BOOK OF LISTS: TOP 5 TWO-TIMERS - NUMBER ONE

At last, we've reached Number One in the Top 5 Two-Timers List . I'm gonna guess you're all thinking the same character I am. Could it really be anyone else?   


I think what I love best about the Rani is how much she seems to contradict herself. There is all kinds of dialogue from the Master and the Doctor that makes her sound like she's, basically, a Time Lord version of a Cybermen ("I'm afraid the Rani simply sees us as walking heaps of chemicals" and other quotes of that nature). She's cold and emotionless and sees everything from a logical point-of-view. The Rani, herself, does and says all sorts of things to back this up. Just look how, at the end of Mark of the Rani, she's ready to cut her losses and leave rather than try to exact revenge on the Doctor for all the interfering he's done.

And yet, for all her cold rationale, the Rani shows all sorts of emotions that she shouldn't be. Most interesting is her sense of glee. What a big smile she has when she figures out that threatening the life of another person in the room will keep the Doctor better restrained than threatening him directly ("Touche, Doctor?"). Look how that smile appears again later when she's collecting mines from her TARDIS and she hints to the Master what sort of damage said mines will do ("Let's just say they'll change the Doctor's lifestyle dramatically"). Should someone that cold and calculating experience such perverse pleasure?

It's not just displays uncharacteristic happiness that we see, though. On the other end of the spectrum, she loses her temper quite easily, too. When she tries to get the Luddites to ambush the Master while he's walking through a tunnel and it fails, she gets pretty violent with her scanner equipment. And the endless amounts of verbal abuse that Urak suffers at her hands during her second story is near-incalculable. She really uses that Tetrap as her whipping boy. She's almost like a cruel pet owner.

And yet, on other occasions, she's true to her description. Observe how when poor Urak accidentally attacks her because he mistakes her for Mel. He's probably expecting a huge scolding for his mistake. He tries to explain himself and his mistress just cuts him off with a harsh-yet-cold: "Inquests bore me!" and then walks away. You really never know when the Rani lives up to her reputation and when she'll actually fly off the handle.

I don't consider these inconsistencies to be the result of bad writing. But, rather, an attempt on Pip and Jane Baker's behalf to show us there are layers to the character. That the Rani is more than she seems. She may try to get everyone to believe that she's emotionless and logical. She may have even convinced her rivals of this. But, deep down inside, she's brimming with strong feelings that she can barely hold in check. Give her enough time, and she'll prove to be as maniacal as the Master.

Much can be said for how Kate O'Mara gets all of these contradictions to work. She really seems to understand the mechanics of the character. So much so, that it's difficult to see anyone else in the role. Even though, like the Doctor and the Master, she can be regenerated if the production team needs her to be. Kate just really sinks her teeth into the role and knows when to let the inner psychotic out and when to stay true to how she is perceived by her enemies. It's amazing to watch those mood swings flail about so wildly and yet, at the same time, seem so controlled. We love her for it.


LEAVING HER MARK

In a story that is already featuring the Doctor and the Master, O'Mara really needs to hit the ground running. Both these characters are extremely well-established in the show's mythos and she needs to have just as much presence as the other two Time Lords populating the tale. Just to make it all the more challenging, this is not an introductory story like the Monk's first adventure was. The Rani, the Master and the Doctor all know each other from the Good 'Ole Days. So that means there has to be some real chemistry between all of them. We, as an audience, have to feel the history that they have. On top of that, we just need to find the Rani to be as interesting as her counterparts. If she doesn't shine as brightly as Ainley and Colin, the whole thing is going to fall very flat.

Kate O'Mara was an extremely intelligent casting choice. She had an extensive resume of playing "tough bitches" in other shows so she could slide into a personality like the Rani quite easily. She had also done quite a bit of work with Colin Baker in the past - so that "history" that needed to exist between their characters was fairly easy to create.

