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{{Infobox Individual|
{{subpage tabs}}
individual name= The Rani |
{{retitle|"The Rani"}}
alias= Ushas|
 
image=[[Image:Omarak06.jpg |250px]] |
{{ImageLink}}
race= [[Gallifreyan]] ([[Time Lord|Time Lady]]) |
{{Infobox Individual
home planet=[[Gallifrey]] |
|image             = <gallery>
home era= [[Rassilon Era]]|
Rani KO.jpg|[[First Rani|1]]
appearances= [[DW]]: ''[[The Mark of the Rani]]''<br>[[DW]]: ''[[Time and the Rani]]''<br>[[DW]]: ''[[Dimensions in Time]]''<br>[[DWA]]: ''[[Rescue]]''<br>[[MA]]: ''[[State of Change]]''<br>[[PDA]]: ''[[Divided Loyalties]]'' (flashback; cameo)<br>[[BBV]]: ''[[The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind]]''<br>[[Find Your Fate]]: ''[[Crisis in Space]]''|
Rani Redmond.jpg|[[Second Rani|2]]
actor= [[Kate O'Mara]]|
</gallery>
|alias            = Cleopatra Selene, [[Melanie Bush]], Lania, Professor Baxton, Principal C.B. Wainwright
|species          = Time Lord{{!}}Time Lord
|job              = Prison governor
|origin            = [[Gallifrey]]
|first            = The Mark of the Rani (TV story)
|appearances      = [[The Rani - list of appearances|'''''see list''''']]
|main actor       = Kate O'Mara
|voice actor      = Siobhan Redmond
|clip              = The Rani's plan - Doctor Who - Mark of the Rani - BBC
|clip2            = The Doctor wakes up in Rani's lab - Doctor Who Classic - Time & The Rani - BBC
}}
}}
'''Ushas''', later known as '''The Rani''', was a renegade [[Time Lord|Time Lady]]. Knowing both of them in youth, she grew into a rival to [[the Master]] and opponent to [[the Doctor]].
{{Ranis}}
 
'''Ushas''', better known as '''the Rani''' and known more formally as '''Ushas of Miasimia Goria''', or, in other accounts, as simply '''Rani''', was a [[renegade Time Lord|renegade Time Lady]] and member of [[the Deca]]. A brilliant but cold [[neurochemist]], she knew [[the Doctor]] and [[the Master]] when all three were young, and became an enemy of the former and an unwilling ally of the latter.
==Profile==
===Biography===
====Youth and Exile====
The Rani was the same age as The Doctor. ([[DW]]: ''[[Time and the Rani]]'') On the [[planet]] [[Gallifrey]], at [[Time Lord Academy|the Academy]], she belonged to a clique of ten young people who called themselves [[the Deca]]. Apart from [[First Doctor|the Doctor]], her other future enemy [[Koschei]] (later The Master) belonged to this group. her name is given as Ushas.  ([[PDA]]: ''[[Divided Loyalties]]'')
 
:''A past relationship between The Rani and The Doctor was hinted at, but never elaborated upon.''
 
Unlike the other members of The Deca, she did not choose to leave Gallifrey but was exiled from the planet after some of her lab [[mouse|mice]], as a result of an experiment, grew to enormous size and ate the [[Lord President|President]]'s pet [[cat]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Mark of the Rani]]'')
 
====Life as Renegade====
 
=====Presence in Earth history=====
While the Rani certainly did not share the Doctor's fondness for [[Earth]] (she referred to it as a "miserable planet") it has been the focus of several of her research projects.


When the test subjects on [[Miasimia Goria]], a planet she had enslaved, became violently restless and uncontrollable as a side affect of her experiments on them, The Rani visited Earth at various points in its history to extract chemicals from the brains of select [[Human]] specimens. Because the chemicals in question enabled the human brain to sleep, and because the absence of these chemicals made her victims as violent and uncontrollable as those from her previous experiments, The Rani deliberately chose periods of social unrest to visit, using the violence to conceal her presence and its consequences. She visited the [[Trojan War]], the [[Dark Ages]], the [[American War of Independence]], and finally the [[Luddite]] riots in the village of [[Killingworth]] during the early [[19th century]].
==Biography==
{{Section stub|Information from ''[[The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind (novelisation)|The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind]]''}}


Prior to this arrival she had visited Earth in the late [[Cretaceous Period|Cretaceous]] and acquired several [[Tyrannosaur]] embryos. ([[DW]]: ''[[Mark of the Rani]]'')
===The Rani's incarnations===
The Rani was, regardless of incarnation, a brilliant scientific genius whose villainy came not from the usual variety of lust for power and suchlike, but from a mindset that treated everything (including morality) as secondary to her research. She was highly intelligent but extremely arrogant, narcissistic, ruthless, powerful and intensely cruel.


