6.4: The Mark of the Rani

In which we suddenly see the point of tone meetings.

Broadcast: February 1985

Watched: January 2021

The Mark of the Rani, Part One

It’s 1985, and for the second story running Doctor Who is learning about the problems faced by miners. That’s the problem with ‘80s Who, isn’t it? It just stopped being influenced by the real world.

(Theory: all [name of Tom & Lalla obsessed friend redacted]’s criticisms of 1980s Who are actually criticisms of the Williams era. It’s transference. Because he’s a boomer.)

Actually rather enjoyed that, far more than I expected to. It’s nicely made and mostly decently acted. Sort of scribbling round Doctor Who’s educational remit. At one point Peri teaches us about hedgerows and the environment (bit rich for a late boomer, I reckon). Even the stuff that is just plain silly – there is no good reason for the Master to be hiding in a field dressed as a scarecrow – is sort of right for Doctor Who.

The Rani is weirdly a different character now Time Lords are gender fluid. There’s no possible way of reading her as “the Master, but female” because we’ve seen that, so we’re forced to focus on, well, the original intent for her – a sort of amoral scientist rather than cackling villain. Her speech about humanity and meat eating (“Do they worry about the lesser species when they sink their teeth into a lamb chop?”) is actually a pretty good explanation for the character. She just sees humans as lab rats.

While we’re on her, I love that she calls the Master out for basically just being an obsession with the Doctor in a black velvet suit; and the fact we have two villains solves the exposition problem as they can exposit at each other. Bit horrible that the Master kills a dog, mind. The Rani’s mind control maggots are disgusting.

I had forgotten there was a literal mark of the Rani.

Colin is again more Doctor-ish than in his first couple of stories, though his random unprompted outbursts of anger are still tiresome and irritating. Weird how he bothers to change his cat badge but never his coat.

The reason I remembered this episode as a bit rubbish is the tonal uncertainty of the final sequence, in which the Doctor is rolling down a hill on an out of control gurney. It’s not as bad as I remembered but it’s still not great – they don’t seem to be sure whether it’s funny or dramatic so end up not quite playing either. But I’d remembered that massively grating, whereas it actually just feels a bit of a waste. I can suddenly see why the modern show introduced tone meetings, to make sure every department knows what they’re aiming for.

(74 episode-length chunks to go.)

The Mark of the Rani, Part Two

Okay. Lost the plot rather. Entertaining enough, I guess, but I realised halfway through I have no idea what anyone in it is trying to achieve. Did I miss something important (I’m a bit feverish today) or is it just not massively clear? [reads summary] No, it’s terribly simple, it’s just that there isn’t any more plot here, it’s basically just “the Master and the Rani have an evil plan, the Doctor stops it”, everything else is business.

Also – why hold George Stevenson back for part 2 if he isn’t going to actually do anything or be played by a huge guest star or something?

On the upside, there is a lot of fun in the details. The mustard gas painting! The landmines that turn people into trees, one of which then grabs Peri to protect her! At least the writers keep throwing ideas at the screen, even if they can’t really be bothered to string them together.

Whenever the Doctor takes his coat off he looks so much better that you wonder why they didn’t let him drop it.

Love the incredibly subtle symbolism of making the Rani’s TARDIS grey and pink.

The brief sequence in which Peri believes she’s lost the Doctor, and when he returns she’s not pleased to see him but angry with him, feels like it typifies something.

When the Doctor says “said the spider to the fly” it feels familiar – does Colin say this again some time?

Anyway. Mediocre. Not a disaster, but meh.