But we can't ignore the efforts of Pip and Jane Baker, either. They made a very fascinating villain for us that we can't resist wanting to see again. With things even getting, perhaps, a bit stale between the Ainley Master and the various Doctors he'd fought, the Rani comes in like a breath of fresh air. She shakes things up between these two renegades and gets us to see their petty squabbles from a whole new angle. She thoroughly takes the piss out of both of them - and that's really fun to watch.

Still, as the credits roll for Mark of the Rani, we're dying to see a re-match between the Doctor and the Rani. This time, perhaps, without the Master in the middle of things. Something a bit more one-on-one. We do get this a season or so later. But it's far from what we expected....


NO TIME

The Rani's second story definitely shows us just how much we have fallen in love with her. The plot of Time and the Rani leaves a lot to be desired. I have ranted a few times before about the unfair persecution this story gets - so I'll try to keep it short, here. I don't think it's as bad as fandom likes to lead you to believe (Creature from the Pit is far harder to sit through than this one!) but it has its fair share of problems. Probably one of the biggest ones is its attempt to almost "shoehorn" in all of the Rani's gimmicks. The land mines and disguises in Mark of the Rani were interesting and fit the story. In Time, they seem forced and over-contrived. Shortcomings like this can really mar the overall impact of the character.

And yet, Kate O'Mara steps up to the plate again and gives us another great little turn. Despite all that's working against her in the script, we still adore the Rani because of Kate. She obviously has a deep love for the character, herself. By this point in the game, she had a regular role on Dynasty - one of the most successful American TV shows, ever. She was, more than likely, making some pretty enormous amounts of cash in the States. And yet, she still came back to Britain to do Time and the Rani (wonder if she looked at the script before she got there?!). That love for the character bleeds through into the performance. We get the impression Kate would play the Rani fifty more times if she was asked to. And that love that she has makes us love the character with her

The absolutely best thing about Kate's performance in Time and the Rani is how she even lifts up the story's weaker points. Disguising herself as Mel after messing with the Doctor's memory is pretty ludicrous. But Kate is great fun to watch as she does her best Bonnie Langford impression. It's even funnier when she breaks character now and again to make off-the-cuff remarks in her Rani personae. It almost saves the whole bad idea and makes it enjoyable. This is what gets us to love the character despite the dip in quality with the writing. Kate really does save the day.


ANOTHER APPEARANCE? 

Now that all of the major baddies like Daleks, Cybermen and the Master have returned, is there any other character from the Classic Series that we want to see more in the New Series than the Rani? I think not! In fact, we might long for her harder than some of the other Major Baddies that have been brought back.

How many of us were just praying that Missy would be revealed as the Rani during Series Eight? Who she actually turned out to be was still pretty awesome - don't get me wrong. But still, we were hoping...

It is, of course, intensely sad that Kate O'Mara won't be able to reprise the role. It really should have been her one more time and then we could have regenerated her. Kate just did so much for the character and it would have been great to let her have one more turn at it. Who else can handle such lines  like: "Leave the girl. It's the man I want." the way she did?!

We'll miss you Kate....







And... there we go! Just getting this entry done as the month of July wraps up. Made it to my deadline by the skin of my teeth!  

We shall move away from BOOK OF LISTS topics again for a bit and probably won't see another one til the end of the year. I've got a few ANALYTICAL essays in mind and, perhaps, another CHRONOLOGIES AND TIMELINES will be on its way soon. You guys do seem to love it when I work out tinelines for certain recurring characters and/or species. "Give 'em what they love.", I always say. Well, okay, I don't always say that. But I said it here, at least.

Others who made the list: 

Five:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/06/book-of-lists-top-5-two-timers-number.html

Four: 
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/06/book-of-lists-top-5-two-timers-number_25.html

Three: 
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/07/book-of-lists-top-5-two-timers-number.html

Two: 
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/07/book-of-lists-top-5-two-timers-number_17.html