Do imagine the shock, if you will. It’s 1966, you’ve been watching Doctor Who for months and months. William Hartnell is the Doctor, and you’ve happily watched his dangerous adventures in his magical blue TARDIS. But something’s different at the end of this adventure. His body is wearing a bit thin. All of a sudden he collapses, like a broken toy on the floor of the console room. Something’s wrong. Ben and Polly are concerned, and so are you. You’re gripping the arm of your settee. Surely…surely Doctor Who couldn’t be…dying?
All of sudden there’s a close up of his face. And the screen distorts. And away goes Hartnell’s face, fading, and in his place, is a strange younger chap, with thick eyebrows.
There’s another Dr. Who.
The black and white era Doctor Who didn’t end with the regeneration of Mr. Hartnell. Oh no, we’ve still got three more years of monochrome adventures to go! The irony of the Second Doctor being my second favorite is kinda pathetic. But, guess who’s my third. Ha. Jokes on you, it’s Colin Baker.
But once again, just like with Hartnell, the Troughton era is ignored and often pushed aside in favour of the colourized era or, indeed, the reboot. Which such as before is one of the biggest shames and horrors. A crime even.
Well once again my dear children, your very eccentric and England-bound Grandma WhoFan is going to tell you the tale of the Cosmic Hobo, the second Doctor Who, the eccentric Patrick Troughton.
The second doctor era benefited from many things: more budget, the ability to go on location more, the precious and sacred ability to GASP sometimes re-shoot! Say it ain’t so!
Yes, some of the problems that plagued the Hartnell era are addressed and fixed in the Troughton era. Isn’t it a miracle?
More money allowed for better sets and costumes. It allowed for the main cast to go out on locations in the mountains or beach, and they could use helicopters and have hover rafts! Though, it wasn’t an extreme amount of more money.
Perhaps they went up from a budget of a ham sandwich to the budget of two.
The sets still were absolutely gorgeous, made with once again very little money. For example, during The Web of Fear, team TARDIS is exploring the London Underground, aka the Tube. Think the Subway systems in New York but much cleaner. The train systems are meant to be abandoned due to the fact the Yeti and the Great Intelligence was running rampant. Of course, the Doctor Who folks wanted to use the actual Tube, close a station or stretch of track. But of course the Tube people took one look at offer declared “Hell no!” and sent them on their merry way. So of course, that left the Doctor Who people to make their own sets. They filmed and out came the episode. Well, the Underground people were so convinced that the Who folks had broken the law and filmed on the tracks that they threatened to sue. If that isn’t a testament to how amazing these sets were, I don’t know what is.
Let’s meet our companions for this era shall we?
Ben Jackson, the often confused and sweet sailor boy whose main catchphrase is screaming Polly’s name the second she’s out of eyeshot, played by Michael Craze. He’s part of the English Royal Navy, who joins up with the Doctor through meeting Dodo and Polly at a dance club back when the Doctor was still older and frumpy. But he’s an adorable man, often thrown into situations in which he is in way over his head. He always seems to be able to cock a smile, even in times of panic. Though the lad does often seem to play damsel in distress–getting captured and injured. But you never mind because Ben is a sweetie pie. He’s passionate about the friends he keeps, especially one Miss Polly Wright. He affectionately calls her Duchess, and, honestly, he’s nuts about her. If Polly is taken away or missing or, honestly, just in another room, there’s Ben in a panic. “POLLY!?! POLLY!! DUCHESS?!” he cries. The Power of the Daleks could turn it into a drinking game. Every time Ben says her name in a panic, take a shot. You’ll die.
Polly Wright–fashionable and intelligent and an absolute delight–is played by the precious and perfect Anneke Wills. Polly is a very cute and sarcastic thing, unafraid to back down from a fight, a match to any person who dares to stand in her way. How to deal with Cybermen? Use s nail polish remover concoction to destroy themone dubbed–by her–a Cocktail Polly. She’s quick for a quip and is rather done with anyone who tries to patronize her. And she has a clear affection for Ben Jackson. While she won’t panic as much as he, she worries over him constantly when he’s hurt or in trouble. She’s often minding the boys of team TARDIS, keeping them in line. She’s full of spunk and sass and she’s brilliant. I had the honour of meeting Anneke at L.I.Who 4 just this past November, and I was cosplaying Polly, and my best pal Tyson as Ben. We approached her and she was delighted to see us! Not to mention later, when our entire Two Era Cosplay Squad appeared for a picture with her and Frazer Hines they were terribly excited to see us. And once our pictures were done, Anneke took me and Tyson by the arms and called us her darlings. It was only later that we learned through her agent that, after we’d left, she regaled in happy memories of Patrick, calling meeting us the best fan experience she had in twenty-five years, and how wonderful it was that young people liked the older episodes and she began to cry.
