Manifesto: Seventh Doctor Era
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tardis_libraryEra/Spin-off: Seventh Doctor Era (including the NAs and some Big Finish)
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane, Melanie Bush, Bernice Summerfield, Hex Schofield.
Notes/warnings/spoilers: Some spoilers, but I've kept them as vague and as few as possible.
"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream. People made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on Ace, we've got work to do."
What is it?
The Seventh Doctor Era ran (on TV) from 1987-1989 when the show was cancelled - just as things were getting really good. His run was then officially continued by Virgin Books in their "New Adventures" series, and the Seventh Doctor's era only technically ended with the 1996 TV Movie in which he regenerated into Eight. Plus missing adventures have continued to be made by BBC books and later by Big Finish. My focus is on the TV era, but I will include some New Adventures & Big Finish works.
It's one of the most inventive eras of the show - whatever shortcomings it may occasionally have in budget etc., it was never short of ideas and imagination. "File under I," says the Doctor of one of his vanquished enemies, "for Imagination, comma, lack of."
I really loved rogueofblood (aka Kitty Eden)'s summary up the era here on tumblr - I don't think I could even try and put it better.
It's a good era of the show, that's all I'm saying, and well worth watching (and listening to and reading). If you don't know it already, then I hope this post and the works recced here will be a useful introduction. If you do, then I hope you find at least a few new recs here to enjoy!
Characters
"That's what guns are for. Pull the trigger, end a life. Simple, isn't it? Why don't you do it, then? Look me in the eye, pull the trigger, end my life. Why not?"
The Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) is the magician and the clown; the chess player of the Doctors. If you make the mistake of going up against him, he'll probably talk you into blowing your entire planet up, but he doesn't like blood on his hands and never uses weapons. It's no accident that this is the Doctor who gets to play Merlin. He likes to be mysterious, carries the weight of the universe on his shoulders, and waxes philosophical about the small decisions that cause ripples across time, but he's also likely to be found playing the spoons while standing on his head.
Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford)
"Discretion's my middle name."
A computer genius who's also into keep-fit. She managed the clever trick of joining the Sixth Doctor aboard the TARDIS while never having actually met him. She's generally up for adventure and has a strong sense of justice and a knack for making friends, but is strangely more into freezer centres in space than time travel. It takes all sorts to make a universe. Post-canon appearances by Mel may have her bitter over her exit (see the NAs/PDAS motto "nobody is allowed a happy ending"), or running around as a space pirate. Or both, possibly.
Ace McShane (Sophie Aldred)
"You know what's going on, don't you? You always know. You just can't be bothered to tell anyone. It's like it's some kind of game, and only you know the rules!"
Ace (real name Dorothy) is a teenager who managed to whip up a time storm in her bedroom while trying out a chemistry experiment, probably due to the machinations of Evil From Before the Dawn of Time [TM]. She has a love for explosives, and blows stuff up a lot. The Doctor acts as mentor to her, training her for purposes unknown (because the series got cancelled; otherwise she might have become a Time Lord). She calls him the Professor. Anyway, Ace has a really interesting arc, and is much loved by fans still. Post-canon/EU adventures may find her a) travelling with the Doctor for decades, b) becoming a Time Lord, c) speeding about on a time-travelling motorbike, d) running a charity, e) dying, or f) dying. Or all/any of the above, probably. Time is more of a wibbly-wobbly thing, right?
Once the show was off-air and Virgin started their book series, they introduced a new companion, Bernice Summerfield (known as Benny).
"As regular readers of my diary (if that's you, Doctor, put it down now) know, there are certain portions of my life that I can't readily account for. I tend to gloss over those with a post-it note, but on this occasion I have enough recollections to fill a page... I said all these things, but some of the words may be in the wrong order."
She's an archaeologist from the future with a diary she's always rewriting (and may well have inspired a later TV character, even if her story is otherwise very different). Benny was one of the best things to come out of the NAs, and ended up with her own book and audio series. (Once the BBC took the licence back from Virgin to start their own range, Virgin were left with only the elements they had created and had copyright to - first and foremost being Bernice - and when Big Finish started, they also began with Benny. In the audios, Benny is played by Lisa Bowerman (who also appeared in the final DW story, Survival.)
The NAs featured two other companions as well, Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej, cops from the future.
