Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian,[1][2] he became best known for playing the seventh incarnationofthe Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to 1989—the final Doctor of the original run—and briefly returning in a television film in 1996. He is also known for his work as RadagastinThe Hobbit film series (2012–2014).
Born
Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith
Other names
Sylvester McCoy
Education
Occupation(s)
Actor, physical comedian
Years active
1965, 1973–present
Known for
Seventh incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who
Spouse
Agnes Verkaik
Children
2
Website
McCoy was born Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith[3]inDunoon, on the Cowal peninsula, to an Irish Catholic mother and an English father who had been killed in action in World War II a couple of months before McCoy was born;[4] he met his father's family at the age of 17.[3]
He was brought up primarily in Dunoon,[3] where he attended Saint Mun's School; he then studied for the priesthood at Blairs College, a seminary in Aberdeen between the ages of 12 and 16,[3] but gave this up and continued his education at Dunoon Grammar School.[4] After school he moved to London where he worked in the insurance industry for five years.[5] He worked in the box office of The Roundhouse for a time, where he was discovered by Ken Campbell.[6]
McCoy came to prominence as a member of the experimental theatre troupe "The Ken Campbell Roadshow". His best known act was as a stuntman character called "Sylveste McCoy" in a play entitled An Evening with Sylveste McCoy (the name was coined by actor Brian Murphy, who worked beside Kent-Smith at the Roundhouse Theatre and originated in the Wolfe Tones version of Big Strong Man[7]), where his stunts included putting a fork and nails up his nose and stuffing ferrets down his trousers, and setting his head on fire. As a joke, the programme notes listed 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 this as his stage name. Some years later, McCoy added an "r" to the end of "Sylveste", in part because of the actors' superstition that a stage name with thirteen letters was unlucky.
Notable television appearances before he gained the role of the Doctor included roles in Vision On (where he played Pepe/Epep, a character who lived in the mirror), an O-Man in Jigsaw and Tiswas. Every episode of the innovative ATV schools maths programme Leapfrog featured McCoy as "Bert" in wordless sequences filmed out of doors, as he attempted to form regular geometric patterns from different numbers of logs or carpet squares. He also appeared in Eureka, often suffering from the effects of inventions of Wilf Lunn, and as Wart, assistant to StarStrider in the Children's ITV series of the same name. McCoy also portrayed, in one-man shows on the stage, two famous movie comedians: Stan Laurel and Buster Keaton. He also appeared as Henry "Birdie" Bowers in the 1985 television serial about Scott's last Antarctic expedition, The Last Place on Earth.
McCoy also had a small role in the 1979 film Dracula opposite Laurence Olivier and Donald Pleasence, and has sung with the Welsh National Opera.
McCoy became the Seventh Doctor after taking over the lead role in Doctor Who in 1987 from Colin Baker. He remained on the series until it ended in 1989, ending with Survival (his twelfth and final serial as the Doctor). As Baker declined the invitation to film the regeneration scene, McCoy briefly wore a wig and appeared, face-down until the last moment before the regeneration commenced as the Sixth Doctor, with his face concealed by regeneration special effects. 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.
In his first series, McCoy, a comedy actor, portrayed the character with a degree of clown-like humour, but script editor Andrew Cartmel soon changed that when fans argued that the character (and plots) were becoming increasingly lightweight. 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. A distinguishing feature of McCoy's performances was his manner of speech. He used his natural Scottish accent and rolled his rs. 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 series of his tenure. In 1990, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted McCoy's Doctor "Best Doctor", over perennial favourite Tom Baker.[8] Since 1999 he has continued acting in the role of the Seventh Doctor in a series of audio plays for Big Finish Productions.
In November 2013 McCoy co-starred in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.[9]
In January 2021, McCoy returned to the role of the Doctor alongside Bonnie LangfordasMel Bush, in "A Business Proposal for Mel!" This short, acted as an announcement trailer for 'The Collection: Season 24' Blu-Ray set, which was released later that year.[10]
McCoy reprised the role of the Doctor in the 2022 special "The Power of the Doctor", and again in the series Tales of the TARDIS.[11]
McCoy's television roles since Doctor Who have included Michael Sams in the 1997 drama Beyond Fear, shown on the first night of broadcast of Channel 5. In 1988, while still appearing in Doctor Who, McCoy presented a BBC children's programme called What's Your Story?, in which viewers were invited to phone in suggestions for the continuation of an ongoing drama.
