The Rani Reaps The Whirlwind

After her failed experiment on Lakertya, the Rani is taken prisoner by her own Tetrap servants and put to work. The project she in charged with is a simple one: create a perpetual food source for the Tetraps. And that food is blood. The Rani is not alone: she finds herself with other prisoners of the Tetraps and forges a shaky alliance with them to escape, but is it going to be that simple? And does the Rani have a shred of concern for her fellow captives?

The premise sounds interesting, doesn't it? Pity the finished project isn't all it could have been. This is by no means a Big Finish calibre production; the actors do not sound very convinced of their roles (aside from Kate O'Mara as the Rani, 13 years after Time and the Rani was broadcast) and the incidental music... well it didn't even sound like bad porno music, it just sounded bad. And the cues were all a bit pointless. Still, it's interesting to see that Urak, the Rani's henchamn Tetrap, has quickly ascended the ranks and is the leader of the species now. Bagging a Time Lord and bringing back a TARDIS must have pushed him up a few notches.

The script for Whirlwind was written by Pip and Jane Baker, and for some reason they decided it was important to have the Tetraps randomly abduct a jock who is high on himself, a friend of his who is high on E, and a girl on her high horse about still being a virgin. Why? Just so they could bring illicit drug use that much closer to Doctor Who? Or just so they could include the word "hymen" in the script? NOBODY says "hymen" when they are trying to get into a girl's pants. Good god.

I think we could have lived without this one. Nice try and all, but was this a story that had to be told? The answer here is no. Thankfully it was just an hour long and in the end the Rani shows a slight bit of compassion for her fellow captors, then off she goes swearing revenge on Urak and his people. And they still haven't gotten around to telling that one.

And hopefully they won't.

NEXT EPISODE : PARADISE TOWERS