Roz is the older and tougher of the two, Chris the naive optimistic newbie. They occur rarely in fanworks, but are well worth getting to know. Big Finish have recently started using them as well, so hopefully more fans will be getting the chance to get acquainted presently.
Thomas Hector "Hex" Schofield (Philip Olivier)
"Who died and put him in charge? What right does he have to hand out judgement?"
Big Finish also introduced their own new companion, Hex, a nurse from Liverpool in the near future, with a tendency to panic and freak out and say, "Oh my God!" a lot. He frequently gets shipped with Ace, although often unrequited. Seven also has another (temporary) companion in the audios, Elizabeth Klein (Tracey Childs) from an alternate (Nazi) timeline, as well as Raine Creevy, a companion originally outlined for S27 on TV.
Other important/recurring characters from the era include The Master, with Anthony Ainley making his final proper TV appearance in Survival, the Brigadier (who appears in Battlefield), his then-successor at UNIT, Brigadier Winifred Bambera (Angela Bruce) and Ancelyn (Marcus Gilbert) her knight from another universe, The Rani and Glitz Sixth Doctor characters who reappear in Time and the Rani and Dragonfire respectively, plus nearly-companion Ray from Delta and the Bannerman, and Rachel, Allison & Group Captain Gilmore from Remembrance of the Daleks who have their own Big Finish spin-off series. Oh, and, via the New Adventures, Seven has a cat called Wolsey.
In terms of ships, the most common is really Seven & Ace. It's not the shippiest of eras, but you will find a reasonable amount of Seven/Ace, Doctor/Master (usually set around Survival), Hex/Ace, Ace/One of Her Girls of the Week (she has plenty), and occasional Ace/Mel. Anything else seems to be pretty rare, really. I have been rubbish at representing Seven-era shipping here, unfortunately. It was hard enough narrowing down the recs as it was, but hopefully someone on the comm can make good my lack some time!
And, sneaking a bonus rec in as part of my introduction to the era, here's a trailer for the Seventh Doctor on TV by Babelcolour:
"That's right... you're going. You've been gone for ages. Already gone, you're still here. Just arrived. Haven't even met you yet. It all depends on who you are and how you look at it. Strange business, time."
The Seventh Doctor was my introduction to Doctor Who, so I'm thoroughly biased in favour of this era and think S26 is about as good as it gets for an entire season of DW, and - cards on the table - love The Happiness Patrol.* Plus, stuff blows up a lot.
There are some amazing fanworks for the era (though it is also my duty in this manifesto to point out that we could always use MORE), so let's get started...
* The Happiness Patrol is a thing with a lot of flaws that I can understand people disliking, but it is in many ways also a manifesto for the era. Helen A's regime isn't only a comment on Thatcherism, it's about any oppressive regime, even forcing people to be happy. The end result of evil is always the same - the long list of the dead that rolls out across the forum - the same point made in the 1980s BBC Richard III (another portrait of tyranny) with its mountain of corpses piled up at the finish. And Seven and Ace bring down a corrupt government in one night with no weapons other than anger, music, grief, and love - and knowng the value of a life. Plus, maybe one tiny bit of nitro 9. It's far more radical than beating up a Dalek with a baseball bat, although this era'll give you that, too. But that's Seven, that's Ace, that's the era. It's angry and it's weird and metaphorical, and it's political and sometimes it's bizarre experimental theatre, and too brightly coloured in places (because the 1980s; c.f. Six). And I love it, and The Happiness Patrol. And the Kandyman. They're features, not bugs. ;-p /Happiness Patrol rant over; we now return you to your regular manifesto. Liking the Happiness Patrol is not actually required.
Resources
The Seventh Doctor at TARDIS Wiki
Seventh Doctor category at Teaspoon
Seventh Doctor works at AO3
LJ comms (all defunct now, but still worth searching for hidden gems and links not posted elsewhere):
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
seventh_doctor
seventh_and_ace
seventh_doctor
ace_fans
blows_things_up (Ace)
hex_rated
amongthedeadmen (Benny)
Selecting the recs was really hard - I wanted to try and rec a variety of formats and keep the number down to 10 if possible, but I didn't manage the latter at all - and I've still had to leave off not only loads of wonderful stories, but some of my very favourite Seventh Doctor authors. Clearly, I have work to do myself in this comm in the future to make up for that...
