Thanks so much! I totally agree about the negativity one comes across frequently online. I think it's easier for some to be endlessly critical- maybe it's more entertaining, I don't know. However, part of my philosophy for this series is to redress that balance a little. I hope you enjoy the rest of the series!
Life Upgrade I don't know why but for some reason the Moonbase is my favourite second Doctor story rather than the Wargames. It's something about the cybermen walking across the moon..
I am 62 years old, As a young boy Dr.Who was my escape my joy, i remember, connecting to Dr Who because my father was an alcoholic my mother bless her driving me mad with catholic propaganda./ Patrick Troughton was my Dr. Who and to end this story i am not bitter, just grate ful that some of us know Dr. Who was a product of our dreams our hopes in the 1960,s and a wonderful gift , take care everybody
Troughton seemed like he would have been a nice guy to just sit down and have a conversation with. He seemed very welcoming and kind, like a favorite uncle.
"If The Doctor had not helped, none of this would have taken place" That reminds me, if the First Doctor had never gone to Skaro, would the Daleks have ever realized there was life in the universe in which to exterminate? Is The Doctor the true catalyst of the rise of the Daleks, and maybe why he always seems to feel a responsibility in stopping them?
I mean he seems to keep getting involved with skaro’s past. After going to skaro that first time, he goes back to stop their creation, and then he saves Davros as a child. He just keeps going back farther and ther the older he gets
Nice mention. In Tom Baker's season 14, he seems to cause most of the trouble he encounters. Starting with Masque of Mandragora in which his TARDIS inadvertently transports the malevolent foe, to The Hand of Fear in which he and his companion's presence in "the wrong rock quarry" allows the evil to come back to life. Then on to The Deadly Assassin in which he is accused of being the eponymous culprit. Next it's off to The Face of Evil where he is reviled as an evil god owing to past misadventures. Perhaps Leela's presence alongside him was a welcome good influence indeed.
Perhaps the Tribe of Gum in the first serial were the race that evolved into the Kaleds. By introducing them to fire, the Doctor sent them on their way.
I really love the little speech Doctor gives to Victoria (the one you titled as key moment). As someone who's still pretty young and not very used to loss of family members it really helped me through some harder times in my life.
The more quiet and philosophical moments of Troughton‘s Doctor are among the best of the whole show. When he breaks the image of the jester and you get to see just a glimpse of the knowledge and wisdom of his character, genius.
Wonderful they recovered The Enemy of the World and all but one episode of The Web of Fear though. Personally I don't care for the DVD releases of other in complete stories from the same era. Nice for some but feel like it's ripping fans off.
Troughton was come and gone before my time but he's still the #1 defining Doctor to me when you consider how his portrayal is so different from his predecessor yet so resonant with all the best Doctors after him. Troughton could've followed Tom Baker without it feeling like a downgrade, for example, and all the New Who representations are far closer to Troughton than they are to Pertwee. If Hartnell is the lyrics to the spirit of Doctor Who then Troughton is the music.
The Doctor's speech with Victoria about grief is perhaps my favorite 2nd Doctor moment. It's so tender and such a lovely way to describe living with loss to a young audience. As to the cybermen, while they are generally not my favorite on camera monsters, the concept behind them is one I find particularly horrifying. I find them most effective when they are not an amassing army but rather a small scale, intimate threat. When you watch a body horror flick, you don't need an army of psychos with a sea of victims, you need a football player tied up in the school basement with his eyelids taped open and a bitter janitor with a rusty melon-baller.
Patrick Troughton probably had the hardest job of all the actors to portray the Doctor - what with dealing with the regeneration and establishing some connection with the audience after Hartnell's time. It's very sad that most of his stories have been lost. A lot of people(including Peter Davison and Colin Baker) think highly of his portrayal, as the clownlike cosmic hobo with a recorder. It says a lot that he came back later on for three separate appearances(The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors and The Two Doctors). I tend to like the more surreal style episodes of his era. I also thinking the pairing of his Doctor and Jamie is one of the series' best. My favourites are Tomb of the Cybermen and The Mind Robber.
The second doctor's final episode is seriously one of the most touching scenes inn all of Dr. who. Like, it gives "I don't want to go" a run for its money.
I really miss the pure historicals. They were great fun and I´m sad they got rid off them. I find that they do work very well on their own even without sci-fi.
What I find scariest about the Mondasian, and why I think they are the creepiest iteration of the Metal Monsters from Mondas, is, in some scenes, you can quite clearly see their eyes behind the dark felts on the mask, something I find incredibly creepy, as it is a constant reminder of their origins.
