Patrick Troughton
(1920-1987)
The second Doctor's era
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Patrick Troughton(1920-1987) |
The second Doctor's era |
A Review by Dennis McDermott 20/3/97
As this was my idea, I guess I ought to kick it off. When I think about this category, the pertinent question seems to me to be: which Doctor would I most want to spend time with? In an angonizingly close vote with Tom Baker, Patrick Troughton gets the nod. Doctor Who is best taken in a humorous vein, and who is a better clown than Troughton? Arrogant as any Timelord, his needles seem to land less painfully than, say, Colin Baker's. Add in the fact that Troughton out-acted virtually every actor I've ever seen him with makes me very comfortable with this choice. But then, had Tom Baker chosen to participate in The Five Doctors, perhaps my choice would have been different.
More depth than you thought? by John Geenty 17/12/99
It is one of the tragedies of Doctor Who that many of its finest episodes are probably lost forever. Junked by a short-sighted BBC desperate for space in their archives. In the space of a few years the early seasons of Doctor Who were devastated, only a single story survives intact from both seasons 4 and 5. Classics such as The Evil of the Daleks, The Web of Fear and The Highlanders are gone for good. In fact Patrick Troughton is represented by only 6 complete stories and 5 of these come from the final and perhaps his least enjoyable season. So unfortunately Troughton is often judged on these stories, with people forming the usual stereotyped opinions about his character being a clown, a lightweight whimsical sort. But in the fragments of stories that we have left and the audio recordings of his stories, there is so much more that adds so much depth to his characterisation and really makes him 'The Doctor'.
His comic aspects are well known and are certainly a hallmark of the 2nd Doctor, but you would be hard pressed to name more than half a dozen true moments of comedy, sparked by Troughton during this era. This Doctor speaks with a light tone most of the time, but when he raises his voice, you know there is a reason. In The Evil of the Daleks, his cry of "What have you done with your infernal meddling!" is not condescending, as other Doctors might have said it, but with a true sense of dread. This Doctor knows the horrors that he had his companions face, and this is never more evident than in the Moonbase; "There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things, things which act against everything that we believe in. They must be fought". It is moments like this when Troughton reveals his Doctor's motive and at the same time his humanity.
He also displays a compassion for his companions that is not merely superficial, but is very much a part of this Doctor. Whether it be preparing to sacrifice himself to the Great Intelligence in The Web of Fear, to his guilt over the testing of Jamie in The Evil of the Daleks, it is obvious that he cares so much.
Finally, let us not forget that it was this Doctor that introduced us to his own people for the first time. But this was not the traitorous and debauch race from later years, but a mysterious people who we know little about and whom the Doctor shows a genuine fear of returning to. And this is perhaps the most unique point about Troughton's portrayal, he shows fear. This Doctor is not invincible, he is not able to break free in one bound and he is all too aware of his own mortality, as well as that the fragile nature of the lives of those around him. Despite all this, it is perhaps fitting that the 2nd Doctor is never vanquished, never beaten, but forced to regenerate, unique in this respect.
A Review by Stuart Gutteridge 16/3/01
I think there is an element of truth in the statement made by authors, that The Second Doctor is difficult to capture on paper. Certainly a TV character is only as good as the actor that plays him/her. This is true of Patrick Troughton whose whimsical cosmic hobo with hidden depths and a penchant for the recorder probably makes him my favourite incarnation. Something else that is all too obvious is that he revels in chaos and constantly stole the show with many of his performances. It is therefore a shame that so few of his episodes exist.
A Review by Rob Matthews 25/3/01
When I was growing up, of course, my favourite Doctor was Tom. Even though I came to him post-Hinchcliffe and Williams, at what most fans would consider the subdued fag-end of his career as the bohemian Time Lord, JNT's season 18, he was the Doctor.
Patrick Troughton, when he turned up in The Five Doctors and on the Dalek mindsuck screen in Resurrection, was a rather scary-looking man from the black and white days (his appearance in The Omen just went to compound my terror, although I probably shouldn't have been watching it at that age). He was at the bottom of my list of Doctors I wanted to see.
How things change. I now adore that odd-looking little man, and from only the tiny amount of his episodes. It is now very clear to me that he is the bloke most responsible for creating the Doctor as we know him.
Hartnell was the original, I know, but in the completed collection of Doctors, he's also the odd one out.
It was Troughton who proved that a different-looking different-acting man could thoroughly convince in the role another fella had made famous. How? By doing it so much his way that you don't even question it. Pertwee did the same because Troughton had proven it could work, and all the following Doctors followed in his footsteps.
