Doctor Who - The Seventh Doctor - Sylvester McCoy (1987 - 1996)

Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor.

Sylvester McCoy saw out the era of the classic Doctor Who with a Doctor that at first appeared bumbling and childlike but then became devious and enigmatic and appearing to play a bigger game than what was at stake.

Unfortunately, by the time McCoy took the role, Doctor Who was no longer the show it once was. The writing had suffered immeasurably and Michael Grade was eager for the axe to fall on this show. He never liked Doctor Who at all and, in a 2004 interview said: "I thought it was horrible, awful. I thought it was so outdated. It was just a little show for a few pointy head Doctor Who fans. It was also very violent and it had lost its magic."

As such, McCoy never really got to show off his Doctor, much like Colin Baker didn't with his. When the final serial 'Survival' aired, the final scene shows Ace, his companion and the Doctor walking off, to continue their adventures, but off screen.

The end of Doctor Who was sounded when they moved it to a time slot where it was on at the same time as popular long running ITV soap 'Coronation Street', which only made its ratings fall even further. The last scene of the original series. has a melancholic monologue, spoken by McCoy which said:

"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace. We've got work to do."

That wasn't the last time we saw the Seventh Doctor, he appeared briefly in the 1996 TV Movie, where he was shot in the cross fire of a gang war in Los Angeles and when taken to hospital, died from the anesthetic that was applied to him by the Doctors. In the hospital morgue, he regenerates into the Eighth Doctor, played by Paul McGann.

All the Seventh Doctor's adventures are available to buy on DVD by clicking this link!