MovieChat Forums > Doctor Who (1996) Discussion > McCoy's Sendout

McCoy's Sendout

posted 19 years ago by clay56
11 replies | jump to latest

Overall this was an enjoyable movie. BUT, couldn't they have sent Sylvester McCoy out better? I think its more than a bit ironic that the surgeon who thought she was helping him ended up "killing" him. I liked McGann's doctor but I don't think it would have diverted too much attention from him to give Sylvester a more heroic death.
I guess another thing would be the inside of the TARDIS. I know its getting old BUT... the thing looks like a haunted house!
Being a time traveler, the Doctor needs to travel back in time and give himself a better death scene. Then he needs to find himself an intergalactic interior decorator for the TARDIS.

[–] Sherlocat 19 years ago

LOL
--
"Have you never heard of semiotics? Does postmodernism mean nothing to you?"

[–] JamesValentine1979 19 years ago

I thought McCoy's sendout was great, especially in light of what happened in the books, where the Doctor became darker and more manipulative but finally came to terms with his actions and found peace. This fits with the more at peace 7th Doctor we saw at the beginning of the TV Movie, a major contrast to the one from season 26. Having the manipulative "chess master" who played people and even entire races end up dying over a small accident really showed how the 7th Doctor had changed.

Exactly how much was design and how much was fate I don't know, but as a fan of the New Adventures novels I could see everything fitting together.
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If it's rubbish, I'll watch "Delta and the Bannermen" to remind me how good it used to be.

[–] IanDSmith 19 years ago

Frankly, I was happy to see McCoy's Doctor die in a rather abrupt and helpless way. The 7th Doctor was so damned smug and in control all the time, it was rather poetic to see him picked off in such a matter of fact and senseless way.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] IanDSmith 19 years ago

Hey, I liked him well enough, and I've seen all the wingeing about his exit, but we're lucky he got one in the first place. Had the TVM started out fresh like 'Rose,' we'd be without it to this day. As for it being sickly appropriate for this incarnation... there was so little real character drama in seasons 25 and 26 - he was always right, he was always manipulating everyone, never deceived and I never got the sense that anything could get away from him. To see him run into a random situation like that? The irony is interesting, at the very least. Sure, he wasn't my favorite Doctor by a long shot, and I like seeing characters go out on a heroic note, but I would happily let this unique senseless death stand as it is. Colin Baker's not having a proper exit is far more offensive.

[–] clay56 19 years ago

Hey, Ian
Yeah, I didn't like Colin Baker's sendout either. They should have given him a last season like he wanted.
Personally my favorite doctor was John Pertwee. He was given a MUCH better sendout than either Baker or McCoy.
Since Baker (quite rightly!) left the show after being given an option of one final episode or nothing, the writers handled his sendout in what may have been the only way open to them. This was by having McCoy lie face down on the floor of the TARDIS after dressing him up in Baker's clothes and a blond, curly wig (which he commented made him look like Harpo Marx!). The regeneration kicked in when he was turned face up.
The difference is that McCoy WAS present for his sendout in the Dr. Who movie. But instead of a more heroic death, he ends up being senselessly BUTCHERED by the well meaning sergeon that ironically becomes the Paul McGann doctor's love interest.
Too bad we can't go back in time ourselves and fix BOTH the Baker and McCoy blunders!

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] RapidEyeMovement 19 years ago

I like McCoy's Doctor (I'm Scottish myself) and I did think his death was a bit unheroic, but the Doctor is always stepping into unknown circumstances so it had to happen like this sometime.

[–] brain-in-a-tank 19 years ago

I like both McCoy and McGann. I do have to say that even if the circumstances around his regeneration were weird, he did have the best on-screen regeneration. Maybe if you have a heroic death, you get a crappy regen, but if it is a senseless one, you are allowed better special effects.

[–] ant-mac 19 years ago

Interesting theory...

ant-mac