It was during Patrick Troughton's reign as The Doctor that we learned about Time Lords, although we didn't hear the name "Gallifrey" until much later.

#2 is the one I've seen the least of -- "The Krotons", "The War Games", and maybe one or two others, but that's it. Now that these episodes are being released on DVD that may change.

For quite a while, all I'd seen of Troughton was his appearances in "The Three Doctors" and "The Five Doctors" when he seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time sniping at his other selves, and I wondered why on Earth he was such a favorite with people. Then I managed to see him in "The War Games," "Tomb of the Cyberman," and "Seeds of Death", and I finally understood how he could be a favorite Doctor. He was so good at being both silly and serious.

I am so angry at the fools at the BBC responsible for the loss of so much of his time. I'll never be able to see what he was like in "Evil of the Daleks" or "Power of the Daleks" or "The Web of Fear".

I look forward at least to trying to see more of him with the current DVD releases.

Since I figure there may be new fans curious about the tales of the 2nd Doctor, (not to mention older fans who might want a list to help sharpen their memories), here is a list of Troughton's exploits during the late 1960s:

Season IV (1966-67):
30. Power of the Daleks - 6 eps (all eps on audio only) - Ben & Polly
31. The Highlanders - 4 eps (all eps on audio only) - Ben, Polly & Jamie
32. The Underwater Menace - 4 eps (episodes 1,2&4 on audio only) - Ben, Polly & Jamie
33. The Moonbase - 4 eps (episodes 1&3 on audio only) - Ben, Polly & Jamie
34. The Macra Terror - 4 eps (all eps on audio only) - Ben, Polly & Jamie
35. The Faceless Ones - 6 eps (episodes 2,4,5&6 on audio only) - Ben, Polly & Jamie
36. The Evil of the Daleks - 7 eps (episodes 1,3,4,5,6&7 on audio only) - Jamie & Victoria

Season V (1967-68):
37. The Tomb of the Cybermen - 4 eps - Jamie & Victoria
38. The Abominable Snowmen - 6 eps (episodes 1,3,4,5&6 on audio only) - Jamie & Victoria
39. The Ice Warriors - 6 eps (episodes 2&3 on audio only) - Jamie & Victoria
40. The Enemy of the World - 6 eps (episodes 1,2,4,5&6 on audio only) - Jamie & Victoria
41. The Web of Fear - 6 eps (episodes 2,3,4,5&6 on audio only) - Jamie & Victoria
42. Fury from the Deep - 6 eps (all eps on audio only) - Jamie & Victoria
43. The Wheel in Space - 6 eps (episodes 1,2,4&5 on audio only) - Jamie & Zoe

Season VI (1968-69):
44. The Dominators - 5 eps - Jamie & Zoe
45. The Mind Robber - 5 eps - Jamie & Zoe
46. The Invasion - 8 eps (episodes 1&4 on audio only) - Jamie & Zoe
47. The Krotons - 4 eps - Jamie & Zoe
48. The Seeds of Death - 6 eps - Jamie & Zoe
49. The Space Pirates - 6 eps (episodes 1,3,4,5&6 on audio only) - Jamie & Zoe
50. The War Games - 10 eps - Jamie & Zoe

I have bolded the stories which are currently available on DVD, (or CD if audio only). At a glance it may appear that Troughton is extremely well-represented, but sadly, a large proportion of his stories are missing, and only exist as audio. One can certainly experience many of these through the audio CD releases, in conjunction with the photos on the BBC website and the assorted existing episodes on the Lost in Time DVD release. This might be of more interest for those who are firmly entrenched in their Who fandom though, as it takes a bit of effort to experience these, not to mention the money to buy the CDs. Still, many a great story can be experienced in this way.

In the meantime, or for those who want to actually watch complete stories, the "Tomb of the Cybermen" and "The Mind Robber" are extremely good, in my opinion, though "The Seeds of Death" isn't bad either.

Troughton's first year on the air was extremely imaginative, and the Ben, Polly and Jamie team is a lot of fun, that its a shame more doesn't exist from this year. Season Five is often referred to as the season of monsters, and many fans consider this to be Troughton's finest season. I find Victoria to be a bit dull, but Jamie is a delight throughout. Zoe is a bit of a smarty, but has a great sense of fun, though the stories of the sixth season, Troughton's final year, I find to be of varying quality. His final story, the epic "War Games", would be my most wished for release for the future.