1. Title: If I Pour Your Cup
Creator: merripestin
Rating: All ages
Word Count/Length/Size: 101 words
Creator's Summary: Sometimes he cannot follow her thought processes at all.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: Seven's alien thought processes captured in a brilliant drabble.
Link: https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=486
2. Title: Haunted
Creator: RobertHack
Rating: N/A
Word Count/Length/Size: N/A
Creator's Summary: A convention sketch drawn around Halloween. The 7th Doctor must be haunted by a lot of ghosts.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor.
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: Evocative painting of Seven, haunted by ghosts - it feels like the perfect prompt for an eerie missing adventure, and captures some of the darker side of his nature, and the weight of the past that he carries.
Link: https://www.deviantart.com/roberthack/art/Doctor-Who-The-Haunted-508749552
3. Title: A Little Too Far
Creator:![[youtube.com profile]](https://youtube.com/favicon.ico)
TheOddOod
Rating: N/A
Word Count/Length/Size: 2.25
Creator's Summary: A tribute to my favourite Doctor, who designed more sinister schemes and fought more gods than any other incarnation of the Doctor. He's the only one who considered the fate of galaxies and civilizations his personal responsibiltiy, and while walking this road, he found many friends and many tragedies to be saddened over, many of which were his own tragedies.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor (plus Ace, Mel)
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: I tend to prefer music vids that tell their own story, but this is a really excellent clips + dialogue vid that serves both as trailer and character study for Seven. It even manages to include some Big Finish snippets.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8K0qaPjmCk
4. Title: Lost Luggage and Lost Souls
Creator:![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
Nemo_the_Everbeing
Rating: Teen
Word Count/Length/Size: 19,507 words
Creator's Summary: Because listing bus stations as something you hate just begs writers to put you there. The Seventh Doctor and Ace join an odd cast of characters in time to get held hostage, and the Doctor remembers why he prefers saving worlds to smaller crises.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane
Warnings/Notes: Author warns for a hostage situation, violence & attempted rape.
Reasons for reccing: Nemo_the_Everbeing is a fantastic writer, and this missing adventure for Seven and Ace is no exception, as they're thrown into a mundane crisis and still manage to turn the tables on their enemies.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48284/chapters/63381
5. Title: The Chess Players
Creator: Forge
Rating: All ages
Word Count/Length/Size: 2078 words
Creator's Summary: The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, Lord Vetinari and the Doctor play a friendly game of chess. Crossover with Discworld
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Lord Vetinari
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: Seven is often cited as the grand chess master of the Doctors and this is an excellent crossover in which he plays chess against another devious expert at the game - Havelock Vetinari. I don't need to say more, do I?
Link: https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=19058
6. Title: dreamings of meetings
Creator:aces
Rating: G
Word Count/Length/Size: 4006
Creator's Summary: Hex, in "The Settling": I thought I saw lemon trees in the library…or maybe I dreamt them.
Characters/Pairings: Hex Schofield, Ace McShane, Seventh Doctor, the TARDIS
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: If you're not familiar with Big Finish's Seven era team, this is not only a sweet and accessible introduction to them, and Hex in particular, but it's a beautiful TARDIS fic, and I'm a sucker for a good TARDIS-centric fic. Hex gets to know the TARDIS; the TARDIS gets to know Hex.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60624
7. Title: twelve incidents in a masterplan
Creator:deepandlovelydark
Rating: Teen
Word Count/Length/Size: 533
Creator's Summary: the time war in his day is cold, and subtle, and hides itself in the gaps between adventures
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane.
Warnings/Notes: Potential spoilers for all the TV episodes.
Reasons for reccing: AU or not as you please - clever and plausible piece where the Seventh Doctor was fighting the Time War already, in secret.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15424080
8. Title: Probably Impossible/Lies of Omission
Creator:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tula_peiwa
Rating: N/A
Word Count/Length/Size: N/A
Creator's Summary: One for Ace, one for Hex, sorta matchy-matchy through most of them, starting from more or less when each of them met the Doctor, then focusing in on the Project: Destiny/A Death in the Family arc.
Characters/Pairings: Ace McShane, Hex Schofield, Seventh Doctor, some mild/implied Ace/Hex.
