X-Rani and the Ugly Mutants

"The sight of a grinning, unblemished, handsome man, twirling a long scarf, brought all wrestling to a premature halt."

Writer: Paul Crompton

Format: Comic Strip

Released: September 1979

Printed in: Doctor Who Annual 1980

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana I

Synopsis 

The Doctor and Romana venture to Xethra where they meet many strange and intriguingly mutated creatures. They soon meet the being who put them in that state, the mysterious X-Rani.

Verdict  

X-Rani and the Ugly Mutants was just as weird and wonderful as it sounds! It's certainly one of the most bizarre titles of a Doctor Who story I've come across throughout all the formats! Even for an Annual story, of which I've been perhaps critical of in the past, this was pushing it. Now you may not think the title is too bad but upon seeing it just seemed strange to me so I was amazed that the story was pretty much everything it said on the tin! There were plenty of ugly mutants and X-Rani was the culprit for those awfully mutated beings. The fact that she did it via mind control was awfully disturbing I thought! How sick, twisted and sadistic must she have been to imagine the abysmal mutations she brought to the Xethrans. The relationship between the Fourth Doctor and Romana I was at a high which was nice to see. It's good to see the pair have adventures outside of finding the Key to Time segments. It is rather nice to have a more varied style of story featuring this particular TARDIS pair as opposed to what we got on television with the season long search for keys. The reference to K9 being repaired in service was good and I am glad that the little but brilliant robot dog isn't being forgotten in the Annual. X-Rani hiding under the veil was interesting and with the references to the creatures cowering from her beauty, I'm not sure why but I imagined these mutants moved the same as the Zarbi, infamous enemies of course from lacklustre The Web Planet. The Doctor travelling with X-Rani in the TARDIS was interesting and my opinion on her as an enemy enhanced when her plan was hatched and revealed at the climax. She lured the Doctor for her own gain but unfortunately for her she would bring her own downfall after the mutations on the a Doctor. He helped the Controller over X-Rani resulting in victory. He'd be safe to return, although not in a hurry, to Romana and rescue her from under the veil. Overall, a good and weird little story! But weird can be fantastic! The name of the X-Rani was also good with its insight to a future villain who would never be forgotten...

Rating: 8/10