‘PLANET OF THE RANI’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Constance meets the Rani

This was the first time I heard Siobhán Redmond as the Rani in ‘Doctor Who’!

‘Planet of the Rani’ is the second story of the 2015 Sixth Doctor trilogy of ‘Doctor Who’ by Big Finish. It stars Colin Baker as the Doctor with Miranda Raison as Constance Clark, his new companion. I enjoyed this story very much. It has the Doctor face his deadly enemy in the form of the Rani again!

This is a four-part story by Marc Platt, who writes well for Colin Baker’s Doctor and writes a superb second story for his new companion Constance Clarke, who was introduced previously in ‘Criss-Cross’. I also like how Marc delves into another aspect of the Rani’s character where she was once a ruler.

In this story, we actually get to see the Rani’s planet! Or rather the planet that she ruled once before she left it to carry out her scientific experiments. This is the planet Miasimia Goria, which had been referenced to in ‘Doctor Who’ via the TV series in the Rani’s introductory story ‘The Mark of the Rani’.

I enjoyed how Marc used Indian influences to create the world of Miasimia Goria. This helps to identify that this is a world ruled by the Rani, since Rani is a name from Indian origin and means ‘queen’. There are also influences in the names of the guest characters such as Raj Kahnu and Pazmi.

This story features Siobhán Redmond as the second incarnation of the Rani in ‘Doctor Who’. Siobhán plays the Rani in ‘Doctor Who’ in Big Finish following the death of Kate O’Mara who originally played her in the TV series. This is the first time I’ve heard Siobhán’s version of Rani in ‘Doctor Who’.

Siobhán first played the Rani in the audio story ‘The Rani Elite’ with the Sixth Doctor and Peri. I enjoyed Siobhán’s version of the Rani from listening to this story. It’s interesting to hear a Scottish-sounding Rani in ‘Doctor Who’, but Siobhán manages to deliver the cool, sassy presence of the Rani.

I was convinced that this was still the Rani, despite having recently regenerated and Siobhán has kept the spirit of the character as much as Kate O’Mara did from the TV series. I wondered what was going on through the Rani’s mind as she carefully calculated her evil scheme with her cold precision.

Early on in the story, the Rani is held a prisoner at the Teccaurora Penitentiary high security prison. She was put there by the Doctor following the recent events of ‘The Rani Elite’. But of course, I knew the Rani wouldn’t be a prisoner for very long, as it was only a matter of time before she could escape.

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Constance pay a visit to the Teccaurora Penitentiary to hear a hearing of the Rani’s crimes. But as soon as the TARDIS arrives there, they find they are too late as the Rani has already been made governor of the penitentiary. This is all part of the Rani’s plan to make an escape.

Very soon, the Rani manages to force the Doctor to create a portal and she takes Constance Clarke with her to make her way back to her planet Miasimia Goria. The Rani plans to take revenge and settle some unfinished business. Will the Doctor stop the Rani in time and rescue Constance as well?

It was interesting when hearing this story to find that the Rani’s planet Miasimia Goria is now in ruins. This seems to be all a part of the Rani’s doing since she left that planet deliberately, as the Doctor and Constance gradually discover. There is something disturbing in the form of robotic cockroach bodies.

Colin Baker delivers a superb performance as the Doctor in this story and bounces off Siobhán Redmond’s Rani rather well. I like how the Doctor is anxious and concerned for when the Rani gets up to trouble and he’s determined to rescue his latest new friend Constance when she gets kidnapped.

It was interesting to find how the Doctor uncovers things during the story’s progression and not liking what he finds. He befriends many of the inhabitants of Miasimia Goria who were once under the Rani’s rule. He also tries to solve the conflicting natures of the Rani and Raj Kahnu on the planet.

Miranda Raison is equally superb as Constance Clarke in this her second appearance in ‘Doctor Who’. Constance fairs well in this her first adventure as a ‘Doctor Who’ companion with old Sixy. Constance manages to cope well with the wonders of these new alien societies when visiting them.

Constance does get tagged along with the Rani from the Teccaurora Penitentiary to Miasimia Goria. It was fun listening to Constance and the Rani sparing off each other, even when Constance is made her personal assistant. It was also very scary when Constance encounters Raj Kahnu for the first time.

The guest cast are as follows. There’s James Joyce as Raj Kahnu, a prince on Miasimia Goria. Kahnu is also an experiment and a child of the Rani herself. He’s an odd character as he’s rather childish and reckless. He’s also someone who lives inside a robotic cockroach-like suit and he invents things too.

There’s Olivia Poulet as Pazmi. Olivia would go on to play Emma Peel in the Big Finish audios of ‘The Avengers’. Pazmi is a young person who the Doctor and Constance meet first at the Teccacurora Penitentiary. Pazmi has her own mission as she’s passionately determined to assassinate the Rani.

There’s also Dominic Thorburn as Brejesh, who is another young person on Miasimia Goria. The Doctor meets Brejesh on the Rani’s planet. He with Pazmi and Chowdras help him to stop the Rani’s evil plans once and for all. Brejesh is a rather decent chap and is very close to Pazmi during the story.

There’s also Tim Bentinck as Chowdras. Tim Bentinck has appeared in a number of ‘Doctor Who’ audios by Big Finish, including ‘Moonflesh’ with Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton. Chowdras became an advisor to Raj Kahnu. He willingly helps the Doctor to stop the Rani’s evil plans since he admires him.

And there’s Chris Porter as Degoor. He’s an outlander on Miasimia Goria and knew that the Rani would return to save her people from this ‘madness’ on the planet. Degoor can be quite a crawler to the Rani when he realises that she has returned. He becomes devoted and ends up as her minister.

It was also interesting to hear that the Rani can create secondary TARDISes whilst she was on the planet Miasimia Goria. Very soon, the Rani uses one of these TARDISes to escape and avert her trial on the planet. But the Doctor knows that he will one day meet the Rani again, as this is in his future.

‘Planet of the Rani’ has been an enjoyable audio adventure to listen to. It’s quite strange and complex to listen to at times, since it’s by Marc Platt. But I enjoyed Colin Baker’s Doctor and Siobhán Redmond’s Rani bouncing off each other and Miranda Raison who fares so well as Constance Clarke.

The CD extras are as follows. At the end of Disc 1, there’s a suite of incidental music to enjoy. At the end of Disc 2, there are behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew including Colin Baker, Miranda Raison, Siobhán Redmond, writer Marc Platt, director Ken Bentley, Olivia Poulet, James Joyce, etc. There’s also a trailer for the next story with the Sixth Doctor and Constance called ‘Shield of the Jötunn’.

If you subscribe to Big Finish for ‘Planet of the Rani’ via a 6 or 12 CD/download subscription, you’ll get the following extras. There’s a PDF script and extended extras of ‘Planet of the Rani’.

‘Planet of the Rani’ rating – 8/10

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The previous story For the Sixth Doctor was ‘Criss-Cross’ (Audio) For Constance was ‘Criss-Cross’ (Audio)	The next story For the Sixth Doctor is ‘Shield of the Jötunn’ (Audio) For Constance is ‘Shield of the Jötunn’ (Audio)
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