Not the real McCoy

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• Publication: Sandwell Evening Mail
• Date: 1987-09-14
• Author: Paul Cole
• Page: 16
• Language: English
• Notes: Readers respond.

With a crashing of gears and an explosion of colourful clothes. Britain's favourite time lord touches down in the Tardis again tonight.

But it's not so much case of Dr Who (BBC, 7:35pm). On the strength of last week's opening episode it's more a case of Dr. What On Earth's Going On?

I waited with bated breath for the arrival of the new doctor and the promise from the Beeb that the dotty doctor was being given not only new face, but a new lease of life.

The opening credits were bunting with computer graphics and to tech promise. The euphoria lasted for all two minutes and I came down to earth with a bump

Sylvester McCoy is fine comedy character actor. He's also the worst Dr Who since the series began. in my opinion.

The new look doctor breezed through the script with more ham than Rackhams Food Hall. Sylvester just wasn't the real McCoy.

Bonnie Langford played ... Bonnie Langford. Perhaps the producer should have told her that she was playing the doctor's companion. All that was missing was song and dance.

There wasn't much to make song and dance about when it came to Kate O'Mara's portrayal of arch villainess The Rani. She made her Dynasty performance look like Shakespeare.

Finally we had the aliens. Some looked like sea-sick Sigue Sigue Sputnik, and others resembled the giant furry mountain men from The Muppet Show.

Tonight actress Wanda Venthham arrives on the scene to try and save the show from an early crash-landing. She will have to be an expert pilot to steer it back on course.

Or Who has become something of a national institution over the years. William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker kept up a fine tradition.

Even Peter Cushing was quaintly successful in the feature film, but the decline began when Peter Davison arrived fresh from the set of All Creatures Great And Small.

Why can't the bosses at the Beeb plough some cash into the series and bring it up to date with realistic sets, hi-tech effects and big budget?

Perhaps a 90 minute pilot TV movie could relaunch the metes and give it badly-needed facelift.

As a child I used to cower behind the sofa became I was frightened by the monsters on the screen. This time I'm cowering again - in embarrassment.

What do you think of the new-look Dr Who? Write to the TV Desk, Birmingham Post & Mail

Caption: New Doctor Sylvester McCoy pictured with co-stars Bonnie Langford and Kate O'Mara.

Caption: Old favourites William Hartnell, left, and Jon Pertwee, centre. But the decline began with the arrival of Peter Davison.

Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org

• APA 6th ed.: Cole, Paul (1987-09-14). Not the real McCoy. Sandwell Evening Mail p. 16.
• MLA 7th ed.: Cole, Paul. "Not the real McCoy." Sandwell Evening Mail [add city] 1987-09-14, 16. Print.
• Chicago 15th ed.: Cole, Paul. "Not the real McCoy." Sandwell Evening Mail, edition, sec., 1987-09-14
• Turabian: Cole, Paul. "Not the real McCoy." Sandwell Evening Mail, 1987-09-14, section, 16 edition.
• Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Not the real McCoy | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Not_the_real_McCoy | work=Sandwell Evening Mail | pages=16 | date=1987-09-14 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=19 May 2025 }}</ref>
• Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Not the real McCoy | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Not_the_real_McCoy | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=19 May 2025}}</ref>