19-05-2025
The Return of The Rani
The Doctor is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. Over the last 60 years he has met many other Time Lords on his adventures, some good, some not so good – like the Rani. As the Doctor once again finds himself facing the Rani, BBC Archives is looking back to the previous times the Doctor has encountered her, and the woman behind this ingenious, misguided Time Lord.
"The Rani is a genius. Shame I can't stand her." The Doctor (1985)
The Doctor first encountered the Rani on screen in 1985 when she teamed up with the Master to disrupt the Industrial Revolution in 19th Century Tyneside. This plot outline simply describes her as 'a renegade Time Lady', but she proves to be more than that – a brilliant scientist who only cares for her experiments and not for the chaos they cause.
As well as her genius for science, the Rani is also a master of disguise. In The Mark of The Rani she is first seen on screen as an elderly woman. This was probably not what viewers would associate with the actor chosen to portray the Rani, Kate O'Mara, who was more famous for playing the glamourous Caress in Dynasty.
It is this talent for disguise that the Rani uses when she faced the Doctor again in the 1987 story Time and the Rani. However this time she pretends to be the Doctor's companion Mel.
In 1999 Kate O'Mara described how she found imitating Bonnie Langford's character her most challenging role, as well as her fondness for the Rani.
"If only the Rani could have redirected her incredible talents for good" The Doctor (1987)
Kate O'Mara would play the Rani once more on screen in 1993. In a light-hearted special Doctor Who story for Children in Need, the Rani's dastardly plot to rid the universe of the Doctor brought her to Earth, and to Albert Square. Fortunately Pudsey wasn't part of her plans.
The Rani, with her TARDIS disguised as The Queen Vic pub, creates a 30 year time loop, trapping four incarnations of the Doctor and his companions alongside several of the EastEnders residents. But the Doctor managed to defeat the Rani's plan and she was last seen tumbling into the time vortex, entangled in her own trap.
Kate O'Mara remained fond of her time in Doctor Who and of playing the Rani. In 2012, when appearing on Radio Wales, she was asked if she'd like to return to the series and explained how the juxtaposition of her as the Rani and Matt Smith as the Doctor 'would be a great confrontation'.
Sadly Kate O'Mara died in 2014, and never got the chance to realise her dream to return to Doctor Who. But as the Rani returns, with this new incarnation played by Archie Panjabi , the fearless, intelligent and ruthless character Kate created will continue to have life, even if the Doctor manages once again to thwart the Rani's plans.