I would recommend a few of the CDs even for the newer fan, simply because the stories are just that good. The two Dalek stories especially are very strong, and are still extremely enjoyable even in audio form.

By the way, the episodes available on the Lost in Time DVD set are:

The Underwater Menace, Ep. 3
The Moonbase, Eps. 2 & 4
The Faceless Ones, Eps. 1 & 3
The Evil of the Daleks, Ep. 2
The Abominable Snowmen, Ep 2
The Enemy of the World, Ep. 3
The Web of Fear, Ep. 1
The Wheel in Space, Eps. 3 & 6
The Space Pirates, Ep. 2

Basically these are the so-called "orphan" episodes, where the majority of the story sadly does not exist in the BBC archives. These veer from the very good (The Web of Fear) to the so-bad-it's-almost-good (The Underwater Menace - "Nothing in the world can stop me now!"). The other two incomplete stories from this era, The Ice Warriors and The Invasion, both are nearly complete (4 out of 6 episodes and 6 out of 8 episodes respectively) and will eventually see individual DVD releases, presumably with linking sections for the missing episodes.

It's funny - I feel that I've 'seen' 'The Moonbase', 'The Abominable Snowmen' and 'The Web Of Fear' because I read the novelisations as a kid! My mind filled in the visuals even though I wasn't very familiar with Troughton's Doctor or his companions. The only Troughton stories I can remember are 'The Krotons' and 'The Seeds Of Death', which were repeated later - although I would almost certainly have seen some of his other adventures as I was born during the run of 'The Abominable Snowmen', and my mum used to watch the show with baby me on her lap!

I bet my imagined version of 'The Abominable Snowmen' was a lot more epic in scale than the aired version, though. ;)

My very first viewing of Doctor Who was The Faceless Ones way back then. I have been an avid fan ever since. I was devastated to learn that that story is one of the ones missing episodes - I think only there is only one episode left. The BBC has a lot to answer for. Channel 2 here in Australia has just finished showing every single fully available story starting with the very first William Hartnell An Unearthly Child. It took them over 2 years to do it - 5 days a week, with the odd week off for "other things".

I loved the Patrick Troughton Doctor and Jamie in the Colin Baker The Two Doctors story. I think the The Three Doctors and the The Five Doctors in which he also appeared are among my favourite stories.

Episodes 1 and 3 of The Faceless Ones survive, and both can be seen in the Lost in Time DVD set. The only surviving copy of Episode 3 is damaged in a couple of spots towards the end (the person who returned it to the BBC had played it on a faulty projector, never realizing he had possibly the only copy in existence), so there are a couple of places where the Doctor Who Restoration Team (the guys who restore the series for DVD release) had to do a few seconds of improvisation.

Of course, the entire serial is available on audio CD, with linking narrration by Fraser Hines (Jamie). Thank goodness for those fans back in the '60s with their tape recorders - it's a pity that video recorders weren't widely available at the time, or more might have been saved...

It's a pretty decent story - a bit underrated by fans in my opinion. The music and guest cast combine for some really sinister foes and creepy situations, which make it a memorable story...

Patrick Troughton will always be my favorite. He was kooky and off the wall but at the same time he was serious. I love the War Games that might be my all time favorite set of stories. I liked it so much that I actually used to watch it on the days that it was first broadcasted thirty years later.

I recently discovered Patrick Troughton's Doctor and he's fast becoming a favourite. He brings humour with a dark side to the role in a way I hope David Tennant will reproduce. I too would recommend "The War Games" - such a great imaginative set of episodes. And Fury From the Deep is a good bedtime listen.

Can anyone who was around at the time recall their initial reaction to Doctor 2? As I understand it, the concept of regeneration was only brought up when Hartnell left, and so the entire future of the show depended on people accepting it, and Troughton's performance as well. Quite a lot of pressure, and was he accepted right away?

Well, I wasn't there at the time, but from what I've heard, Patrick was accepted fairly quickly. There was some feedback to Points of View (a filler BBC programme where viewers letters are read out by a condescending BBC type) along the lines of "Who is this silly man, and what have you done with sensible old Doctor Who?", but on the whole he bedded in quickly. It helped that the Daleks were brought back for his first story, and were made the focus of the publicity - at this time in the UK, Dalekmania was still quite powerful, so the whole 'new Doctor' thing snuck in under the radar. And of course, because the Daleks recognised him as the Doctor, the viewing public had to as well. In fact, when you think about how radical the idea of regeneration is (especially in 1966) it's a tribute to the flexibility of the show, and the quality of Patrick Troughtons acting that he pulled it off so well. I think it was Tom Baker who said that if Pat hadn't been able to sell the idea he was exactly the same person as William Hartnell, and also completely different, then the show would have died a quick death, and it's pretty rare for Mad Uncle Tom to say anything about the other actrors who played the Doctor.

Tom Baker's quite right - the regeneration thing was a radical attempt to save the show. Patrick Troughton really deserves credit for selling this concept and thus securing Doctor Who's longevity. I've only seen him in the multi-Doctor episodes, but he also seems to have pioneered many of the character traits we've come to associate with the character - the ADD, the radical shifting between lighthearted and serious, the insatiable curiosity. The First Doctor, from what I've seen and heard, seemed much more sober and level-headed than the others, so much of the daffiness seems to date from the Troughton era.

The other interesting change that Troughton heralded, or at least crystallised, was making the Doctor himself much more of the focus of the programme. It's quite interesting to see in some of the earlier stories (especially when Barbara and Ian were around) how often the Doctor wasn't the focus of the story. Of course, part of that was because Troughton was younger and more physically active than Hartnell, so they didn't need an Ian/Steven/Ben type character to deal with the action stuff as much.

There's a quote somewhere from Troughton where he said that he thought the show would only last for about six weeks after he took over, and any interviews I read with him show just how pleasantly surprised he was at it staying such a success with him.

For me, he also delivers one of the best acting moments of any Doctor too in the final episode of The War Games. (In tags, just in case this thread encourages someone to get hold of it and watch it) It's when he says goodbye to Jamie and Zoe and he's being very light-hearted but just ever-so-slightly off, then when they've gone her turns to the other Time Lords and says 'they'll forget me, won't they?' and you realise that he knew the goodbyes were so much more than he was letting on and it was killing him inside to know that. It's just a wonderful moment that almost sums up his Doctor entirely - able to switch from happy and carefree to deadly serious in an instant.

I think it was the early eighties when the bbc repeated the 'Krotons' as part of an aniversary series and there was one shot of Jamie getting zapped by the Krotons mind machine as the cliff hanger of the episode. I had nightmares for a week until they should the next episode. It was such a relief to see things work out OK! Ever since then both he and Troughton have had a special place in my heart and I tried to get hold of as many of the books and vids as I could for the Troughton years. My brother had a pretty comperhensive collection of the Target books, and I'd recommend getting them to read the early stories. Ebay usually has a pretty good supply of them, although I think the 1st and 2nd doctor stories are becoming more and more rare. It's still worth a try. Also, if you can get your hands on the John Peel versions of 'Evil of the Daleks' and 'Power of the Daleks' they're really good.

John Peel?!?

Okay, a quick check tells me that there is a sci-fi writer by that name. It's not that the late DJ ever recorded a Dr Who audiobook, which is what I at first thought you meant!

... although wouldn't that have been awesome?

Y'know what's slightly funny? I approach the John Pell thing from the other way around. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I heard of John Peel the DJ. And at first, I thought, "He doesn't just write boring as all getout Dr Who books, he also DJ's? Cool."

After seeing some of the Second Doctor in the first two episodes of "The Three Doctors" today, I'll say that I like him, especially his line in response to the Brigadier asking about the Time Lords sending help: "They can't spare anyone. That's why they sent me, me, and me" (or something like that).

Right now, I think I like Pertwee better, but Troughton does definitely seem Doctorish. Just curious though, what's the deal with this Doctor's recorder? Is it just his identifying prop, like Four's scarf and Nine's Jacket?

Pretty much. Troughton played the recorder between takes as a bit of a calming measure, so they incorporated it into the character. Sadly, they sort of slowly dropped it over time, so it doesn't get much air time in his surviving serials (which are mostly from his final season). There's a great scene of him playing it in the surviving episode of The Abominable Snowmen though...

More of his episodes are being released on DVD, and they have even got in some people do do animations of the deleted episodes

Which seems to be a very interesting idea. I'm tempted to buy one

I instantly fell in love with Two during The Five Doctors, with the line "You've redecorated, haven't you? I don't like it." It doesn't sound like much, but Troughton's delivery really made it something.

What little I've seen of Troughton made me want to see more. He looked oddly like Moe Howard to me. I can't wait for these new releases.

Troughton's my favourite Doctor. And even though most of his stories are lost, the audios and the reconstructions do a wonderful job of showing what they would have been like.



Playing the recorder is practically the first thing he does when he regenerates. There's a lovely scene in Power of the Daleks where Ben snatches the recorder because he's sick of the Doctor playing it, and sometime dure the conversation, the Doctor manages to pinch it back, without Ben noticing, and starts playing again.

Sadly I only got a little exposure to #2 because his eps other than the Two Doctors were never aired by my pbs station in my lifetime, but I recently bought The Three Doctors and Tomb of the Cybermen. Both made me like him a lot and I thought Tomb was a particularly good DW comparing all the eps I've ever seen ( a little of #1 and vert little of #3, all of #4 and #5, most of #6 a smattering of 7 and all of 9). It stood out.

Also there is a cute bit in the Three Doctors where Jo responds to 3's explanation that "I am He and He is Me" with "and we are all together koo koo kah choo." She explains it is a Beatles' tune and #2 says "Really? How does it go?" and has to be forced out of trying to play it on the recorder. As it happens the recorder winds up being very very important to the conclusion of the ep. I also loved #2's delivery of indignation at 3's disregard for 2's recorder when he says "JUST because YOU'RE not musical...." It did make me wonder some more about what caries over regeneration to regeneration. I remember seeing 4 play some type of flute once and when 9 suddenly "remembered" how to dance I figured he has a bunch of latent abilities from previous incarnations that ar not readily accessable but can be tapped into if he concentrates. So 10 probably can play the recorder if he really really wanted to.

I'm looking forward to the Mind Robber and the cartoon restoration. I hope the cartoon isn't massively expensive.

The animation was funded by the branch of the BBC responsible for the Doctor Who website, out of money left in the budget after another project didn't happen. I suspect that it's unlikely we'll ever see any further (re)animated releases, unless someone finds a way to subsidise other stories.

But at least it's something that was pretty much unexpected (though rumoured about) even a short while ago, and having Cybermen in it can't hurt sales!

I'm hoping TPTB at the Beeb will see their way to do this on all the eps that have sound and no pic. Surely the scripts survive somewhere, and having the sound would make it farily easy to set up a studio who would animate the missing episodes. [crosses fingers]

The sound survives for all the missing stories - thanks to fans at the time taping the shows on reel to reel tape recorders.

I have been listening to the second doctors missing audios and I am shocked how good they are. I really hope that the people who are responcible for the wiping get a good punishment when they are sent to hell. I was also wondering what is everyones opinion of the doctor in the power of the daleks? Did he really know the slaughter was going to happen, and did he really do nothing about it?

Huh? He was doing everything he could to stop it, even to the point of turning off the Dalek Lesterson had revived. But the colony government didn't listen to his warnings (and do you blame them - he was looking like a raving madman in their eyes), and that was the real cause of the masscre...



And they are available as CDs with linking narration by the actors involved. They are highly recommended, especially if you listen to them while viewing the corresponding telesnap "photonovels" on the BBC website...

I had never seen any Troughton before, but I finally got to watch "Seeds of Death" the other day. Shockingly good! Loved the opening titles; they feel more like Nam-June Paik, and less like a Winamp plug-in. And I don't know how he manages it, but Troughton does the standard "run up and down the corridors" scene and makes it fun, rather than Scooby-Doo cheesy.

Also: Zoe could really give Nyssa a run in a "Companions who would be insufferable teacher's pets if they weren't so unbearably cute" competition, couldn't she?

Also also: That Jamie sure brings the hot, doesn't he? (yeah, I know, I'm about 35 years late to that party.)

I have never seen any of Troughton's episodes, but I am looking forward to watching Tomb of the Cybermen. Out of curiosity, is this the only story of the Second Doctor to feature the Cybermen?

Nope he also had the Moonbase, The Wheel in Space, and the invasion (which is coming out on dvd in the uk later this year with animation for the two missing episodes. Also thh 2 and 4 episodes of moonbase is on the lost in time dvd and the 1 and 2 are in audio fourm also on that dvd. Two episodes of the wheel in space are also on it and it is the first apperence of Zoe and the Invasion is a UNIT story. It really sucks that part of these stories were destroyed by the BBC. However, as mentioned before they are all are available on audio books.



The only reason I thought that he might have had an idea is that in the begining when he is going through his chest he fiunds something that reminds him of the daleks. Then he did not tell anyone his experence with them. When polly tries to tell them he silenced her with his recorder, and the only way she was able to was that he was not around. Then the end Ben says something along the line that he really did not give them a good warning of what they are dealing with. Someone could get the idea that he knew something happened at the colony, or it could have just been him being a bastard or the master manipulator that he was.

I've been going through the process of watching all the Doctor Who Dvd's that are availible by ordering them through netflix. I also read the photonovelo's on the bbc website, which are excellent. The second Doctor fast became a favorite of mine. I love how ADD he is, and I love his interactions with Jamie. I really wish I could have seen the series "The Highlanders" - I mean the doctor crossdresses!

Can anyone tell me if Web of Fear is the one with Medusa?

After that episode, my mother wouldn't let me watch Dr. Who anymore. I still get nightmares.

When did the BBC lose the tapes? In the early 1980s, I know they showed some early Troughton episodes as part of the 20th anniversary tribute. That was also the only time I saw a Pertwee episode.

Web of Fear is about the Yeti.



They destroyed many episodes as well as other TV shows in the early 70's, because they assumed no one would ever see any of the footage again. Aside from "Marco Polo", 3/4 of "Daleks' Master Plan", and a few stories from the Vicky/Stephen days, all the Hartnell-era episodes exist; I've always wondered why they survived yet most of the Troughton era did not.

I really liked Two. He had the most honest and emotional relationships with his companions. He usually didn't condescend to them. He was like a best friend, sometimes an older brother. He was so kind to Victoria, being the rock that she needed with her father just killed right before she joined the Tardis crew. Of all the story arcs which involved the Doctor mentoring a young girl, this was my favorite, because it lacked the endless self-importance of Seven/Ace (She's so special! She calls him Professor, not Doctor, she's really different, get it?!?) and Nine/Rose (a big twue wuv romance).

A few years ago I read The Sixties, the book on the Hartnell and Troughton eras. They discussed how Troughton had always been very easy to work with until his final season, when he constantly clashed with the producers over the direction of the show. The Troughton era was all about the big scary monsters, but the final season was considered poor and the ratings were bad. The show was very close to cancelation. The last story of that season, "The War Games", paves the way for everything DW would become. I just wish they hadn't had to end the episode with all the close ups of Troughton making weird faces (as he's forced to regenerate), but of course, what would his era have been without him making funny faces.

I've always heard the soundtracks exist for all the missing episodes. Hopefully, if the animated Two sells, the Beeb will do the other stories in animated form. I know it's not the same, but for those of us who are anal about it...

The one with the Medusa is The Mind Robber, which still exists and has been released on DVD



Hartnell always sold better than Troughton outside of Britain, so there were more copies of his stuff floating around. Rumor has it that there was a belated mass return of the early Hartnell serials (from Algeria, apparently) that arrived back at the BBC just before the junkings were discovered and halted, meaning that they were saved by mere chance.



All the soundtracks for every episode exist, and they have all been released on CDs by the BBC, with linking narration by some of the original actors. Hunt them down - they're for the most part really good!

Am I misremembering, or weren't the producers considering regenerating the Doctor into Pat Troughton at one point during the Colin Baker era? *
I believe this "de-generation" was (at least in part) the result of some feeling that the show had somewhat lost its way. The move was at least semi-justified in that we've never seen any proof that the Doctor can't regenerate into someone he's been before, even if only accidentally.
While it probably would have been a horrible idea for the show overall, I've always been a huge fan of the Second Doctor, and thus have very mixed feelings on this concept.

*(Not to be confused with the aborted idea of regenerating the Seventh Doctor into Troughton's son David midway through the New Adventures book line. Which could have been interesting as well.)

Thank you, Demetrios. Someday, I'll have to find out how it ends.

