Thirty years ago Doctor Who "burst" back onto our "screens" with the TARDIS suffering tumultuous buffeting (although it might have just been a tumultuous buffet that triggered the regeneration) as the amoral Rani shoots it down with a handgun.

On the debris-strewn TARDIS floor Mel and the Doctor, whom we've all come to know and blame for the 18 month hiatus, lie unconcious. The Rani swaggers into the TARDIS accompanied by a furry monster. "Leave the girl," she sneers with contempt. "It's the man I want." As the outrageously costumed buffoon is turned over by a clawed hand, his face glows strangely and his hair falls off, disturbingly implying that the sixth Doctor was wearing a wig the whole time.

A NEW ERA WAS BORN!

I recently re-watched Time and The Rani. There are some good aspects to it, but the whole thing is skewered by the shocking dialogue. It's hard to imagine a human being saying any line from the script in a real conversation. Half the time it seems the actors don't understand what they've been given to say and they're just trying to get through it.

So what's good about it? It feels fresh and exciting. Turn the volume down and it looks like an exciting adventure. The effects are 1987 modern and quite ambitious. It's impossible to imagine them trying anything as complex as the spinning bubble traps back in the days of Pertwee, or even Davison. The Tetraps look great and so does Kate O'Mara, even when she's pretending to be Mel. The Lakertyan outfits are silly, but the make up is pretty good. The production team really know how to work miracles on a shoe-string budget.

Time and the Rani is a shaky start to the McCoy era (literally at the end of episode 3 where they plug him in to the giant brain) but it is fun... I ... guess?

What are your thoughts on Time and the Rani @ 30?