The Doctor Who YouTube channel made the first appearance of The Rani (1985's S22E03: "The Mark of the Rani, Parts 1 & 2") available for free.
With only hours to go until the first of the two-episode Season 2 finale of Showrunner Russell T. Davies's Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu-starring Doctor Who hits Disney+, BBC iPlayer, and BBC One screens, the show's official YouTube channel is making it a whole lot easier to do a little "Classic Who" homework before S02E07: "Wish World" drops. That's right, the first appearance of The Rani, portrayed this season by Archie Panjabi (as The Rani) and Anita Dobson's Mrs. Flood as a Rani.
Season 22 Episode 3: "The Mark of the Rani (Parts 1 & 2)" was written by Sarah Hellings and directed by Pip & Jane Baker, and aired February 2nd and 9th, 1985. The Doctor (Colin Baker) visits the home of Robert Stephenson, who, on the eve of the Industrial Revolution, has called together a meeting of all the great minds of his age. Whilst there, the Doctor also discovers the Master (Anthony Ainley) and an unscrupulous Time Lady known as the Rani (Kate O'Mara) - but why? Joining Baker, Ainley, and O'Mara was Nicola Bryant as companion Peri Brown.
Doctor Who Season 2 Episode 7: "Wish World" - Traps are sprung and old enemies unite as the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Belinda (Varada Sethu) finally arrive home to find a very different world. Can the Doctor see the truth before midnight arrives? Written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai, here's a look at a sneak peek at what's to come and the latest edition of Doctor Who Unleashed (which also includes a sneak peek at what's to come beginning at around the 28:10 mark). Following that, we have the updated image gallery for "Wish World" that was released, and a look back at Davies's Instagram post that included some very interesting wording:
"NEXT WEEK: Wish World. Enemies old and new unite as the Doctor faces the Unholy Trinity. This is only two thirds of the Trinity, the two Ranis count as one, cos I say so 😑 The third is lying in wait, exactly 160 years away 🤔 So stand by! This is the big one! First of a two-part finale! The Pantheon is stirring. Old friends are helpless. And the whole of reality is in danger as we hurtle towards May 24, in the Ranis' most terrifying experiment yet. Pity the fate of poor Frau Zufall! And remember, a message is calling across time and space... 'Tables don't do that,'" Davies wrote as the caption to his Instagram post, making it clear that we haven't seen all the faces of this threat quite yet:
With a lineup like that on tap for the first of the season's final two chapters, you know things are going to get serious...