Edited sentence: Accordingly, some consider him to have beaten Tom Baker's seven year record as the Doctor.Although McCoy only appeared as the Doctor for twelve serials over three seasons (plus Search Out Science, Dimensions In Time, the television movie, and audio dramas), fandom treated him as the "current" Doctor from 1987 to 1996.However, using a version of these criteria, McCoy's record is beaten by Paul McGann, whose Eighth Doctor appeared in various media from 1996 to 2005, even though he was only on-screen in one production; the Doctor Who television movie (McGann beats McCoy's record by 40 days).One may consider McCoy's record to stand as he returned to the role to 'cap off' his tenure, something McGann did not do.This view can be argued not just because he was the last actor to play the role, but also due to the Seventh Doctor's continuing presence as the Doctor in original novels and comic strips