The Rani

Played by Kate O'Mara, Anita Dobson and Archie Panjabi

"Am I expected to abandon my research because of the side effects on inferior species? Are you prepared to abandon walking in case you squash an insect underfoot?"

Time Lord contemporary to the Doctor and the Master, the Rani dedicates her life to scientific pursuits - regardless of the outcome or cost. Amoral and calculating, but with a flair for the dramatic, the Rani views her superior Gallifreyan intellect as a right to intellectual dominion over the universe.

The Rani is a cunning enemy of the Doctor, often using traps to thwart them and their companions, or manipulating others into acting for her, or speeding up her nefarious schemes. The Doctor and the Master both respected and feared her level of intellect, but this was not reciprocated by her, viewing them both as meddlesome.

Character Bio

An amoral, scientific genius, the Rani was a renegade Time Lord, and contemporary of both the Doctor and the Master. She was forced to leave Gallifrey when an experiment on mice created monsters that ate the Lord President’s cat. Setting up empire on Miasma Goria and experimenting on its inhabitants, she made regular visits to Earth for human brain fluid. On one such visit, she was interrupted by the Sixth Doctor and the Master, and eventually trapped with the latter and a growing Tyrannosaurus Rex embryo in her TARDIS. 

Escaping this, she set about a new plan to channel the intellects of geniuses from across the universe – including the Seventh Doctor’s – into a giant brain. Foiled by the Doctor she was trapped in her TARDIS by the Tetraps.

The Rani was not heard from for a long time – not even during the destruction of the Time Lords in the last great Time War. In actual fact, the Rani has been hiding herself away, plotting; even spending some time on Earth, disguising herself as the kindly Mrs Flood.  

As next-door neighbour of seemingly both Ruby Sunday and Belinda Chandra, the Rani has been able to keep tabs on the Fifteenth Doctor’s comings and goings; with a particular interest in following the Doctor and Belinda as they try to return to May 24th, 2025. Her pursuit of the TARDIS to follow the Doctor’s Vindicator readings brought her to the Interstellar Song Contest, where an attack on the arena resulted in the Doctor, the Rani and thousands of attendees being sucked into space!

Just barely surviving this incident, Mrs Flood begins to regenerate – and the subsequent bi-generation results in two Ranis, both hell-bent on bringing “absolute terror” to the Doctor…