Hartnell had the air of the exile who was in some mysterious way forbidden from going home, while Troughton was the wandering renegade, the open-minded mischief merchant who lulled his opponents into a false sense of security with bumbling behaviour and then pulled the rug out from under them when they least expected it. The line from City of Death - "I don't think he's as stupid as he seems"/"My dear, nobody could be as stupid as he seems" could have been written equally well for Troughton as for Baker. Tom, Colin and Sylvester all modelled their performances to greater or lesser degrees on Troughton's - and even when Colin tried to weave Hartnell's irascibility back into the role, it was only because Troughton's influence on the later actor's characterisations had so successfully eroded it. The Doctor was never physically elderly or grandfatherly again.
Despite the vast gaps in the BBC archives, he was also the most prolific Dr outside of his own time in the part. He's the only Doctor to have turned up three times in other incarnation's stories. And with Jamie he created the first really cherishable Dr/companion team. Plus, his big tall hat was the prototype to the Pertwee frills, the Baker scarf, and, well, the unfortunate apparel missteps of the JNT era.
For me, the second Doctor's superiority to all the others can be demonstrated with one scene-
The War Games, Episode 10. The War Lord forces the Doctor to use his Tardis to take him home. The Doctor nervously agrees, muttering something like, "I don't know if I can but I'll try. Jamie, Zoe, cover your eyes', before blinding his foes with dazzling light and running away.
You really have to know the scene to see what I mean. Suffice to say I can't imagine any of the other Doctors doing it this well. Outwitting the baddies right beneath their noses, a fretful intonation covering up a calculating mind. A great big actor on a small screen. It's a real shame that so much of his stuff is gone.
"Oh my giddy aunt...oh crumbs!" by Joe Ford 28/7/02
Patrick Troughton never gave anything less than a flawless performance in any of his Doctor Who stories. Quite an audacious statement but it is quite true. Even when his stories were less than satisfactory (which wasn't often) his performance always made the worst of episodes worth watching. The man had a touch of genius in him, in his acting and subsequently in his Doctor. He has the ability to make you really scared of the monsters by his own utter terror, despite their absurd appearances. He could make you believe that this apparant clown, this goofball man was in fact a mastermind able to concoct clever schemes to outwit his opponents. He was such fun to watch. He looked like a coward but in reality he was the bravest of all of the Doctors. He fell in love with the part and we fell in love with him. He was the ONLY man who could have taken the role from the GREAT William Hartnell.
I could go on all day but I want to mention those special incidents when he really impressed me.
10) The Macra Terror.
Landing on the apparantly peaceful and relaxing pleasure colony the
TARDIS crew take advantage of the fabulous facilities availible. The
Doctor is co-erced into going into a machine that shines your clothes,
shoes, face and generally leaves you feeling all squeaky clean. He is
dismayed when he sees the results and Troughton in a moment of Doctor
madness jumps straight into the 'rough and tumble' machine to mess himself
up again! Hysterical!
9) The Mind Robber.
The Doctor is offered the job as the new controller in the world of
fiction. He will be trapped, joined to the master brain forever so
naturally he refuses the role. The opposition is understandably miffed at
this decision so decide to turn Jaime and Zoe into fictional characters to
change his mind. Linked to the computer the Doctor still refuses! It is a
superb moment as the Doctor realises he has equal power and can manipulate
events as much as the enemy... Troughton plays his defiance and
mischeivous realisation to perfection!
8) The Abominable Snowmen.
Freed from guilt of killing members of Travers expedition, the Doctor
soon gets to work helping the monks to outwit the controlled Yeti. In a
moment that proves that Troughton and Hines were just perfect for each
other Jamie gets an idea and the Doctor grabs Victoria and runs saying
"This is one of those instances where discretion is the better part of
valour... Jamie has an idea!"
7) The Moonbase.
In what is a horribly underated cliffhanger the Doctor asks if all
areas of the Moonbase have been searched for Cybermen infiltration. In a
scorching moment the Doctor realises that the only room that hasn't been
searched is the sickbay... the room they are in now! It is of course an
absolutely absurd situation but it all becomes very real and very
frightening as Troughton's performance goes deadly serious, nervous and
terrified. His silent back up motions to everybody as the Cyberman gets
off the bed are gripping.
6) The Ice Warriors.
The Doctor is forced to delay the Ice Warriors by going to their ship
submerged in the ice. Entering the airlock he is stubbornly defiant and
refuses to speak to them over a communications screen. Troughton plays it
for great laughs with his sudden "fine I'll count to ten! One... two!" and
they suddenly start to pump the air out of the airlock and start a little
countdown of their own. It's Troughton's look of utter horror that gives
this wonderful moment it's meat! Plus his storming into the ship and then
seeing the size of the monsters and spinning around to leave again is
brilliant.
5) Fury from the Deep.
