10/10/2017
It's been thirty years this month since Sylvester McCoy boarded the TARDIS as the seventh incarnation of “Doctor Who”. Although the programme was suffering from poor funding and attempts by BBC management to axe it, the McCoy era is regarded by fans as gradually pulling the programme back from its difficulties of the mid eighties and pioneering new and vital storylines. Now, in a thirtieth anniversary interview with Panini's monthly “Doctor Who Magazine”, McCoy talks candidly of the political atmosphere of the eighties, with Section 28, Thatcherism and workers rights all feeding into new stories for the series. The Seventh Doctor's most notable companion, Ace, was designed to be a more assertive feminine lead for the show, and in one story, called “The Happiness Patrol” the efforts of the government to mandate heterosexuality are lampooned with Sheila Hancock putting in an outrageous performance as a Thatcher like dictator. Doctor Who magazine is available now from all good newsagents.
