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
 * Lakertyans are civilised reptilian humanoids.

Time Lords

 * The Rani and the Doctor studied together.
 * The Doctor states he is in his seventh incarnation.

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.
 * The Sixth Doctor's death is ranked as the second weakest death in science fiction history

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

Filming Locations

 * Cloford Quarry, Cloford, Frome, Somerset (Exterior of Rani's base)
 * Westdown Quarry, Chantry, Frome, Somerset (Location where the TARDIS lands)
 * Whatley Quarry, Whatley, Frome, Somerset
 * BBC Television Centre (TC1 & TC8), Shepherd's Bush, London

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. Perhaps Lakertya has a shorter year than Earth, although that doesn't explain the Sixth Doctor claiming an age of 900 years as well.

Continuity

 * The Rani appeared last in DW: The Mark of the Rani.
 * The final portion of PDA: Spiral Scratch leads into this story.
 * The Rani's fate is followed up in BBV: The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind.
 * In NA: Timewyrm: Revelation, Love and War and Head Games the reasons why the Doctor regenerated are further explored.

Timeline

 * Time and the Rani occurs after: PDA: Spiral Scratch
 * Time and the Rani occurs before: BFA: Unregenerate!

DVD, Video and Other Releases
to be added

Novelisation

 * Main article: Time and the Rani (novelisation)


 * Novelised by Pip and Jane Baker in 1987.