Holistic Review: An unusual historical setting, a fantastic new villain, and arguably the best characterization that this TARDIS team ever gets.

When people review The Mark of the Rani, they invariably mention the two writers: husband-and-wife team Pip and Jane Baker. They do not usually mention this pair with anything approaching respect; all too often, it's "look at the ridiculous dialogue!" supplemented by examples of their impressive (or, to some, ludicrous) vocabulary. Well, I'd just like to make it clear right up front that I love this writing team. Their novels, I suspect, had a profound influence on me (and yes, I love their writing style. A shock! Incredible!) and I'm quite sure they increased my vocabulary no end. Besides, their love of language is eminently suited to the sixth Doctor, whose speech patterns tend to be on the poetic side anyway (witness the consummate ease with which Colin Baker delivers the line "Indeed, I'm expressly forbidden so to do"). So, as far as I'm concerned, it's a great match. But, for those of you who just can't figure out what on earth Pip 'n Jane are talking about, here's a handy-dandy reference guide. (and I learned a few things while compiling it, too!)

THE PIP 'N JANE DICTIONARY part 1 amicable adj. Characterized by or exhibiting friendliness or goodwill; friendly. "I'm sure we can come to some amicable understanding." apposite adj. Strikingly appropriate and relevant. "Fortuitous would be a more apposite epithet." apprise vt. To give notice to; inform. "But then, as yet you have not been apprised of my purpose in being here." apt adj. Exactly suitable; appropriate. "Murderous would be more apt." astute adj. Having or showing shrewdness and discernment, especially with respect to one's own concerns. "An astute observation, Peri." blunder vi. To make a usually serious mistake. "We're trapped, you blundering woman!" calibre n. Degree of worth; quality. "I knew with you as controller it wouldn't be hypnotism, not from a chemist of your calibre." capricious adj. Characterized by or subject to whim; impulsive and unpredictable. "They [experiments] can be capricious." cardinal adj. Of foremost importance; paramount. "When the Time Lords exiled you, they made a cardinal error." claptrap n. Pretentious, insincere, or empty language. "Maudlin claptrap!" collaborate vi. To work together, especially in a joint intellectual effort. "Either you collaborate, or I bring this little venture to an extremely untimely end." contemplate vt. To consider carefully and at length; meditate on or ponder. "A hyperactive Peri. Too ghastly to contemplate." devise vt. To form, plan, or arrange in the mind; design or contrive. "What obnoxious fate have you devised?" dilettante adj. Superficial; amateurish. "Grandiose schemes of ruling the universe will mean nothing if that dilettante Doctor is still at large." divest vt. To deprive, as of rights or property; dispossess. "By destroying that, you'll divest him of all his power." egoist n. One devoted to one's own interests and advancement; an egocentric person. "At last, you're back, you incompetent egoist." envisage vt. To picture in the mind; imagine. "But I can envisage an occasion when they may serve an excellent cause." epithet n. A term used to characterize a person or thing. see apposite. erstwhile adj. Former. "Your erstwhile mentor, on the other hand, is about to - I believe your modern expression is 'snuff the candle'." feckless adj. Lacking purpose or vitality; feeble or ineffective. "These humans you so admire are a feckless lot, always in disarray." flummery n. Meaningless or deceptive language; humbug. "Now perhaps you'll tell me who you are, and I don't want any of that flummery about VIPs." fortuitous adj. Lucky or fortunate. see apposite. ghastly adj. Inspiring shock, revulsion, or horror by or as if by suggesting death; terrifying. see contemplate. grandiose