Before Doctor Who was cancelled by the BBC in 1989, there were significant plans afoot for the Seventh Doctor. As time had gone on, Seven had gone from being playful, boyish, over-enthusiastic, almost puppyish... to being darker, more Machiavellian, manipulating people, events. even monstrous things like the Daleks or the Light. He refined the ability to talk an opponent around to acting as he wished them to, playing chess with peoples lives, including his companion Ace. Its a character development referred to by fans as the Cartmel Masterplan, after Doctor Whos script editor in the last few years, Andrew Cartmel, who had expressed an eagerness to return an air of mystery to the Doctor, to make him truly alien again even scary. The Masterplan was underway, but never completed: the show was cancelled before they had the chance, and elements of Cartmels ideas found their way into the subsequent huge range of New Adventures original novels that were published in the absence of an ongoing Doctor Who TV series. In particular, there were the many clues that the Doctor was the reincarnation of one of Gallifreys greatest and most powerful figures, the near mythical Other, whod shaped Time Lord society at the very beginning with his compatriots Rassilon and Omega. The other major hint was that the elements of the Seventh Doctor that had been active in the make-up of the Sixth Doctor began to recognise that he was in danger of corruption that the arrogant, thoughtless Six could one day become the megalomaniacal Valeyard, the Doctor turned evil. Whether it was those elements of the Seventh Doctor that did it or whether the Seventh Doctor himself arranged it after his regeneration, its generally accepted that Seven ordered the events that led to Sixs early regeneration: that the Seventh Doctor brought about the end of his previous incarnation in order to bring about his own birth. All of that sounds pretty damned awesome, right? So why on earth was cuddly Scottish plushie Sylvester McCoy cast to play this arch, deceitful master manipulator, the power behind the power? He tried his best with the darker stuff, bless him: it just wasnt in his wheelhouse to play sinister. Now, Peter Capaldis Twelfth Doctor thats a scheming, plotting chess player, and it seemed for a while in the eighth season as though Twelve might inherit some of the Cartmel storylines that never quite came to fruition with Seven. Regardless, Sylvester McCoy isnt the man they needed to play the Seventh Doctor they wanted.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
