Inspirations - The Mark of the Rani

Colin Baker's first historical story, so naturally the main inspiration is the historical period which forms the backdrop - in this case the Industrial Revolution. The Mark of the Rani is set in the north eastern corner of England in the early 1800's. There are real historical figures present, and lots of others are mentioned, which helps to pin down the date.
The Industrial Revolution in Britain began around 1760, and lasted until the mid 19th Century, and was characterised by the invention and adoption of new technologies. Manufacturing moved from small scale, cottage industry set-ups to large scale factory based working. Hand and horse power gave way to steam and water power. The textile industry was at the forefront of the revolution.
The period saw other changes, such as a massive population move away from the countryside into the larger towns and cities. To feed the factories, there was more coal-mining. To build the factories, and their machines, more iron ore was mined, and new methods were devised to refine it.
Another major development was in lines of communication. It was necessary to transport the raw materials to where they were needed, and to get the finished products to their markets. This led first to the canal network, and then to the railways.
The Doctor had earlier claimed to have been involved in one of the key moments of the Industrial Revolution, when he told his companions that he had been present when James Watt had been inspired by a boiling kettle to look into harnessing the power of steam.

The two non-fictional characters present in The Mark of the Rani are inventor and civil engineer George Stephenson, and Lord Ravensworth.
Stephenson was born in June 1781. His parents were illiterate, as was he up to the age of 18 when he took himself off to night classes after work to learn to read and write. George was based in the Northumbrian town of Killingworth, where he made improvements to the pit's steam engine, and also invented a miners' safety lamp some time before Humphrey Davy. As a self-taught man, Stephenson's design was the victim of snobbery, as the Royal Society chose to honour Davy's design over his. Stephenson then started work on locomotives - at this stage intended purely to transport coal, iron ore etc. The idea of passenger trains wouldn't come until 1821 when he government passed the bill for the Stockton-Darlington railway. Stephenson won the competition to run the trains on this line with his Locomotion engine, built 1825. The standard rail gauge in Britain derives from the one Stephenson had used at Killingworth. Stephenson moved away from the North-East in 1830, to settle in Leicestershire, so that gives a maximum date of when the events of this story could have taken place.

There is to be a gathering of engineers and scientists at Lord Ravensworth's estate, and three of the names mentioned as attendees are Davy, Michael Faraday and Thomas Telford. Davy died in 1829, and Faraday's first scientific breakthrough (in the field of electro-magnetics) was in 1821, so he is unlikely to have been an invitee before that date. It is clear from the dialogue that Stephenson has yet to build his famous Rocket locomotive - that came in 1829. This story must therefore be set in the 1820's - between 1821 and 1829.
The baronetcy of Ravensworth fell vacant on the death of its first holder, and was not revived until 1821. The character we see in this story must be Sir Thomas Henry Liddell, who was 6th Baronet of Ravensworth until 1821, and 1st Baron Ravensworth after the baronetcy was reestablished in 1821. He employed George Stephenson at Killingworth from 1804.
The Ravensworth family seat was Ravensworth Castle. It was built on the proceeds of the family coal mines but, ironically, these were to also be its downfall - quite literally, as the house had to be demolished in the early 1900's due to subsidence from the extensive coal workings beneath.
One element of the story which appears to be anachronistic is the presence of people thought to be Luddites. The Luddite movement took its name from Ned Ludd, an apprentice who had smashed textile looms in 1779. The movement was generally confined to the textile industry, and they were active between 1811 and 1816, when they were suppressed by the government and mill owners. To have Luddites active in the coal mining industry in the mid-1820's is historically inaccurate.

According to the story's writers - husband and wife team Pip and Jane Baker - the character of the Rani was inspired by a conversation with some scientists at a dinner party. Pip's brother was a scientist. At said party, one of the guests was talking about human beings basically being bundles of chemical elements, and this got Pip thinking about a scientist who was completely amoral, who couldn't see beyond the chemistry to the humanity. There is no explanation in the script as to how the Master was able to survive being immolated on the planet Sarn in Planet of Fire - a story which was supposed to have seen the writing out of the character, at least for a while.
When first seen, the Master is disguising himself as a scarecrow in a field - something which may have been inspired by the Dr Syn stories of Russell Thorndyke, first published in 1915. Hammer had made a movie about the smuggler character in 1962 (Captain Clegg aka Night Creatures, starring Peter Cushing). Disney followed with their own adaptation the following year (Dr Syn: The Scarecrow, starring Patrick McGoohan).
The Rani's TARDIS is concealed behind a screen depicting a JMW Turner painting. It is Mount Vesuvius In Eruption, painted in 1817. This ties in with our dating - though, of course, the Rani could have brought it with her from any time period.
Next time: From two rogue Time Lords to two Doctors, in a story which was originally going to be about six Doctors, as Robert Holmes gets handed another of JNT's notorious "shopping lists"...