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: I thought a fanmix would be something a little different and while this one is old enough that the original download lists have inevitably gone, the song lists, the extracts and the graphics are all still there - and no doubt most of the songs can be found by your usual methods. It's an intriguing bit of character exploration by music - and a good source of inspiration if you're in need of one.
Link: https://tula-peiwa.livejournal.com/28507.html
9. Title: Festive Restings
Creator: dblauvelt
Rating: All Ages
Word Count/Length/Size: 3762 words
Creator's Summary: Professor Bernice Summerfield has retired, earlier than expected. Yet all is not well in her little retirement cottage in Durham, 1922, nor does the festive season bode well for her tabby, Wosley.
Characters/Pairings: Bernice Summerfield, Wolsey, Seventh Doctor
Warnings/Notes: (Temporary, sort of) pet death.
Reasons for reccing: Benny and Wolsey retreat to a cottage in the past for Christmas. It's a lovely, melancholy and sweet fic, that ends with a perfect Benny diary entry. If you haven't met Benny yet, you could do a whole lot worse than starting here.
Link: https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=17798
10. Title: The History of the Kings of Britain
Creator: livii
Rating: Teen
Word Count/Length/Size:
Creator's Summary:
Characters/Pairings: Ancelyn/Winifred Bambera, Tenth Doctor.
Warnings/Notes: None, save spoilers for Battlefield.
Reasons for reccing: Ancelyn and Bambera are probably the most popular of all one-off characters in Classic Who (at least, judging by fanwork numbers), and this is a gorgeous look at these two opposites from alternate dimensions working out a way to be together. Who doesn't need the love story of one tough UNIT Brigadier and her lost knight of the Round Table from another dimension where science is indistinguishable from magic, after all?
Link: https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=10732
11. Title: There in That Place
Creator: Mandragora
Rating: All ages
Word Count/Length/Size: 1098 words.
Creator's Summary: Just a place to call their own.
Characters/Pairings: Roslyn Forrester, Seventh Doctor.
Warnings/Notes: Spoilers for So Vile a Sin.
Reasons for reccing: Wonderfully delicate and bittersweet exploration of Seven and Roz's friendship, and its ending.
Link: https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=12587
12. Title: Ace in the Hole
Creator:odessie | odessie
Rating: G
Word Count/Length/Size: 1.56 mins
Creator's Summary: "Ace in the hole": a hidden advantage or resource kept in reserve until needed.
Characters/Pairings: Melanie Bush/Ace McShane, Sixth Doctor, Seventh Doctor.
Warnings/Notes: Some bright/white flashes of light.
Reasons for reccing: Expertly done, sweet and joyful Ace/Mel vid. (The streaming version seems to have gone, but I checked the download and it works fine, happily.)
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10578630
13. Title: Fifteen Minutes
Creator:TheBigCat (Kitty Eden)
Rating: G
Word Count/Length/Size: 4996 words
Creator's Summary: Solving a murder mystery on a train? All in a day's work for the Doctor and Ace.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: Gem of a missing adventure, with perfect characterization - Seven and Ace get on a train and solve a murder in the space of fifteen minutes.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4303143?view_full_work=true (The AO3 version is archive-locked so you'll need to log in to see it, but it's also here at Teaspoon
14. Title: Adventure Time and Space! Seventh Doctor
Creator: Blizzaro
Rating: All ages
Word Count/Length/Size: N/A
Creator's Summary: More Adventure Time x Doctor Who cross over fun!
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: I'm not familiar with Adventure Time, but didn't need to be to admire this gleefully character-ful cartoon drawing of Seven and Ace.
Link: https://www.deviantart.com/blizarro/art/Adventure-Time-and-Space-Seventh-Doctor-518163447
15. Title: ceremony for the living
Creator:branwyn
Rating: G
Word Count/Length/Size: 1329 words
Creator's Summary: The Doctor attends his own funeral.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: It's harsh and angsty, but great. In his usual complicated fashion, Seven goes to his own funeral
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/278281
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane, Melanie Bush, Bernice Summerfield, Hex Schofield.
Notes/warnings/spoilers: Some spoilers, but I've kept them as vague and as few as possible.
What is it?
The Seventh Doctor Era ran (on TV) from 1987-1989 when the show was cancelled - just as things were getting really good. His run was then officially continued by Virgin Books in their "New Adventures" series, and the Seventh Doctor's era only technically ended with the 1996 TV Movie in which he regenerated into Eight. Plus missing adventures have continued to be made by BBC books and later by Big Finish. My focus is on the TV era, but I will include some New Adventures & Big Finish works.
