The history of villainesses in Doctor Who, especially the in the classic series, is really rather slim. There were the Drahvins from Galaxy Four and Hilda Winters from Robot, but that required a bit of thought to try and conjure up. The ‘iconic’ villainess in the classic series has to be the Rani, at least in the remembered consciousness of fans, so it was no surprise that the Rani is being plundered for the end of Series 15.
The idea behind the Rani was that she is an amoral scientist whose experimentation goes beyond unethical and into outright villainy. Now, if only JN-T had trusted this description of the character in The Mark of the Rani, instead he felt the need to backstop her with the largely unnecessary insertion of the Master as someone to mostly interfere with her plans. Her end of the story, and Kate O’Mara’s portrayal, still worked, and that’s what is really remembered to this day.
In the interim between The Mark of the Rani and Time and the Rani, O’Mara decamped to the U.S. to harass Joan Collins in Dynasty. The return of the Rani in Time and the Rani shows off JN-T’s poorer tendencies to glam her up to camp proportions. Season 24 was such a mess that even having O’Mara mimic Bonnie Langford could save a story with a giant brain.
So what will happen with the Rani in Series 15, will it be the former or the latter or something else entirely? We’re about to find out.
