Although the Master ostensibly plays second fiddle to the Rani in this one - it's her name in the title, after all - he's hardly sidelined, providing as much annoyance for the Rani and her plans for harvesting human sleep hormone (long story) as he ever did for the Doctor. True, he does dress up as a scarecrow at one point, and then there's that silly "Finito TARDIS!" line. But the Tissue Compression Eliminator (TCE) has never looked more frightening - it has webs?! And there's something rather endearing about his description of Peri, recalling the grudging, mutually respectful relationship he shared with Jo Grant in his earlier appearances. Besides, when Anthony Ainsley and Kate O'Mara are onscreen together, it's hard to figure out which one to look at, they're both so captivating. It's amazing the Doctor gets out of this one alive. Maybe it's the tree mine thing. Not too difficult to beat a villain when they've got stuff like that in their arsenal.
Tony Whitt has previously written TV, DVD, and comic reviews for CINESCAPE, NOW PLAYING, and iF MAGAZINE. His weekly COMICSCAPE columns from the early 2000s can still be found archived on Mania.com. He has also written a book of gay-themed short stories titled CRESCENT CITY CONNECTIONS, available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle format. Whitt currently lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