It's one of the most inventive eras of the show - whatever shortcomings it may occasionally have in budget etc., it was never short of ideas and imagination. "File under I," says the Doctor of one of his vanquished enemies, "for Imagination, comma, lack of."
I really loved rogueofblood (aka Kitty Eden)'s summary up the era here on tumblr - I don't think I could even try and put it better.
It's a good era of the show, that's all I'm saying, and well worth watching (and listening to and reading). If you don't know it already, then I hope this post and the works recced here will be a useful introduction. If you do, then I hope you find at least a few new recs here to enjoy!
Characters
"That's what guns are for. Pull the trigger, end a life. Simple, isn't it? Why don't you do it, then? Look me in the eye, pull the trigger, end my life. Why not?"
The Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) is the magician and the clown; the chess player of the Doctors. If you make the mistake of going up against him, he'll probably talk you into blowing your entire planet up, but he doesn't like blood on his hands and never uses weapons. It's no accident that this is the Doctor who gets to play Merlin. He likes to be mysterious, carries the weight of the universe on his shoulders, and waxes philosophical about the small decisions that cause ripples across time, but he's also likely to be found playing the spoons while standing on his head.
Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford)
"Discretion's my middle name."
A computer genius who's also into keep-fit. She managed the clever trick of joining the Sixth Doctor aboard the TARDIS while never having actually met him. She's generally up for adventure and has a strong sense of justice and a knack for making friends, but is strangely more into freezer centres in space than time travel. It takes all sorts to make a universe. Post-canon appearances by Mel may have her bitter over her exit (see the NAs/PDAS motto "nobody is allowed a happy ending"), or running around as a space pirate. Or both, possibly.
Ace McShane (Sophie Aldred)
"You know what's going on, don't you? You always know. You just can't be bothered to tell anyone. It's like it's some kind of game, and only you know the rules!"
Ace (real name Dorothy) is a teenager who managed to whip up a time storm in her bedroom while trying out a chemistry experiment, probably due to the machinations of Evil From Before the Dawn of Time [TM]. She has a love for explosives, and blows stuff up a lot. The Doctor acts as mentor to her, training her for purposes unknown (because the series got cancelled; otherwise she might have become a Time Lord). She calls him the Professor. Anyway, Ace has a really interesting arc, and is much loved by fans still. Post-canon/EU adventures may find her a) travelling with the Doctor for decades, b) becoming a Time Lord, c) speeding about on a time-travelling motorbike, d) running a charity, e) dying, or f) dying. Or all/any of the above, probably. Time is more of a wibbly-wobbly thing, right?
Once the show was off-air and Virgin started their book series, they introduced a new companion, Bernice Summerfield (known as Benny).
"As regular readers of my diary (if that's you, Doctor, put it down now) know, there are certain portions of my life that I can't readily account for. I tend to gloss over those with a post-it note, but on this occasion I have enough recollections to fill a page... I said all these things, but some of the words may be in the wrong order."
She's an archaeologist from the future with a diary she's always rewriting (and may well have inspired a later TV character, even if her story is otherwise very different). Benny was one of the best things to come out of the NAs, and ended up with her own book and audio series. (Once the BBC took the licence back from Virgin to start their own range, Virgin were left with only the elements they had created and had copyright to - first and foremost being Bernice - and when Big Finish started, they also began with Benny. In the audios, Benny is played by Lisa Bowerman (who also appeared in the final DW story, Survival.)
The NAs featured two other companions as well, Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej, cops from the future.
Roz is the older and tougher of the two, Chris the naive optimistic newbie. They occur rarely in fanworks, but are well worth getting to know. Big Finish have recently started using them as well, so hopefully more fans will be getting the chance to get acquainted presently.
Thomas Hector "Hex" Schofield (Philip Olivier)
"Who died and put him in charge? What right does he have to hand out judgement?"
Big Finish also introduced their own new companion, Hex, a nurse from Liverpool in the near future, with a tendency to panic and freak out and say, "Oh my God!" a lot. He frequently gets shipped with Ace, although often unrequited. Seven also has another (temporary) companion in the audios, Elizabeth Klein (Tracey Childs) from an alternate (Nazi) timeline, as well as Raine Creevy, a companion originally outlined for S27 on TV.
