Doctor Who In Perspective 1987–1996 (Part 2)
John Hussey concludes his Classic Who look back on the McCoy era.
“We hoped to return to the North Way, but the dark curse follows our dragon ship… The Wolves of Fenric shall return for their treasure, and then shall the dark evil rule eternally.”
The Seventh Doctor faced many challenging enemies, all of which tested him as a god-like being in which he towered over evil through misdirection and skilled thinking. This version of the Time Lord went about to destroy evil and made sure that they never caused harm again.
One of the interesting moments of this direction was during ‘The Happiness Patrol’ when the Seventh Doctor and Ace acted out against the laws forced upon Terra Alpha by the insane Helen A. Her goal seemed to have merits in trying to grant everyone happiness, but by forcing it upon her people in which people were killed for being unhappy, it created an atmosphere of tyranny. Accompanied by the ‘diabolical’ Kandy-Man, a creature that created sweets that killed its victims, the serial had a surprisingly dark tone that reflected upon societies that are controlled by mad men which cause horrific consequences for the people.
Fenric was the greatest villain during this era because he was the Seventh Doctor’s opposite in every way possible through his manipulative actions to gain the victory. The damaging effects of Fenric’s curse were horrible to see, to which even caused Ace a lot of pain. The serial ‘The Curse of Fenric’ was aided by the appearance of Vampires in the form of Haemovores. This added in the idea of faith being a tool to bring about hope and victory over the forces of darkness. The fact that Fenric operated like he was, playing a game of chess, really captured how the Seventh Doctor motivated himself during his adventures and in the end used his own pawns to deal checkmate.
The Seventh Doctor’s era saw the return of classic enemies such as the Daleks, Davros, the Cybermen and the Master. The Daleks had the interesting development of being engaged within a civil war. This arc started back in ‘Resurrection of the Daleks,’ continued into ‘Revelation of the Daleks,’ before being concluded in ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’. This also continued Davros’ development after being arrested by his creation within the previous serial, with him now being Emperor of the Imperial Daleks; an elite faction that were improved through technological advancement. They went against the Supreme Dalek and its followers of original Daleks, being donned the Renegade Daleks. The Seventh Doctor’s actions of destroying Skaro and nearly wiping out the Dalek race brought about one of the major factors that sparked off the Last Great Time War, accompanied by the Time Lords attempts to bring about their destruction during their genesis.
The Cybermen attempted to claim the power of the Silver Nemesis, battling against Neo-Nazis and Lady Peinforte. The Seventh Doctor once again manipulated events and brought about the Cybermen’s destruction.
The Master’s return was interesting through his possession by the Cheetah planet. The planet’s animalistic nature began to turn him into a primitive creature fuelled by pure instinct. Part Three of ‘Survival’ resulted in the Master trying to use these abilities to kill the Seventh Doctor but ultimately failed, disappearing along with the decaying Cheetah planet due to his battle with his nemesis.
“There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where 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 is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we’ve got work to do.”
The Seventh Doctor’s era was a brilliant example of survival. Despite all the setbacks plaguing the show behind-the-scenes, John Nathan-Turner and new script editor Andrew Cartmel kept it going with a new lead, Sylvester McCoy, new composer and a new direction with computer generated effects. The problem came about with a lower budget. This affected the quality of the serials put into play by the writers. A lot of narratives were inventive but were brought down by the disappointing visuals. Along with this, as mentioned in the last article, was the reduction in episode numbers which meant there was less time for story and character development as well as less space for serials, resulting in the shortest seasons to date.
Nevertheless Cartmel’s grand design for the Seventh Doctor was impressive. He wished to return the show to the world of mystery by granting the show’s protagonist a mysterious background, allowing the audience intrigue into a character they thought they knew and understood. This was developed through small hints and pieces of dialogue that suggested that the Doctor wasn’t an ordinary Time Lord. It was even hinted throughout ‘Battlefield’ that the Seventh Doctor was, or will become, Merlin. The Seventh Doctor was made to feel more god-like within his persona through his means of defeating his enemy through manipulation and standing above those around him through his age and wisdom.
What I loved most about this era was the incorporation of companion development. Ace was the first companion to receive extensive development throughout her time on the TARDIS. She started off as a street-wise teenager, hiding away her inner feelings, before being revealed as a broken person through her troubled past. Her time with the Doctor helped her to confront her fears and problems and allowed her to become a stronger, more confident person. Ace was also the first three-dimensional companion due to her many layers shown throughout her two season run. She was also more engaging as a character because of this and allowed the audience to relate with her.
The Brigadier and UNIT were brought back for their final adventure within the Classic Series during ‘Battlefield’. The Brigadier’s character was shown in all his brilliance through his bravery and loyalty to the Doctor. Upon knowing he was back the Brigadier came out of retirement and went into battle one last time. His heroic nature of taking the Seventh Doctor’s place in facing the Destroyer, along with the quotes “Get off my world,” and “I just do the best I can,” created a legendary moment within the show. There was also the brief moment where we were made to believe the Brigadier had died, with the Seventh Doctor becoming angered over his sacrifice. Luckily he survived and was able to return home to his wife, Doris (whom was first mentioned all the way back in ‘Planet of the Spiders’).
Sadly the Seventh Doctor’s era was the Classic era’s end. After three seasons in the role the plug was pulled, placing fans within the long and dark ‘wilderness’ period. The show returned briefly in 1993 during Children In Need where McCoy joined fellow Doctors Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Colin Baker (along with an ensemble of other Doctor Who cast members) within the 30th Anniversary Special ‘Dimensions in Time’. Doctor Who didn’t return to our screens until 1996 where the BBC made a collaboration with Fox and Universal in order to bring about an American reboot, with ‘Doctor Who’ being the pilot episode in the form of a television movie. Sylvester McCoy was brought back as the Seventh Doctor during the first act of the narrative before he was given his own regeneration into Paul McGann. This at least was a better outcome than what Colin Baker received.
