Priestly start for Time Lord
- Publication: The Press and Journal
- Date: 1987-09-07
- Author: Huw Rossiter
- Page: 4
- Language: English
IT was most un-Time-Lord-like, but the new Dr Who arrived at the BBC on a bicycle.
"Sorry I'm late," said Sylvester McCoy. "Next time use Tardls."
Sylvester, who once studied for the priesthood at Blairs College, near Aberdeen. materialises as Dr Who Mark VII on BBC1 tonight at 7.35 p.m.
Following in the footsteps of William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Colin Baker, Sylvester hopes to inject some fresh eccentricity into the character — as befitting a former pub performer who once held the record for stuffing ferrets down his trousers.
At first, be does not look like a character who is 953 years old, has two hearts and lives a police box. The chirpy chappie is actually 43, has a, Dutch wife Agnes and two young sons called Sam and Joe and lives in North London.
But then again, body regeneration has been known to play hell with the Doctor's identity. This time, It has even made him talk with a Scots accent.
Soon, however, the real doctor emerges the real McCoy, in fact "My Doctor will be different because he'll be smaller," he says with a beady stare. Like the Tardis, Sylvester is bigger on the inside than he is on the outside. He may be just 5ft. 6in., but "he's a very dominant personality, full of energy, strong on comedy and very physical," says producer John Nathan-Turner, who spotted Sylvester when he was playing the Pied Piper at the National Theatre.
"I don't have a set approach for the part," continues Sylvester who. In another dimension, featured in the children's programme, "Tlswas". and distinguished himself in many classical stage roles, most recently with Vanessa Redgrave and Timothy Dalton in "Anthony and Cleopatra".
"For the moment, I've got to fit into the script because when they wrote it, they had no Doctor. They have changed one or two things as they got to know me. Fututre scripts will be written around my personality providing they don't exterminate me first!"
It all seems a far cry from his time at Blairs College.
"I was aged between 11 and 15 — they start you early - and it was a terrific preparation for an acting career. But I went off the Idea of being a priest when I discovered girls."
He has already received sackloads of mall from Dr Who fans all over the world and has attended Dr Who conventions In the US.
"After being in the business for more than 20 years, I seem to have acquired instant fame and instant responsibility but it hasn't affected me yet. At the moment my only sense of responsibility is to learn all the lines and avoid bumping into monsters."
He will learn his lines all right, but the monsters are another thing.
Caption: SYLVESTER McCOY the new Dr Who
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- APA 6th ed.: Rossiter, Huw (1987-09-07). Priestly start for Time Lord. The Press and Journal p. 4.
- MLA 7th ed.: Rossiter, Huw. "Priestly start for Time Lord." The Press and Journal [add city] 1987-09-07, 4. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Rossiter, Huw. "Priestly start for Time Lord." The Press and Journal, edition, sec., 1987-09-07
- Turabian: Rossiter, Huw. "Priestly start for Time Lord." The Press and Journal, 1987-09-07, section, 4 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Priestly start for Time Lord | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Priestly_start_for_Time_Lord | work=The Press and Journal | pages=4 | date=1987-09-07 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=17 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Priestly start for Time Lord | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Priestly_start_for_Time_Lord | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=17 April 2025}}</ref>
