Sylvester McCoy Sylvester McCoy ( born 20 August 1943 as Percy James Patrick Kent - Smith ) played the seventh incarnation of the Doctor on television from 1987 to 1989 and reprised the role in the 1996 " Doctor Who " television movie . He is sometimes credited as Sylveste McCoy . Profile . Prior to " Doctor Who " . He was born Percy James Patrick Kent - Smith in Dunoon , Scotland . In his youth he trained for the priesthood but gave this up and worked for a time in the insurance industry . He worked in The Roundhouse box office for a time , where he was discovered by Ken Campbell . He was a bodyguard for the Rolling Stones . He came to prominence as a member of the comedy act " The Ken Campbell Roadshow " . His best known act was in a play called " An Evening with Sylveste McCoy " as a stuntman character called " Sylveste McCoy " , whose stunts included putting a fork and nails up his nose and stuffing ferret s down his trousers . As a joke , in order to make the audience believe that the character really existed , the cast listing in the programme billed Sylveste McCoy as played by " Sylveste McCoy " , and after a reviewer missed the joke and assumed that Sylveste McCoy was a real person , Kent - Smith adopted it as his stage name . Some years later , he added an " r " to " Sylveste " — possibly because there were thirteen letters in " Sylveste McCoy " . Notable television appearances before he gained the role of the Doctor included roles in " Vision On " ( where he played Pepe , a character who lived in the mirror ) and " Tiswas " . McCoy also played in one - man shows on the stage as two famous movie comedians , Stan Laurel and Buster Keaton . He appeared as Bowers in the 1985 television mini - series about Robert Falcon Scott ' s last Antarctic expedition , , and had a small non - speaking role in the 1979 film version of , with Laurence Olivier and Frank Langella . ( McCoy had also played the title role onstage . ) In his Sylveste McCoy persona , he appeared in the first " Secret Policeman ' s Ball " film , a comedy / musical program in support of Amnesty International . The film was released to DVD in Region 1 in early 2009 as part of a box set of the Secret Policeman ' s benefits . Only months before being cast as the Seventh Doctor , McCoy played a villain in a B - film entitled " Three Kinds of Heat " , which featured appearances by a number of Who alumni including Trevor Martin and , most notably , onetime Romana I actress Mary Tamm , whose character was killed by McCoy ' s character . As the Seventh Doctor . The television years . McCoy took over the lead role of " Doctor Who " from Colin Baker in 1987 , and remained until the series was shelved in 1989 . He would in turn hand over to Paul McGann in 1996 . McCoy was one of several actors considered for the role . In 2010 , audition tapes for several actors were included on the DVD release of the Seventh Doctor ' s debut story , " Time and the Rani " . In this audition McCoy played opposite Janet Fielding ( companion Tegan Jovanka from the Peter Davison era ) , who portrayed a villain in the scene . Another audition piece was released on the " Dragonfire " DVD release . McCoy actually has the distinction of having played " two " incarnations of the Doctor ; when Baker declined an invitation to record the regeneration scene in " Time and the Rani " , McCoy put on a wig and Baker ' s costume and , with his face obscured by special effects , filled in for the role . In his first season , McCoy , a comedy actor , portrayed the character with a degree of clown - like humour , but script editor Andrew Cartmel soon changed that . The Seventh Doctor developed into a much darker figure than any of his earlier incarnations , manipulating people like chess pieces and always seeming to be playing a deeper game . McCoy generally approved of this , as it allowed him to play more of a dramatic role . A distinguishing feature of McCoy ' s performances was his manner of speech . He used a slight Scottish accent ( the only Doctor to have used a Scottish accent on a regular basis until Peter Capaldi began as the Twelfth Doctor ) , rolled his " r " s , and often placed emphasis on unusual syllables or words . This has the added ( possibly intentional ) effect of sounding a little alien , and wrong - footing the audience . It also made the viewer question established speech patterns often taken for granted . At the start of his tenure he used proverbs and sayings adapted to his own ends ( e . g . " There ' s many a slap twixt cup