Day 632: The Mark of the Rani Part 2

The Mark of the Rani, as I said yesterday, is a story that i don't really think is great. But that doesn't mean that I think it's terrible either, and there are certainly strong things to find within the episode.

For a start, there's the concept behind the villainous Rani. The Rani is a renegade Time Lord, much like the Doctor or the Master, but her defining feature is that she is a scientist. And, as a scientist, she therefore disregards all human life as worthless and so uses it as part of grand experiments to further her own scientific knowledge. It's an interesting motivation, and certainly one which is true (I know of several friends studying science who would very easily take over the world because of a general hatred for all human life), and it also leads to a way for some cool concepts to be shown on screen. For instance, there are some landmines that The Rani has created that turn whoever steps on them into a tree. It makes for a nice and memorable effect, and helps to give a sense of menace to this villain.

The only problem is, however, that The Rani doesn't really get that much menace to her. Instead, much of the episode is spent with her, The Doctor and The Master (and occasionally Peri) delivering witty dialogue to each other as they insult and constantly one-up one another. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing, and the dialogue is one of this story's strong points. The major problem, however, is that so much focus is put on the dialogue that there's no real sense of danger when dealing with either The Master or The Rani. Instead, we just accept that these characters are in opposition and move on with out lives. The climax to this story, for instance, is just The Master destroying a pillar in an old mine shaft, causing it to slightly collapse. There's no need to be worried about what will happen to our heroes, which crucially means that there's no reason to feel triumphant at the end of the stlry that the protagonists have defeated the villains. Because of this, the story just feels like it ends with a whimper, which doesn't help the overall quality of the story.

And with all of these good points and bad points, it just feels like they all cancel each other out in my mind and leave me completely apathetic to this story. Which is a shame, as there's plenty to be opinionated about here, it's just that I can't quite allow myself to point one way or the other with regards to this story's quality. That is, of course, except for the final scene, which features a beautiful pun and is almost enough to make me want to like this story. But, sadly, not quite enough.

Day 631: The Mark of the Rani Part 1

I've got an odd relationship with The Mark of the Rani. It's a story that seems to be completely average for me, and yet there is so much within it and within my relationship with it that I either want to get an appreciation for it or dislike it intensely, but I can't find it in my heart to do either.

I suppose I should begin with my personal relationship with this episode. It was the second Doctor Who story I ever watched, however, unlike the other Doctor Who stories that I watched in that first wave of discovery, I don't have any real emotional connection to it. There isn't the fear that I experienced with Inferno, the reappraisal that I found with Frontier in Space, or the joy that I got from either The Curse of Peladon or The Five Doctors. The Mark of the Rani is instead, for me, a story that I just watched and kind of enjoyed.

And that, for me, is the heart of the problem, in that I want to have an emotional connection about watching it, and yet it doesn't provide it for me. Any memories that I have of this episode are rather mundane, such as a scene with the Doctor and Peri in the TARDIS, or a scene where the Doctor disguises himself by throwing dirt all over his face. I want to remember laughing at the surprisingly witty dialogue or getting thrilled at the rather exciting cliffhanger, and yet these things didn't have that much impact on me as a child, so the episode leaves me feeling cold instead of feeling the warmth that I really want to receive from it.

In the end, I suppose that that is why I kind of dislike this episode, and yet, by watching it, I'm surprised too find little things that make me rather pleased, as we'll discuss tomorrow.