Victoria is sick of all the horror and violence in their adventures
together and starts to mention how unhappy she is. The Doctor picks up on
this and at the story's close he knows that she wants to stay behind. It
is the way Troughton works this scene that gives it it's poignancy, he is
upset and noticably distressed at the thought of her going but he
understand why she wants to and won't let anybody stop her making her own
decision. It's all beautifully done.
4) The War Games.
The Doctor goes on trial for his crimes of interference but instead
of agreeing with his captors he passionately defends his actions to the
hilt. Troughton plays these scenes with an intensity yet unseen and it
marks a suitable dramatic ending to his era. His speech about the Time
Lords being guilty for NOT interfering reminds me why the Doctor is worth
loving.
3) Tomb of the Cybermen.
A dark and intense story with many memorable scenes but shockingly
the most enjoyable moment doesn't even feature the Cybermen but is a quiet
scene between the Doctor and Victoria where they discuss whether she is
happy travelling or not. Troughton plays up the loving Uncle role to the
hilt and his speech about his 'family' just makes you want to hug him so
tight!
2) Evil of the Daleks.
The Doctor has to rile up Jamie enough to disobey him and go after
Victoria and in a scene of dark maturity he preys on all of Jamie's fears
turning a blind eye to his disgust and anger. It was a pivotal moment in
their relationship with the Doctor actually using one of his companions
and preying on their emotions to get things sorted. The fact that Jamie
falls for it without realising he is being set up makes that bit more
upsetting. Hines and Troughton do some fantastic work in this scene.
1) The Invasion.
A great story full of cool images and scenes. Most engaging of all is
the constant scenes between the Doctor and Tobias Vaughn who spar together
for most of the story. What is so entertaining is how they are always so
civil to each other even when threatening each other. My favourite of the
bunch is just after the invasion has started when the Doctor tries winding
up Vaughn by telling him with some amusement that they have the Professor
and his machine for controlling the Cybermen. Troughton is just brilliant
with his naughty little smiles, he looks as though he's loving it just as
much as the Doctor!
I love the second Doctor. He had such good chemistry with all his companions and nobody butted heads with authority quite like him. Troughton is often a neglected Doctor (because the lack of material) and that is a shame because he did some sterling work in the role and his era had some seminal stories. He is my personal favourite after Colin Baker. Before I go I should just mention (if you're a Troughton fan!) read Dreams of the Empire by Justin Richards, not only a cracking read but the most accurate depiction of Troughton in print. Mr Richards' description of the second Doctor pulling a face as though he were chewing a marble is so wet your pants funny and yet accurate it is scary!
A Character study of The 2nd Doctor by Ronald Mallett 15/4/03
I would imagine the arrival of The 2nd Doctor came as rather a shock to the show's audience. He was everything the original was not: clownish, playful, impish. He would emerge as a kind of Chaplinesque cosmic hobo. It is a credit to the production team that he was not required to provide us with a poor man's imitation of Bill Hartnell's character but allowed to play the part in his own unique way.
Of course the main differences between the first two Doctors were as always, superficial. The 2nd Doctor was to prove a compulsive meddler and a champion of the oppressed. There were however some important methodological differences between the two Doctors of the sixties. The 2nd Doctor preferred to allow his companions to think for themselves and seemed to enjoy their subsequent intellectual development. Now he was a younger man again, the 2nd Doctor was much more physical and could even outrun his young charges! It was by playing the fool that he placed his enemies off guard (see The Dominators for an example), his sad, puppyish face hiding a fierce intelligence.
As The 2nd Doctor settled into his adventures, he found his perfect foil in the character of Jamie. In one sense The Doctor was all brains and Jamie was all brawn. There was a certain chemistry that helped sustain the show and their partnership mirrored the later 7th Doctor and Ace relationship on a number of levels. It is a scandal that it was Trougton's era that seemed to have been most singled out for junking by the BBC. Aside from a mostly complete final season, most viewers of my generation know him best from the anniversary specials. Troughton had the honour of being the only Doctor to appear in all the multiple Doctor stories (The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors, The Two Doctors) and in so doing won a new legion of fans for his magical interpretation.
A Review by Patrick Conneely 10/3/07
I've been a lifelong Doctor Who fan for nearly forty years now. I remember not being able to walk past a shop in Saffron Walden with show room dummies in it as I was convinced they were about to come to life like those in Spearhead in Space. I was just seven then, so my recollections of the Second Doctor are distinctly hazy. Though Pertwee thrilled me and scared me and Baker convinced me that the Doctor was truly a genius with a sense of humour, I always had an eye on that elusive alien. For me only one Doctor makes the grade, one Patrick Troughton.
