With the beginning of Doctor Who's 24th season on September 7, 1987, Sylvester McCoy joined the cast as the seventh regeneration of the indomitable doctor. This metamorphosis occurs when the TARDIS is knocked out of commission by a blast from the ship commandeered by the Rani (Kate O'Mara), a renegade Time Lady. At the same time, the long-standing peace on Lakertya, a planet inhabited by serpentine humanoids, is violently broken. Could these two events have something in common? Need one ask? Episode one of the season-opening "Time and the Rani" was written by Pip and Janet Baker. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi