Time and the Rani Episode 2

Season 24@30. If you’re a fugitive on a planet covered in rocks it might just be an idea not to sport your normal bright orange and yellow number but perhaps acquire a dark cloak of some sort. Welcome to part 2 in which last week’s cliffhanger is rather adeptly untangled by having the bubble trap land on water. You see sometimes the much maligned Pip and Jane are somewhat better than we remember. Like the scene when the new Doctor and the real Mel finally meet. This perfectly played sequence starts with a little physical comedy, then a series of accusations and counter accusations and then when each realises the other’s identity an affectionate reunion. Well played in every sense.

Not that everything is perfect. For a start why do Lakertyans- with the whole planet to wander about on- keep bumping into each other in the middle of large spaces? This week Faroon suddenly encounters Ikona as if they’ve just met in a busy Waitrose when in fact there are acres of space around them and given the colour of their threads they would have seen each other approaching half an hour ago. And just what is the Rani trying to get the Doctor to do? We spend a good proportion of the episode with both of them faffing around with unconvincing looking alien scientific equipment and chatting about “strange matter” but the end result of all of it appears to be akin to changing a lightbulb! The lights come on shortly after the Rani delivers her giant piece of toffee. And what the bejiggins is that gun all about? It fires confetti! Which Urak shakes off as easily as a dog would rain.

Is there a Doctor Who story in fact which oscillates so often between thoughtfulness and silliness? 

When Faroon discovers it is her daughter who has perished in last week’s trap there is a moment of sadness. Yet five minutes later neither she nor husband Beyus mention anything. Perhaps she hasn’t told him. Actually Wanda Ventham is a surprise turn up having last graced the series a decade earlier as Thea Ransome in the classic `Image of the Fendahl`. Even in a part that is clearly not a patch on her earlier role she still manages to deliver something substantial. Little fact- Wanda’s son Benedict Cumberbatch was 11 when this was made. I wonder if he got a set visit and saw some of the knockaround comedy and thought “I will never become Doctor Who” and that’s why he is always a bit snooty about the show?

A further surprise is we get another strong cliffhanger. Admittedly hiding out in the lair of hulking and probably smelly creatures is not the smartest option but for once someone has turned the lighting down so the sight of several of the Tetraps lurching growlingly towards the Doctor like irritated bears is actually very effective.