The star, who played the Seventh incarnation of the Time Lord<\/a>, attempted to secure the Sixth Doctor role over Colin Baker<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a>, McCoy explained: \u201cFor years, people used to say to me, \u2018You could be Doctor Who.\u2019 I think part of the reason was I used to wear a scarf all the time\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen Peter Davison<\/a> was leaving, before Colin [Baker] came in, I got in touch with my agent and said, \u2018Peter Davison\u2019s leaving, shall we try and see [about] the Doctor?\u2019 They\u2019d already cast Colin so I\u2019d given up. And then, two years later, Colin was leaving so again I got in touch with my agent and said, \u2018Have another go.\u2019 So my agent phoned John Nathan Turner and said, \u2018I think you should see Sylvester McCoy.\u2019 And John said, \u2018Who?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He recalled: \u201cJohn Nathan Turner came along to see [The Pied Piper] and went back afterwards, I learned many years later, and said, \u2018I\u2019ve found my new Doctor\u2019\u2026. Of course, I was handed this part. I was quite ignorant of it because I\u2019d been working in the theatre for years. So I hadn\u2019t seen it, I had a distant memory of it. Patrick Troughton<\/a> was my Doctor but it was a long, long time ago.<\/p>\n As Sylvester McCoy turns 80, he sits down with RadioTimes.com for an in-depth interview about life, Doctor Who\u2026and spoons. Stay tuned across the weekend for more videos and stories from the Seventh Doctor legend.<\/strong><\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> \u201cAnd so I had no idea really what role I had been handed, and then discovered I\u2019d been handed one of the great television acting roles where you could do anything with it. The canvas was enormous, and you could do all sorts of things and so that was a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n Baker ended up playing the Doctor from 1984 to 1986 before being replaced by McCoy. He was let go from the series after then-BBC One controller Michael Grade \u2013 who was outspoken about his dislike for Doctor Who \u2013 only agreed to recommission the show if Baker was replaced.<\/p>\n Baker has since recalled how he was invited by the BBC to return to film a single story for the following season 24, but refused.<\/p>\n At a BFI screening, he said: \u201cThis was in November and that would take place the following March\/April\u2026 I wasn\u2019t going to commit myself to two weeks work the next March\/April\u2026 and I\u2019ll be honest, I was hacked off. I saw no reason to be nice to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing the audience, he added: \u201cI forgot about you [the fans] \u2013 sorry. I was being brutally selfish at the time and I just felt annoyed. Because I loved that part\u2026 and I thought I had more to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n Baker did propose that he could return for the entirety of the following season and regenerate at the end of it, but says he \u201cnever heard back\u201d from the BBC.<\/p> The next season opened with McCoy wearing Baker\u2019s costume and a wig.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, you noticed did you?\u201d he jokes. \u201c[I\u2019m] surprised, because they dressed me up. They put me in Colin\u2019s costume. And they put a wig on me and I looked like Harpo Marx.\u201d<\/p>\n Naturally, he\u2019s quick to point out the bright side, though: \u201cI\u2019m an actor who\u2019s played two Doctors! I was the only one \u2013 but there\u2019s another one come along, damn him! David! David [Tennant]<\/a> is now playing Doctor number Ten and and Fourteen. I was Six and Seven \u2013 I got there first!\u201d<\/p>\n Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Episodes of the classic series can be streamed\u00a0<\/strong>on BritBox \u2013 you can sign up for a\u00a07-day free trial here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Check out more of our\u00a0Sci-Fi<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310, PLUS a \u00a310 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n The Sixth Doctor could have been very different. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":35976,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/sylvester-mccoy-tried-to-land-sixth-doctor-role-over-colin-baker-scaled.jpg",2560,1706,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/sylvester-mccoy-tried-to-land-sixth-doctor-role-over-colin-baker-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/sylvester-mccoy-tried-to-land-sixth-doctor-role-over-colin-baker-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/sylvester-mccoy-tried-to-land-sixth-doctor-role-over-colin-baker-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/sylvester-mccoy-tried-to-land-sixth-doctor-role-over-colin-baker-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/sylvester-mccoy-tried-to-land-sixth-doctor-role-over-colin-baker-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/sylvester-mccoy-tried-to-land-sixth-doctor-role-over-colin-baker-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Sixth Doctor could have been very different.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/35975"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Sylvester](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/Sylvester-1-bd4dd82.jpg?quality=45&resize=556,556\" "\\"Sylvester")
<\/div><\/div> <\/div> <\/section>![\"Colin](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/doctor-who-8f468fc.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Colin")
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