SECOND DOCTOR
PATRICK TROUGHTON — 1966 - 1969
Although Doctor Who had successfully survived many cast changes over the first three years, to make a change of lead actor—playing the same part as his predecessor—is a major thing. No one knew if the audience would take to another actor playing the Doctor, and certainly one as different as Patrick Troughton was to William Hartnell.
However, at the end of "The Tenth Planet", the Doctor collapsed onto the floor of the TARDIS, and gradually his features began to alter as Ben and Polly looked on, bewildered. What emerged from the transformation was a person of completely different appearance...and, as Ben, Polly and the audience would learn, completely different personality.
The Second Doctor's era differed wildly from the First's as well, with far less emphasis on historical dramas and with a greater number of stories set in Earth's future and on other planets. The stories took on a creepier, slightly darker tone, with an obvious attempt to be more scary.
While the Daleks were still going strong and were featured in two very successful stories, the unquestionable "star monster" of the Troughton era were the Cybermen, who make 5 major appearances in Seasons 4, 5 and 6. In addition to the Cybermen, the Troughton era also introduced us to the Ice Warriors, the Yeti, the Krotons, the Dominators, the Macra, and a host of other nasties.
Troughton's era is the one that suffers the most from the BBC's axe: the majority of his episodes are no longer in existence. To that end, of his 20 stories, only 8 currently exist completely.
In Troughton's final story, "The War Games", the Doctor faces another renegade Time Lord, who calls himself the War Chief, who is meddling in a major way in the affairs of history. Unable to stop him, the Doctor must call upon the help of the Time Lords...thus ending his evasion of them. After the War Chief has been dealt with, the Doctor is taken back to his home planet and placed on trial for his incessant interference in the affairs of other races. The Doctor is found guilty, and is exiled to Earth and forced to regenerate.
Episode List
| Season | Story Title | # of Episodes | Companions | Avg Rating | Main threat |
| 4 | "The Power of the Daleks" | 6 | Ben & Polly | 7.8 million | the Daleks |
| 4 | "The Highlanders" | 4 | Ben, Polly and Jamie | 7.1 million | historical |
| 4 | "The Underwater Menace" | 4 | Ben, Polly and Jamie | 7.5 million | |
| 4 | "The Moonbase" | 4 | Ben, Polly and Jamie | 8.3 million | the Cybermen |
| 4 | "The Macra Terror" | 4 | Ben, Polly and Jamie | 8.2 million | the Macra |
| 4 | "The Faceless Ones" | 6 | Ben, Polly and Jamie | 7.4 million | the Chameleons |
| 4 | "Evil of the Daleks" | 7 | Jamie and Victoria | 6.4 million | the Daleks |
| 5 | "Tomb of the Cybermen" | 4 | Jamie and Victoria | 6.8 million | the Cybermen |
| 5 | "The Abominable Snowmen" | 6 | Jamie and Victoria | 6.9 million | the Yeti |
| 5 | "The Ice Warriors" | 6 | Jamie and Victoria | 7.3 million | the Ice Warriors |
| 5 | "Enemy of the World" | 6 | Jamie and Victoria | 7.4 million | Salamandar |
| 5 | "The Web of Fear" | 6 | Jamie and Victoria | 7.5 million | the Yeti |
| 5 | "Fury From the Deep" | 6 | Jamie and Victoria | 7.2 million | |
| 5 | "The Wheel in Space" | 6 | Jamie and Zoe | 7.3 million | the Cybermen |
| 6 | "The Dominators" | 5 | Jamie and Zoe | 6.2 million | the Dominators, the Quarks |
| 6 | "The Mind Robber" | 5 | Jamie and Zoe | 6.9 million | the Master of Reality |
| 6 | "The Invasion" | 8 | Jamie and Zoe | 6.9 million | the Cybermen |
| 6 | "The Krotons | 4 | Jamie and Zoe | 8.0 million | the Krotons |
| 6 | "The Seeds of Death" | 6 | Jamie and Zoe | 7.2 million | the Ice Warriors |
| 6 | "The Space Pirates | 6 | Jamie and Zoe | 5.9 million | |
| 6 | "The War Games" | 10 | Jamie and Zoe | 4.1 million | the War Chief |
Recommended Viewing
Listed below are some of the standout stories from the Second Doctor era, hand selected by members of the Atlanta Gallifreyans. The titles are listed in order of most votes.
"Tomb of the Cybermen" (1967)
Starring Patrick Troughton (the Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie) and Deborah Watling (Victoria)
The once-feared Cybermen have disappeared from the universe without trace. An expedition from Earth arrives on Telos—homeworld of the Cybermen—to try and discover exactly what has become of the silver giants. Soon after the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria join the archaeological party, the first mysterious death occurs. With the group now stranded on Telos, it becomes clear that the Cybermen may not be as 'dead' as it was first thought. Beneath the planet's surface, giant ice-tombs hold the last remains of the Cybermen in a frozen sleep. And someone is working to re-activate them from their slumber...
