Doctor Who (TV Series) Time and the Rani: Part One (1987) User Reviews

It doesn't deserve such a bad name.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 28 December 2018]

A story I've knocked over the years, but watching it again after several years, I think I was perhaps a little overly harsh.

It's a slightly bitter episode, particularly for a fan of Colin Baker like myself, but I love McCoy too, so his entrance is welcome, even if his first scenes aren't great.

So Part one, I'm genuinely impressed by the concept of the story, I love Lakertya, and its stylish inhabitants, and some of the effects are particularly good, the flying spheres in particular look great.

On the downside the regeneration scene is awful, the fluffy monsters are bad, but worst of all is Kate O'Mara, she was sublime in her previous story, Mark of the Rani, she was slick, sexy and menacing, in this one she feels a little panto somehow.

I get why people don't like it, but I think it's a decent start. 6/10

Better than the reputation

[zotwot · 6/10 · 25 August 2014]

Time and the Rani is widely regarded as one of the worst Doctor Who stories of all time. It's one that the fans use to joke about bad stories. But I don't feel that way.

OK, sure, there is no way I could claim this is one of the best stories ever but in my mind it is far from the worst. I fear the regeneration scene is the biggest cause for the bad reputation. Wig-gate is a massive error which could have been avoided. The rest though is pretty much the best that could be done. How do you do a regeneration scene without the actor present and without the modern ability to use CGI? There is no way it can be satisfactory. The writers probably gathered this and got it over with quickly and didn't make it the main use of the story.

Once that gets out of the way though, it is not bad at all. Both McCoy and O'Mara act their socks off- McCoy gives us a fun new Doctor and O'Mara gives us round two of the fearsome Rani, with an impression of what Mel ought to be like to boot. The story is packed full of neat ideas too- it's really unusual for an alien race to be conflicted over whether to act with or against a villain, for instance.

There is too much technobabble, and the story does drag a bit but how many times have I said that before? Many would have expected a true post-regeneration story with the companion getting to know the new Doctor but this isn't that. Production problems meant the regeneration was ruined and the writers made the probably correct choice in not making the regeneration the focus of the story.

It's all about personal opinion but I disagree with the majority here. It's like when I thought Genesis of the Daleks wasn't as good as everyone thought. Controversial it may be, but I think Time and the Rani is better than it is given credit for.

"The more I know me, the less I like me." Sylvester McCoy's first story.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 10 March 2007]

Doctor Who: Time and the Rani: Part 1 starts as the TARDIS is struck by several laser-beams which force it to land on the inhospitable planet of Lakertya & causes the Doctor (Sylvetser McCoy) to regenerate for the seventh time while his companion Mel (Bonnie Langford) is knocked unconscious. It turns out that the evil Timelord the Rani (Kate O'Mara) was responsible for forcing the TARDIS to land & it's all part of a sinister plan, she kidnaps the Doctor & gives him an injection which gives him amnesia in an attempt to trick him that she is in fact Mel when he wakes up so she can convince him to work on her evil scheme. Meanwhile the real Mel is lost on the surface of Lakertya together with Ikona (Mark Greenstreet) a rebel Lakertyan who is trying to save his race from the Rani & her evil ways...

This Doctor Who adventure was episode 1 from season 24 that aired here in the UK during late 1987 & was the first story for Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, directed by Andrew Morgan I don't think there's a lot of love floating around for Time and the Rani but I have to say I quite liked this first episode. The new Doctor Sylvester McCoy is rather more restrained & less theatrical than Colin Baker & has slightly more about him than a sometimes flat Peter Davison, he ain't the best Doctor but he's decent enough all the same. The script by Pip & Jane Baker is alright, not much is made of the regeneration scene & the new Doctor doesn't take long to get going. I thought the story was quite fun & I liked the interplay between the Rani & the Doctor as she impersonates Mel, there's also some monsters lurking around that haven't been completely revealed yet. I also have to say that this particular episode has a terrific cliffhanger ending. It's not brilliant by any means but I thought it was mildly entertaining & quite fun which isn't a bad return when you think about it.

