Loved Kate. Loved the Rani. Very sad news indeed.

Kate's performances in Doctor Who were fantastic - without doubt the highest point of each of the stories. She was delightfully arch and her asides, as noted previously, were wonderful. Her expressions and attempts to breathe life and reality into the lacklustre scripts shone out. The fact that she attempted to take things as utterly seriously as any other acting job and give her best was obvious.
In real life, she was kind and considerate, to fans and all, and naturally glamorous.
RIP Ms O'Mara.

What an utterly moronic comment and how childish and disrespectful to Kate herself to try and ruin a tribute thread by attempting to start more lazy infighting.

Kate O Mara was a wonderful actress of both stage and screen. Talented, stunningly beautiful. I will always remember her most fondly for her work with Hammer. A far greater legacy than the Rani who despite her best efforts was ill served by dreadful writing and episodes. A fitting tribute would be that Kate O Mara makes them far more watchable than they would otherwise be.

Respect to the rani ;-(

Well done saladfingers

So sad to hear of her passing. Loved her as the Rani in DW, and as Jackie Stone in Ab Fab.

This song always reminds me of her. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUS1XDIIhTE

Probably because it was used in Ab Fab's 'Happy New Year' episode in 1995.

Kate's character Jackie said in the episode, that Scott wrote the song about her.

Goodbye, Kate. R.I.P. I shall miss you. You lit up the TV screens everytime you were on.

Here is an excert from the Ab Fab episode, if anyone wants to see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0evUyJrUQ8

Sorry if an advert plays at the beginning. Nothing I can do about that, I'm afraid.

So sad to hear about this today. I can only echo what has been said already about Kate O' Mara and how she simply stole the show no matter how bad the scripts.

However, I don't think The Mark Of The Rani was that bad and as I've mentioned previously on here, it was a shame she wasn't able to be the sole villain in the story, The Master's inclusion was totally unnecessary.

Time Of That Rani she acted brilliantly against what was a mediocre script, if anything she excelled at being sole villain and showed us the missed opportunity for her to be so in her previous story.

Seen her in Dynasty and she played another wonderful scheming villain in that too.

RIP

Rip Kate , you brought a great character to life in Who and many other programmes.

Believe it or not, her episode with McCoy was the first episode of Doctor Who I watched in full without being asked to turn the channel over by my elder brother.

Just watched this on YouTube. Very good interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNuABkbT8xE

I'm not sure, but I think this was broacast around 2000, maybe 2001. I know Gloria Hunniford's programme was on Channel 5 around then.

Also, there is a tribute to the Rani on YouTube, too. Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsLOdSgwz9Y

Very sad news. RIP Kate. Loved her portrayal of the Rani.

Sad to hear about this.

It's terribly sad that Kate has gone. She had a very tought time over the last couple of years: her health wasn't great, and her son's death was something that she couldn't bounce back from. (He hanged himself in her garage at Christmas 2012). I met her a few times, and it's a shame that she won't be returning to my local theatre in any more tacky Agatha Christie tours.

The tribute package on BBC news last night was great! They showed the "leave the girl, it's the man I want" sequence, and her finest moment from Howards Way (Laura Wilde: "Hello Ken" / Ken Masters: "You must have eyes in the back of your head" / Laura Wilde: "No, I'm standing downwind of your aftershave"), along with a glowing tribute from Tracey Childs.

Mrs Chuff and I watched The Mark of the Rani last night, and I will always love that story. Pip and Jane Baker wrote absolute textbook DW, in such a way that it's almost a parody or a cliche of DW. The Rani is a great creation, and Kate was ideal in the role. She was a very under-rated actor and a delightful woman.

Couldn't agree more! What you've said is a perfect way to say goodbye to a great lady.

Really sad news.
I was lucky enough to meet Kate at the 50th Anniversary Celebration at Excel in November. I was supporting a lad that I work with who has Asperger's and is a huge Dr. Who fan!! We were so fortunate to meet Kate. We actually had a ticket for a signing with Camille but she had gone home unwell that afternoon. Kate was clearly frail and had a young member of the Excel staff sat next to her for support.
Kate was so kind and gracious. The lad that I support loves The Rani and despite the young member of the Excel staff saying that she didn't need to, Kate got to her feet and leant across the table to have a photo taken with him. What a lovely lady.
R I P Kate. Xxx

I personally liked the rani, but if I didn't I wouldn't backpedal or change my opinion of the character based on the actor's demise. Everyone is allowed their opinion and I don't think anyone should have to feel pressured to change their view just because of an actors situation in the real world.