Biografía

McCoy and Timothy Dalton appeared together on stage in London in 1986 and complained to each other that long-term work was so hard to find. The next year, both had screen acting breaks when McCoy was cast as the Seventh Doctor in Doctor Who (1963) and Dalton was cast as James Bond in 007: Su nombre es peligro (1987). However, both McCoy's tenure as the Doctor and Dalton's tenure as Bond proved short-lived as both of these iconic British franchises were cancelled in 1989 for several years and recast when they eventually returned.

He is the only actor to appear in both Doctor Who (1963) and Doctor Who (1996).

He became the first of three non-English actors to portray the character of the Doctor and the first of many actors to speak with an accent other than Received Pronunciation English: Christopher Eccleston portrayed the Ninth Doctor in 2005 with a Northern accent, David Tennant is a fellow Scot who portrayed the Doctor from 2005 to 2010 with a London/Estuary accent, Peter Capaldi is likewise Scottish and plays the Twelfth Doctor with his natural accent, and Jodie Whittaker plays the role with her Yorkshire accent.

He is the the only Doctor to have played the role during two regenerations. When Colin Baker left the role he refused to do the regeneration scene. So Sylvester donned Baker's costume and a blonde wig and stood in as Baker. This is the reason that for only the second time in the series (See Peter Davison's regeneration) the Doctor's face is obscured as he changes his appearance.

His father Percy Kent-Smith was a Royal Navy submarine officer and was killed in the second world war on July 18, 1943, only a month before he was born.

I don't relax. I sit down and contemplate all the energetic things I should do.

[on Doctor Who (1963)] There was always that negative feeling when we went into work - not from John (John Nathan-Turner), but those above him. There was always a battle going on. They didn't really want it. They were keeping it on because it was there and they couldn't really figure out a way to get rid of it. John was leaving and they didn't know how to replace him really. This time he had said he was, and that was it - it didn't carry on. They couldn't find anyone to volunteer to take it over. They could have asked me!

It's all to do with the writing: Doctor Who (1963) has always been to do with the writing. Each writer brings their own individual story, and with that their own take on the Doctor.

[on Rose (2005)] It had a great pace, it moved really quickly and was witty. Christopher Eccleston was quite alien as the Doctor - he looked wonderful. He had this manic grin - we were not sure if he was on the edge of insanity or not, which was rather good. He ran into danger with such gusto. He galloped at it joyfully. Billie Piper was quite fantastic. The relationship between the two was quite extraordinary. In a way this Doctor was not the brightest brain in the universe - he's a bit like an Oxford don in that he's full of brains but with not much nous. There was a great scene when he was searching for a giant round object and Rose had to point out he was standing in front of the London Eye. He seemed to need Rose more than any other Doctor needed his companion, because she could really help him.

Variety has always been in my mind; to do something totally different . I've had a parallel career since the beginning. On one track the TV and film, the other theatre, but they never crossed. Even when I did Doctor Who (1963) I was still doing stuff at the National and on tour but going back. So I've always done plays and had this schizophrenic experience but neither have affected each other as the casting director and so on very rarely cross over. It did affect my telly career and made it not quite as exciting - in those days the swap over between roles was harder to do. The only thing Doctor Who (1963) added was a knot on my wage - I got paid a bit more.