adj. Characterized by greatness of scope or intent; grand. see dilettante. grovel vi. To behave in a servile or demeaning manner; cringe. "Oh, stop grovelling." handiwork n. The product of a person's efforts and actions. "More likely the Rani's handiwork." hoist vt. To raise or haul up with or as if with the help of a mechanical apparatus. "Hoist up your skirts, Peri, off we go!" imbecile n. A stupid or silly person; a dolt. "Imbeciles, are you incapable of using your brains?" impasse n. A situation that is so difficult that no progress can be made; a deadlock or a stalemate. "And perhaps you'll accept that you face a dilemma." "More of an impasse?" impregnate vt. To fill throughout; saturate. "What are they, parasites you've specially impregnated?" infuriate vt. To make furious; enrage. "Occasionally, just occasionally, your smugness infuriates me!" jest vi. To act or speak playfully. "You jest, of course, I'm indestructible." lout n. An awkward and stupid person; an oaf. "That attack wasn't random, those louts tried to kill you!" machination n. A crafty scheme or cunning design for the accomplishment of a sinister end. "It can have no relevance to you, or your machinations." malignant adj. Showing great malevolence; disposed to do evil; highly injurious; pernicious. "No, you'd have brewed something much more malignant." maudlin adj. Effusively or tearfully sentimental. see claptrap. microbe n. A minute life form; a microorganism, especially a bacterium that causes disease. "You intellectual microbe." moron n. A stupid person; a dolt. "Any idea where those morons you created might be?" objective adj. Uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices. "A scientist, and you're not thinking objectively." obnoxious adj. Very annoying or objectionable; offensive or odious. see devise. obtuse adj. Lacking quickness of perception or intellect. "Do try not to be so obtuse, what do you imagine I'm trying to do?" opportune adj. Occurring at a fitting or advantageous time. "But for your very opportune arrival..." phial n. A vial; a small container, usually with a closure, used especially for liquids. "Give me my phial." piquant adj. Pleasantly pungent or tart in taste; spicy. "It's what gives your destruction its... piquancy." preposterous adj. Contrary to nature, reason, or common sense; absurd. "Eccentric, me? Preposterous." reciprocate vt. To show, feel, or give in response or return. "I'd feel happier if I could see him." "A sentiment he'd reciprocate." smug adj. Exhibiting or feeling great or offensive satisfaction with oneself or with one's situation; self-righteously complacent. see infuriate; "Your smugness is misplaced." sterile adj. Lacking imagination, creativity, or vitality. "I would've said Turner's too passionate for the Rani's sterile taste." susceptible adj. Easily influenced or affected. "I guess he's not susceptible to your irresistible charm." tandem n. An arrangement of two or more persons or objects placed one behind the other. "In tandem, you and I will rule the universe." tether n. The extent or limit of one's resources, abilities, or endurance. "Almost at the end of my tether!" touché int. Used to acknowledge a hit in fencing or a successful criticism or an effective point in argument. "Touché, Doctor?" undoubtedly adv. Accepted as beyond question; undisputed. "But then anything connected with you would undoubtedly be fascinating, my dear Rani." untimely adj. Occurring or done at an inappropriate time; inopportune. see collaborate. vendetta n. A bitter, destructive feud. "I am not interested in your pathetic vendetta, one way or the other." venture n. An undertaking that is dangerous, daring, or of uncertain outcome. see collaborate. vulgar adj. Deficient in taste, delicacy, or refinement. "Wears yellow trousers and a vulgarly-colored coat." definitions provided by the American Heritage Dictionary

