REVIEW: Doctor Who: ‘Planet of the Rani’ (Audio)

The Sixth Doctor and his new companion Constance face a very old enemy on the ‘Planet of the Rani.’

Last year, Big Finish made the rather bold decision of re-casting a very iconic villain: the Rani, originally played in two official stories and one charity special on television by Kate O’Mara. In fact, she was originally set to reprise her role in last year’s ‘The Rani Elite’ before she sadly passed away. Production of the story still went ahead, however, with Scottish actress Siobhan Redmond playing a brand new incarnation.

It’s very hard to take over for a role as iconic as the Rani, but Redmond did a brilliant job last year, playing both the class and the sheer lack of morality to the character really well. It also helped that she was given a script that truly showed an understanding of the character — an understanding that continues with her latest story, ‘Planet of the Rani.’

The story begins with the Sixth Doctor realising that he should really check his mail sooner, as he finds out that he received a message long ago regarding the Rani and her imprisonment. As he and Constance arrive at the prison, it turns out that the Rani has taken over the place, and is desperate to return to the site of one of her more ambitious experiments, Miasimia Goria. And she is willing to pay any price to get back…

This story managed to pack in quite a lot in its four episodes. Along with exploring the planet and the people affected by one of the Rani’s experiments, writer Marc Platt is quite keen on exploring some of the mythology of the show, particularly surrounding both the Doctor’s and the Rani’s origins. It’s great to get an idea of not just how reckless the Doctor himself once was, but how close he and the Rani were. We even find out her real name in the story!

Regarding the planet of the title itself, we see what happens when someone as egotistical and dangerous as the Rani rules an actual planet. It’s clear that she’s left a lot of damage there, and while some people are pleased about her return, others are a lot less happy.

This story didn’t quite grip me as much as ‘Criss-Cross’ did. I would have liked to have gotten a better idea of what Miasimia Goria was like before the Rani came along, possibly through the use of flashbacks. That may, however, have been difficult to do within the story, especially considering that the people not immediately recognising the Rani due to her regeneration is a big part of the plot.

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I liked ‘Planet of the Rani’ enough for its world building, its exploration of both the show’s mythology and such a massive key character. I just wish that the storyline and the characters had drawn me in just a little bit more.

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(Oh, and Siobhan Redmond needs to play the Rani on TV, ideally in a story with Missy. With Peter Capaldi and Michelle Gomez, three great Scottish actors playing 3 iconic roles? Sounds like perfection to me!)