….We made Anneke Wills cry…
Jamie McCrimmon is the Jacobite rebel, handsome and rugged and the biggest nerdity nerd to ever walk the planet, played by the sensational Frazer Hines. Saved from death by redcoat after the battle of Culloden, taken onto the TARDIS at Polly’s insistence, Jamie appears in every single second Doctor episode, save for The Power of the Daleks. A flirt, in love with Miss Waterfield, chum to Zoe, and eternally clinging to the Doctor. My god, they never stop clinging. He’s brave to a fault, willing to charge into battle, sometimes ignorant, but never an idiot. The Doctors favourite, no doubt. He’s a precious Scottish puppy, you just want to protect him but at the same time you want him at your side when the danger arrives. And if you want to know where Frazer Hines ends and Jamie begins…I’ve met him three times and I still don’t know.
Victoria Waterfield is the cutest little Victorian cupcake to ever be placed upon this Earth, played by the adorable and darling Deborah Watling. Possibly my favourite companion of the Second Doctor era! She’s so perfect. So sweet and cute as a button. Under five foot tall, pink and sweeter that sugar. Orphaned due to the fact the evil Daleks held her captive and then shot her dear father. She’s then taken in by the Doctor who takes up the mantle of ‘space father,’ basically, and Jamie who falls in love with the dear girl. But there’s more to Victoria than that. Here she is cute as can be, and she will use than cuteness to her advantage. Oh yes, she’s cute and helpless and SIKE FOLKS SHE’S TRICKED YOU AND NOW YOU’RE DEAD. Her powerful screams can take down evil seaweed monsters and weaken Ice Warriors, and she’s awfully clever. But if I keep going this will turn into an article just all about Victoria Waterfield…and that’s for another day.
Zoe Herriot, a genius of a gal, the Doctor’s just as clever as she is, and a stone cold badass, played by the dear Wendy Padbury. Zoe is highly intelligent, brilliant beyond words. She steals away in the TARDIS seeking a life outside facts and figures and being just a human computer, basically. She’s energetic and fun and is often the leader of her team TARDIS. She can beat up supposed super heroes, calculate and solve things faster than the Doctor ever could, and she’s a joy when she’s being tricky. And, of course, seeing Wendy Padbury dance to Uptown Funk is literally the most beautiful sight in the world. Pity on those who never will see it.
The show was in fact still filmed in that live style. And while they were allowed to have a few more retakes, they were still often used in extreme cases. But these extremes could range from someone laughing off camera to camera malfunctions to Frazer and Pat pulling pranks on Debbie Watling. But there of course times when they still wouldn’t. Messing up lines, or more famously Frazer Hines and Patrick Troughton grabbing each other’s hands for a cute little gag because they knew for a fact they wouldn’t go back to fix things.
But let’s get to our Doctor.
There’s such a stark contrast between Hartnell’s Doctor and Troughton’s. Where Hartnell was the strict grandfather figure, parading about like he knew every thing, a rebellious child in the body of a gruff old timer, Troughton is a sort of a wandering wide-eyed spirit. He’s full of hopes and dreams and the stars seem to be in those sparking blue eyes. The universe is open for him to challenge and you see such promise in him. And yet he goes up against some of the most terrible things the universe can offer, things that must be fought.
Then those sparkling eyes turn to steel. When the Doctor’s jokes and endless pockets turn to dust there’s a man with justice in his hearts. He’s a protective penguin father, watching over his chicks. There’s a coldness in that joyous figure that comes out in times of great danger. Where his sometimes ever present silliness will cease. He may seem like a practical jokester, but he’s still not to be trifled with.
He’s also just so terribly caring. He vows to protect Victoria, and minds her like a daughter, giving her one of Doctor Who‘s most beautiful speeches about love and loss when she mentions missing her dead father. “Oh yes, I can [remember them] when I want to. And that’s the point, really. I have to really want to, to bring them back in front of my eyes. The rest of the time they… they sleep in my mind and I forget. And so will you. Oh yes, you will. You’ll find there’s so much else to think about. To 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.”
He can bumble and be a clown, not remembering what Jamie’s face looks like when he has to put it back together, or playing his recorder, and that’s why he tends to be so lovable, but he shines also in his quieter moments. And in his harder moments, as well, such as dealing with the Time Lords who’ve taken away everything precious from him: his companions, their memories of him, and control over his beloved time machine.
There’s just something about Patrick Troughton. Is it the bright blue eyes, full of whimsy and youth and wonder? Perhaps the cute mop of uneven black hair parading itself as a Beatles hair cut? The recorder, maybe, and the askew bow tie, held together by only a Saftey pin. The fact that his clothes are perhaps three sizes too big for his frame. Ah, maybe it’s the smile and the dimples, or the way his eyebrows seem to have a life of their own, causing his expressions to always look extreme.
You can’t help but trust him, can you?
Tina Marie DeLucia