Pip and Jane also achieve the amazing feat of finally showing us what this Doctor-companion pair is capable of. Up until now, with the exception of Varos, the sixth Doctor has been unstable and boisterous, bordering on the unlikeable. Here, though, he's full of good humor and moral outrage, and feels very much like the Doctor we know and love. Colin Baker gets some great moments throughout and gives a pleasingly subtle performance (I really enjoy his exaggerated American delivery of "a hunch", the groan-inducing but cute "peripheral vision" joke, his attempt to shake Stevenson's hand while strapped to the gurney, and his little "aah!" as the pole slips and he edges closer to the mine beneath him), even if he does fit in a round of gurning when dangling over t'pit. And of course there's a stereotypical sixth-Doctor moment ("Malfunctioning? Malfunctioning? MALFUNCTIONING?!") that, for some reason, makes me grin here. But his finest moment is probably the scene in which the Doctor rails at the Master and the Rani in moral outrage over the metamorphosis mines.

Nicola Bryant lucks out even more. After her impressive début, Peri largely degenerated into a helpless whiner. But here, oh, Peri is so wonderful. She's still worried about getting the TARDIS back, and she still tries to talk the Doctor out of the courses of action she considers unwise, but otherwise this story is a true return to form for Peri. She's quick-thinking, inquisitive, intelligent enough to recognize the names of historical geniuses, and can turn on the charm when it's needed. Throughout the story, she expresses a great desire to stay with the Doctor rather than being left out of the action. She picks up on the clue that the mob must have come from the bathhouse because they were clean, she sneaks into the bathhouse to rescue the Doctor, she tries to drive away the mob attacking the Doctor by throwing lumps of coal at them while calling for help, she fetches the masks to protect them from the gas, she holds the TCE on the Master and the Rani and successfully evades being hypnotized. And she even runs back to say thanks to the drayman who gave them a ride into town. Delightfully, the icing on the cake is that Peri's botanical interests are not only mentioned, they're actively used! She is interested in visiting Kew Gardens, knows the history of hedgerows, and goes on a valerian-collecting expedition with the ultimate aim of brewing a sleeping draught. And I love her dress, particularly the jacket (it's an unusual combination of colors, but it really looks pretty on her, and I'm a sucker for puffed sleeves - especially these, with a different color in the crease), and her hair looks great up.

Now, given Peri's history of being tossed ludicrous lines that poor Nicola just can't deliver convincingly, you would think that Pip and Jane's sesquipedalian tendencies (how's that for style?) would really and truly sink her. But, amazingly, overall they know exactly how to write for Peri, who sounds much more natural in this story than usual (I love "Well, if the place gives you the creeps, let's get out of it." and her delivery of "Well, I'm lost."). Pretty much all of the mouthful lines go to the Time Lords. This increase in naturalistic dialogue really seems to energize Nicola, who not only turns in a fantastic performance all around (I love the scared look on her face as she tries to squeeze past Josh in the bathhouse, and her resigned "Oh no..." when following the Doctor into the Rani's TARDIS), but easily copes with the few more formal lines she's given (check out "You suspect another motive?", "Well, he's undergone a change now", and "Hasn't she any conscience?"). Granted, there are a couple that give her some trouble ("He wants to pervert history!" and "Trouble is, I know absolutely nothing about the plant life in this area.") but it's a very rare occurrence here. She does have a bit of accent trouble on "Later!" but it's a minor detail and otherwise she's very consistent. And together, the Doctor and Peri are fantastic - they're very jokey, and all smiles, with barely any arguing at all (despite what the Doctor would have Lord Ravensworth believe). I really like the fact that when the Doctor finally reappears, after having been carried off in the Rani's TARDIS and leaving Peri to panic about being stuck in the eighteenth century, she is clearly upset at nearly being abandoned, but is not resentful about it, and once she gets it off her chest, they're back to smiling like the old friends they are.

I'm still not quite finished praising the Bakers. I think they've plotted their story quite nicely, such that I didn't really notice any major plot holes while I was watching, and everything seems to happen for a logical reason (well, except maybe for the Master dressing up like a scarecrow, but whatever). Now, I will agree that their dialogue is not always perfect - the two most egregious, and oft-cited, examples being the amusingly overwrought "Fortuitous would be a more apposite epithet" and the Master's line "Finito TARDIS! How's that for style?" (which, despite myself, I do kind of like). But given the wonders that they work here in characterization, plotting, and, yes, dialogue, I think such minor missteps are easily forgiven. It's also rather cool how they manage to (more or less subtly) work in messages on vegetarianism and environmentalism. Amusingly, it's also hit me that they seem to be very fond of bevies/inspirations of geniuses (besides the list of geniuses attending the meeting in this story, we have a Time Lord hit list in the Doctor's handwriting in The Ultimate Foe, and yet another bevy of geniuses assembled for evil in Time and the Rani).

