Time and the Rani (TV story)

"This is idiotic!"

- The Rani

Synopsis
The Rani intends to take advantage of an asteroid composed of strange matter which is passing the remote planet of Lakertya. If she can explode the asteroid by colliding it with another mass of strange matter, she can cause a chain reaction which will ultimately result in the creation of a time manipulator. With this device, she will be able to massively change history and rectify the "randomness" of evolution throughout the time-space continuum.

Unfortunately, strange matter is both rare and extremely heavy. In order for her plan to work, she must find a substance which has the same properties as strange matter, but is light enough to be propelled to escape velocity from the surface of the planet. Toward that end, she ties the universe's greatest minds into the single brain that will comprise the core of the time manipulator. Together, she reasons, they must be able to discover a lightweight substitute for strange matter.

One of the geniuses she collects is the Doctor. In his post-regenerative state, however, he's dazed and confused. As he struggles to emerge from his regeneration cycle, Mel encounters the locals who are divided about how best to end the oppressive rule of the Rani and her henchmen, the Tetraps.

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
 * Mel - Bonnie Langford
 * The Rani - Kate O'Mara
 * Ikona - Mark Greenstreet
 * Faroon - Wanda Ventham
 * Beyus - Donald Pickering
 * Sarn - Karen Clegg
 * Urak - Richard Gauntlett
 * Lanisha - John Segal
 * Voices - Peter Tuddenham, Jacki Webb

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Joanna Newbery, Christopher Sandeman
 * Costumes - Ken Trew
 * Designer - Geoff Powell
 * Incidental Music - Keff McCulloch
 * Make-Up - Lesley Rawstorne
 * OB Cameraman - Alastair Mitchell, John Hawes
 * Producer - John Nathan-Turner
 * Production Assistant - Joy Sinclair
 * Production Associate - Anne Faggetter
 * Script Editor - Andrew Cartmel
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Henry Barber
 * Studio Sound - Brian Clark
 * Theme Arrangement - Keff McCulloch
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Colin Mapson

Human scientists

 * Hypatia
 * Louis Pasteur
 * Albert Einstein

Humanoid species

 * Tetrap

Time Lords

 * The Rani

Story Notes

 * Loyhargil is an anagram of 'holy grail'.
 * Working title for this story was Strange Matter.
 * This is the first story to feature computer generated images (CGI) for the titles and many of the effects (including the TARDIS's flight through space in the pre-title sequence).
 * The story's 'problems' can be partly explained as Pip and Jane Baker (the writers) in that they had no idea who would be playing the new Doctor or how he would be characterised - and, at least when they started work on the project, the series had no script editor for them to discuss things with.
 * Colin Baker refused to participate in the filming of the regeneration sequence. As a result, Sylvester McCoy donned a wig and briefly appeared as the Sixth Doctor, making him the only Doctor actor to play two different incarnations.

Ratings

 * Part 1 - 5.1 million viewers
 * Part 2 - 4.2 million viewers
 * Part 3 - 4.3 million viewers
 * Part 4 - 4.9 million viewers

Myths
to be added

Location Filming

 * Three quarries in Frome, Somerset

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * Sylvester McCoy pronounces "Princeton University" as "Prince Town".
 * The Doctor specifically says his age is 953 years. This seems to be contradicted later by the Ninth Doctor in Aliens of London in which he claimed an age of about 900 years and by the Tenth Doctor who gives an exact age of 903 in Voyage of the Damned.

Continuity

 * The Rani appeared last in The Mark of the Rani.
 * The final portion of PDA: Spiral Scratch lead into this story.

DVD, Video and Other Releases
to be added

Target Novelisations
to be added