He has also acted extensively in theatre in productions as diverse as pantomime and Molière. He played Grandpa Jock in John McGrath's A Satire of the Four Estaites (1996) at the Edinburgh Festival. He played the role of Snuff in the macabre BBC Radio 4 comedy series The Cabaret of Dr Caligari.
McCoy missed out on a role in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl[12] and was the second choice to play the role of Bilbo BagginsinPeter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.[6] In 1991, he presented the Doctor Who video documentary release The Hartnell Years showcasing selected episodes of missing stories from the First Doctor's era.
McCoy appeared as the lawyer Dowling in a BBC Production of Henry Fielding's novel, The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling. In 2001 he appeared in Paul Sellar's asylum comedy "The Dead Move Fast" at the Gilded Balloon as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, playing the role of Doctor Mallinson. In 2012 he played the part of the suicidal Mr. Peters in JC Marshall's play, Plume, at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow.[13]
McCoy has appeared with the Royal Shakespeare CompanyinThe Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and in King Lear in 2007, playing the FooltoIan McKellen's Lear,[14] a performance which made use of McCoy's ability to play the spoons. The RSC production with McKellen and McCoy was staged in Melbourne, during late July/early August 2007 and Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand, during mid to late August 2007. It came into residence at the New London Theatre in late 2007, ending its run in January 2008. He reprised the role for the 2008 television movie of the production.[15]
In May 2008 he performed with the Carl Rosa Opera Company in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado, playing the title role. He only performed with the company briefly, for the week of the show's run performing at the Sheffield Lyceum. Despite being set in Japan, he was able to demonstrate his ability to play the spoons by using his fan. In 2009 McCoy played the character of Mr. Mushnik in the Chocolate Factory's production of Little Shop of Horrors.[16]
He has also made guest appearances in the television series The Bill, the Rab C. Nesbitt episode "Father" as Rab's mentally ill brother Gash Sr.[17] and the Still Game episode "Oot" (AKA "Out"), where he played a hermit-type character adjusting to life in modern Glasgow, having remained in his house for over 30 years. In October 2008, he had a minor guest role as an injured ventriloquist on Casualty. In the same month McCoy guest starred in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors, playing an actor who once played the time-travelling hero of a children's television series called "The Amazing Lollipop Man". The role was written as a tribute to McCoy.[18][19]
In January and February 2016, McCoy appeared in the three-part BBC series The Real Marigold Hotel, which followed a group of celebrity senior citizens including Miriam Margolyes and Wayne Sleep on a journey to India.[20]
In 2017 he returned to the stage at the Edinburgh Fringe, in the production A Joke alongside Star Trek: Voyager actor Robert Picardo.[21]
McCoy began filming for The Hobbit, a three-part adaptation of the book, in 2011. He portrays the wizard Radagast,[22] alongside fellow King Lear actor Ian McKellen who reprises his role as Gandalf.
Although the character of Radagast is only alluded to in The Hobbit, and only a minor character in The Lord of the Rings, the part was expanded for the films.
McCoy and his wife, Agnes Verkaik,[23] have two sons. They were filmed for the Doctor Who serial The Curse of Fenric playing Haemovores, but their scenes were deleted from the finished release.[24] According to McCoy, his sons live in Holland and Thailand.[25]
He was brought up a Catholic by his maternal grandmother and aunts[4] but is now an atheist.[26]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, McCoy spent some of lockdown living in France.[25]
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1979
Walter
As Sylveste McCoy
All the Fun of the Fair
Scotch Jack
Sylvester McCoy
1987
Harry Pimm
1995
Flynn
1996
Spellbreaker: Secret of the Leprechauns
Flynn
1997
2000
The Mumbo Jumbo
Mr. Tallman
2004
Griffin
Grim
2006
The Battersea Ripper
Duncan
2008
The Fool
2009
The Academy
Felix
The Academy Part 2: First Impressions
Felix
2010
Punk Strut: The Movie
DJ
2012
General Zwick
2013
Edward Haddington
Radagast
Quest: A Tall Tale
Ardan
Voice
2014
Rusty
Radagast
2017
Amado
2020
You
Dr. Richard Huggins
Ernie
2022
Igor
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1965-1976
Various
1973
Roberts Robots
Robot Entertainer
Episode: "Dial C for Chaos"
1975
Sylveste
Pilot episode
1977
For the Love of Albert
Cast Member
Unknown episodes
1978
Leapfrog
Bert
All 28 episodes
1979
O-Man
Turning Year Tales
Turps
Episode: "Big Jim and the Figaro Club"
Reader
Episode: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
Himself
1980
Kerwin
Episode: "Electric in the City"
1981
Big Jim and the Figaro Club
Turps
5 episodes
Tiny Revolutions
Cabaret comedian
TV movie
Various
1982–1986
Various
All 32 episodes
1984
Wart
1985
Lt. 'Birdie' Bowers
6 episodes
Moving man
Episode: "Moving Space"
Donald
Episode: "Frog"
1987–1989, 2022
44 episodes
1988
What's Your Story?
