The Mark of the Rani

The Master (Anthony Ainley) and the
Rani (Kate O'Mara) in the same story
scarcely bares thinking about!

Two episodes (Part One, Part Two)
First broadcast Feb 2 to 9 1985
Average audience for serial: 6.80m

REGULAR CAST

Colin Baker (The Doctor) Born Jun 8 1943 Click here for Colin Baker's entry on Arc of Infinity

Nicola Bryant (Peri Brown) Born Oct 11 1960 Click here for Nicola Bryant's entry on Planet of Fire

GUEST CAST

Anthony Ainley (The Master) Aug 20 1932 to May 3 2004 (cancer) Click here for Anthony Ainley's entry on The Keeper of Traken

Terence Alexander (Lord Ravensworth) Mar 11 1923 to May 28 2009 (Parkinson's Disease)
Career highlights
Debuted in Comin' Thro' the Rye (1947), then The Fighting Pimpernel (1950), Death is a Number (1951), The Runaway Bus (1954), Dangerous Cargo (1954), Postmark for Danger (1955), The Tony Hancock Show (1957), My Pal Bob (1957-58), The Doctor's Dilemma (1958), The League of Gentlemen (1960), The Bulldog Breed (1960), Carry On Regardless (1961), The Six Proud Walkers (1962), Ghost Squad (1963), The Hidden Truth (1964), The Forsyte Saga (1967), Man in a Suitcase (1968), The Champions (1969), Waterloo (1970), Bless This House (1971), Harriet's Back in Town (1973), The Vault of Horror (1973), The Day of the Jackal (1973), The Pallisers (1974), Star Maidens (1976), Devenish (1977), The Boy Who Never Was (1980), Terry and June (1979-80), Just Liz (1980), Churchill and the Generals (1981), Behind the Screen (1981-82), Strangers and Brothers (1984), Don't Wait Up (1984-85), The Detectives (1993) and Casualty (1999). Terence also had regular roles as Bill Dodds in Garry Halliday (1959-62) and Sir Greville McDonald in The New Statesman (1989-92), but will always be associated with the character of Charlie Hungerford in 85 episodes of detective series Bergerac (1981-91).
Facts
Terence was married to actress Jane Downs, herself once married to Adam Adamant Lives! star Gerald Harper. Terence was seriously wounded by artillery fire while serving in Italy in World War Two, and for the rest of his life endured reconstructive surgery and a constant whistling in his ears. It wasn't until the 1970s, when he developed a limp, that he had surgery to remove shrapnel from his leg. In later years a condition of the retina made him blind in one eye and threatened his sight in the other. Terence was also a dedicated numerologist - he believed the number 23 had a key importance in his life: he was born in 1923; he made his first stage appearance on December 23rd, 1939; his school number at Ratcliffe College was 23; what he deemed to be his breakthrough role, alongside Sir John Gielgud on stage in Macbeth, opened on December 23rd, 1941; he joined the Army on April 23rd, 1943; the shrapnel injury he sustained while serving in the war took place on April 23rd, 1944; he was demobbed from the Army at the age of 23; he married his first wife, Juno Stevas, when she was 23 (he wanted to marry her on January 23rd 1949, but it was a Sunday so they wed on the 14th instead!); his marriage to Stevas lasted 23 years (some great trivia about Juno Stevas is that she used to work for Richmond Council, but had to leave after insisting on calling the mayor and other dignitaries "darling" and "pet" in meetings!).

Gary Cady (Luke Ward) Born Sep 14 1959
Career highlights
Gary debuted in Lace (1984), then appeared in Leaving (1984-85), Mona Lisa (1986), Fairly Secret Army (1986), Three Up, Two Down (1987), Erik the Viking (1989), The Betrothed (1989), Birds of a Feather (1992), The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1994), Revelations (1994), As Time Goes By 91996), Goodnight Sweetheart (1999), Holby City (2000), Starhunter (2001), Jonathan Creek (2004), Footballers' Wives (2006), Red Dwarf (2012), Casualty (2012), Starhunter ReduX (2017) and EastEnders (2020). His best known role was as Matthew Fairchild in Brass (1983-84/90).
Facts
In 1997, Gary opened the Belair House bar and restaurant in Dulwich, London.