Being a BBC production the budget was probably low but it has to be said apart from a terrible opening sequence of the TARDIS being shot at in space the special effects aren't too bad actually, the spinning bubble traps that the Rani has set up look rather good & while we haven't seen the creatures completely yet so far they seem to look OK & the way they are shot deliberately not showing them adds to their effectiveness.

Time and the Rani wasn't as bad as I'd had been lead to believe it would be, in fact I'd go as far as to say I quite liked it & I'm looking forward to see the following three episodes.

Time for a Rant

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 4/10 · 18 December 2018]

This is widely criticised and is often put forward as a leading contender to be rated as the worst story in Doctor Who history. I am sadly in agreement that it is pretty close to the bottom of the pile although, for me, there are a few stories worse than this. There are a couple of positives so this is not as abysmal as some of the rubbish you get on TV but for this show it is very poor.

The previous two seasons with Colin Baker as the 6th Doctor had been the two lowest quality seasons by far up to this point in many people's opinion (mine included). A number of changes were made for this new season to try to improve things but what actually resulted was a season that I think is clearly even worse. Thankfully the following season would be a big improvement and the one after that was really brilliant but season 24 for me stands as the lowest point of all.

One of the changes made was to replace Colin Baker against his will and bring in Sylvester McCoy as the 7th Doctor. Well in reality Baker's characterisation was a big issue in his era but that was largely down to the writing and instructions he was given. His often pompous, bad tempered, rude and conceited Doctor either needed a character overhaul or a replacement and it makes sense they replaced him but it lead to him refusing to film a regeneration scene. Therefore we get a weird and unsatisfying scenario where the episode begins with the TARDIS under attack and the Doctor lying on the floor before regenerating in a disappointing way whilst unconscious and being taken prisoner by renegade Timelord/Time Lady the Rani.

After his capture the Doctor awakes and for his first episode McCoy is pretty embarrassing. There are bad pratfalls, clowning about and unconvincing delivery of lame dialogue, malapropisms and jokes. A lot of people comment on him playing the spoons but I have no issue with that any more than I have an issue with the 2nd Doctor playing the recorder (badly). At least he is very good at playing the spoons haha! What is a problem is the writing and, initially McCoy's acting. Thankfully this turns out to be perhaps partly just nerves as he does improve over parts 2 to 4 of the story. Sadly the characterisation has gone from unpleasant and annoying with Baker to overly silly with McCoy proving it is the writing and showrunner John Nathan-Turner which are to blame for this nadir. Andrew Cartmel had come in as script editor and seemingly brought about improvements in seasons 25 and 26 by which time McCoy had become very good but in this story and whole of season 24 things are in bad shape. I will say though McCoy after his initial bad acting becomes quickly far more likeable and engaging than Baker was so it turns out to be one positive change.

The plot is nonsensical - The Rani has great minds such as Einstein and Pasteur as well as the Doctor and intends amalgamating their minds into a giant brain and get them to formulate a way to create a powerful substance and fire a rocket of that substance into an asteroid composed of strange matter. It is as illogical, confused and silly as it sounds. The Rani is exploiting a race called the Lakertyans with the help of another race the Tetraps. The Tetraps are not a bad monster in design, their heads and tongues are reasonably good but when allied to a pantomime costume type body and very human sounding voices delivering cliche baddie dialogue it makes them poor. The Lakertyans look rubbish and are boring but Donald Pickering and Wanda Ventham are fine actors and imbue their meagre roles with as much gravitas as possible.

Kate O'Mara as the Rani is camp and pantomime in many ways as a character but is genuinely good and enjoyable in the role. Her impersonation of Bonnie Langford when in disguise as Mel is amazingly accurate too. Langford herself is given little to do other than scream hysterically or chip in simpering inanities so is an irritating presence.

This does not all look cheap, there are some good effects like the spinning, exploding sphere traps and efforts have been made with sets but they sadly just look garish and do not improve on the overall lack of quality in writing and very poor action scenes of people awkwardly falling over and clowning about. There is a little bit of mindless fun in the middle but it becomes boring by the end.

Very disappointing. 4/10

Moderate start to a new Doctor.

