By Christian Kern
The seventh Doctor was portrayed by Sylvester McCoy, an actor no one wanted to look at originally but who ended up nailing the part for years to come. Although his television reign was short lived, McCoy held the position for many years, his likeness appearing throughout the extended universe novels before handing over the keys to the TARDIS to Paul McGann in 1996. The 7th Doctor was mysterious, cunning and most of all manipulative. He was a man with a plan and a mission.
The seventh Doctor was portrayed by Sylvester McCoy, an actor no one wanted to look at originally but who ended up nailing the part for years to come. Although his television reign was short lived, McCoy held the position for many years, his likeness appearing throughout the extended universe novels before handing over the keys to the TARDIS to Paul McGann in 1996. The 7th Doctor was mysterious, cunning and most of all manipulative. He was a man with a plan and a mission.
“There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea is 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 Doctor, Survival
Time and the Rani
All things need a beginning and even though Time and the Rani is not the most popular Doctor Who story, I feel all regeneration stories should hold a place as we wouldn’t have a Doctor without them. This episode is special as well in the fact that we see the regeneration in the pre-credits sequence. I always felt this added drama to the adventure.
The rest of the story is rather lame but we are given the characteristics of the Doctor for a few more episodes to come. However let us examine this closer. The Doctor awakes from his regeneration, he has for the first time shown no post-regenerative trauma. This is a first for the Doctor, never has he had it all together right off the bat. However the Rani knocks him out again and gives him a serum which mixes his metaphors quite literally. With comments like “Bull in a Barbara Shop” the 7th Doctor charmed his way into our hearts.
Along the way he stops the Rani from recreating time itself. All in a days work.
All things need a beginning and even though Time and the Rani is not the most popular Doctor Who story, I feel all regeneration stories should hold a place as we wouldn’t have a Doctor without them. This episode is special as well in the fact that we see the regeneration in the pre-credits sequence. I always felt this added drama to the adventure.
The rest of the story is rather lame but we are given the characteristics of the Doctor for a few more episodes to come. However let us examine this closer. The Doctor awakes from his regeneration, he has for the first time shown no post-regenerative trauma. This is a first for the Doctor, never has he had it all together right off the bat. However the Rani knocks him out again and gives him a serum which mixes his metaphors quite literally. With comments like “Bull in a Barbara Shop” the 7th Doctor charmed his way into our hearts.
Along the way he stops the Rani from recreating time itself. All in a days work.
Dragonfire
As with all first appearances of a new Doctor, first appearances of a new companion are just as important. In Dragonfire the Doctor and Mel arrive on Iceworld, a colony on the dark side of the planet Svartos. The colony world is run by a man named Kane who relies on a low body temperature, as well as buying mercenaries, which he freezes for his own army.
There is a legend on Iceworld about a hidden treasure guarded by a dragon. The Doctor and Mel are roped into a treasure hunt by an old acquaintance named Sabalom Glitz, who has a map which can lead him through the ice caverns. The Doctor eventually agrees and goes along with Glitz while Mel meets Ace and they are taken to Kane. Ace is a teenager who has somehow been transported from Twentieth Century Earth to Iceworld.
As with all first appearances of a new Doctor, first appearances of a new companion are just as important. In Dragonfire the Doctor and Mel arrive on Iceworld, a colony on the dark side of the planet Svartos. The colony world is run by a man named Kane who relies on a low body temperature, as well as buying mercenaries, which he freezes for his own army.
There is a legend on Iceworld about a hidden treasure guarded by a dragon. The Doctor and Mel are roped into a treasure hunt by an old acquaintance named Sabalom Glitz, who has a map which can lead him through the ice caverns. The Doctor eventually agrees and goes along with Glitz while Mel meets Ace and they are taken to Kane. Ace is a teenager who has somehow been transported from Twentieth Century Earth to Iceworld.
The Doctor learns that the treasure is Kane’s freedom from Iceworld as he is a prisoner here and the dragon is his warden. In the final confrontation between the Doctor and Kane, Kane raises the light shields and melts within the rays of the hot sun of Svartos. This scene was considered to be a highlight of the show for special effects as it was shot using a wax head of the actor just like the melting face of Toht from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Back then it was very rare for Doctor Who to utilize special effects which were on par with feature films.
