The Rani Elite (audio story)

The Rani Elite
Doctor:	Sixth Doctor
Companion(s):	Peri
Main enemy:	The Rani
Main setting:	College of Advanced Galactic Education
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Justin Richards
Director:	Ken Bentley
Music:	Andy Hardwick
Sound:	Andy Hardwick
Cover by:	Anthony Lamb
Release details
Release number:	194
Release date:	17 December 2014
Format:	4 Parts, 2 CDs
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-78178-335-1
Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories
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Next →	Mistfall

The Rani Elite was the 194th story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was the first audio story by Big Finish to feature the Rani, and featured the debut of a new incarnation played by Siobhan Redmond.

Publisher's summary

The TARDIS arrives in the CAGE – not a trap, but the College of Advanced Galactic Education, one of the most prestigious academic institutions in colonised space.

Not a trap. Or is it?

The Doctor’s here to receive an honorary degree in Moral Philosophy. But there’s something rotten at the heart of the Medical Facility. Someone is operating on the students. Someone without a conscience. Someone with access to a Sidelian Brain Scanner – a technology that hasn't been invented yet.

That someone is the ruthless Time Lord scientist known as the Rani – in her new incarnation. But will the Doctor and Peri recognise the Rani’s hand before her trap is sprung?

Plot

Part one

to be added

Part two

to be added

Part three

to be added

Part four

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Colin Baker
• Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
• The Rani - Siobhan Redmond
• Vice Chancellor - Andrew Bone
• Lizzo - Becky Wright
• Miklev - Mike Noble
• Reev - Charlie Morton

References

• The Rani was expecting to meet the Doctor's seventh incarnation, not the sixth.
• The Doctor mentions the Deca, including Drax, Mortimus and Vansell, and calls the Rani "Ushas".

Notes

Promotional photo of the Rani

• Part 1 of The Rani Elite was available as a free download before the release.
• Big Finish had been discussing the return of the Rani to audio and Kate O'Mara had agreed to return to the role before her death in 2014. In spite of her passing, she had given her blessing that Big Finish could continue, with a new actress in the role.
• This is the first appearance of the Rani in an audio story by Big Finish. Her overall first audio appearance was in the BBV production The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind.
• During her photoshoot as the Rani, Siobhan Redmond was brandishing a potato peeler as a hand prop. The device was enhanced in Photoshop to create the final illustration used on the cover of this story.

Continuity

• Peri remembers the Doctor dying for her (TV: The Caves of Androzani) and wonders if she would die for him. (TV: Mindwarp)
• Depending on the order of stories, the Sixth Doctor and Peri previously encountered the Rani in Killingworth, (TV: The Mark of the Rani) on a duplicate Earth, (PROSE: State of Change) and on Koturia. (PROSE: Something Borrowed)
• The Rani and the Doctor mention the Deca, including Drax, Mortimus and Vansell. The Rani is also called Ushas by the Doctor. (PROSE: Divided Loyalties)
• The Rani recalls her previous incarnation being partly responsible for the Doctor's sixth regeneration. (TV: Time and the Rani)
• Many elements of this story were apparently inspired by the canceled Rani story: Network

External links

• Official The Rani Elite page at bigfinish.com