Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, TV | Tagged: doctor who, sylvester mccoy, ukraine

Doctor Who: Sylvester McCoy Shares Ukraine FanCon Journey/Experience

In the latest edition of DWM, Doctor Who icon Sylvester McCoy discussed traveling to Ukraine for FanCon to bring some hope to the fans there.

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine featured a report where Sylvester McCoy, who played the Seventh Doctor from 1987 to 1989, traveled to Ukraine to comfort fans from the ongoing conflict with Russia. He was accompanied by Cyberman and Dalek performer Mickey Lewis, who wrote up their trip as they went to FanCon in Kyiv. They flew to Warsaw, Poland, and then took a 12-hour drive across the border into Ukraine, fuelled by single-malt whisky, as the towns they passed were getting bombed after their passage. No, Putin wasn't tracking The Doctor and trying to wipe him out, though it might have felt that way. McCoy and Lewis spent two days at Fancon signing autographs, hugging fans, telling stories, and the money made from their signings went to the war effort, including buying drones to defend the country.

The night before the convention, McCoy and Lewis were taken on a tour through Kyiv, looking at bombed-out children's hospitals and memorials to the fallen in the main square, where a sea of Ukrainian flags wilted in the 30-degree heat above a wall of photographs belonging to the fallen. They noted the odd details: intact churches because the Russians scrupulously avoided bombing them, funny portraits of disgraced former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, The Clash blaring from a sound system, a siren in the middle of the night, and a warning to everyone to evacuate to the nearest air raid shelter. McCoy didn't hear it and slept through the night like a baby. It was just like The Doctor to be totally unflappable in the shadow of a bombing campaign, particularly this Doctor. This was reality with a layer of fantasy and myth – it's just like The Doctor arriving in a war-torn land and looking at the devastation. At the Con, McCoy and Lewis were greeted by lengthy queues for our autographs and the repeated request for hugs.

"This was so unlike any other con I'd ever attended," wrote Lewis."Here, Doctor Who meant so much more than a sci-fi show. It was a lifeline to a world where the oppressed were rescued, the vulnerable were saved. But what could a Cyberman and a former Doctor do to lift them out of their perpetual anxiety? Well, as it happens, sign autographs and give lots of hugs. But it moved me more than anything has before in my life. They actually saw us as heroes (even though I'd always been a villain). They thanked us emotionally for our support, and they meant every word."

The whole notion must have been surreal for McCoy, and even more surreal the more you think about it. Yes, the Seventh Doctor went to war-torn Ukraine to provide respite to the innocent who called out for The Doctor. The con organiser and the fans held the event as an act of defiance, to show they still lived in hope despite the dread and fear of war. And the Doctor came. Actors who play iconic characters are symbols, and the ones who played The Doctor have become more aware of that than any other, especially when called upon to support causes The Doctor and the series always did as representatives of a better day.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!