A personal favourite of this era is the Eight Part Invasion from Season 6. It's strange because when you step back, you notice things about the story like how Tobias Vauhgn is really the main villain, the Cybermrn don't appear until half way through and it's really long, like, they have to split it across two discs length. But when you actually watch it you find you don't even mind. The acting is perfect, it's perfectly paced, the titular invasion doesn't even begin until around Part Six but because the story is so engaging, you don't care. 9/10. Don't worry, it's impossible to achieve a perfect grade.
These reviews are very well written and presented. A lot of childhood memories are being recalled and now I want to watch every episode that's available
Watching Patrick Troughton he was a wonderful Doctor, giving the impression of being both very kind and intelligent..Tomb Of The Cybermen is an excellent pastiche of The Hammer Mummy films with the Cybermen at their most iconic. A well researched documentary that explains elequently this fundamental era of Doctor when so much of the mythology of the programme was created
The Highlanders is the last purely historical (meaning no aliens or non-human villains) episode of Doctor Who until the 5th Doctor story Black Orchid (but even that one relies on using the Tardis to prove to the people that they are from the future).
Mr. Carrier, I must offer you my compliments on the depth of research and passion on display in this series of retrospectives. I feel like I've learned or better understood something about every era of one of the greatest heroes of science fiction in general and British sci-fi in particular. And that goes for every entry in this series. I'll admit, I hope one day you tackle the New Adventure novels and Big Finish Who in even greater detail than you already have. I feel like they're both so expansive, so varied, so complex that they could take up a series of videos by themselves. I must ask in regards to this video in particular, where did you find the music selections? There are some tracks I'd like to cherry pick but are hard to find.
Thanks so much for your kind words! Glad you're enjoying the series! Regarding the NAs and Big Finish - you're absolutely right; there's so much to cover that they do deserve greater coverage, although the lack of visuals make constructing a video a bit more challenging. One day, I do hope to do them justice more comprehensively. With the music, I'm fortunate to have gathered a wide selection of classic and modern Who soundtracks over the years from which I select tracks for the respective eras. One of the best in this regard is the 50th Anniversary Collection (the extended multi-disk box set). It's pretty hard to get a hold of but you can find many of the tracks on TH-cam. Quite a few of the DVDs have isolated soundtracks also, from which I have sampled songs. If there are any particular track names you're looking for, feel free to comment with a timecode and I'll let you know the title! Thanks again for your lovely feedback!
When I see a comment saying something like, “Doctor Who used to be good” or some such rubbish, I never take it seriously as it did exist even in Troughton’s run. Proves that people will never accept change in a show that is built upon the idea. When people say, “I used to love Doctor Who”, what they usually mean is: “I only have seen Tennant’s run and will not accept anything different.” Those people have probably have never seen a classic episode.
I have watched every episode of classic who, buy big Finnish audios, the figures, the lot and it has become utterly awful since Moffat took over. I stopped watching from series 7 and not had any intention of watching the new series, especially after they have now got a woman doctors, its ruined the show beyond saving RIP doctor who 1963-2010
Davros was both over the top and wonderfully subtle. He would often build to that Dalekian shriek, but would start with a cunning, quiet rumble. Arguably the best performance of all the Doctor's villains.
The power of the daleks was the most important story in all of dr who, six weeks of that story and if people didn’t like it then it would have destroyed the show but thankfully it was one of the greatest stories ever making everyone manage to accept and be happy of the change
This entire series of videos is utterly amazing. in depth, sympathetic to the cast/crew, objective yet adding some personal flourishes for flavor. This is high quality work my man! Been watching the whole series bit by bit.
I started watching classic who on amazon prime about a month ago, and even tho a large amount of his stories are missing, Troughton is my favorite doctor so far. Going into season 4 I had no prior knowledge of him other than just being the doctor with a recorder. But the first story established his personality very well and it quickly grew on me. "The Enemy Of The World" solidified him for me and the story overall won me over and hes been my favorite since.
I have watched your series so many times(to the point I am now rewatching classic who again currently on the troughton era) That I wish someone could do the same with star trek one day. The amount of information about the series I have learned is astounding and they are also so fun to watch every time.
While the Cybermen's initial appearance is the most creepy, it makes sense for their appearance to constantly be changing. It's in their very nature to be constantly, for lack of a better word, upgrading. Haha Also, Capaldi liked their original form so much, he had to have been thrilled for his final season finale to feature them.
