Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Patrick Troughton: The Second Doctor


Patrick Troughton was the second actor to take on the mantle of British television's Dr Who in the long-running science-fiction series of the same name, playing the role for three years, from 1966 to 1969. This was by no means the only part he played on television, and he also had a full and varied career as an actor in the theater and in the cinema, but it is for his flamboyant and quixotic portrayal of BBC's celebrated Time Lord that he is usually remembered.
Troughton followed William Hartnell as Dr Who after his predecessor, suffering from multiple sclerosis and disillusioned with the changing character of the programme (which had originally been intended to have a strong educational content), withdrew from the series. Troughton determined at once that his Doctor would be in marked contrast to the white-haired dotty professor-type depicted by Hartnell and in his hands the Doctor became a colourfully whimsical and capricious penny-whistle playing eccentric who could be testy, courageous and downright enigmatic as the mood took him. Such a radical change in character was made possible within the confines of the programme through the introduction into the script of the concept that the Doctor underwent a mysterious regenerative metamorphosis at various stages of his centuries-long existence.
Troughton settled quickly into the role and children throughout Britain cowered behind the sofa as Troughton's Doctor did weekly battle with such fearsome alien foes as the Daleks and the Cybermen.


The 2nd Doctor's opening:


2nd Doctor Episodes
Season Four - 1966-67
The Power of the Daleks
The Highlanders
The Underwater Menace
The Moonbase
The Macra Terror
The Faceless Ones
The Evil of the Daleks

Season Five - 1967-68
The Tomb of the Cybermen
The Abominable Snowmen
The Ice Warriors
The Enemy of the World
The Web of Fear
Fury from the Deep
The Wheel In Space

Season Six - 1968-69
The Dominators
The Mind Robber
The Invasion
The Krotons
The Seeds of Death
The Space Pirates
The War Games

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