:''The Rani's comments concerning the unrealised full potential of the dinosaurs are curious given the existence of the [[Silurian]] civilisation on the planet at around the same time. She may have been obliquely alluding to averting the fall of the Silurians. Then again, as a biochemist she may simply not have been that familiar with social sciences such as history and just wasn't aware of the Silurians' existence. This seems unlikely, however, given her apparent visits to the Cretaceous to gather specimens.''
The [[First Rani]] was a cruel woman whose evil deeds and notoriety had made her the second most wanted criminal in the galaxy, after [[the Master]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Requiem for the Rocket Men (audio story)|Requiem for the Rocket Men]]'') Much like the Doctor, she had a considerable presence. This presence, however, rested not in a fondness for the planet but as a focal point for her research projects. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Mark of the Rani (TV story)|The Mark of the Rani]]'', ''[[Time and the Rani (TV story)|Time and the Rani]]'')


[[The Master]] and, shortly after, [[Sixth Doctor|the Doctor]] interrupted her work. The Doctor sabotaged the navigational system of [[the Rani's TARDIS]], trapping the Master and the Rani inside as [[time spillage]] caused the Tyrannosaur embryos to grow at a dangerous rate. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Mark of the Rani]]'').
Just as amoral as her previous incarnation, the [[Second Rani]] always believed that the end always justified the means. Not above making jokes at the expense of others, she held a great disdain and disinterest in the Doctor's antics. Unlike her previous incarnation, she had a certain level of anxiety in breaking the [[Laws of Time]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Rani Elite (audio story)|The Rani Elite]]'')


=====On Terra Nova=====
Following [[Fall of Gallifrey|the end]] of the [[Last Great Time War]], the [[Ninth Doctor]] believed all the [[Time Lord]]s bar himself to be dead, ([[TV]]: ''[[Dalek (TV story)|Dalek]]'') and so did not expect to see the Rani again, ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Flatpack (audio story)|Flatpack]]'') though the [[Tenth Doctor]] would encounter the First Rani. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Untitled (10DY3 12 comic story)|Untitled]]'') Nevertheless, the [[Eleventh Doctor]] believed that the Rani was "dead", at least according to [[River Song]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Bekdel Test (audio story)|The Bekdel Test]]'')
Shortly afterwards, from the Doctor's subjective point of view, The Rani was also trapped along with [[Sixth Doctor|the Doctor]] on the [[alternate Earth]] of [[Terra Nova]] which the entity known as [[Iam]] had created. She had in the meantime tried and failed to manipulate the political situation existing between the three children of that reality's version of [[Cleopatra]] ([[MA]]: [[State of Change]])


=====On Tetrapyriarbus and Lakertya=====
The [[Time Lord]]s' [[TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual]], which was aware of [[Missy]] and the [[Thirteenth Doctor]], refered to the Rani in the present tense. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)}})
On the planet [[Tetrapyriarbus]], made the acquaintance of, and decided to employ the [[Tetrap]]s, led by [[Urak]]. With them, she invaded the peaceful planet [[Lakertya]] and put into motion a complex plan. The Rani abducted eleven scientific geniuses from across time and space, including [[Albert Einstein]] of Earth. Finally, she decided to "collect" The Doctor and attacked [[The Doctor's TARDIS|his TARDIS]], causing the ship to go through turbulence and hit his head, triggering a [[regeneration]] into his [[Seventh Doctor|Seventh Incarnation]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Time and the Rani]]'')


:''Conflicting account suggest the Doctor did not actually regenerate strictly because of the Rani's attack on [[The Doctor's TARDIS]].
Following the [[Razing of Gallifrey|Time Lord genocide]], the [[Fifteenth Doctor]] used the Rani as an example when explaining [[Time Lord Name]]s to [[Ruby Sunday]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Space Babies (TV story)}})