Peter Childs (Jack Ward) Aug 31 1939 to Nov 1 1989 (leukaemia)
Career highlights
Peter debuted in 1968's Mr Rose, followed by A Family at War (1970), The Onedin Line (1972), Zodiac (1974), The Sweeney (1975), Blake's 7 (1978), Out (1978), West End Tales (1981), Going Out (1981), Tucker's Luck (1983), Foxy Lady (1984), Bulman (1985), Grange Hill (1986), Rockcliffe's Babies (1987), Ever Decreasing Circles (1987), Knights of God (1987) and Press Gang (1989). He had regular roles as Ron Gash in Public Eye (1975) and Detective Sergeant Grant in Softly Softly: Task Force (1976), but Peter will be best remembered as Detective Sergeant Ronald "Kenny" Rycott in Minder (1979-89).

Cordelia Ditton (Older woman) Born Jun 18 1953
Career highlights
Cordelia's only other credits were Crown Court (1984), Little Dorrit (1988) and The Fool (1990).
Facts
She now works as a vocal trainer and drama lecturer. She set up the company Voice Business in 1996 (one of her colleagues there is former actor Ian Staples, who appeared in The Caves of Androzani). Here she is, on Twitter!

Gawn Grainger (George Stephenson) Born Oct 12 1937
Career highlights
Scotsman Gawn debuted in The March of the Peasants (1952), after which he appeared in The Adventures of Peter Simple (1957), Echo Four Two (1961), She Stoops to Conquer (1966), Son of Man (1969), Man at the Top (1971), Male Bait (1971), Jason King (1972), Joseph Andrews (1977), Three Piece Suite (1977), Private Schulz (1981), The Happy Apple (1983), Missing from Home (1984), Mitch (1984), Murder of a Moderate Man (1985), The Black Tower (1985), The Raggedy Rawney (1988), Gentlemen and Players (1989), Making News (1990), The Darling Buds of May (1991), Merlin of the Crystal Cave (1991), EastEnders (1993), Crime Traveller (1997), The Queen's Nose (1999), The Glass (2001), Doc Martin (2006), Foyle's War (2006), The Nativity (2010), Labyrinth (2012) and Macbeth (2014). Gawn is also a writer, having penned the Weekend Playhouse play You Don't Have to Walk to Fly (1984), as well as the Play on One Clowns (1989), three episodes of Trainer (1991-92) and Lovejoy (1993).
Facts
Gawn's third and current wife is actress Zoe Wanamaker (best known to Doctor Who fans as Cassandra in The End of the World and New Earth), while one of his previous wives was the actress Janet Key. Gawn helped his close friend Laurence Olivier to write his 1986 book On Acting. He learnt in later life that his biological father was actually the lodger his parents took in; the lodger went on to marry his mother!

William Ilkley (Tim Bass) Born Apr 20 1958
Career highlights
Debuting in Harry's Game (1982), William's further credits include Sorrell and Son (1984), Mitch (1984), Howards' Way (1985), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988), Shipwrecked (1990), Soldier Soldier (1991), The Good Guys (1992), Magic Grandad (1993), Frontiers (1996), Coronation Street (1997), Wing and a Prayer (1997), Judge John Deed (2001), EastEnders (2003), The Last Detective (2004), Vincent (2005), Family Affairs (2005), Casualty (2001/07), Is Anybody There? (2008), The Day of the Triffids (2009), DCI Banks (2014) and Endeavour (2017). William was a lead actor in John Godber's Hull Truck Theatre Company between 1988-2001.
Facts
His real surname is Brown - he took his stage name from the town he grew up in. William runs a company which provides acting workshops in schools and colleges. Doctor Who is among William's top three favourite TV jobs in his career!
In 2013 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with William here.