Patrick Troughton will always be very special to me although I never watched his Doctor Who era. He played Cole Hawlings in the 1984 BBC show The Box of Delights, a ancient pagan magician of sorts who travels with a Punch and Judy show, his dog and possesses the Box of Delights. As soon as I knew Troughton had played the Doctor, I immediately loved the idea that Hawlings was an older version of him :)
the cybermen are the scariest monster to me, and the fact that they change so much each era just makes them more fascinating to me. i'd love a full deep dive on them, especially as i'm not very familiar with classic who. they were supremely creepy in season 10, but i dislike what was done to bill so much that it's hard for me to fully appreciate it. i'm glad capaldi got his wish though.
"Oh, You've Redecorated! I Don't Like It." -Patrick Troughton -David Tennant -Matt Smith Edit: 9:36 It Says Moffat Ruined Doctor Who, But Guess Who's Coming There Way!
Been steadily making my way through the classic series have since finished the P.T. era and Currently on the Baker era, he is so far my top Doctor of the classic Doctors
Well, I've always speculated that a culture so advanced would not cause him to regenerate (ie. using his own limited number of regenerations), but would rather use their own resources to cause him to regenerate. Of course, this would have meant that Matt Smith would NOT have been the last Doctor, Capaldi would... and that could have led into a better conclusion (and a better transition to a female Doctor, if that's what they wanted). My thinking was this: The Doctor is at the end of his life. He's done something on his last adventure that is going to kill him, but he has a little time before the end. So, he goes around and visits old companions, old places that had meaning to him, before retiring to the Eye of Orion (or some other beautiful place) to die peacefully. But then... the Master appears. The Doctor rises up, declaring he still has enough strength to stop the Master one last time, but the Master demurrs, telling the Doctor he's only there to watch the Doctor die... because once the Doctor is gone, nothing and no one will stand in his way. The universe will belong to the MASTER. Horrified, the Doctor realizes he can't let himself die, and he spends the next arc struggling to stay alive as his body decays, searching for a way to get another regeneration, even as the Master himself had done. And this was the Master's real reason for going there... to push the Doctor to become just like the Master. To force the Doctor to do anything to survive, even the unthinkable, to take an innocent life, as the Master had consumed Consul Tremas. The Doctor travels around desperately, and takes aboard a new companion to help him, while the Master trails along to taunt him. Every effort fails, and the Doctor decays until he has nothing left, he simply can't hold on any longer. His companion pleads with him not to die. The Doctor says, "It's not up to me anymore." His companion sets her jaw and says, "You're right," and she begins the process to allow the Doctor to transfer his consciousness to her body, and hers to his. Now restored and alive in her body, he cradles her in his arms as she dies, and the Master departs reminding the Doctor he still has no more regenerations, that he's bought perhaps 50 years at best. The Doctor (now a woman) goes on in his new body in search of more regenerations. This story would have seen the Doctor pushed to do more and more terrible things, becoming darker and darker... but getting nowhere as his body decays. Capaldi would have been brilliant in this role.
Coming here straight from finishing The War Games, very glad you gave it the credit it deserves. I'll now be off to rewatch the pertwee years and I'll see you on that review
Yes I would agree. They should have at least one more story where they showed them as majestic as they did in the 'The War Games.' Maybe once they gave them that over the top regalia they wrote themselves in box so to speak.
I respect the story of The War Games. But god damn, that was 10 episodes I had to sit through! That's 25 minutes x 10 episodes = 4 hours 10 minutes! I have watched through almost the entire show up to present, only skipping some early serials with many missing episodes. (I've watched the ones that have since been animated, and look forward to more being animated, as the chances of discovery have diminished.) And that single serial still sticks out to me for its lengthiness. I wish they could have fit a separate 4-episode serial in and made The War Games 6 episodes. That extra 100 minutes made the serial drag for me. I suppose the response would be it was too difficult to fit in a different story due to time constraints, but that they still had to commit to completing 10 episodes. Times have very much changed since.
Apparently they were planning two different stories to close off the season, but both fell through at the last minute so Terrence Dicks had to quickly write up The War Games to fill the remaining ten parts, two and a half months worth of episodes.
Even though as is typical for the longer shows that run 6 parts in that you have lots of getting captured & escaping over and over for some reason War Games is a more enjoyable sit for me for than nearly all of the 6-parters. It never feels like it's dragging and the time just flies by (I mean, when you have 2-hour-plus Marvel movies 4 hours of Who ain't bad). Most of the enjoyment comes from the actors, which keeps most of classic Who still enjoyable for me even now.
