The Seventh Doctor truly was brilliant. A clown on the outside, extremely serious on the inside, that's what best describes Sylvester McCoy's incarnation in my view. His era was probably the most mixed in terms of serial quality, it had some instant classics but also some torrible ones. But McCoy's Doctor himself was fantastic.
The Seventh Doctor came onto our screens at the very beginning of season 24, with a regeneration immediately kicking off the season!
Time and the Rani is often criticised but despite its antics I really enjoyed it! It was wonderful seeing the Rani return and McCoy's debut was excellent with a lot of fun in a good story.
However, the second serial of the season wasn't so good. The Seventh Doctor and Mel's first stand alone serial together, Paradise Towers is correctly unpopular and criticised. It's just not that good at all sadly. There was though a vast improvement in Delta and the Bannermen which I very much enjoyed and thought it was brilliant! A relatively not talked about serial, this deserves more recognition.
Dragonfire was a great season finale and saw both the departure of Mel and the arrival of Ace. In hindsight, this wasn't great for me as I quite enjoyed Mel but never have gotten to like Ace. The story itself was a good sendoff for Mel and again one deserving of higher recognition.
Remembrance of the Daleks was an absolutely memorable, sensational and simply stunning beginning to the 25th season of Doctor Who. It really had it all, the Daleks- Renegade and Imperial, the magnificent Special Weapons Dalek and Davros! It was truly spectacular, one of my all time favourites.
It was followed by the much criticised The Happiness Patrol but strangely enough I enjoyed the barmy serial and thought it was good! I do admit it has it's flaws however.
The Cybermen fantastically returned in Silver Nemesis continuing the brilliance of the season thus far. A brilliant serial that was really eventful! Another of my all time favourites. By now, McCoy had more than established himself as a wonderful Doctor.
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy finished off the milestone season and it was lots of fun. A catchy song, unique villains and a good story! A serial I enjoyed a lot.
Survival concluded regular Classic Who in some style. A magnificent season finale seeing the return of the Master once more, sadly this was the last appearance from the sensational Anthony Ainley who'd certainly made the role of the Master his own. At the climax of part three, the Doctor and Ace walked away into the wilderness... Doctor Who was cancelled.
Of course, that was just in television format and the Seventh Doctor would continue in many novels that I'm yet to read. Sylvester McCoy would though return to performing Doctor Who in the form of audio adventures, where in what I've listened to so far he's been very good!
McCoy's role in The Sirens of Time was good but he really kicked into his brilliance in the phenomenal The Fearmonger. A spectacular audio story! The Seventh Doctor and Ace would again encounter the Daleks in The Genocide Machine and there're many future Seventh Doctor audios I'm looking very much forward to such as Thin Ice and Daleks Among Us.
McCoy's role as the Time Lord on TV wasn't quite over after Survival though, as we would witness the regeneration of the Seventh Doctor in The Movie. A unique style and format but for the 25 minutes or so he performed, McCoy was great.
Overall, the Seventh Doctor is sensational and long let him continue in the form of audio, a truly great Doctor!
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