Third Tuesday 2019-07: The Seventh & Eighth Doctor Event Cache

The Seventh Doctor

Portrayed by: Sylvester McCoy Years: 1987 to 1989 Seasons: 24 through 26 Number of Episodes: 42 Companions: Mel Bush, Ace

The Seventh Doctor has the most profound change in attitude of any of the Doctor's incarnations, beginning as someone bumbling (to the extent of putting himself in danger but not at the cost of his overall great intelligence and benevolent intentions) and progressing into a driven, dark gamemaster whose plans to defeat his adversaries, both old and new, would play out across space and time. He generally displayed an affable, curious, knowledgeable, easygoing, excitable, and charming air. However, as he began to choose his battles and keep a tighter grip on his secrets – from his plans to his very identity – he also presented more serious, contemplative, secretive, wistful, and manipulative sides with undercurrents of mischief and authority (constantly giving the impression that there was more to him than met the eye).

As something of a showman, the Doctor would sometimes act like a buffoon, usually preferring to manipulate events from behind the scenes; much like his second incarnation, he was prepared to play the fool to trick his foes into underestimating him, inevitably leading to their defeat at his hands. He was an adept physical performer and deployed a repertoire of magic tricks, illusions and escape artistry to this effect as part of his plans. Although his more obvious whimsical tendencies disappeared over time (particularly his spoons-playing), he maintained a fondness for idiosyncratic speeches that occasionally referred to literature, ordinary places and even food and drink amidst the weightier concerns on his mind. He was empathetic to his friends (and even his enemies, such as Helen A) and somewhat melancholic at times (such as during Mel's departure and before his decision to eradicate the Daleks) but now placed greater burdens upon himself in the name of protecting the universe. This may have led him to shroud his true intentions in mystery and the use of sleight of hand as befit his fondness for performance, in effect, subverting his more lighthearted qualities to complement and enhance his heroic and darker ones.

In direct contrast to his third incarnation, this Doctor was absolutely opposed to violence of any sort, and he was totally against the use of firearms, although he also proved capable of rendering a man unconscious with a touch. In keeping with his established habits, he would use gadgetry of his own invention when the situation called for it, but never as his final gambit. Instead, he almost always managed to talk his enemies into submission, often into suicide – perhaps most memorably in Remembrance of the Daleks, where he taunts the seemingly last Dalek in existence until it self-destructs, or in Ghost Light, where he defeats the malevolent Light by ramming home the folly of trying to prevent evolution.

The Doctor's outfit in this incarnation was calmer than his previous attire, but as idiosyncratic as any other. It consisted of an off-white safari-styled jacket with a red paisley scarf worn under its lapels and a matching handkerchief in the left pocket, a fob watch chained to the left lapel, a plain white shirt, a red paisley tie, a yellow fair isle-inspired pullover adorned with red question marks and blue-green zigzag patterns, sand-coloured tweed plaid trousers, white/brown brogued spectator shoes, a white colonial-styled Panama hat with a paisley hatband and an upturned brim and an umbrella with a red question mark-shaped handle.

The Eighth Doctor

Portrayed by: Paul McGann Years: 1996 Seasons: TV Film Number of Episodes: 2 Companions: Grace Holloway

The BBC's official website calls the Eighth Doctor an "effortlessly charming, romantic figure". The site states that he is both unguarded about his own background and candid about the future of those he meets, noting the irony in an "open Doctor" remaining such a closed book.

The Big Finish Productions website describes the Eighth Doctor as "an enthusiastic figure who explores the universe for the sheer love of it", always surviving on the strength of his excellent improvisational skills rather than preparing elaborate plans. The site states that he is "passionate, direct, sympathetic and emotionally accessible", but notes that these traits are "balanced by occasional feelings of self-doubt and weariness of his endless battles against evil.

The Eighth Doctor initially wore a Wild Bill Hickok costume intended for a New Year's fancy dress party, which he liberated from the lockers at the San Francisco hospital he regenerated in. He completed it with a pair of black leather shoes taken from Grace Holloway's ex-boyfriend Brian to give him the appearance somewhere between a Victorian dandy and wild west gambler. By the time of "The Night of the Doctor" he sported a worn and scarred dark green day coat, corresponding with his overall dishevelled and exhausted appearance, presumably as a result of his experiences during the Time War.