All of the actors in the story turn in great performances, but I have to say that the four leads utterly eclipse everybody else. In particular, I must praise Kate O'Mara to the high heavens. She's deliciously amoral and dangerous as the Rani, a fact that is made abundantly clear when she casually murders her servants with barely a thought - chilling. And she's genuinely a good actress - look at her impressive crone walk in the beginning! O'Mara makes a creepy hag, for sure. Her laugh before the Rani's coughing fit sounds appropriately fake, too. I love listening to the Rani get angry, particularly when she's bellowing at the Master! Her entire bickering relationship with the Master is delightful, particularly the way she pokes fun at him and tries to deflate him the whole time ("You're unbalanced." and "What's he up to now? It'll be something devious and overcomplicated. He'd get dizzy if he tried to walk in a straight line." being particular favorites), not to mention her exasperated intervening in the Doctor-Master feud ("Oh, do stop squabbling and get on with it"). I think my favorite thing about the Rani, though - a fascination that I apparently share with Pip 'n Jane, if their book Race Against Time is any indication - is her ability to employ a wide variety of nasty traps, which adds an element of macabre fantasy fun to her appearances. The fact that she can set these traps meticulously, and remember their location precisely, also says a lot about her detail-obsessed personality. And her non-crone costume is great, very purple and black and silver. I like her taste in clothes. Cool boots, too. Anthony Ainley gets a good storyline here as well, as the Master seems less far-fetched than usual while still retaining his crazed, megalomaniacal edge. And he's clearly very, very evil - I mean, he uses his TCE on a poor (vicious, teeth-baring, angrily-barking) puppy! His reunion with Peri is also pleasantly handled, reminding us both how frightened Peri is of the Master, and how capable she is of standing up to him. Even better, O'Mara and Ainley have a wonderful bickering rapport that certainly shows off the Rani to her best advantage.

But I should at least mention the other actors, if only to say that I really like the regional accents they all use. Gawn Grainger as Stevenson, in particular, gets a couple of great lines: "Forgive me. 'Twere metal that took me attention" and "Make gun ready, Luke" are my favorites. I also really liked Gary Cady as Luke, although unfortunately his performance (understandably) turns much more wooden (ohhh dear... I'm sorry, I really didn't mean that to be a pun) once he falls under the Master's control.

Sarah Hellings has a very nice directorial eye; this story has lots of really beautiful shots, and although there always seems to be something going on in the frame, it also feels tranquil a lot of the time. In particular, I like the overhead shot of the museum at the beginning, the shot of the Doctor using his tracking device in the background as Peri steps into the foreground, the cleverly-done-if-unrealistic-looking shot of the Master's face coming into view on the phial of brain fluid, the beautiful (and perhaps beautifully-scripted) cut from a shot of Josh and Tom to a scene in which their wives are discussing their disappearance, the gorgeous shot of the TARDIS toppling into the pit, the cute scene of Peri skipping sideways alongside the Doctor, the subtle shot of Luke lifting the iron rod to clobber Ravensworth, the racking-focus shot as the Doctor walks up behind a spider web glistening with dew... there's so much to appreciate here. The music by Jonathan Gibbs is pleasantly different; it has echoes of the usual 80s feel, but it's also got a nice antiquated feel that matches the tranquillity of the shots well. Not many sound effects in this story, but the TCE sound effect really reminds me of something else and I can't figure out what it is. (Could it be the sound of Vivien Fay's hyperspace-transporter beam?) The Rani's mines also make a great noise. And speaking of her mines, there's a really nice visual effect when they explode and turn people into trees. (Sadly, the trees are, indeed, a little silly - although far from bad - and therefore cannot quite count as a "really nice" visual effect. But as fake flexible trees go, they're pretty good! And don't forget... "The tree won't hurt you!" That scene inspired me to draw a picture of it for an Outpost Gallifrey forum thread entitled "please verify a scene that stuck in my head", in which a poster (cantthinkofone) drew an MS Paint image to illustrate the vague snippet of memory from an unidentified McCoy story. This quickly degenerated into a game that Ian Moore called "Identify The Story From This Crappy Drawing" - and which the rest of us called "pure genius"!) The shot of falling rubble overlaid onto the mine footage looks surprisingly effective, and there's a great graphic of the human brain on the Rani's equipment. Fortunately some people can create prettier computer images than I can! (okay, a lot of people...)

The location filming is lovely and very appropriate for this story; it really makes me want to visit the Ironbridge Gorge museum. I love that they used a period-authentic location. And as beautiful as the exteriors are, the interiors are quite nice too, most especially the inside of the Rani's TARDIS. Its soft pinks and greys are very pleasing to the eye, and the rotating concentric circles (a term I'm sure I learned from their novelization!) are really cool. And the outside of her TARDIS is nifty, too, particularly the lights bordering the door that flash on materialization and dematerialization.

