A Word on Patrick Troughton

 A Word on Patrick Troughton​

There has been a very real sense over the past three seasons of history being made. That's been a theme through this whole thread, obviously, but these seasons in particular have accelerated the change of that funny little show that Sydney and Verity cooked up into something that seems much more like the Doctor Who that I recognize. Such a rapid transmogrification can't have taken place without a convincing lead actor, and Patrick Troughton has been all that and more.

It's not for nothing that Troughton has been cited as the primary inspiration for no less than three of the later actors who played the Doctor. Although I believe that Hartnell's role in establishing the character is often understated, there is no denying that a lot of the traits we now recognize as belonging to the Doctor were first pioneered by this version of the character. He's self-effacing, funny, unpredictable, a little bit frightened, but undoubtedly brave. It's a very different spin on what is clearly still the same character. But I'd say, the same character, now refined.

Troughton was a natural comic actor, a real craftsman, honestly. His little expressions and gestures go such a long way toward characterizing his Doctor, and I can't remember a single moment where he didn't pitch his voice correctly. Despite being a relatively small man, he fills every shot he's in with that understated, but still enthralling, personality.

His is a Doctor with a strong moral imperative: confounding the forces of evil in the universe. Hartnell's Doctor was hardly a moral coward, at least by the end, but it seems that this second incarnation felt it should be made explicit. What ensues is a fascinating volte-face in the ethos of the show; rather than adventuring for its own sake, it's almost like a crusade for the forces of right in a universe crawling with baddies. This does take a turn into ethically shaky territory more than once. There are very few stories of this era where the aliens are not presented as monsters to be ruthlessly dispatched. It's a definite shortcoming, but one I am generally prepared to forgive thanks to the era's overall strengths.

For all that this period of the show's history suffers from a glut of missing episodes, we're lucky to have a mostly intact season from the end of this Doctor's run, allowing us to see without interruption this most mercurial of Time Lords at his best. It really has been one hell of a ride.

I won't get too deep into memorializing the late Troughton. After all, whereas Hartnell is gone from the series but for one brief guest appearance, Troughton will be back again, and again... and again. He really was a wonderful ambassador for the series, and his affection for it is revealed by his willingness to go on being a part of it even when his tenure was done.

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I have decided that from now on, I'll be saving the era story rankings for the end of each thread. So lucky me, that's going to be the next post after this one. Instead, I'll be showing you guys my updated rankings for my top ten companions. There's been some shuffling around!

1. Barbara Wright
2. Jamie McCrimmon
3. Steven Taylor
4. Vicki Pallister
5. Ian Chesterton
6. Zoe Heriot
7. Polly Wright
8. Victoria Waterfield
9. Susan Foreman
10. Ben Jackson

I never really came to love Ben and Polly in the same way as the others on the list, but they were very good, especially as a set. They kept the Second Doctor grounded, in a way that I don't think could have lasted for long in this era, but their short time on the show was still a pleasing one. Victoria, likable and charmingly acted, but generally under-written, just about comes in below Polly. As much as I did enjoy her as a part of the TARDIS crew at large, she was never quite given a chance to excel. Zoe lands at the middle of the pack. I did like her a lot, but as I mentioned before, she often felt like an outsider to the existing dynamic. It was nice having a companion just as clever as the Doctor for a little while, though. Finally, dear Jamie easily cruises into second place. The sensible, dependable, all around lovely Scot left a strong impression on me during his three seasons in the TARDIS, making himself inseparable from this era at large.

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Here are five of my favorite moments from Patrick Troughton's tenure as Doctor Who:

Polly, Ben, come in and meet the Daleks. (The Power of the Daleks)

Just one small question. Why do you want to blow up the world? (The Underwater Menace)

[The Doctor comforts a melancholic Victoria.] (The Tomb of the Cybermen)

Your leader will be angry if you kill me! I'm a genius. (The Seeds of Death)

[The Doctor bids a final farewell to Jamie and Zoe.] (The War Games)

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​And so ends another remarkable episode in the history of TV's Doctor Who. Patrick Troughton is absolutely one of the best, and for all that his era struggled in viewership numbers, only to endure a murky afterlife full of reconstructions, it's absolutely indispensable to the sort of show that Doctor Who was destined to become.

"So remember, our lives are different to anybody else's. That's the exciting thing. There's nobody in the universe can do what we're doing."

(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 20 March 2021.)