I have a six year old daughter now who loves the Davison Cybermen, all adventure and gusto, who tolerates the Tennant Cybermen, a bit violent and threatening, but will not for one second watch the Troughton Cybermen. So what, apart from their unique creepiness made them and all the other creatures in the Troughton era so frightening? Simple, the man himself. Though he saved the day at the end, Patrick Troughton's Doctor never looked like he was in control, almost bordering on the incompetent, nothing like the pale shadow of McCoy.
That famous picture of him with his diary leaning on the TARDIS console is truly fantastic, so close to HG Wells' time traveller. I've followed Doctor Who for many years, watching the highs and not being too critical of the lows, but for me Mr. Troughton will always be the true Doctor.
The thought of regeneration by Nathan Mullins 21/7/09
I realise there aren't many Patrick Troughton serials around these days, due to the fact that the BBC discarded many tapes: those that had on them Doctor Who so they could film other shows and this went on from when William Hartnell first took on the role and into Patrick Troughton's take as the lead in the role of Dctor Who. Some people said that when he regenerated, they didn't like the Doctor they got. Now, we know this happened to Colin Baker who, sadly, due to his Doctor being unlikeable with the general public, saw to it that he never got his own regeneration and was forced to quit, sadly. This, I'm glad to say didn't happen to the second Doctor but this was because the lead actor played the part in a way that William Hartnell never had and so I suppose that's what the sixth did, playing the part in his own way, unlike the fifth before him.
Whereas the first Doctor was a slightly impatient, crotchety and had a somewhat moody persona, the second was quirky, silly at times, but had a groundbreaking quality and that was his use of using his scientific knowledge like the first, but with the aid of UNIT, who he became a part of in the third Doctor's era. I liked the fact he played the part as an entirely new being, still somewhat the same man, a Time Lord from Gallifrey, only this Doctor had a new feel. He was younger than the other and could do things that William Hartnell couldn't, and that was never a problem, but the second Doctor remains one of the best Doctors to this day, in my opinion.
The episodes he got were varied but were all written by splendid people who wrote the 'new' Doctor in, quite unlike the first which I don't think people were quite expecting. My mum has memories of the second playing his recorder soon after his regeneration, which she said didn't go down too well because people missed the first Doctor and thought 'how could this Doctor fulfil the role as the first once had?' From what we can tell of this Doctor's era, of the remaining episodes, he is regarded highly among fans as one of the best Doctors ever. Episodes such as The Invasion, The Web of Fear, The Tomb of the Cybermen and The Wheel in Space are all classics among the era they were broadcast in. He had some of the best companions, for example Jamie, Victoria, Zoe, and of course those from UNIT.
He is, in my opinion, one of the best of all the Doctors, and Patrick Troughton's portrayal was fantastic. He was spot on in creating the second Doctor and should be praised by all for carrying the torch on from William Hartnell.
"What A Waste" by Taylor Edwards 25/1/15
Patrick Troughton was one the best actors to play our Time Lord. The sad thing is that the people upstairs just didn't care. His character was barely thought out, changing at the slightest moment. He was, according to the script, a bumbling fool traveling in a magic box. He was crazy. You get the feeling that he was supposed to be black and white. He's the good guy. Jamie rescues the girl from the monster. A total step back from the original plan. What happened to the traveler who was helping people both the monsters and ordinary people grow?
Now I won't pretend that I don't love a base-under-siege story. However, the limit that was placed on the series was too much for the show to bear. One season of only girls screaming, the Doctor protecting them and monsters invading. Why can't we get stories like The Sensorites?
Some of you would say I'm picking on the show too much. It was the sixties. Well tough. What happened in the first two seasons was more superior. It's a step back. Let's glimpse back at both Doctor's second seasons, each popular. With the 1st, you get a shrinking crisis story mixed in with a crime-show plot, Daleks invading Earth, a future mystery plot, a comedy historical with a dramatic subplot, a weird alien world with no humans mixed in with a possession subplot, an historical, a paradox-based story with our friends fighting fate on top of a revolution, a narrative-collapse chase set throughout time, and to top it off a historical mixed in with sci fi (a completely new idea)!
Patrick Troughton's second season goes: base under siege, base under siege, base under siege, a thriller, a base under siege with extra mystery plot, a base under siege, and, for a brilliantly fitting climax, a base under siege. Hmm, which one is more creative?
My real problem is that when they do stuff like The Mind Robber - a brilliant story that brings creativity back to Doctor Who - they then go back to base under siege. Now, I'm not saying that we should just ignore those stories. I'm sure many people would love a base under siege constantly. I'd just like to point out that Doctor Who really lost some creativity when Troughton took over. It's sad. Such a good actor and they just repeat the same plot.