A very amusing feature of this story is the vast number of insults that Pip 'n Jane employ, most often coming out of the mouth of either the Master or the Rani. We have "Do try not to be so obtuse", "Imbeciles!", "Those louts tried to kill you!", "You're unbalanced", "those morons you created", "you incompetent egoist", "that dilettante Doctor", "Incompetent fool, you're worthless!", "You intellectual microbe!", "You blundering woman!" and generally people calling each other "fool" and "idiot" all over the place. Most bizarrely of all, the Master at one point calls the Doctor a "crack-brained freak"!

I have definite childhood memories of this story, too. I have a feeling that I read the novelization before I actually saw the story, because I distinctly remember not being sure how to pronounce "Rani" (as usual during my early years, I was saying it wrong... "rain-eye" she is not!). As I said before, I've always enjoyed the Bakers' prose style (although their habit of titling chapters "Enter Person X" - where Person X is the Rani, Mel, Five Tetraps and a Killer Wasp, whatever - always seemed a little silly to me) and every time I see the Rani's maggots cause someone's eyes to glow blue, the word suffuse comes immediately to mind. Aside from "suffuse" and "concentric circles", the other big thing I took away from this story is valerian. If I ever need to take some kind of herbal sleeping pill, valerian is my drug of choice. Oh, and then there's Red Fern Dell. I assume it was this Red Fern Dell, and not the Fern Dell of Delta and the Bannermen, that inspired me to name a small grove of trees beside our house in North Carolina after it. (No plastic trees there, though.) I also really adore the novelization cover... beautiful colors, even if it does kind of look like the Rani's sweeping the hearth outside her TARDIS. Their book Race Against Time was a big influence, too. It was easily my favorite of the "Find Your Fate" books (although I liked Crisis in Space too... but the companionless ones were never a big draw) and all the little puzzles and gruesome fates were vastly entertaining.

Minor points:

• There's a very clever little not-quite-giveaway at the beginning when the Doctor mentions the presence of a time machine, and Peri wonders if it might be a Time Lord. By raising this possibility straight off the bat, it actually throws us off the scent - even though Peri turns out to be right! (although I'm sure some people were hoping it was the Daleks, as the Doctor suggests!)

• While I appreciate them wanting to finally highlight Peri's botanical side, her little monologue on plant extinction ("My generation's already concerned about the effects on wildlife") comes across more as "let's preach to the audience" rather than just Peri talking to the Doctor. And how does she know so much about British hedgerows, anyway?

• An awesome exchange - I love it when Peri winds up the Doctor good-naturedly like this:

  Doctor: "Peri, how would you like to meet a genius?"
  Peri: (smiling innocently) "I thought I already had."

• Well, the Master's arrival certainly isn't milked for much suspense, is it! One minute, there's a creepy scarecrow; the next minute, the Master pops out from around a corner, tugging straw out of his hair! At least this lack of dramatic reveal provides a red herring solution to that "time machine" problem.

• Nice delivery by Colin:

  Peri: "That dog doesn't look as though it's been fed today."
  Doctor: "Psh."

• When the Doctor and Peri are talking in Ravensworth's office, Peri laughs sarcastically, and it almost sounds like it was dubbed on, because the rest of her dialogue follows so closely afterward that there doesn't seem to be time for her to take a breath in between.

• The Master pulls out a variety of futuristic contraptions in this story, but what I want to know is, where on earth does he store them inside his jumpsuit? Does it have dimensionally-transcendental pockets or something?

• From the way they talk, it sounds as though the Master and the Rani keep track of each other's schemes! I like to envision the Master calling the Rani up (inter-TARDIS phones, you see) to gloat: "Well, I see your little attempt to breed killer guard piranhas has gone awry." "Oh, do grow up, that acolyte had outlived his usefulness anyway. And besides, your scheme to control the universe with a melon baller and a fog machine was hardly the model of efficiency."

