Harry -
As we take a look back on the final era of classic Who, I can't help but feel sentimental. I didn't watch the McCoy era until I reconnected with Who in my 20s. In my mind these stories are always "early 90s Who."
Of course there's no such thing, as those were the wilderness years following the show's cancellation.
Sarah -
Seasons 24 and 25 were both broadcast on WTTW in 1989, so the McCoy era is firmly rooted in the late 80s for me. I didn't see the season 26 stories until later in the 90s, so they almost felt more like a sad postscript than new Doctor Who.
Harry -
Do you remember when you found out that Doctor Who had been cancelled?
Sarah -
Do I ever! It was announced on WTTW that the BBC had stopped production and I was devastated. It just didn't seem possible. WTTW continued to broadcast Doctor Who until the summer of 1991, but not in its usual Sunday night time slot, so I eventually lost track of when it was on and stopped watching. I had boxes full of VHS tapes, so I could always get a Doctor Who fix when I needed it, but it wasn't the same.
Harry -
I lost track of the show in the late-80s, so the news never hit me as one of those "I remember exactly when..." moments. I just read about it one day and figured that the show was now consigned to be part of my childhood. I was so wonderfully wrong!
Sarah -
One of my favorite books is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. In the book, Oscar gets his nickname, Wao, when he dresses up as Tom Baker one Halloween and his friend Yunior (the narrator) says he looks like Oscar Wilde. Later in the book, Yunior observes that he knew things were bad with Oscar when he wasn't upset by the news of Doctor Who's cancellation. The Doctor who references aren't the reason I love the book so much, but I knew exactly what Yunior when I read the book in 2007. If you were a Whovian back in the day, you wouldn't just carry on after getting the news.
Harry -
Not knowing anything about all the behind-the-scenes stuff that led to the show's demise, I initially had negative feelings towards Sylvester, somehow blaming him for being "the last Doctor". It was wrong-headed thinking of course. Once I caught up to his stories and especially when I got to know Ace, I took a real shine to that era.
Sarah -
Poor Syl, just another BBC victim. I'm happy you've seen the error of your ways.
Harry -
He came in after the chaos of the Colin Baker years. JN-T was given one last chance and rebooted the entire show with new production look and feel, new writing and script editing, and a new star. I have to admit that Sylvester's first season is not the greatest, but once they hit their stride the show really took off again.
Sarah -
Season 24 isn't the strongest, but you can see the changes slowly coming.
Harry -
Script editor Andrew Cartmel brought forward expansive stories with big ideas, and JN-T delivered some very cinematic-style adventures like "Remembrance of the Daleks" and "The Curse of Fenric". Even quickie stories like "Silver Nemesis" and "Survival" showed ambition to be bigger than just a TV show.
Sarah -
You could have almost understood canceling the show at the end of Season 23, but each season of the McCoy Era was stronger than the last. In the end, I guess we should be grateful that we got three more seasons.
Harry -
Stupid BBC man. The show was back on an upward trajectory in my opinion.
Sarah -
I really love Sylvester McCoy. To be fair, I'm one of those fans who loves all the Doctors. Some more than others, of course, but every one of them is dear to me. I know there are many who really dislike McCoy's Doctor, which always makes me a little sad. His performance is delightful and his chemistry with Sophie Aldred is among the best in Doctor-Companion history.
Harry -
His hamminess could grate at times, but like the Second Doctor, silly behaviour was part of his cover. I didn't mind it at all this time around.
Sarah -
I will always remember how delightful they were at Chicago TARDIS and Sly's kindness towards my very shy daughter. Meeting them was amazing.
Harry -
It was a highlight of our conventioneering.
Sarah -
Oh, Sophie, Our Sophie! I feel like I could go on and one about Ace for hours. I know we are of one mind on this and both rank Ace as one of our all-time favorite companions. Ace is so different from any companion who came before her and is pivotal in the series history. So many of the the themes in Ace's story will become the prototype for Rose's character sixteen years on.
Harry -
Ace is amazing, end of story.
She was the first of the Doctor's friends to be given depth and backstory. She wasn't just tagging along and asking questions in every adventure. The Doctor challenged her to confront her demons, and pushed her to dark places. He treated her like shit at times! But he always meant well and it made Ace all the stronger.
Sarah -
I think Cartmel gets all the credit for Ace's character development. There were so many companions who started out strong, but fell victim to writers who were more interested in creating their own characters than they were in developing the companions. (I would cite the Fifth Doctor Era as the prime example of this conundrum.) Cartmel developed Ace's story arc and maintained discipline among his writers. For that alone, he will always have my gratitude.
Harry -
In this era, JN-T rolled out all the classic baddies -- including Daleks, Cybermen, the Master and the Rani -- and we also got to catch up with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart one more time. In terms of new monsters, a lot of them were human. Thinking of scummy types like Gavrok in "Delta and the Bannermen," Helen A in "The Happiness Patrol," and the evil clown in "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy." The two real "monstery" monsters that come to mind from this era are the Destroyer in "Battlefield" and good old, game playing Fenric. I believe Fenric is the only McCoy era creation to have made subsequent appearances in the Whoniverse, via Big Finish.
Which of them stand out for you, Sarah?
Sarah -
I loved seeing the Brig, Sabalom Glitz, and Ainley's Master one more time -- the Brig most of all, of course. Fenric is the most substantial of baddies introduced in this era. We should track down those audios for future listening.
"Remembrance of the Daleks" has always been, and continues to be, my favorite Seventh Doctor story. This time around, I especially enjoyed "The Curse of Fenric" and "Battlefield", and I still have a soft spot for "Paradise Towers".
Harry -
My McCoy era soft spot goes to "Delta and the Bannermen." Remembrance for sure is a favourite. From the final season, Fenric ranks highest.
Sarah -
So, we did it. We made our way through all 26 seasons of the classic era and here we are in the wilderness years. Having lived through them the first time, it's a relief that we don't have to wait so long for more Doctor Who. If I can borrow a line from the Doctor:
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, Harry, we've got work to do.
Harry -
We have a couple of stops to make in the wilderness years. Let's do it!
Our marathon continues with the 1993 special, Dimensions in Time...
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