Sarah James (Young woman)
Career highlights
Sarah's other credits include The Lost Tribe (1980), The Gentle Touch (1982), Howards' Way (1985), The Come-Uppance of Captain Katt (1986), May to December (1989) and Devices and Desires (1991). Sarah also appeared regularly as Jeannie in the sitcom Butterflies (1980/83).

Hus Levant (Edwin Green) Died 2003 (result of a fall)
Career highlights
Turkish born Hus's CV also includes The Dark Crystal (1982) and The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare (1983).
Facts
After his appearance in Doctor Who, Hus gave up acting and returned to Turkey to enter the construction industry.

Kate O'Mara (The Rani) Aug 10 1939 to Mar 30 2014 (ovarian cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Played: The Rani in The Mark of the Rani (1985), Time and the Rani (1987), Dimensions in Time (1993)
Career highlights
Kate's first role was Home and Away (1956, credited as Merrie Carroll), followed by roles in Emergency Ward 10 (1957), Danger Man (1965), Weavers Green (1966), Adam Adamant Lives! (1967), Great Catherine (1968), The Desperados (1969), The Avengers (1969), The Main Chance (1969), The Vampire Lovers (1970), The Horror of Frankenstein (1970), Spy Trap (1973), The Tamarind Seed (1974), The Two Ronnies (1977), The Plank (1979), Dempsey and Makepeace (1986), Cluedo (1990), Bad Girls (2001), Absolutely Fabulous (1995/2003), Crossroads (2003), Family Affairs (2005) and Benidorm (2012). Kate had regular roles as Jane Maxwell in The Brothers (1975-76), Katherine Laker in Triangle (1981-82), Cassandra Morrell in US soap Dynasty (1986) and Laura Wilde in Howards' Way (1989-90). In 1971 Kate, who started her career as a speech therapist, appeared in the stage version of The Avengers, playing the villainous Madame Gerda. Kate reprised the role of the Rani in the 2000 audio play The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind, and was expected to do so again for Big Finish in 2014 in the story The Rani Elite, but she died before recording took place. The character was recast in the form of Siobhan Redmond.
Facts
Kate's mother was actress Hazel Bainbridge. Between 1961-76, Kate was married to actor Jeremy Young, who appeared in An Unearthly Child and Mission to the Unknown. In 1965, she had a brief liaison with an actor called David Orchard (he can be seen as the swimmer in the title sequence of the Bond film Thunderball), and as a result had a baby son which she had to have adopted. Her second husband was also a Doctor Who actor: between 1993-96 she was married to Richard Willis (who appeared in Full Circle). Her sister is actress Belinda Carroll, which made her brother-in-law the actor Michael Cochrane (who appeared in Black Orchid and Ghost Light). Belinda was previously married to actor Simon Williams (who appeared in Remembrance of the Daleks), making Simon Kate's ex brother-in-law (are you following this?). Kate founded The British Actors' Theatre Company in 1987, for which her son Dickon Young worked as a set designer. Kate had Dickon following an affair with the actor Ian Cullen (who appeared in The Aztecs), but Dickon was brought up by his stepfather, Jeremy Young. On New Year's Eve 2012, Dickon - who for years had suffered from alcohol and drug abuse, which had worsened since he sustained brain damage after being hit by a car - was found hanged at the family home, aged 48 (Kate was in hospital with double pneumonia at the time so her son's body was not found for three weeks).

Richard Steele (Guard) Nov 15 1926 to Apr 30 2004
Doctor Who credits
Played: Commander Gorton in The War Games (1969)
Played: Sergeant Hart in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970)
Played: Guard in The Mark of the Rani (1985)
Career highlights
Richard started his CV off with Quatermass and the Pit in 1959, then subsequently appeared in Suspense (1962), Sergeant Cork (1963), The Ugliest Girl in Town (1968), Coronation Street (1970), The Witch's Daughter (1971), Hawkeye, the Pathfinder (1973), The Venturers (1975), The Stars Look Down (1975), Within These Walls (1975-76), Grange Hill (1978), All Creatures Great and Small (1978), The Glums (1979), Juliet Bravo (1982), Bergerac (1983), No 73 (1983), Grange Hill (1984), First Among Equals (1986) and Three Up Two Down (1989). He also appeared regularly as PC Pierce in Andy Robson (1982-83).