Narrator / Presenter
1988
Tomorrow’s World
Himself
Christmas special
1989
The Noel Edmonds Saturday Roadshow
Seventh Doctor
1990
Search Out Science
Episode "Search Out Space"
1991
Thrill Kill Video Club
Spoons
Video
1993
Storyteller
2 episodes
1994
Frank Stubbs
Angus
Episode: "Mr. Chairman"
1996
Gash Senior
Episode: "Father"
Seventh Doctor
TV movie[27]
1997
The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling
Mr. Dowling
4 episodes
1999, 2001
Jester
1 episode
The Lord High Chamberlain /
Aunt Grizelda
Episode: "Courage and Adventure"
2001
Kev the Rev
Episode: "Life and Soul"
2002
Leonard Cave
1 episode
Ian Drew
Episode: "010"
2004
Archie
Episode: "Oot"
2006
Morris Shaw
Episode: "457"
Reverend Beaver
Episode: "Late of This Parish"
2008
The Fool
Episode: "King Lear"
Ashley Millington
Episode: "The Evil That Men Do"
Graham Capelli
Episode: "The Lollipop Man"
2009
Al Murray's Multiple Personality Disorder
Nazi Doctor
1 episode
2013
Himself
TV film
2015
Mr. Dunlop
Episode: "Day Thirty-Six"
2017–2018
The Old Man of Hoy
4 episodes
Lord Protector
3 episodes
2017
Comet
Episode: "Comet's Coming"
2018
Clive Brooker
Episode: "All Lies Lead to the Truth"
2019
Aezethril the Wizard
Episode: "Endgame"
2023
Tales of the TARDIS
Seventh Doctor
Episode: "The Curse of Fenric"
2024
Dr. Angus McClurgy
Episode: "The Hermit of Hazelnut Cottage"
Year
Title
Role
Notes
2002
The Shieling of the One Night
Fergus
2008
Pass Them On
The Administrator
2015
The Last Conjuror
Arthur Roberts
2016
Tale of a Timelord
The Doctor
2018
Beauty
Henry
2021
24 Carat
Seventh Doctor
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1991
The Hartnell Years
Presenter
1993
Anthony Stanwick
1994
Dr. Colin Dove
1996
Bidding Adieu
Himself
Documentary
2001
Do You Have a License To Save This Planet?
'The Foot Doctor'
Short film
Year
Title
Voice role
Notes
1997
Seventh Doctor
2015
Archive voice
2024
Mysterious Scientist 1
Guest role[29]
Year
Title
Role
Company
Director |
Notes
2014
Dr. McGillivrey
Tron Theatre, Glasgow
adaptation by John Byrne
2022
Apartness
Christopher
K4K Films and Shortcut Productions
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1995
Prince Caspian
BBC Radio 4 Dramatisation
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
1997
The Last Battle
1998–2000
The Time Travellers
The Professor
BBV Productions
1999–present
Doctor Who: The Audio Adventures
Big Finish Productions; 140 episodes
2001
Doctor Who: Death Comes To Time
BBCi; 5 part webcast
2007, 2012
Big Finish Productions; 2 episodes
2011-2013
The Witch Prime
Radio Static; 5 stories
2015
The Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty: The Dragon And The Raven
Cedric the Shipwright
2016
Seventh Doctor
Big Finish Productions; Series 2 (2 episodes)
McCoy's mastery of physical comedy led to his working relationship with producer Clive Doig, who employed him on shows ranging from Vision OntoJigsaw
Doctor Who
Scotland
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
