The Rani: Difference between revisions

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
(IMO the Rani has not had enough appearances to justify giving her appearances own entry ; also appeared in short story "Rescue" in '95 DW Yearbook and Chose Your Adventure RACE AGAINST TIME)
 
(609 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Infobox Individual|
{{subpage tabs}}
individual name= The Rani |
{{ImageLink}}
alias= Ushas|
{{Infobox Individual
image=[[Image:Omarak06.jpg |250px]] |
|image            = <gallery>
race= [[Gallifreyan]] ([[Time Lord|Time Lady]]) |
Rani KO.jpg|1
home planet=[[Gallifrey]] |
Rani Redmond.jpg|2
home era= [[Rassilon Era]]|
</gallery>
appearances= [[DW]]: [[Mark of the Rani]]<br>[[DW]]: [[Time and the Rani]]<br>[[DW]]: ''[[Dimensions in Time]]<br>[[MA]]: ''[[State of Change]]<br>[[PDA]]: ''[[Divided Loyalties]] (cameo)<br>[[BBV]]: ''[[The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind]]'' |
|alias            = Cleopatra Selene, [[Melanie Bush]], Lania, Professor Baxton, Principal C.B. Wainwright
actor= [[Kate O'Mara]]|}}
|species          = Time Lord{{!}}Time Lord
|job              = Prison governor
|origin            = [[Gallifrey]]
|first cs          = The Mark of the Rani (TV story)
|appearances      = {{appears}}
|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
}}
{{Ranis}}
{{counterparts |name=The Rani
|1=The Rani
|2=The Rani (Theta Stigma's universe) |d2=Theta Stigma's universe
}}
'''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.


'''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]].
==Biography==
{{Section stub|Information from ''[[The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind (novelisation)|The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind]]''}}


==Profile==
===The Rani's incarnations===
===Biography===
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.
====Youth====
The Rani was the same age as the Doctor. ([[DW]]: ''[[Time and the Rani]]'') On [[Gallifrey]], at the [[Time Lord Academy|Academy]], she belonged to a clique of six 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. ([[PDA]]: ''[[Divided Loyalties]]'')


:''A past relationship between the Rani and the Doctor was hinted at, but never elaborated upon.''
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]]'')


Unlike some other members of the Deca, she did not chose to leave Gallifrey but was exiled from Gallifrey 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]]'')
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]]'')


===Personality===
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]]'')
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 [[planet]]s 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 other species' biochemistry.


While the Rani certainly does not share the Doctor's fondness for [[Earth]], referring to it as a "miserable planet," it has been the focus of several of her research projects.  When the test subjects on Miasimia Goria, one of the planets she had enslaved, became violently restless and uncontrollable - 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]]s. Because the chemicals in question enabled the human brain to rest, and because the absence of these chemicals made her victims as violent and uncontrollable as those from her previous experiments, the Rani purposely chose periods of social unrest to visit, using the violence to conceal her presence and its consequences. The siege of [[Troy]], the [[Dark Ages]], the [[American War for Independence]], and the [[Luddite]] Riots of the early [[19th century]] were just a few of the historical periods she visited, before her work was brought to a halt by the arrival of the Doctor and [[the Master]], after which the Rani became caught up in the rival Time Lords' feud ("[[The Mark of the Rani]]"). The Rani also hoped to use the [[Time Brain]] she was growing on [[Lakertya]] 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 ("[[Time and the Rani]]"). Prior to either of these projects, she had visited Earth in the late [[Cretaceous Period|Cretaceous]] and acquired several [[Tyrannosaur]] embryos.
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)}})


:''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.''
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)}}) Identifying himself as the [[Last of the Time Lords]], the Doctor believed the Rani to be dead by this point. In his contributions to [[UNIT]]'s [[Gold Archive]], he reflected on her [[incursion]]s on [[Earth]] and voiced his hope that the Rani [[rest]]ed in [[peace]] "unlike her poor, chaotic subjects". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Pre-UNIT Incursions (feature)}})


Towards the end of the Time War, the Doctor's homeworld was destroyed and he later told his companion [[Rose Tyler]] that he was the last of the Time Lords. Whether the Rani was present on [[Gallifrey]] and was killed along with the rest is uncertain.
=== 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]]: {{cs|The Taking of Planet 5 (novel)}})


== The Expanded Universe ==
[[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]]: {{cs|Interference - Book One (novel)}})
The Rani once tried to ensnare the first seven incarnations of the Doctor in a temporal trap, hoping to add one of his [[companion]]s to a menagerie of creatures with which she hoped to gain access to and control of every individual mind in the [[universe]] ("[[Dimensions in Time]]"). She was also trapped along with the [[Sixth Doctor]] and [[Peri]] in the [[alternate Earth]] of [[Terra Nova]] that had been created by the entity known as [[Iam]]. She tried and failed to manipulate the political situation existing between the three children of that reality's version of [[Cleopatra]] ("[[State of Change]]"). After being betrayed and imprisoned by her own servants, the [[Tetrap]]s, the Rani achieved her escape with the help of the very persons upon whom the Tetraps instructed her to experiment ("[[The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind]]").


==Behind the Scenes==
==Behind the scenes==
''to be added''
===Return to television===
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.


{{Wikipedia|Rani_(Doctor_Who)}}
[[Russell T Davies|Russell T. Davies]] once stated that he would have cast actress {{w|Ruthie Henshall}} as the Rani had he brought the character back, which he disclosed whilst discussing Henshall's appearance as the villainess {{iw|wizardsvsaliens|Stephanie Gaunt}} in ''{{w|Wizards vs Aliens}}''.<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]]".


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>


[[Category:Renegade Time Lords|Rani]]
===Other matters===
[[Category:Sixth Doctor enemies|Rani]]
''[[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.
[[Category:Seventh Doctor enemies|Rani]]
 
[[Category:Individual Time Lords|Rani]]
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.
[[Category:Scientists|Rani]]
 
==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}
<references />
{{Rani stories}}
{{The Master's assistants}}
{{TitleSort}}
 
[[ro:The Rani]]
[[ru:Рани]]
[[Category:The Rani]]
[[Category:Aliases]]
[[Category:Articles that were originally Wikipedia forks]]
[[Category:College of Advanced Galactic Education]]
[[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]]
[[Category:The Ones That Went Mad]]

Latest revision as of 00:48, 20 November 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)"]) Identifying himself as the Last of the Time Lords, the Doctor believed the Rani to be dead by this point. In his contributions to UNIT's Gold Archive, he reflected on her incursions on Earth and voiced his hope that the Rani rested in peace "unlike her poor, chaotic subjects". (PROSE: Pre-UNIT Incursions [+]Loading...["Pre-UNIT Incursions (feature)"])

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 [+]Loading...["The Taking of Planet 5 (novel)"])

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 - Book One [+]Loading...["Interference - Book One (novel)"])

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 he would have cast actress Ruthie Henshall as the Rani had he brought the character back, which he disclosed whilst discussing Henshall's appearance as the villainess Stephanie Gaunt in Wizards vs Aliens.[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
v • e
The Rani stories
First Rani
Television
Audio
Prose
Comics
Second Rani
Audio
Complete list of appearances
v • e
The Master's assistants
"UNIT era" Master
Decayed Master
Tremas Master
Bruce Master
Preacher Master
Reborn Master
War Master
Saxon Master
Missy
Spy Master
Unknown
From parallel universes
The Warrior's universe
Retrieved from "https://tardis.wiki/w/index.php?title=The_Rani&oldid=3899549"