@@christophertheriault3308 Gotta say I agree. I think despite the repetitiveness that can appear, it just flies up quicker than even some four-parters, probably because the writing and plot is so good.
2nd: “Hm! I see you’ve been doing the TARDIS up a bit. I don’t like it.” 11th: “Oh you’ve redecorated! I don’t like it.” 10th: “Oh, you’ve redecorated... I don’t like it.” Runs in the dialect
It is almost criminal that hardly any Patrick Troughton stories exist in full. Despite that, his portrayal was convincing and powerful enough to warrant continuing the series and meaning that a change of lead actor wouldn't mean the end of the programme. He is also my second favourite Doctor next to Tom Baker.
I remember reading somewhere that Fraser and Troughton slipped as many gay innuendos as they could into their character interactions to troll and spite the BBC. What a duo lmao
William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton aren't necessarily the best Doctors (I'd put them high on the list but not at the very top of it) but they're definitely the most important. Without Hartnell, Doctor Who wouldn't even have gotten off the ground and without Troughton, it would have ended when Hartnell left.
@@tomnorton4277 Yeah that's what I meant, William Hartnell Patrick Troughton and Christopher Eccleston had a lot more pressure put on them to prove that the show could still be a success. Without them it might have failed
The Sonic Screwdriver was introduced in Fury of the Deep. Interestingly Patrick lost the actual prop and they decided to use one of the lifevest whistles instead. Of course, that episode is lost
So much respect for the portrayal of Time Lords as powerful, mysterious beings of an other worldly existence. They really seem to imply that the Doctor is a below average Time Lord, gallivanting around and being smart next to other humans but being somewhat of a weirdo to his own people. I started on the Tenth Doctor's run and that was my perception and respect for the Time Lords grew as I slowly learned more and more about the Time War. It provided an excellent example of power escalation as the Doctor's threats became greater and greater. First I learned about the Daleks and how big of a threat they were. The Doctor kept fighting them and they kept getting stronger. But then we saw the Master, the first Time Lord besides the Doctor and he was such a huge threat! It was like he was both a dark reflection of the Doctor as well as a shadow of what a Time Lord could be. Finally, in the Tenth Doctor's last arc we saw the true power of the Time Lords. They had become a people so corrupted by war they were as bad as the Daleks! The Daleks were brutal enough and now you're showing me the guys they couldn't defeat? It was awesome and horrifying, especially when we saw both the Doctor and the Master as mere pawns compared to the full might of the Time Lords! Now I had an understanding of both sides of the war and I also thought I understood the mechanisms of the Time War itself. I thought Time War as a war in which time itself was a weapon. The war would have had Daleks and Time Lords constantly fighting all over the fabric of Time, rewriting history and then racing the other to re-rewrite history or stop history from being re-rewritten! It would have been an unimaginable battle of paradox, time loops, and time travel. It would have been such an insane war the was beyond human comprehension, a war taking place in the past, present and future simultaneously! Then we got Day of Doctor. Now I love Day of the Doctor but I'm not going to pretend that it didn't diminished both the Time War and the Time Lords. The previously incomprehensible and accordingly impossible to show Time War was finally shown and it was... an ordinary war fought with laser guns. Seriously? All this build up and it's a normal war with lasers? That's it? The Time Lords are relegated to normal foot-soilders and generals who plan the war in conference rooms while the Daleks also had soldiers and spaceships that shoot lasers. That's pretty standard when it comes sci-fi and it has nothing to do with time at all! And this special also makes the Doctor seem way more powerful in comparison to the Time Lords. He's always been treated as being smarter than Earthlings but now he's even smarter than his own people! He's basically the smartest man in the universe! Before it seemed like the Doctor was a belt average time lord and fate of ending the Time War was thrust upon him. Now is seems like he's an unstoppable force, a man who is so far and above the Time War but that doesn't make sense! The Time War nearly had a huge impact on him! It was the war he, the Doctor could not solve and was accordingly pulled into as just another ordinary solider. That level of humanity and normality makes the Doctor interesting and makes his relationship with his own people very unique! And this problem gets even worse with some of Peter Capaldi's episode. The Time Lords are for the most part treated as ordinary guys with an ordinary alien civilization and ordinary laser guns. The prison they devised for the Doctor was absolutely cool but it was definitely overshadowed by all the mediocrity that followed in the next episode. All in all, it's a pretty ordinary disappointment and ordinary is never how you want the Time Lords to be described. I really do think Time Lords and the Doctor both deserved better.