The Rani channeled the intellects of the geniuses into a giant artifical brain which she believed could find the secret to manipulating [[strange matter]], the key to making the planet of Lakertya into a [[Time Manipulator]] in order to correct what she considered to be errors in the universal [[timeline]]. Her first target was to be Earth, where she would prevent the extinction of the [[dinosaur]]s, creatures whose full potential she felt had never been truly realised. She considered the death of the native [[Lakertyan]]s a small price to pay. The Doctor, though, defeated her and Urak betrayed her, leading the Tertrops against her, placing her under house arrest (in her TARDIS) on Tetrapyriarbus. ([[DW]]: ''[[Time and the Rani]]'').
=== Undated events ===
In the [[War in Heaven]], [[The War King|the Lord President]] reintegrated several barely-reformed [[renegade Time Lord|renegades]] into [[Gallifrey]]an society. One former renegade Time Lady, who was known for her engineered creatures, became a tutor to newly-[[loom]]ed soldiers. [[Holsred]] remembered a lecture in which she connected an [[artron energy]] generator to a white [[rat]]'s [[brain]] and then let the rat use the energy to kill a hungry [[Gallifreyan cat]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Taking of Planet 5 (novel)|The Taking of Planet 5]]'')


After these events occurred, the Tertraps faced a food shortage crisis, while Urak managed to have the Rani but on trial, with the death sentence.
[[Father Kreiner]] had the heads of the Rani and [[the Master]] as trophies; however, at least one of them was a [[clone]] created in the [[High Council]]'s [[hatchling project]]s. ([[PROSE]]:'' [[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference]]'')
She would have to solve the food shortage other wise her sentence would commence.
Two human and two alien prisoners were to be test subjects for the Rani's experiments in an attempt at solving the crisis. The Rani however teamed up with the four 'guinea pigs' and managed to escape the planet. Each then went their seperate ways, the Rani departing in her TARDIS to an unknown fate.  ([[BBV]]: ''[[The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind]]'')


:''The Doctor has stated repeatedly that no Time Lords other than himself, survived the [[Last Great Time War]], a statement later partially false with the appearance of [[Professor Yana]]. The fate of The Rani seems somewhat uncertain, though the Doctor believes her dead, along the rest of the Time Lord race.''
According to the [[Seventh Doctor]], the Rani was "up to her old tricks" during his last adventure with [[Ace]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Curse of Fenric (TotT TV story)|The Curse of Fenric]]'')


==Return==
==Behind the scenes==
It has been rumored that a new incarnation of the Rani played by Gillian Anderson
===Return to television===
will face off against the Eleventh Doctor in [[Series 5]].
Following her last live-action appearance in the controversial TV special, ''[[Dimensions in Time (TV story)|Dimensions in Time]]'', the possibility of the return of the Rani in the post-[[2005 (releases)|2005]] revival of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has become a subject of widespread fan speculation, as the preeminent [[renegade Time Lord]] antagonist in the "classic" series aside from [[the Master]], who made his return in [[Series 3 (Doctor Who 2005)|Series 3]]. The matter was discussed or joked about on several occasions by the showrunner.  


==Possibly apocryphal adventures==
[[Russell T Davies|Russell T. Davies]] once stated that if he had brought back the Rani, he would have cast actress {{w|Ruthie Henshall}} in the role.<ref>http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/10/28/russell-t-davies-talks-wizards-vs-aliens/2/</ref> In the commentary for ''[[Last of the Time Lords (TV story)|Last of the Time Lords]],'' Davies jokingly termed the hand seen removing [[the Master's ring]] from the ashes of his funeral pyre "the hand of the Rani". He would later write it being the hand of a human [[Disciples of Saxon|Disciple of Saxon]] in ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]''. In a email reprinted to [[Benjamin Cook]] reprinted in ''[[Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter]]'', Davies choosing to deliberately leave the identity of [[The Woman (The End of Time)|the Woman]] (in the same story, ''The End of Time'') ambiguous, anticipated that [[fan]]s might believe her to be, amongst other possibilities, "even the Rani", "but of course it's meant to be [[the Doctor's mother]]".
One account claims that she saved a young man named [[Cyrian]] from [[Cybermen]] on the planet [[DV Acrol 8]]. ([[DWA]]: ''[[Rescue]]'') With Cyrian, she later captured The Doctor's [[First Doctor|first]] and [[Second Doctor|second]] incarnations. Despite [[Fourth Doctor|his fourth incarnation]] attempting to warn them of danger, the Rani managed to lure the Doctor's other selves (as well as his companions) into a temporal trap in order to include them in her menagerie of creatures. She hoped to shortly complete her collection of genetic samples and [[brain print]]s of every creature in the [[universe]]. With the help of the Doctor's [[time brain]], she hoped to gain access to and control of every individual mind in the cosmos. ([[DW]]: ''[[Dimensions in Time]]'')


