I had a very, very late night last night with a software release that took the better part of five hours to complete. As a result, I didn't exactly bounce out of bed this morning. Even so, I did manage to squeeze in my treadmill time early this evening. Then I went for a stretching session with a sports therapist, and right now I feel like I went a full round with Mike Tyson. So I'm kinda ready for bed  now.

But first, let's talk about the Rani.

The Mark of the Rani - Part 1

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

This story is interesting, in that it is set in 19th century England at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, and features George Stephenson (a.k,a. the "Father of Railways"). This is the first time that an actual historical figure has appeared as a character in the show in nearly twenty years, since The Gunfighters. It's not a Pure Historical, though, so that's a disappointment.

Instead, it features both the Master and the titular Rani - another rogue Time Lord. As for the "mark" mentioned in the story title, that refers to the red mark left on the necks of the humans who have been subject to her experiments to remove a particular chemical from their brains. These poor victims turn into raging lunatics, Luddites who will tear down any machinery on sight. The Doctor and Peri arrive because the TARDIS is drawn off course. The Master arrives because he is the Master, and he dismisses his apparent death on Sarn with no explanation beyond a comment about how he is indestructible. The Rani is not interested in getting wrapped up in the Bro Battle between Master and Doctor, but is persuaded under duress to assist the Master in his vendetta.

So far it is not a bad story per se, but it's not really grabbing me either. I know that the Rani was introduced to be a new ongoing antagonist, but she only goes on to appear in one other story. I also know that the week this story aired also happened to be the same week that the BBC announced the show was going on hiatus at the end of the season. Oops. Also of historical interest is the fact that this is the last story of the classic era to be directed by a woman. It's a total sausage fest from here on out, right up until Blink in 2007. Bummer.

The first half ends with a group of Luddites tossing the TARDIS down a mine shaft to it's certain destruction, and quickly thereafter the Doctor himself is about to be thrown down the same shaft to his also-certain destruction. Uh oh.

After the last two stories were so surprisingly good, it's a bet of a letdown that this one is just kind of okay. Maybe it will get better in the second half when more of the Rani's plans are revealed. Here's hoping.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Sixth
Companion(s): Peri
Episode(s): Mark of the Rani - Part 1
Steps Walked: 7,613 today, 2,256,344 total
Distance Walked: 4.39 miles today, 1,162.20 miles total
Weight: 245.46 lbs (five day moving average), net change -61.84 lbs