Doctor Who: 10 Most Underrated Villains And Monsters

For those Doctor Who fans who haven't ventured much into the classic series, they may be inclined to write off The Rani as just a botched attempt to create a female Master. But this evil Time Lord scientist, played to camp perfection by Kate O'Mara, is so much more than just a poor copy of the Doctor's other Gallifreyan nemesis.

Her first story sees her hiding out in nineteenth century England, kidnapping mine workers, extracting the chemicals that enable sleep and sending them into violent rages. But her old frenemies the Master and the Sixth Doctor are here too, with the former entering into a reluctant alliance with her.

The constant bickering and lying as these two amoral individuals attempt to work together forms the story's backbone and makes for some genuinely entertaining exchanges that elevate this story to one of the best of Colin Baker's run, although there's not exactly much competition there.

Time and the Rani, the Seventh Doctor's debut serial, is unfortunately a step down. While the Rani is still perfectly evil and using her vast knowledge to get up to no good, there's barely any real story to speak of. As script editor Andrew Cartmel himself put it, "This was a story which wasn't about anything."

A return in the new series for this renegade Time Lord would be very welcome, so that she can be given a dastardly scheme worthy of her talents.