• The Master and the Rani really do have an awesome (and very funny) rivalry going:

  Master: "What are they, parasites you've specially impregnated?"
  Rani: "Well, there's a simple way to find out. Why not try some?"
  (she offers him the open tin of blue maggots; he grabs the whole thing out of her hand.)
  Master: "Thank you, I won't."

• It's a nice touch that the Rani isn't an itinerant traveller like the Doctor and the Master (at least, not at this point) - she actually has her own planet to rule, full of "my aliens". It would certainly be interesting to see what a planet ruled by the Rani is like...

• I love the little frustrated grimace that Kate O'Mara gives, after the Master has caught the Rani fiddling with her bracelet. Clearly, she lets us know, those little capsules were not for the Rani's lungs...

• If she knew that her phial would be placed in danger, why on earth did the Rani have the Master attacked in the first place? Surely she should have realized the risk she was taking? It was a waste of servants, having to kill them at the very last second.

• I like the notion that the Rani has been coming to Earth for centuries - experimenting on humans, causing all manner of riots and trouble, and escaping unnoticed until now. Clearly she is a worthy adversary for the Doctor!

• The Rani sure has the Doctor's number! Instead of threatening his own life if he tries to escape, she threatens the life of an innocent bystander. Very very clever, and the Doctor finds an elegant solution to the dilemma, too.

• More of that good-natured ribbing:

  Doctor: "Use some of that famous American initiative! Push him outside!"

• Check it out! After his Gallic pronunciation in Planet of Fire, here Ainley pronounces "demise" just like you or I! (But, after this sudden reversal, he then decides to Frenchify impasse - and Colin Baker follows suit!)

• What exactly makes Peri think that tossing the TARDIS down a mineshaft might even have a chance of destroying it?

• The Master implies that it takes weeks of work to accumulate enough fluid to fill even one phial, and the Rani acts as though that phial is the only one she has - but shortly after the Master absconds with it, we see her topping off a second one! It even looks like she's only just extracted the fluid to fill it, so maybe she can get one vial's worth from two or three humans.

• If the Doctor wanted Peri to haul the trolley up the hillside, why did he tell her to "push!"? Wouldn't "pull!" have been more appropriate?

• Stevenson's solution to the Doctor's predicament (covering the opening to the pit) is a clever one, but kind of risky! If he had been but a few seconds later, the Doctor would've toppled right down into it. Why not just grab the Doctor's arm and pull him off the trolley? I suppose that risks bodily harm, but surely it's better than death!

• Shortly thereafter, we see Peri running full-tilt toward the Doctor, with an angry mob following close behind. But... when Peri first pushed the Doctor down the hill, the mob were far ahead of her, and intercepted the Doctor. So how does Peri suddenly get past them? And how did she do it without being attacked?

• How exactly does the Doctor evade the stack of wooden beams that gets swung directly at him? It's implied that he leaps over it, but that calls for a level of athleticism that I don't think the sixth Doctor quite possessed! Maybe he leapt out of its way?

• The Master seems all excited to be able to usurp the genius of the men assembling for the meeting - but surely their genius is pittance compared to what the Master could harness throughout the universe, or even in more enlightened times? Then again, if he's planning on molding the Earth to suit his purposes during one of its more vulnerable eras - or if he just wants the Rani's support and she only has a need for humans - then I guess it makes some sense.

• What part of the Rani's TARDIS, exactly, does the Doctor attach his little wire to? The way he behaves, it looks like he's trying to open the door while standing a safe enough distance away to avoid any booby traps, but then it turns out that the wire was attached to a screen in front of her TARDIS... so I'm still a bit unclear on what he thought he was doing with the wire. Was he aware that it was booby-trapped and just trying to spring it?

• How does Peri escape the effects of the mustard gas? She wasn't that fast putting the gas mask on. And besides, it affects exposed skin, too, so she surely ought to have developed severe blisters down the line, unless the Doctor managed to give her some miracle salve. And then, what, they ventilate it into town? "Quick, get it out of the room - let the townsfolk deal with it instead of us!" Miraculously, the room has been completely cleared of gas between the time they step into the Rani's TARDIS and the moment Peri gets back out of it.

