Ranking each Doctor Who based on who you’d get a pint with

, 02.03.1987. British Actor Sylvester Mccoy Who Plays The Doctor In The Bbc Television Series Dr Who. (Photo by Photoshot/Getty Images)

Seventh Doctor // Sylvester McCoy

The Seventh Doctor is definitely kind of weird. So much so that he often ranks as one of the least popular Doctors ever. (Yikes.) Some of this was not the character’s fault – Seven was in many ways let down by all of Doctor Who around him. After all, McCoy’s tenure was notable primarily for its terrible stories and the fact that the entire show got canceled at the end of it. And as a character, Seven had a lot of problems. He was a pompous, bumbling figure. He often found himself played for laughs next to his more serious and capable companion. (Though Ace was awesome in her own right, though.) He just wasn’t that interesting or entertaining.

As Seven’s time in the TARDIS went on, he did evolve rather significantly. He grew increasingly dark and manipulative. He often relied on schemes and tricks. In many ways, Seven marked a shift toward the type of Doctor we see today. McCoy’s Doctor put on a darker coat to indicate that he was becoming messier, morally speaking. Eccleston’s Nine showed up wearing one. The modern-day Doctors all carry a certain amount of internalized rage around with them, and we see the earliest signs of this here. Seven may actually be more important as a narrative way station en route to the present-day series than as a character in his own right.

Given his often inconsistent characterization, Seven could be a great drinking companion or a godawful one. You could get swindled into paying the bar tab, or have a martini dumped in your lap. Anything’s possible.

Booze of choice: Something with a lot of different kinds of liquor in it and a weird name. Let’s go with a Witch Doctor.