Mel leaves Iceworld with Glitz and the Doctor picks up Ace who refers to him as ‘Professor’. Dragonfire lands a place in the top three best 7th Doctor stories simply for the fact it introduces Ace and lays the plot for something bigger to come in the final season of the show as a whole.
Mel leaves Iceworld with Glitz and the Doctor picks up Ace who refers to him as ‘Professor’. Dragonfire lands a place in the top three best 7th Doctor stories simply for the fact it introduces Ace and lays the plot for something bigger to come in the final season of the show as a whole.
Ghost Light
Ghost Light has many wonderful qualities as a Doctor Who story. It was originally supposed to be the story which would go on to become the pinnacle Doctor Who novel Lungbarrow.
Ghost Light is a tale about Ace and her true origin before we learn all about her connection to Fenric. We see Ace in the mysterious mansion of Gabriel Chase. The Doctor knows it is the house which scared her as a child but Ace is not aware they are back in the past of Perivale. As the story moves forward we learn more about Ace and more about the Doctor’s nature of planning and manipulating his companions. We discover that Ace’s burnt the house down in the future and was arrested for the act, something that would scar her record for years to come. For some reason the house frightened her but she didn’t know why.
Deep within the house are a spaceship and an alien named Light. The Doctor needs to wake Light to stop one of his experiments who have escaped in the form of Josiah Samuel Smith, an alien who is evolving into the perfect human with a fascination with Darwinism. Of course the Doctor does indeed defeat Light as well as Josiah Smith and allows the others who were captives of both Light and Smith go off and explore space. With the house destroyed in the past, Ace doesn’t burn it down in the future and thus the Doctor has altered her own personal timeline.
For some, Ghost Light has a confusing plot but when the Target novel is taken into consideration, the story is an incredible horror/mystery story on the level of Lovecraftian terms. A lot of the 7th Doctor stories suffered from lack to time and scheduling thus making their Target novels very sought after for clarity.
Ghost Light has many wonderful qualities as a Doctor Who story. It was originally supposed to be the story which would go on to become the pinnacle Doctor Who novel Lungbarrow.
Ghost Light is a tale about Ace and her true origin before we learn all about her connection to Fenric. We see Ace in the mysterious mansion of Gabriel Chase. The Doctor knows it is the house which scared her as a child but Ace is not aware they are back in the past of Perivale. As the story moves forward we learn more about Ace and more about the Doctor’s nature of planning and manipulating his companions. We discover that Ace’s burnt the house down in the future and was arrested for the act, something that would scar her record for years to come. For some reason the house frightened her but she didn’t know why.
Deep within the house are a spaceship and an alien named Light. The Doctor needs to wake Light to stop one of his experiments who have escaped in the form of Josiah Samuel Smith, an alien who is evolving into the perfect human with a fascination with Darwinism. Of course the Doctor does indeed defeat Light as well as Josiah Smith and allows the others who were captives of both Light and Smith go off and explore space. With the house destroyed in the past, Ace doesn’t burn it down in the future and thus the Doctor has altered her own personal timeline.
For some, Ghost Light has a confusing plot but when the Target novel is taken into consideration, the story is an incredible horror/mystery story on the level of Lovecraftian terms. A lot of the 7th Doctor stories suffered from lack to time and scheduling thus making their Target novels very sought after for clarity.
Deep within the house are a spaceship and an alien named Light. The Doctor needs to wake Light to stop one of his experiments who have escaped in the form of Josiah Samuel Smith, an alien who is evolving into the perfect human with a fascination with Darwinism. Of course the Doctor does indeed defeat Light as well as Josiah Smith and allows the others who were captives of both Light and Smith go off and explore space. With the house destroyed in the past, Ace doesn’t burn it down in the future and thus the Doctor has altered her own personal timeline.
For some, Ghost Light has a confusing plot but when the Target novel is taken into consideration, the story is an incredible horror/mystery story on the level of Lovecraftian terms. A lot of the 7th Doctor stories suffered from lack to time and scheduling thus making their Target novels very sought after for clarity.
For some, Ghost Light has a confusing plot but when the Target novel is taken into consideration, the story is an incredible horror/mystery story on the level of Lovecraftian terms. A lot of the 7th Doctor stories suffered from lack to time and scheduling thus making their Target novels very sought after for clarity.
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