The story's background is England during the labor backlash that accompanied the Industrial Revolution of the early-1800s. The production makes extensive use of meticulously preserved buildings and museum artifacts at Ironbridge Gorge, and the story even features inventor-engineer George Stephenson (Gawn Grangier), considered the "Father of Railways." Unfortunately and quite unlike the historical serials of first Doctor William Hartnell, the setting is used merely as window dressing rather than figuring much at all into its main narrative.

The Doctor (Baker) and grating American traveling companion Perry (Nicola Bryant) arrive in the midst of the Luddite Rebellion but soon discover other sinister forces at work. An outcast Time Lord known only as The Master (Anthony Ainley, whose appearances date back to "Fourth Doctor" Tom Baker) like Ming the Merciless once against rises from oblivion without explanation to plot his arch-rival's (and perhaps Earth's) doom, while yet another renegade Time Lord, The Rani (Kate O'Mara), has set up shop among the coal miners for her own nefarious research purposes, draining men of the ability to sleep for no clear reason.

Written by the husband-wife team of Pip and Jane Baker, the story's ripe dialogue and peculiar notions about suspense - one vignette of intended thrills has The Rani laying land mines that turn its victims into Wizard of Oz-like living trees - are either lame or downright silly, and bereft of anything like characters to play. Ainley and O'Mara can do little but chew the scenery, which they do in an admittedly entertaining manner.

Baker's Doctor is not everyone's favorite but the scripts he was given rarely offered much help. Bryant's Perry, on the other hand, is simply annoying. She can't bring off an American accent, and in attempting one tends to over-enunciate like a Valley Girl. That the teleplay has Perry either screwing things up or finds her in almost constant need of rescuing doesn't exactly endear her to audiences, either.

As a straightforward action-fantasy, the show is okay. There's enough incident and peril that it plays okay for audiences no more demanding than those that flocked to the weekly Republic serials of the 1940s, though this story is really no better than that. Director Sarah Hellings (The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Midsomer Murders) does an admirable job of trying to liven things up visually, and the show makes good use of its locations (which account for at least 50% of the show), though the low-end studio sets don't integrate particularly well.

Video & Audio

The Mark of the Rani's two 45-minute episodes, are presented in their original full-frame format on a single disc, and their mix of videotape (for studio interiors) and 16mm film (for location exteriors and interiors) look good, though the visual contrast between the two is jarring for many American viewers not used to this production method. The mono sound is okay; optional English subtitles for the hard-of-hearing available.

Extra Features

The Mark of the Rani may be nothing special, but you'd never guess that judging by the BBC's exhaustive supplements, which are headlined by Lords and Luddites, an excellent new documentary about the episode. In 16:9 enhanced format and running 43 minutes, it goes into minutiae on every facet of the show and even those not impressed by the episode will likely still find the featurette entertaining. Baker, Bryant, and O'Mara appear, along with the writers and various production staffers. The actors also talk about the show on the DVD's audio commentary track while Playing with Time offers thoughts by Jonathan Gibbs, the episode's last-minute music composer. Baker and Bryant also appear in a vintage Saturday Superstore from the period, where kids got to call in and ask the Doctor and Perry questions about the show.

Also included are deleted and extended scenes, an isolated music track, a production notes option, a photo gallery, a Now and Then visit to the various locations, and DVD-ROM features, including a 1985 Doctor Who Annual and Radio Times Billings, both in PDF format.

Parting Thoughts

Doctor Who - The Mark of the Rani is hamburger served up with all the care of filet mignon, and for this reason is recommended without hesitation to Doctor Who fans. More casual viewers will probably be happy simply renting it.

Stuart Galbraith IV is a Kyoto-based film historian whose work includes The Emperor and the Wolf - The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune and Taschen's forthcoming Cinema Nippon.