Other important/recurring characters from the era include The Master, with Anthony Ainley making his final proper TV appearance in Survival, the Brigadier (who appears in Battlefield), his then-successor at UNIT, Brigadier Winifred Bambera (Angela Bruce) and Ancelyn (Marcus Gilbert) her knight from another universe, The Rani and Glitz Sixth Doctor characters who reappear in Time and the Rani and Dragonfire respectively, plus nearly-companion Ray from Delta and the Bannerman, and Rachel, Allison & Group Captain Gilmore from Remembrance of the Daleks who have their own Big Finish spin-off series. Oh, and, via the New Adventures, Seven has a cat called Wolsey.
In terms of ships, the most common is really Seven & Ace. It's not the shippiest of eras, but you will find a reasonable amount of Seven/Ace, Doctor/Master (usually set around Survival), Hex/Ace, Ace/One of Her Girls of the Week (she has plenty), and occasional Ace/Mel. Anything else seems to be pretty rare, really. I have been rubbish at representing Seven-era shipping here, unfortunately. It was hard enough narrowing down the recs as it was, but hopefully someone on the comm can make good my lack some time!
And, sneaking a bonus rec in as part of my introduction to the era, here's a trailer for the Seventh Doctor on TV by Babelcolour:
The Seventh Doctor was my introduction to Doctor Who, so I'm thoroughly biased in favour of this era and think S26 is about as good as it gets for an entire season of DW, and - cards on the table - love The Happiness Patrol.* Plus, stuff blows up a lot.
There are some amazing fanworks for the era (though it is also my duty in this manifesto to point out that we could always use MORE), so let's get started...
* The Happiness Patrol is a thing with a lot of flaws that I can understand people disliking, but it is in many ways also a manifesto for the era. Helen A's regime isn't only a comment on Thatcherism, it's about any oppressive regime, even forcing people to be happy. The end result of evil is always the same - the long list of the dead that rolls out across the forum - the same point made in the 1980s BBC Richard III (another portrait of tyranny) with its mountain of corpses piled up at the finish. And Seven and Ace bring down a corrupt government in one night with no weapons other than anger, music, grief, and love - and knowng the value of a life. Plus, maybe one tiny bit of nitro 9. It's far more radical than beating up a Dalek with a baseball bat, although this era'll give you that, too. But that's Seven, that's Ace, that's the era. It's angry and it's weird and metaphorical, and it's political and sometimes it's bizarre experimental theatre, and too brightly coloured in places (because the 1980s; c.f. Six). And I love it, and The Happiness Patrol. And the Kandyman. They're features, not bugs. ;-p /Happiness Patrol rant over; we now return you to your regular manifesto. Liking the Happiness Patrol is not actually required.
Resources
The Seventh Doctor at TARDIS Wiki
Seventh Doctor category at Teaspoon
Seventh Doctor works at AO3
LJ comms (all defunct now, but still worth searching for hidden gems and links not posted elsewhere):
seventh_doctorseventh_and_aceseventh_doctorace_fansblows_things_up (Ace)hex_ratedamongthedeadmen (Benny)Selecting the recs was really hard - I wanted to try and rec a variety of formats and keep the number down to 10 if possible, but I didn't manage the latter at all - and I've still had to leave off not only loads of wonderful stories, but some of my very favourite Seventh Doctor authors. Clearly, I have work to do myself in this comm in the future to make up for that...
1. Title: If I Pour Your Cup
Creator: merripestin
Rating: All ages
Word Count/Length/Size: 101 words
Creator's Summary: Sometimes he cannot follow her thought processes at all.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: Seven's alien thought processes captured in a brilliant drabble.
Link: https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=486
2. Title: Haunted
Creator: RobertHack
Rating: N/A
Word Count/Length/Size: N/A
Creator's Summary: A convention sketch drawn around Halloween. The 7th Doctor must be haunted by a lot of ghosts.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor.
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: Evocative painting of Seven, haunted by ghosts - it feels like the perfect prompt for an eerie missing adventure, and captures some of the darker side of his nature, and the weight of the past that he carries.