[tonygarraway2009 · 7/10 · 25 November 2018]

I know many fans regard this story as being pretty poor. In my opinion it's not as awful as people make out. It just lacks sparkle for an opening adventure for the new Doctor. I also feel that a lot of the behind the scenes troubles of the time contributed to a fairly lacklustre set of episodes. Colin Baker did not wish to reprise the role for one last story and we were therefore left with the less than satisfactory situation of having Sylvester McCoy wearing a wig for the regeneration sequence. Not a great start! The story is however, notable for a new title sequence and new incidental music. The first computer generated title sequence looked pretty impressive at the time. Also the visual effects look good too. So basically the story's visuals cannot be faulted. However the script itself perhaps doesn't deliver an exciting story that was required for the debut of a new actor playing the role. It was obviously going to take time for Sylvester McCoy to settle into the role. In this first story he comes across a bit like an absent minded professor type. However, as the stories became a bit darker later on, Sylvester McCoy's portrayal became more serious and thoughtful. 7/10.

Time and the Rani: Part One

[Prismark10 · 1/10 · 19 November 2019]

Like The Trial of a Timelord season, I have waited over 30 years to revisit Sylvester McCoy's debut season as Doctor Who. I was hoping the nightmare of what I had watched in 1987 would eventually fade.

This was another tumultuous series behind the scenes. Colin Baker was fired and he declined to return to do his regeneration scene. Pip and Jane Baker were once again to draft a script in difficult circumstances.

The good news: There is a new theme tune which is better than the one Baker had in the Trial season. There are new CGI graphics in the opening scenes and the titles. Gone is the starfield although the CGI effects now look more like animation. John Nathan Turner did the best of a bad job with the regeneration sequence as Sylvester McCoy dons a bad wig and Baker's clothes.

The bad news: McCoy cannot act. I like McCoy, I saw him a lot in children's television when I was growing up. Just as I do not envisage Justin Fletcher who plays Mr Tumble in various Cbeebies shows as the next James Bond. I could never picture McCoy as the next Doctor Who. He is a circus entertainer, you can tell how comfortable he is when he plays the spoons in this episode.

Forced to regenerate after the sixth doctor's Tardis is hit by an energy beam. The Tardis lands on planet Lakertya and the Rani is behind all this. She is collecting all the greatest scientific minds and now she needs the doctor's expertise. To do this she gives him an amnesia drug and disguises herself as Mel. The real Mel is somewhere on the planet who meets an angry Lakertyan who wants to free his people captured by the Rani.

A disappointing start to a new era. The first episode has a nonsense plot, bad acting from McCoy and the annoying screaming from Langford. The only bright spot is Kate O'Mara especially when she pretends to be Mel. She plays the companion better than Bonnie Langford.

The Rani is back..

[wetmars · 6/10 · 15 April 2020]

The Rani, needing the Doctor's expertise, shoots down his TARDIS, crash-landing it on planet Lykertya where the Doctor dies and subsequently regenerates. She biochemically induces selective amnesia before disguising herself as Mel in order to angle him deceptively into repairing one of her broken machines. The real Mel? Left behind in the TARDIS, alive but unconscious, where she's found by a grim rebel Lakertyan who then makes off with her.

Well, this episode was an improvement of the show and I find it somehow entertaining watching this episode just to see the Rani tricking the Doctor who is the greatest time-lord.

I know my rating is high but..

[VReviewsE · 7/10 · 12 May 2024]

This episode isn't the greatest regeneration story..But it's fun. As much as I tried I just can't hate this episode. It's goofy. It's silly. It's cheesy. Its writing isn't the best. Sylvester McCoy is figuring things out. The effects scream 80s..and yet it's fun. It's a fun story. Sylvester quickly shines a bit as a fun doctor even here and overall it's a fun time. While regrettably it's not a great send off to the sixth doctor it is an enjoyable time that's a bit unique and refreshing in the dr who catalog compared to some of the seasons it finds itself sandwiched in between. It doesn't deserve the rep it has had and is overall an enjoyable experience. It is definitely not the show at its best though and for an introduction to the seventh doctor I would far recommend other better stories for that.