What you're probably thinking of is an idea of Sydney Newman's. He approached Michael Grade with some ideas for rebooting the series. Newman got a restaurant meal out of it, but the BBC never seriously considered his proposal.

Part of his idea involved having the Doctor travelling with a twelve-year-old girl. From the bits and pieces I've heard about this, none of which I can remember, it sounded pretty dreadful. Newman was no longer the genius he'd once been, and I think he was still thinking in terms of what would have worked in c. 1966 and not c. 1986. Of course, the BBC didn't really know what they were doing with the series by then, either...

My copy of The Invasion turned up this weekend. The animation is a bit clunky (reminds me of the cartoon Lord of the Rings film), but worked surprisingly well.

No - the Moonbase and the Invasion do too

The Mighty Trout is my favourite Doctor

i can't stand Jamie - partly 'cause he is an empty stereotype just there to do action and partly because of my inner feminist - in the late Hartnell era at least two possible companions were rejected because it was felt that they wouldn't work as they came from the past - but the only difference between them and Jamie seems to be what Jamie has between his legs.

I think the difference was that it was a different era of Doctor Who. Maybe Jamie would have been rejected too if he'd appeared in the Hartnell era. During the Troughton era companions from the past weren't restricted to men. Victoria was from the past too, she was from the 19th century. So I don't think the difference was gender.

As for Jamie being "an empty stereotype", I think that's true of many companions.

Personally I find Jamie likeable enough, I just wish he was more convincing as an 18th century Highlander.

I've been watching it too (my boyfriend bought it), and I thought the animation worked well too, almost because of the clunkiness. I like the way it's really stylised Sixties, kinda like The Avengers comic book that was out a few years back (as in Steed and Mrs Peel, not the superhero team). The music's great too, very Harry Palmer.

I'm usually not that keen on the b&w stories, but I'm enjoying this one, especially all the UNIT stuff and Zoe infiltrating the enemy headquarters with Isobel while dressed in a feather boa.

And it has to be said - Jamie has great legs!

I quite enjoyed the Second Doctor in "The Seeds of Death." I can see traits in him that appear in several other incarnations, such as his geeky love of gadgets, chivalry, bravery, and other such things.

A question, though: is it just Two who has such extreme trouble navigating with the TARDIS? 'Cuz he said that it was no good over short distances, yet with Nine and Ten, we've seen them travel to different areas of London, for example.

But we've also seen them put down in 1879 instead of 1979 (Tooth and Claw), in 18-something instead of 18-somethingelse and in Cardiff instead of Naples (The Unquiet Dead), land the Tardis with the door facing the wrong way (a Season 2 episode I forget the name of) and heard about how Four put Sarah Jane down in Aberdeen instead of Croydon (School Reunion). So while Two may have been the worst of the lot, he's not the only one who had trouble getting the Tardis to go when and where he wanted it to.

Yeah, I know the other Doctors have trouble as well - just wondering if Two had more trouble than his other incarnations. Sadly, KBTC is probably not showing any more of his eps, so I was curious.

ETA: Thanks, Demetrios! That makes sense.

The First and Second Doctors were the ones who really had problems steering the TARDIS correctly (the first season was mostly taken up in trying to get Ian and Barbara home, unsuccessfully), presumably because the Doctor "borrowed" it without fully understanding how to control it. Once the knowledge on how to operate it was taken away and then returned it to him (the latter midway through the Third Doctor era), he seemed to have a lot less trouble steering it correctly, although it would still misbehave from time to time, as it does to the present day.

I think Five was one of the worst offenders on that score - just ask Tegan! The number of times he tried to get her back to Heathrow Airpot and failed...

I think he wasn't really trying that hard. He just pretended that he was.

Outside of "The Three Doctors" or "The Five Doctors" I have never seen Two in action. I'm making my way through "Tomb of the Cybermen" now and I have to say I love Two! He made me laugh out loud a lot. He just has a way of holding himself and the costume just works for him. Although I still think he looks a bit like Moe Howard. Jamie and Vicky are not bad companions so far. Jamie's pretty decent and wearing a kilt (wish I could wear one to work everyday!), and Vicky hasn't done a lot yet except look cute in a dress. I think she hasn't been in the TARDIS that long when this story takes place. I will start a thread for the story when I finish watching tonight.