryos offer just the right
"mad scientist" touch. I could stare at those circling rings above
her console forever.
Sarah -
They're mesmerizing. And her wardrobe matches her TARDIS!
Those were some fashion-forward leather pants, I must say. The Rani clearly got
all the fashion sense in this round of regenerations.
Harry -
The Master proposes an alliance with the Rani, telling her
they can utilize the brains of the geniuses who are assembling at Lord
Ravensworth's. She is intrigued, or at least playing along with the Master
before she can kick him out from under her feet.
Sarah -
I tend to think it's the latter.
Harry -
They set out on a completely random assignment of setting
some land mines down in Redfern Dell. I guess Redfern Dell had it coming.
Sarah -
I'm still not clear on how this fit into the
capturing-the-smart-blokes part of the plan, but whatever.
Harry -
From this point on, the story turns into a bog-standard
runaround. The Doctor and Peri escape a mustard gas booby trap and enter the
Rani's TARDIS. It seems to be one of the Doctor's unwritten rules that he gets
to tamper with other people's TARDISes, and he makes a few "tweaks"
to the Rani's console.
Sarah -
Here we go: a bunch of things happening because things have
to happen in a story.
Harry -
As it turns out, the Rani has developed a remote control for
her TARDIS, and it suddenly dematerializes down into the mines.
Sarah -
She's a clever one, that Rani!
Harry -
Meanwhile, someone remembered that Perpugilliam Brown was a
botany student. To help the sleepless miners, she attempts to prepare a
sleeping draught. Missing a vital herb, she sets out with Luke Ward to pick
some... in Redfern Dell.
Sarah -
Peri finally has something to do and now it's become
dangerous. There's something amusing about a botany student being turned into a
tree, but trees probably don't make the best companions around the TARDIS.
Alas, poor Luke is the first person to stumble across the dell, only to be
turned into a tree. Because this is brave and handsome Luke, he manages to save
Peri from trundling across the dell by restraining her with his branch.
Harry -
The writers made sure the Rani pointed out that her land
mines turned animal matter into vegetable, and yet we end up with a sentient
tree. Bizarre and also a cruel fate for Luke.
Sarah -
Meanwhile, the Doctor has acquired the tissue compression
eliminator and uses it to hold the Master and Rani hostage. He forces the Rani
to save Peri by leading her safely across the dell in what has to be one of the
most tedious scenes in Doctor Who history.
Harry -
Yeah, I was regularly glancing at the clock by about this
time.
Sarah -
The Doctor foolishly leaves Peri in charge of the other Time
Lords while he attempts to calm the still-rampaging locals. He ends up tied to
a pole and carried through the dell, where the locals conveniently turn into
trees, while the Doctor narrowly escapes. Peri is, of course, outwitted by the
Rani and the Master, who escape into the Rani's TARDIS. Unbeknownst to them,
the Doctor has has sabotaged the navigational system and her TARDIS is out of
control. The jar holding the t-rex crashes to the ground and the dinosaur
begins to grow, because things have to happen in a story.
Harry -
Odd how the Rani and the Master were pinned to the walls by
the acceleration, but the embryos were not.
Sarah -
There you go, asking all the uncomfortable questions. Back
on Earth, the Doctor and Peri return the brain fluid to Stephenson, who
apparently is expected to know how to get it back into the brains of the Rani's
victims -- many of whom HAVE BEEN TURNED INTO TREES.
Harry -
It's all gone batty.
Sarah -
Quips are exchanged and
the Doctor and Peri are off in the TARDIS, while an astonished Stephenson and
Ravensworth look on.
Harry -
The only thing missing at the end was an incomprehensible
quip from wor Geordies like.
Sarah -
While there are many things I like about this story, the
script is just a mess. If you think about anything for too long, the story
begins to crumble.
Harry -
It was, as you said, a collection of things that happen in a
story.
Sarah -
There are many Doctor Who stories where a good script didn't
get the production it deserved, but it's still a good script. I would argue "Warriors of the Deep" is a great script that suffered from shoddy production. "The Mark of the Rani" is the other end of the spectrum -- a shoddy script that
is elevated by competent production.
Happily, Colin Baker is so good in this story and gets to be a
proper Doctor. He and Peri seem to be getting along and work well together.
Harry -
It's disappointing that the ferocious fights in their first
couple of stories cast such a shadow over our memories of their relationship.
Sarah -
I think fandom can become too focused on one thing in
Doctor-companion relationships. Peri and the Doctor fighting all the time has
become codified as the way it always was and always will be. We'll have to see
how it goes from here.
Harry -
Colin and Nicola were both lovely here, ignoring the ebbs
and flows of Peri's accent.
Sarah -
They really are. Pity they didn't have better material. The
location shooting is glorious and Sarah Hellings' direction keeps the story
moving. (On a side note, Hellings would be the last woman to direct Doctor Who
in the classic era.) The Rani, of course, is brilliant. Still, the overall
impression is just disappointing.
Harry -
Those poor sentient trees. They might still be out there in
Redfern Dell, unless, as Peri noted earlier, they got mowed down by progress.
Damn that bloody progress! *runs outside to rampage and smash machinery*
Sarah -
Best Line:
Ravensworth (as the Doctor and Peri enter the TARDIS): I
will venture just one question, Doctor. What precisely do you do in there?
Doctor: Argue, mainly.
Favorite Moment: Entering the Rani's TARDIS
Lasting Image: The Rani's TARDIS, of course!
4/10
Harry -
Best Line:
Rani (putting down the Master): You're unbalanced. No wonder
the Doctor always outwits you.
Favourite Moment: the Rani's TARDIS accelerates out of
control, pinning her and the Master to the walls.
Lasting Image: Colin Baker's terrified face as he goes
hurtling downhill on the stretcher (and no doubt hoping that the crew will be able to catch him).
4/10
Our marathon continues with Story #140 - The Two Doctors...