==Personality==
In August 2012, Davies' successor [[Steven Moffat]] stated that "he had no reason to bring back the Rani",<ref>http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a401680/doctor-who-steven-moffat-rules-out-return-for-villain-the-rani.html</ref> thus putting an end to the rumours of her return to the television series.<ref>http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/19959/dr-who-gillian-anderson-is-the-rani</ref>
An evil scientific genius whose villainy comes not from the usual variety of lust for power and suchlike, but from a mindset that treats everything (including morality) as secondary to her research; she has been known to enslave entire worlds in order to have a ready supply of experimental subjects and a place to carry out her experiments uninterrupted. Her major interest is in tinkering with the biochemistry of other species. [[Fourth Doctor|The Doctor]] claimed that The Rani hates children, It is not known if this was meant literally or if it was just a figure of speech. ([[DW]]: ''[[Dimensions in Time]]'')


==Behind the Scenes==
===Other matters===
[[Kate O'Mara]] has, to date, portrayed The Rani in all of her television appearances as well as her single (to date) audio appearance.
''[[Me & My Ghost (audio story)|Me & My Ghost]]'', a [[2021 (releases)|2021]] ''[[Dionus's War (audio series)|Dionus's War]]'' audio play written and produced by [[Bill Baggs]], featured a character called "[[Nari]]", who was an alternative personality crafted for herself by an infamous [[Renegade Time Lord|renegade]] of the [[Great House]]s to evade the authorities of her people. She was noted as a talented chemist, and it was suggested that the name "Nari" was somehow a play on her usual appellation. The clear implication was thus that Nari's true self was "the Rani". However, this was not made explicit due to [[BBV Productions]] no longer having the rights to the character of the Rani by that point, aside from further exploitation of their original licensed ''[[The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind (audio story)|The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind]]'' spin-off story.


Most fans do not consider the events of ''[[Dimensions in Time]]'' to have actually occurred in [[canon]].  
In an episode of the [[The Big Finish Podcast|Big Finish Podcast]] on [[19 December]] [[2021 (releases)|2021]], a listener asked [[Nicholas Briggs]] and [[Benji Clifford|Benji]] when would the Rani return in a [[Last Great Time War|Time War]] [[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories|series]]. Nicholas Briggs responded that it would be difficult since both [[Pip and Jane Baker]] had passed away, and a possible complication with getting in touch with the estate.


It has been announced but not confirmed by the BBC that X-files Actress Gillian Anderson will portray the Rani sometime in the [[2009 Specials (Doctor Who)|2009 Specials]] or [[Series 5 (Doctor Who)|Series 5]]
==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}
<references />
{{Rani stories}}
{{The Master's assistants}}
{{TitleSort}}


{{Time Lords}}
[[ro:The Rani]]
{{season 22 aliens}}
[[ru:Рани]]
{{Season 24 aliens}}
[[Category:Aliases]]
{{Wikipedia|Rani_(Doctor_Who)}}
[[Category:Articles that were originally Wikipedia forks]]
[[Category:The Rani|Rani]]
[[Category:College of Advanced Galactic Education]]
[[Category:Allies of the Master]]
[[Category:The Deca]]
[[Category:Homeworlders in the War in Heaven]]
[[Category:Imposters]]
[[Category:Murderers]]
[[Category:Patrexes]]
[[Category:Prydonians]]
[[Category:Renegade Time Lords]]
[[Category:Residents of Gallifrey]]
[[Category:Students at the Time Lord Academy]]
[[Category:Time Lord scientists]]
[[Category:Time Lords who have been inside the Doctor's TARDIS]]
[[Category:Time Lords who have witnessed regeneration]]
[[Category:Tremas Master's assistants]]

Latest revision as of 23:22, 2 August 2024

The Rani
Gallery
Appearances


Ushas, better known as the Rani and known more formally as Ushas of Miasimia Goria, or, in other accounts, as simply Rani, was a renegade Time Lady and member of the Deca. A brilliant but cold neurochemist, she knew the Doctor and the Master when all three were young, and became an enemy of the former and an unwilling ally of the latter.

Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]

This section's awfully stubby.

Information from The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind

The Rani's incarnations[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Rani was, regardless of incarnation, a brilliant scientific genius whose villainy came not from the usual variety of lust for power and suchlike, but from a mindset that treated everything (including morality) as secondary to her research. She was highly intelligent but extremely arrogant, narcissistic, ruthless, powerful and intensely cruel.