and lap " — " Delta and the Bannermen " ) , although this characteristic was phased out during the later , darker seasons of his tenure . McCoy saw out the end of the original run with 1989 ' s " Survival " , the last regularly airing " Doctor Who " story until " Rose " , which aired in 2005 . He later reprised the role in the 1996 one - off , " Doctor Who " , in which the Doctor regenerated into his eighth incarnation , portrayed by Paul McGann . Although previous actors have reprised their incarnations for various specials ( TV : " The Five Doctors " , TV : " Time Crash " for example ) , McCoy is the only actor to portray the " current " Doctor in a broadcast television adventure over a span of 10 years . At 5 ' 6 " , he remains the shortest man to play the Doctor . Post - cancellation . Although McCoy only appeared on television as the Doctor for three extremely abbreviated series , his Doctor was treated as the " current " one from his debut in " Time and the Rani " in 1987 to his regeneration scene in " Doctor Who " in 1996 by many fans and organisations . According to this line of thought , McCoy ' s Doctor therefore lasted for nine years , outlasting Tom Baker ' s seven - year run as the Fourth Doctor . However , he does not hold the title of " longest serving current Doctor " by the same reasoning , a title held by Paul McGann despite having only appeared on television for the TV movie and the mini - episode " The Night of the Doctor " , together totalling only 96 minutes of screen time . McCoy has remained an active supporter of the franchise from 1987 to the present . In addition to the 1996 telemovie , he also returned for the 1993 charity special , " Dimensions in Time " , and in a short segment for British educational television called , " Search Out Space " . He appeared in several independent , " Doctor Who " - inspired productions by BBV Productions , including " The Airzone Solution " and the spoof " Do You Have a Licence to Save this Planet ? " in which he played a parody of the Doctor called The Foot Doctor . He also reprised the role of the Doctor for the animated webcast " Death Comes to Time " , the first made - for - internet " Doctor Who " story . He has also reprised the role of the Seventh Doctor multiple times a year for Big Finish Productions since the company ' s gaining of a " Doctor Who " license . Like most other " Doctor actors " that have been involved with the company , he has made far more appearances as the Doctor on audio than on television . Post - " Doctor Who " career . McCoy ' s more recent roles have included Michael Sams in the 1997 telemovie " Beyond Fear " , shown on the first night of broadcast of Channel Five . He has also acted extensively in theatre in productions as diverse as pantomime and Molière . He played the role of Snuff in the macabre BBC Radio 4 comedy series " The Cabaret of Dr Caligari " , and The Fool in a Stratford production of " King Lear " by the Royal Shakespeare Company , opposite Sir Ian McKellan . When the news of David Tennant leaving " Doctor Who " was announced and quickly spread , Sylvester McCoy said in an interview that he believed Andrew Sachs ( best known for his role as Manuel in " Fawlty Towers " , who had appeared in the " Shada " webcast ) would be best for the role . Regardless he approved of the casting of Matt Smith , and has recited Smith ' s famous speech from The Pandorica Opens at conventions . Recently , in " The Lollipop Man " , an episode of the medical soap opera , McCoy played the role of Graham Capelli , a retire d actor best known for playing the title character in a 1980s children ' s television character similar to the Doctor . The role was written as a tribute to McCoy . The episode featured several references to " Doctor Who " . McCoy was attached to play Governor Swann in " Pirates of the Caribbean : Curse of the Black Pearl " when Steven Spielberg was attached to direct it in the early 90s , Disney didn ' t give permission for the film to be made then . When the movie was greenlit the role was played by Jonathan Pryce . In 2010 McCoy was announced to play the part of the wizard in the three - part movie adaptation of " The Hobbit " . In 2013 , Sylvester and his co - star Sophie Aldred partnered up for the Doctor Who edition of the game show " " . Later the same year he also appeared as himself in " The Five ( ish ) Doctors Reboot " , in which he and fellow actors Peter Davison and Colin Baker attempt to appear in the 50th Anniversary episode " The Day of the Doctor " .