The Seventh Doctor
Portrayed by: Sylvester McCoy
Years active: 1987 - 1989 + Doctor Who 1996 Television Movie
Series: Classic
Companions: Mel Bush, Ace
The Doctor's regeneration between his Sixth and Seventh incarnation wasn't as troublesome as some of his previous ones had been, though he still suffered from some post-regeneration ailments, including amnesia, confusing the Rani for his companion, Mel in Time and the Rani (Classic Series). While under the Rani's influence during his first adventure, the Doctor chose his new look, and gained a sense of haute and couture, though it is unknown if the Rani had any influence over the Seventh Doctor's look. After defeating the Rani and regaining his memory properly, the Doctor travelled with Mel for a period of time, visiting Paradise Towers in Paradise Towers (Classic Series) and the planet Iceworld. Following the result of his Iceworld adventure, Mel opted to travel with con man Sabalom Glitz, whom she believed could be turned to the side of right with her assistance. However, while on Iceworld, the Doctor did meet Ace, a teenager with troubles from 1980's Earth, though she had someone managed to end up on Iceworld. Following Mel's departure from the TARDIS, Ace became the Doctor's new companion in Dragonfire (Classic Series). One of Ace's first adventures with the Seventh Doctor took her to Coal Hill School in 1963, only a few days after the First Doctor had left in An Unearthly Child (Classic Series), returning to finish some business left behind by the First Doctor. Here both the Seventh Doctor and Ace encountered the Daleks and Davros in Remembrance of the Daleks (Classic Series). The Seventh Doctor defeated the Daleks and Davros using the booby-trapped Hand of Omega to create a supernova and destroy the Daleks home planet, Skaro. This is regarded as the first act of the Time War following its start in Genesis of the Daleks (Classic Series) where the Fourth Doctor tried to prevent their creation.
Following this adventure, the Doctor and Ace continued travelling together, notably encountering Lady Peinforte, a woman who had disturbing knowledge about the Doctor's true character, and the Cybermen in Silver Nemesis (Classic Series). The Seventh Doctor also found himself reunited with his former friend, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in an adventure that also saw him work alongside UNIT once more in Battlefield (Classic Series), where several people claimed that the Doctor had lived in the times of King Arthur and was known back then as Merlin. The Seventh Doctor continually attempted to heal his troubled companion, who displayed great discomfort at some memories of her earlier life, including a fire she had started in Ghost Light (Classic Series) and a fear of clowns in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (Classic Series). Inadvertently, the Seventh Doctor caused Ace to meet and interact with one of her ancestors in The Curse of Fenric (Classic Series), though the event along with the arrival of Ace and several intervening adventures had been arranged by Fenric, an evil entity that the Doctor had met before. The Seventh Doctor also met and defeated the Master once more in Survival (Classic Series). During this adventure he returned Ace to her home in Perivale and even offered her the chance to stay on Earth, though Ace considered the TARDIS to be her home now, and elected to stay with the Doctor, where they went off together for more adventures.
In the beginning, the Seventh Doctor appeared to be much more light-hearted and even prone to clownish behaviour, masking his intellect and courage against evil. However, as the Doctor's Seventh incarnation matured he took on a darker side that would come to define him, seeing the battle between good and evil as a game of chess and turning himself into a master manipulator, manipulating the people around him as pawns of his chess game. Often he would fail to see the world around him, concentrating too much on the "bigger picture" which he would rarely explain to his companions. During battle with Fenric, the Seventh Doctor emotionally devastated Ace by labelling her, among other things, an "emotional cripple", though he needed to do so in order to abandon her briefly and weaken Fenric's power, but he did not explain it until much later on. Despite this, the Seventh Doctor did care for his companions, even having a paternal relationship with Ace, though this soured when Ace was unable to deal with the Doctor's growing emotional coldness.
The Seventh Doctor changed his appearance from the chaotic, clownish style of the Sixth Doctor to a more subtle suit and hat attire. At the beginning of his incarnation, the Seventh Doctor wore an off-white safari-styled jacket with a red paisley scarf under the labels and matching handkerchief in the left pocket. As with many of his previous incarnations, the Seventh Doctor also wore a fob watch as part of his attire. He also took to wearing a yellow pullover with turquoise zigzag lines and red question marks, with sand-coloured tweed plaid trousers. Similar to his Fifth incarnation, the Seventh Doctor wore a white colonial-styled Panama hat with a paisley hat band and an upturned brim. The Seventh Doctor also carried with him an umbrella that had a question mark shaped handle which he regularly used for things other than keeping rain away. As the Seventh Doctor's personality changed, his outfit also changed slightly, his tie, scarf, handkerchief, hat band and jacket all became darker, varying between different shades of burgundy and brown. By the end of the Seventh Doctors incarnation, he wore a light brown tweed jacket with a red waistcoat, a black and brown zigzag patterned tie and his Panama hat.
The Seventh Doctor was a fan of Chess, to the point of treating his enemies and companions as pawns in his games against evil, though despite his dark personality he was known for using words to solve things rather than violence. The Seventh Doctor also had a knack for playing the spoons as a musical instrument and spoke with a Scottish accent prompting him to roll his Rs.
The Seventh Doctor's life ended after he was asked to go to Skaro (presumably before it had been destroyed by the Hand of Omega) to collect the remains of the Master, who had been put on trial and executed by the Daleks, and transport them to Gallifrey. However, on route to Gallifrey, the Master interfered with the TARDIS, causing it to land in San Francisco in 1999. When the Doctor left the TARDIS to investigate, he walked straight into a gangland gun fight, and was shot in the shoulder and twice in the leg. However, these injuries did not cause the Doctor to regenerate. He was taken to the local hospital where they decided the gunshot wounds were only minor injuries, however, following an X-Ray which revealed his two hearts, Dr. Grace Holloway chose to undertake exploratory surgery. Unfamiliar with the Time Lord biological make up, and refusing the heed the Doctor's warnings, Holloway damaged his circulatory system with her probe, causing him to die on the operating table. However, because the Doctor had been knocked unconscious by anaesthesia at the time of his 'death', his regeneration into his Eighth incarnation did not occur until several hours later and it was in the morgue of the hospital that the Seventh Doctor regenerated into his Eighth incarnation.