Link: https://www.deviantart.com/roberthack/art/Doctor-Who-The-Haunted-508749552
3. Title: A Little Too Far
Creator:
Rating: N/A
Word Count/Length/Size: 2.25
Creator's Summary: A tribute to my favourite Doctor, who designed more sinister schemes and fought more gods than any other incarnation of the Doctor. He's the only one who considered the fate of galaxies and civilizations his personal responsibiltiy, and while walking this road, he found many friends and many tragedies to be saddened over, many of which were his own tragedies.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor (plus Ace, Mel)
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: I tend to prefer music vids that tell their own story, but this is a really excellent clips + dialogue vid that serves both as trailer and character study for Seven. It even manages to include some Big Finish snippets.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8K0qaPjmCk
4. Title: Lost Luggage and Lost Souls
Creator:
Rating: Teen
Word Count/Length/Size: 19,507 words
Creator's Summary: Because listing bus stations as something you hate just begs writers to put you there. The Seventh Doctor and Ace join an odd cast of characters in time to get held hostage, and the Doctor remembers why he prefers saving worlds to smaller crises.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane
Warnings/Notes: Author warns for a hostage situation, violence & attempted rape.
Reasons for reccing: Nemo_the_Everbeing is a fantastic writer, and this missing adventure for Seven and Ace is no exception, as they're thrown into a mundane crisis and still manage to turn the tables on their enemies.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48284/chapters/63381
5. Title: The Chess Players
Creator: Forge
Rating: All ages
Word Count/Length/Size: 2078 words
Creator's Summary: The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, Lord Vetinari and the Doctor play a friendly game of chess. Crossover with Discworld
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Lord Vetinari
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: Seven is often cited as the grand chess master of the Doctors and this is an excellent crossover in which he plays chess against another devious expert at the game - Havelock Vetinari. I don't need to say more, do I?
Link: https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=19058
6. Title: dreamings of meetings
Creator:
Rating: G
Word Count/Length/Size: 4006
Creator's Summary: Hex, in "The Settling": I thought I saw lemon trees in the library…or maybe I dreamt them.
Characters/Pairings: Hex Schofield, Ace McShane, Seventh Doctor, the TARDIS
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: If you're not familiar with Big Finish's Seven era team, this is not only a sweet and accessible introduction to them, and Hex in particular, but it's a beautiful TARDIS fic, and I'm a sucker for a good TARDIS-centric fic. Hex gets to know the TARDIS; the TARDIS gets to know Hex.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60624
7. Title: twelve incidents in a masterplan
Creator:
Rating: Teen
Word Count/Length/Size: 533
Creator's Summary: the time war in his day is cold, and subtle, and hides itself in the gaps between adventures
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane.
Warnings/Notes: Potential spoilers for all the TV episodes.
Reasons for reccing: AU or not as you please - clever and plausible piece where the Seventh Doctor was fighting the Time War already, in secret.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15424080
8. Title: Probably Impossible/Lies of Omission
Creator:
tula_peiwa Rating: N/A
Word Count/Length/Size: N/A
Creator's Summary: One for Ace, one for Hex, sorta matchy-matchy through most of them, starting from more or less when each of them met the Doctor, then focusing in on the Project: Destiny/A Death in the Family arc.
Characters/Pairings: Ace McShane, Hex Schofield, Seventh Doctor, some mild/implied Ace/Hex.
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: I thought a fanmix would be something a little different and while this one is old enough that the original download lists have inevitably gone, the song lists, the extracts and the graphics are all still there - and no doubt most of the songs can be found by your usual methods. It's an intriguing bit of character exploration by music - and a good source of inspiration if you're in need of one.
Link: https://tula-peiwa.livejournal.com/28507.html
9. Title: Festive Restings
Creator: dblauvelt
Rating: All Ages
Word Count/Length/Size: 3762 words
Creator's Summary: Professor Bernice Summerfield has retired, earlier than expected. Yet all is not well in her little retirement cottage in Durham, 1922, nor does the festive season bode well for her tabby, Wosley.
Characters/Pairings: Bernice Summerfield, Wolsey, Seventh Doctor
Warnings/Notes: (Temporary, sort of) pet death.
Reasons for reccing: Benny and Wolsey retreat to a cottage in the past for Christmas. It's a lovely, melancholy and sweet fic, that ends with a perfect Benny diary entry. If you haven't met Benny yet, you could do a whole lot worse than starting here.