Comments:
"Not only Troughton's best but still my all time best Doctor Who story ever." ~Roger
"'Tomb' is such a fantastic story, with great acting and wonderful creepiness, it holds up to this day." ~Adam
"This story is just incredible. Wonderful quoteable dialogue, great charaterization for all the regular cast, and a terrific bunch of eccentric guest characters. All this against a backdrop of isolation with the wonderful premise of extra-terrestrial archaeology! What more could you want? :) This one sums it all up." ~James
"A classic locked-room horror setup, with memorable characters." ~Brian
****
"The Mind Robber" (1968)
Starring Patrick Troughton (the Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie), Wendy Padbury (Zoe)
The TARDIS is in the path of molten lava and the Doctor is forced to activate the emergency unit to move it out of the time space dimension and out of reality! When the TARDIS crew land 'nowhere' they stumble into a world where fiction appears as reality and where things exist only when men believe in them. It is a world peopled by White Robots and a race of fictional characters and monsters, by Gulliver and Rapunzel, by D'Artagnan and Sir Lancelot, and worse, by the Unicorn, the Minotaur and the Medusa. As they explore the forest of words and the maze in this Land of Fiction new horrors await the Doctor and his companions round each corner...will Zoe and Jamie be turned into fictional characters? Is the Doctor at the mercy of a higher intelligence or force outside time and space as he knows it? Can he outwit the brain that is the source of this terrifying creative power?
Comments:
"Imaginiative and fun through and through. Troughton is a delight, Jamie is adorable, and how cute is Zoe in that sparkly cat suit kicking the Karkus' arse?!" ~Chad
"Spooky and imaginative." ~Susan F
****
"Power of the Daleks" (1966)
Starring Patrick Troughton (the Doctor), Michael Craze (Ben) and Anneke Wills (Polly)
Disoriented after his regeneration, the Doctor takes the TARDIS to the Earth colony Vulcan. Ben and Polly are disturbed—the Doctor isn't the man he used to be. On Vulcan, the Doctor soon becomes worried: The colonists have found the remains of two Daleks—which they plan to revive. Once revived, the Daleks claim that they are content to serve humanity. Can it really be true? Or do they have their own, more sinister plans?
Comments:
"'Power of the Daleks' was the first story with a new Doctor, and even though the video itself doesn't survive, it allowed Troughton to assert himself as the Doctor to such an extent that by the end of the show you just knew he was the Doctor." ~Adam
****
"The Krotons" (1968)
Starring Patrick Troughton (the Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie), Wendy Padbury (Zoe)
As the TARDIS door opens onto a barren planet, the Doctor steps straight into a struggle to destroy the merciless Krotons, the unseen rulers of the Gond people. Conditioned to obey by teaching machines, the Gonds put up no resistance until, with the Doctor's help, they discover exactly what has been happening to their best students. Battling against the Krotons' vast scientific knowledge the Doctor and Zoe must stop them turning mental power into pure energy. With a brave band of Gonds and Jamie, prepared to fight to the end, it may be defeat for the Krotons, but ultimately it will be a test of knowledge that only the Doctor can match...
Comments:
"Of the existing complete stories, I think Troughton positively shines in this one, plus Jamie and Zoe get a lot of great stuff too, particularly Zoe. I know its got crap monsters that are hard to understand, but I still love it." ~Alan
****
"The War Games" (1969)
When the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe arrive on Earth they find themselves caught up in the terrifying events of World War One, but new and unexpected horrors await them as they cross landscapes full of enemies and time zones confounded by centuries of wars. At the centre of the mystery stand the aliens who have kidnapped soldiers from different periods of Earth's history and brainwashed them into fighting each other. When the Doctor learns the terrible purpose of the War Games he has one chance to defeat the aliens and end the Games...but to take it means risking recapture by his own people, the all-powerful Time Lords who are waiting to bring him to trial and who are capable of ending his very existence.
****
"The Faceless Ones" (1967)
Starring Patrick Troughton (the Doctor), Michael Craze (Ben), Anneke Wills (Polly) and Frazer Hines (Jamie)
The TARDIS makes a hazardous return to 1960s Earth, materialising on a runway at Gatwick Airport. The Doctor and his friends realise that all is not well when Polly witnesses a murder, and then both she and Ben vanish. The authorities refuse to take the matter seriously—but when Polly reappears, why does she claim not to recognise her friends? Aided by the plucky Samantha Briggs, and helped and hindered by Inspector Crossland of Scotland Yard and the airport Commandant, the Doctor and Jamie piece together a number of clues. A sequence of mysterious events seems to centre around Chameleon Tours, whose package holidays are designed to entice young people to foreign shores. Just how far-flung are the horizons they offer, and why are none of their passengers coming back? Who are the faceless ones, and what hideously deformed creatures are involved in the operations being conducted at the airport medical centre? The Doctor believes there's a connection between Chameleon Tours and the odd behaviour of key airport personnel—but in seeking to prove his theory, and rescue Ben and Polly, he becomes embroiled in a plot to steal the identities of thousands of young people.
****
To add your comments to the titles above, or to recommend an additional title, please email me. Thanks!