Martyn Whitby (Drayman) Born Dec 10 1949
Career highlights
Debuting in Rock Follies (1977), Martin's CV includes Survivors (1977), Enemy at the Door (1980), Crossroads (1982), The Gentle Touch (1984), The District Nurse (1984), Dempsey and Makepeace (1986), Emmerdale Farm (1989-90), Soldier Soldier (1991), The Diary of Jack the Ripper (1993), Minder (1994), No Bananas (1996), Cadfael (1997), Murder in Mind (2003), Murder City (2004), My Dad's the Prime Minister (2004), Casualty (1994/2005), Lewis (2007) and The Royal Today (2008).

Kevin White (Sam Rudge)
Career highlights
Kevin's other credits include Thomas and Sarah (1979), When the Boat Comes In (1981), Squadron (1982), Oscar (1985) and Knights of God (1987).

CREW

Pip Baker (writer) Jan 3 1929 to Apr 14 2020 (coronavirus)
Doctor Who credits
Wrote: The Mark of the Rani (1985), The Trial of a Time Lord (episodes 9-12 & 14, 1986), Time and the Rani (1987)
Career highlights
As part of a highly successful husband and wife writing team, Pip co-wrote for The Pursuers (1961), The Third Alibi (1961), Dilemma (1962), Detective (1968), Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (1969), Circus (1975), Space: 1999 (1976), Z Cars (1976-77), Watt on Earth (1991-92) and The Last 28 (1999). Pip was also an accomplished playwright and novelist, co-writing Doctor Who novelisations of their TV stories, as well as a Make Your Own Adventure book entitled Race Against Time (1986), which also featured the Rani. In 2000, Pip and Jane resurrected the Rani once more for the audio drama The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind.
Facts
Pip was named after the Dickens character in Great Expectations. He suffered a fall early in 2020 and was ill for some time before being admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties shortly before he died.

Jane Baker (writer) Dec 30 1924 to Aug 29 2014
Doctor Who credits
Wrote: The Mark of the Rani (1985), The Trial of a Time Lord (episodes 9-12 & 14, 1986), Time and the Rani (1987)
Career highlights
As part of a highly successful husband and wife writing team, Jane co-wrote for The Pursuers (1961), The Third Alibi (1961), Dilemma (1962), Detective (1968), Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (1969), Circus (1975), Space: 1999 (1976), Z Cars (1976-77), Watt on Earth (1991-92) and The Last 28 (1999). Jane was also an accomplished playwright and novelist, co-writing Doctor Who novelisations of their TV stories, as well as a Make Your Own Adventure book entitled Race Against Time (1986), which also featured the Rani. In 2000, Jane and Pip resurrected the Rani once more for the audio drama The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind.

Sarah Hellings (director) Born Dec 15 1945
Career highlights
After starting out behind the scenes as a film editor on children's magazine show Blue Peter in the mid-1970s, Sarah's directing career began with A Star for My Son (1979), then Grange Hill (1981, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA), Angels (1981-82), Juliet Bravo (1982-83), Howards' Way (1985-86), Boon (1987-88), Forever Green (1992), Lovejoy (1992), Soldier Soldier (1993), The Glass Virgin (1995), Doctor Finlay (1996), Taggart (1993/98), The Cater Street Hangman (1998), Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married (1999-2000) and Midsomer Murders (2002-08). Sarah also made short films for children's series Blue Peter between 1975-81.
Facts
Sarah was a founding member of Glasgow-based Enterprise Screen.

John Nathan-Turner (producer) Aug 12 1947 to May 1 2002 (liver failure) Click here for John Nathan-Turner's entry on The Leisure Hive

Eric Saward (script editor) Born Dec 9 1944 Click here for Eric Saward's entry on on Castrovalva