• Why do the Rani's dinosaur embryos look dead? They don't twitch or anything, until the very end. (Answer: because the prop department made them out of plastic.)

• Given the Doctor's jealousy in the very next story, I must ask how on earth the Rani rated a Stattenheim remote control? Surely the Time Lords didn't give it to her! Did she make her own?

• Probably my favorite line of the whole story, as the Doctor lusts after the Rani's remote-controlled TARDIS:

  Doctor: "I wonder if I was particularly nice to her, she might - nope. No, no, of course not."

• Time for more of my hated Needlessly Evasive Answers from the Rani, discussing her tree-mines: "Well, let's say that they'll change the Doctor's lifestyle" and "Well, I can promise you, he'll never be the same again." This is shortly followed by a highly amusing Master line:

  Rani: "How will that threaten the Doctor?"
  Master: "Heh heh heh heh heh heh..."

• I like Peri's realistic concern, when the Doctor vanishes in the Rani's TARDIS, that she'll be stuck in history "prancing around in these ridiculous skirts". Amusing, and nicely handled.

• The Rani mostly does a nice job of hiding her traps, but sometimes it's hit-and-miss... every once in a while, she just plops one down on the ground without even bothering to hide it, and sometimes she just tosses a couple handfuls of leaves on them and hopes nobody will notice a slight metallic gleam.

• What makes the villains think that the Doctor or Stevenson would ever have a reason to go to Red Fern Dell? Unless they know that Peri's going to blunder into it, it seems like a ludicrous place to lay traps so thoroughly. And why does the Doctor have to stop the Master from firing his TCE at Luke? Luke was his own lackey! What possible good could it do for the Master to kill him? (unless he was worried about Luke springing one of the traps?)

• Great line, delivered wonderfully (watch her eyes!):

  Rani: "Animal matter has been metamorphosed into vegetable matter, so what?"

  And then she tells Peri to "Stop bleating and do it!" What an interesting woman.

• When the men are walking through Red Fern Dell, suddenly the two of them carrying the Doctor turn into trees simultaneously. But how did the lead man avoid stepping on the mine that transforms the one following him? (I shall be lenient here, because they do walk kind of sideways as they carry him, so this may very well be possible. It's kind of hard to track exactly where they're stepping.) Then, to promote further suspension of disbelief, nobody else gets turned into a tree - even after the entire remaining mob turns tail and flees, all in separate directions!

• Most people step on the Rani's mines. The Doctor nearly lands on it bottom-first. Do you think that would have made a difference in his ultimate tree-form? Would he have been a shrub instead?

• Clever of the Doctor to use the wooden pole as a mine sweeper (although he doesn't sweep the area immediately in front of him, so his first step could have been a fatal one!).

• Peri's poor bundle of valerian really gets put through the wringer, especially when she collapses to the coal-dusty mine floor (miraculously, her dress is not dirtied in the slightest). And then they don't even use it. (maybe for the best - it was probably contaminated with coal dust anyway!)

• Another pet peeve surfaces here, as the rendered-chemically-unconscious Peri stirrs the moment the Doctor calls her name.

• Some very odd comic-book style dialogue for Peri, which of course Nicola has some trouble delivering naturally:

  Peri: "Huh... Oh - Doctor, I - tablets..." (cough, cough) "my f- my fault."

• I love the way Kate O'Mara delivers the line "Time spillage!"

• How are the villagers of Killingworth going to know what to do with only one tiny phial of brain fluid? It doesn't seem like enough to treat all the affected men - after all, the Rani extracted at least two full phials. Although several of the men have since died, so maybe one phial is enough to cover everyone who's left alive. But why not brew up the valerian too? It seems a shame to just throw it away, after all the trouble Peri went to to get it. The other troubling thing about this scenario is that the Rani was just extracting a chemical that promotes sleep - she wasn't extracting the gland that produces that chemical, so presumably it should be replenished in the men's brains before too very long.

Definitely a fun story, with great roles for the regulars and guest villains alike, and a nice tight plot. It's worth watching for the introduction of the Rani alone, but toss in a cool historical setting and the lovely interaction between the Doctor and Peri, and you've got something special indeed.