Link: https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=17798
10. Title: The History of the Kings of Britain
Creator: livii
Rating: Teen
Word Count/Length/Size:
Creator's Summary:
Characters/Pairings: Ancelyn/Winifred Bambera, Tenth Doctor.
Warnings/Notes: None, save spoilers for Battlefield.
Reasons for reccing: Ancelyn and Bambera are probably the most popular of all one-off characters in Classic Who (at least, judging by fanwork numbers), and this is a gorgeous look at these two opposites from alternate dimensions working out a way to be together. Who doesn't need the love story of one tough UNIT Brigadier and her lost knight of the Round Table from another dimension where science is indistinguishable from magic, after all?
Link: https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=10732
11. Title: There in That Place
Creator: Mandragora
Rating: All ages
Word Count/Length/Size: 1098 words.
Creator's Summary: Just a place to call their own.
Characters/Pairings: Roslyn Forrester, Seventh Doctor.
Warnings/Notes: Spoilers for So Vile a Sin.
Reasons for reccing: Wonderfully delicate and bittersweet exploration of Seven and Roz's friendship, and its ending.
Link: https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=12587
12. Title: Ace in the Hole
Creator:
odessieRating: G
Word Count/Length/Size: 1.56 mins
Creator's Summary: "Ace in the hole": a hidden advantage or resource kept in reserve until needed.
Characters/Pairings: Melanie Bush/Ace McShane, Sixth Doctor, Seventh Doctor.
Warnings/Notes: Some bright/white flashes of light.
Reasons for reccing: Expertly done, sweet and joyful Ace/Mel vid. (The streaming version seems to have gone, but I checked the download and it works fine, happily.)
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10578630
13. Title: Fifteen Minutes
Creator:
Rating: G
Word Count/Length/Size: 4996 words
Creator's Summary: Solving a murder mystery on a train? All in a day's work for the Doctor and Ace.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: Gem of a missing adventure, with perfect characterization - Seven and Ace get on a train and solve a murder in the space of fifteen minutes.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4303143?view_full_work=true (The AO3 version is archive-locked so you'll need to log in to see it, but it's also here at Teaspoon
14. Title: Adventure Time and Space! Seventh Doctor
Creator: Blizzaro
Rating: All ages
Word Count/Length/Size: N/A
Creator's Summary: More Adventure Time x Doctor Who cross over fun!
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: I'm not familiar with Adventure Time, but didn't need to be to admire this gleefully character-ful cartoon drawing of Seven and Ace.
Link: https://www.deviantart.com/blizarro/art/Adventure-Time-and-Space-Seventh-Doctor-518163447
15. Title: ceremony for the living
Creator:
Rating: G
Word Count/Length/Size: 1329 words
Creator's Summary: The Doctor attends his own funeral.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane
Warnings/Notes: None.
Reasons for reccing: It's harsh and angsty, but great. In his usual complicated fashion, Seven goes to his own funeral
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/278281
no subject
Date: 2019-05-01 12:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-05-02 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-05-02 04:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-05-01 06:54 pm (UTC)But I don't know what you are talking about. "The Happiness Patrol" has no flaws. ;)
no subject
Date: 2019-05-02 04:22 pm (UTC)But I don't know what you are talking about. "The Happiness Patrol" has no flaws.
:-D
Well, I have quibbles about the PLanet of the Women type nods and the Pipe People, but, yeah. Sopme people just don't understand greatness!
no subject
Date: 2019-05-01 07:03 pm (UTC)ETA: Oh and meant to say that I love the summary you linked to.
'this part of DW canon smells like gunpowder and tea leaves, and feels like a vast, neverending adventure that’s somehow very close to home. there really isn’t anything quite like it'
no subject
Date: 2019-05-02 04:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-05-09 03:08 am (UTC)And I usually come out of it shipping Hex with Charlotte Singh, who is lovely.
Edit to add: BF also jump on board Ace's evil from the dawn of time with a whole set around the Elder Gods. It's smashing and connects well back to the series. Technically, it starts around Angel of Scutari. (Hex, btw, is one of those companions who gets a lot of whump over the course of his audios).
For slightly lighter fare, The Dark Husband is hilarious.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-09 08:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-05-24 07:38 pm (UTC)Also, The Happiness Patrol is one of the best Doctor Who stories. This is a fact.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-25 08:58 am (UTC)