Happy Birthday, Sylvester McCoy!
For those who might be interested, or who are just plain Doctor Who fans...
Sylvester McCoy, the actor who played the Seventh Doctor in the Doctor Who series celebrates his birthday today.
Sylvester McCoy became the Seventh Doctor after taking over the lead role in Doctor Who in 1987 from Colin Baker, and remained on the series until it ended in 1989, ending with "Survival" (his twelfth and final serial as the Doctor). He played the Doctor in the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time, and again in 1996, appearing in the beginning of the Doctor Who television movie starring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor.
I always liked the Sylvester McCoy Doctor as portrayed the character with a modicum of clown-like humour, and reminded me in many ways of Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor, but he developed into a much darker figure (for various reasons) than any of his earlier incarnations, manipulating people like chess pieces and always seeming to be playing a deeper game. I also rather liked this Doctor's use of proverbs and sayings adapted to his own ends (for example, "There's many a slap twixt cup and lap" from "Delta and the Bannermen"), although this characteristic was phased out during the later, darker series of his tenure.
Sylvester McCoy was the last of the Classic Doctor Who incarnations of the Time Lord, and while he continues to play the Doctor in Big Finish productions and has done a few other appearances in the role, I miss the classic, and humourously classic, McCoy Doctor on the small screen.
So here's wishing Sylvester McCoy a happy 80th! :)