Arnold
Tash Jayasinghe
CibbuanoThe Mark of the Rani
September 9th 2006 08:50
The Mark of the Rani (1985, Season 22)
So... The Mark of the Rani is coming out on DVD. I gotta say this upfront - as far as television goes, The Mark of the Rani is pretty bad. My favourite episode of Doctor Who it aint.
VITAL STATISTICS
MAIN CHARACTERS: The 6th Doctor (Colin Baker) and Peri (Nicola Bryant)
EPISODES: Two 45 minute episodes
SETTING: 19th Century English village, during the Luddite Uprising.
OTHER: Features George Stephenson, inventor of the Steam Engine.
HOW DOES IT FAIR BY TODAY’S STANDARDS
The use of some kind of 19th century museum park as the location for this story was pretty inspired. As a result it looks pretty authentic, then again, thanks to the BBC massive costume department, Doctor Who has always done period stories well. The Rani's TARDIS is fairly 80s but it doesn't look too bad at all. The dinosaur and man-turned-tree were pretty bad though and anyone watching it for the first time will laugh (especially at the tree).
BITS I LIKE
The Doctor is pretty cool in this one. It's a shame the 6th Doctor didn't get to visit more places in Earth's past... then again, if they will make him wear that godawful costume he was always going to stick out. I liked the Rani's TARDIS and the idea of the Rani as more amoral than immoral was good in theory. Using the Luddite Uprisings as a backdrop to the story was a nice touch too.
The Target novelisation
BITS I DON’T LIKE
The cliffhanger at the end of the first episode is bad.
The Rani is a pretty pisspoor attempt by the production team to add something new to the show at a point in it's history when it was pandering too much to the hardcore fans.
There seems to be no point to the Master's presence.
HOW MANY TIMES I’VE SEEN THIS NOW
About three times.
DISTRACTABILITY SCALE
This probably could've been the equivelant of a three-parter. There's less going on here than in 1 episode of the new series of Doctor Who. It plods along a fair bit in the second part.
THE ACTING
Not a fan of the Rani's acting, too melodrammatic. Anthony Ainley's Master is pretty hard to watch here too.
Most of the supporting actors are okay, no one really stands out, except maybe the guy who plays Luke... he's pretty terrible.
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