The Fifteenth Doctor fought the Rani onscreen, but just what did she get up to during the Time War? Big Finish discovers in the latest War Doctor boxset Fear of the Light…
The Doctor’s history with the Rani stretches back to their academy days, but we first met her in the 80s. She battled the Sixth and Seventh Doctors, before popping up in ‘Dimensions in Time’, Doctor Who’s colourful 30th anniversary get-together.
More recently, the amoral Time Lord scientist returned to tussle with Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor.
However, audio producers Big Finish played with the character in the interim. After original actress Kate O’Mara’s death, Siobhan Redman starred a regenerated Rani for two outings opposite Colin Baker in the 2010s.
It’s that incarnation who returns here in the show’s Time War era. Fear of the Light is a new 3-part boxset from Rochana Patel, writer of the terrific Dark Gallifrey: Missy trilogy.
The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light
The story begins with the War Doctor escaping an engagement with the Daleks after making an impossibly tough choice. He flees in an escape pod with Vaylen, a Time Lord commander who is critically wounded but unable to regenerate. With Daleks on their trail, the Rani answers his distress call.
With the Doctor reluctantly agreeing to accept her assistance, we learn that she has been avoiding the war. Originally working on weapons for the Time Lords, she withdrew when Rassilon was resurrected. However, the Rani has continued her experiments and in her enclave on the planet Onyx and she offers the Doctor an opportunity – if he can stomach the consequences….
With a tight focus on the two Time Lords and their dynamic, both in the past and the present, the tale contrasts their approach to the Time War. The Doctor has surrendered his principles and taken up arms, while the Rani claims neutrality and has been working on a solution for the universe beyond the conflict.
“Saves an awful lot of running up and down corridors.”
Writer Rochana Patel has fun with a ton of series past elements as she weaves her tale. She explores regeneration, the matrix and TARDIS architecture, namechecks the Untempered Schism and has the Rani call the Doctor “Thete” when he eschews his normal title. She also provides her with a familiar looking assistant; Malavor (Barnaby Edwards) is a Gloomwalker – a genetically modified Tetraps, adapted to suit the low-light environment of the planet and utterly devoted to service.
Siobahn Redman’s Rani retains her sense of moral superiority – she has a plan for the universe and knows what it best for it. Her ego remains intact also, notably in her creation of a scale to measure regeneration energy which she’s granted her own name! Indeed, the change in style from passive to explosive regeneration – attributed to the effects of the war – becomes a plot point.
For his part, Jonathon Carley puts in another remarkable performance as the warrior who’s warn down by conflict and genuinely considers a chance to find a better future. Alongside him, Thomas Arnold and Ony Uhiara play two contrasting incarnations of the ailing Vaylen, who becomes an unwitting pawn as events play out.
“Daleks do not accept the existence of neutrality.”
Nicholas Briggs gets to stretch Dalek vocal cords in a few interesting directions across the set. As well as the Time Strategist, he also voices a trio of giggling mad Daleks – each a previous experiment of the Rani and amusingly named for some old friends.
In addition to the suite of Daleky and regeneration sound effects, we recognised the sound used in ‘Time and the Rani’ when the Rani diverted the Doctor’s TARDIS redeployed here as the defence mechanism of her Twilight Enclave.
In Summary
Without a doubt, Fear of the Light is the best thing the Doctor Who has done with the Rani, on or off screen, since her debut. It’s a proper character study which explores her relationship with the Doctor and avoids taking any of the more obvious routes. It also picks up cleverly on the themes of her previous appearances, contrasting her constructive, scientific approach with the Doctor’s chaos-filled interventions.
While there’s action enough with the Daleks, and a thoughtful plot built on a mountain of series lore, the story hangs on the chemistry between Siobhan Redman and Jonathon Carley. Both are excellent here as her rational, calculating scientist meets to his battle-hardened sceptic, and the sparks fly!
Doctor Who – The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light is out now from Big Finish. It’s available as a digital download to own, or as a download to own with Collector’s Edition CD.
Additionally, Jonathon Carley recorded a three-part video diary to chronicle the making of the boxset, which is available on the Big Finish YouTube channel.