I'm going to make a Whovian confession: I like Time And The Rani. Yes: it has its flaws. Yes: it's not the best Doctor Who story. Yes: it's a shame Colin Baker didn't agree to return for the regeneration. But it's fun.

Time And The Rani sees the Rani gather together the best minds to create the most intelligent brain and allow her to control an asteroid and release a substance that will convert the planet Lakertya into a time manipulator. As mentioned, I had a lot of fun watching this serial. It's completely barking mad and granted, sometimes it can be a hindrance to the serial (the Rani's a little too camp) but it's never a chore to watch. It's amazing how well Sylvester McCoy slips into the role of the Doctor also; if there was no regeneration and you didn't know it was his serial you'd think he'd have been playing the Doctor for a while.

One thing I do think could have been better than the Rani dressing as Mel though is if she had used a perception filter instead. The Rani dressed as Mel looks too silly to be taken seriously, especially when there's technology in Doctor Who lore that could have been used instead. Kate O'Mara is clearly having a lot of fun though and her chemistry with Sylvester McCoy is brilliant onscreen.

I also don't mind Bonnie Langford as Mel like many do. Yeah, she screams a lot but so did Sarah Jane contrary to popular belief. She's a fun energetic character who Bonnie Langford gives a lot of energy to; it's just a shame more wasn't made out of her being a computer programmer.

The regeneration is also not as bad as some would lead to believe. It was never going to be perfect without Colin Baker but they did a good job with his absence considering this was before the CGI we have today. Who can blame Colin Baker for deciding not to return either when they fired him for the show losing popularity when arguably that wasn't his fault?

Overall, Time And The Rani is an incredibly fun serial which sometimes slips too far into camp territory.

The original review was 4/5 but I think I was perhaps a tad generous with that score. It's more like a 3/5.