Doctor Who: All Doctors Ranked From Worst To Best

By Baz Greenland /

7. The Seventh Doctor - Sylvester McCoy

Best Episode: The Curse Of Fenric - Sark and utterly brilliant. One of the last Classic Who stories is an absolute winner. Worst Episode: Time And The Rani - Pointless regeneration and too much Bonnie Langford in pink! The Seventh Doctor started off as a bumbling clown in his first series; in fact series 24 is often noted as the worst series in Doctor Who history. Unfortunately that was down to the writing and unfortunate choice of Mel as a companion than Sylvester McCoy's performance. Because in his following two series the Doctor transformed into a Machiavellian, shadowy figure that reinvigorated some of the mystery into the show and left us wanting more. In the beginnings of what was called the Cartmel Masterplan, we saw a Doctor who knew far more than at first appeared. He manipulated his companion Ace to his own agenda, half mentoring her - apparently her original end goal was to train at the academy on Gallifrey - half controlling her in an effort to fight the evil of Fenric. He was darker without being aggressive. Some might argue that his decision to blow up Skaro was the first firing shot of the Time War. There was a sense of transition too. If you took his final story Survival and the first episode of the reboot Rose, they would feel like a natural continuation of the show. Sadly the Cartmel Masterplan, which was designed to add new mystery to the Doctor, never materialised, due the show's cancellation. It was also unfortunate that we never saw more of the Seventh Doctor. His final series was one of the best in years and there was still so much more potential to come.