The First Rani was a cruel woman whose evil deeds and notoriety had made her the second most wanted criminal in the galaxy, after the Master. (AUDIO: Requiem for the Rocket Men) Much like the Doctor, she had a considerable presence. This presence, however, rested not in a fondness for the planet but as a focal point for her research projects. (TV: The Mark of the Rani, Time and the Rani)

Just as amoral as her previous incarnation, the Second Rani always believed that the end always justified the means. Not above making jokes at the expense of others, she held a great disdain and disinterest in the Doctor's antics. Unlike her previous incarnation, she had a certain level of anxiety in breaking the Laws of Time. (AUDIO: The Rani Elite)

Following the end of the Last Great Time War, the Ninth Doctor believed all the Time Lords bar himself to be dead, (TV: Dalek) and so did not expect to see the Rani again, (AUDIO: Flatpack) though the Tenth Doctor would encounter the First Rani. (COMIC: Untitled) Nevertheless, the Eleventh Doctor believed that the Rani was "dead", at least according to River Song. (AUDIO: The Bekdel Test)

The Time Lords' TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual, which was aware of Missy and the Thirteenth Doctor, refered to the Rani in the present tense. (PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual [+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"])

Following the Time Lord genocide, the Fifteenth Doctor used the Rani as an example when explaining Time Lord Names to Ruby Sunday. (TV: Space Babies [+]Loading...["Space Babies (TV story)"])

Undated events[[edit] | [edit source]]

In the War in Heaven, the Lord President reintegrated several barely-reformed renegades into Gallifreyan society. One former renegade Time Lady, who was known for her engineered creatures, became a tutor to newly-loomed soldiers. Holsred remembered a lecture in which she connected an artron energy generator to a white rat's brain and then let the rat use the energy to kill a hungry Gallifreyan cat. (PROSE: The Taking of Planet 5)

Father Kreiner had the heads of the Rani and the Master as trophies; however, at least one of them was a clone created in the High Council's hatchling projects. (PROSE: Interference)

According to the Seventh Doctor, the Rani was "up to her old tricks" during his last adventure with Ace. (TV: The Curse of Fenric)

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Return to television[[edit] | [edit source]]

Following her last live-action appearance in the controversial TV special, Dimensions in Time, the possibility of the return of the Rani in the post-2005 revival of Doctor Who has become a subject of widespread fan speculation, as the preeminent renegade Time Lord antagonist in the "classic" series aside from the Master, who made his return in Series 3. The matter was discussed or joked about on several occasions by the showrunner.

Russell T. Davies once stated that if he had brought back the Rani, he would have cast actress Ruthie Henshall in the role.[1] In the commentary for Last of the Time Lords, Davies jokingly termed the hand seen removing the Master's ring from the ashes of his funeral pyre "the hand of the Rani". He would later write it being the hand of a human Disciple of Saxon in The End of Time. In a email reprinted to Benjamin Cook reprinted in Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter, Davies choosing to deliberately leave the identity of the Woman (in the same story, The End of Time) ambiguous, anticipated that fans might believe her to be, amongst other possibilities, "even the Rani", "but of course it's meant to be the Doctor's mother".

In August 2012, Davies' successor Steven Moffat stated that "he had no reason to bring back the Rani",[2] thus putting an end to the rumours of her return to the television series.[3]

Other matters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Me & My Ghost, a 2021 Dionus's War audio play written and produced by Bill Baggs, featured a character called "Nari", who was an alternative personality crafted for herself by an infamous renegade of the Great Houses to evade the authorities of her people. She was noted as a talented chemist, and it was suggested that the name "Nari" was somehow a play on her usual appellation. The clear implication was thus that Nari's true self was "the Rani". However, this was not made explicit due to BBV Productions no longer having the rights to the character of the Rani by that point, aside from further exploitation of their original licensed The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind spin-off story.

In an episode of the Big Finish Podcast on 19 December 2021, a listener asked Nicholas Briggs and Benji when would the Rani return in a Time War series. Nicholas Briggs responded that it would be difficult since both Pip and Jane Baker had passed away, and a possible complication with getting in touch with the estate.

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/10/28/russell-t-davies-talks-wizards-vs-aliens/2/
  2. ↑ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a401680/doctor-who-steven-moffat-rules-out-return-for-villain-the-rani.html
  3. ↑ http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/19959/dr-who-gillian-anderson-is-the-rani
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