I love the fact you include the public responses to these. It shows that the saying " (insert name here) ruined Doctor Who" is just as old as the show itself.
Yes, that's something I've noticed, too. I remember it happening when Peter Davison took over from Tom Baker (my own personal introduction to the character, though I've gone on see most of the original series as well as the reboot). Personally, I feel that each actor has brought something quite valuable to the role, and while I have my favorites, I think it would have been sadly diminished if any had NOT played the Doctor. As for Jodie Whittaker... she (like Capaldi) very quickly won me over, and in fact I think that, in time, quite a few of the stories featuring each of these will come to be regarded as superb examples of the show. Someone else here asked what the OP thought of the new origin story. I had heard a lot of negative reactions before I had a chance to see the latter part of the latest season, and was unsure how I'd feel. In the end, I think it is a brilliant, albeit challenging, move. It IS a game-changer, and shakes things up tremendously... and I see that as a good thing. The show has always had a tendency to do this, and I think that aids in its vitality. I also like the way they took various anomalies from throughout the show's history, and wove them into the pattern in a way which allows them to make sense (e.g., the Toymaker as one of the Eternals; the deadly game between Morbius and the Doctor, where we see what seem to be numerous earlier regenerations of each, etc.). I've been quite favorably impressed; and I say that as one who has seen (or, where the video is lost, heard) all of Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, and the majority of Colin Baker (one story to go) and Sylvester McCoy (about 3 left). As someone who loved the "classic" series, I was more than dubious about the reboot, but (with a wobble here and there), I think they've done a wonderful job, and I look forward to seeing what lies ahead.
It would’ve been a lot worse back then though, they’ve only ever known William Hartnell whole today we’ve been spoiled with 13 different incarnations and we are used to it. Imagine if a show you enjoyed today pulled something like regeneration and the character basically became a new person
The regeneration of a Doctor Who fan: *Part 1* I hate this new guy. *Part 2* I think he's growing on me. *Part 3* YEAH! This is my fave! *Part 4* Wait? Are you regenerating! *Part 5* WAIT! DON'T GO! *Part 6* Repeat.
As a Person of Colour myself I don't get wound up/offended when watching old media. It's the past, they were different. You have to watch it with that lens or everything will annoy you in old media :).
It's only "offensive" to white guilt infested idiots who think that they can speak for minorities and out of touch celebrities, as well as their cults of personality
Having watched both Tomb of the Cybermen and The War Games for the first time tonight, i can definitely say I was quite impressed, especially by The War Games, whose unwinding mystery is so compelling that you can get through those ten episodes without getting bored. And yeah, you're totally right, the Time Lords have never been as enigmatically engaging as they are in their short, subdued appearance here.
I agree. I've often felt that most of the mystique and legend of the Time Lords comes from the fact that the Doctor, with all of his great accomplishments, is a member of their species, and they can automatically treat him/her as their equal (or even look down upon him/her) and it can make sense despite his achievements. It's hard to feature them in a major capacity without (a) making the Doctor appear mediocre in comparison to the rest of the Time Lords (good luck doing that to the protagonist) or (b) losing a lot of that mystique of the Time Lords. I think the whole "Trial of a Time Lord" was about as good as it could have been done from that perspective (although it also made them look completely corrupt). By having it be a high-stakes encounter for the Doctor but not for the Time Lords, their power and command over the Doctor came through, while the Doctor was able to emerge victorious without having seriously damaged the Time Lords (keeping their mystique by avoiding a complete loss).
There’s something more complex about Patrick Troughton’s performance than other actors who played the role of the Doctor. I can’t really pinpoint what it is, but he knows more than he lets most people around him know.
William hartnell will always be creditited as the first doctor. But if I'm honest I think Patrick Troughton was the most important incarnation due to what could very well of happened if he didn't knock it out of the park. None of what we have today would be here.
Totally agree. I've always said that. William Hartnell was obviously excellent or the series would never have been a success but Patrick Troughton had the hardest job because he was the first change in actor and had to convince the audience that regeneration worked at a time when we had never heard of it.
Jamie ties it with Donna Noble and Leela for my second favorite companion (most favorite being Sarah). I loved how fiercely loyal and protective he was of the Doctor. His humorous and sardonic chemistry with Troughton was almost magical. It also didn't hurt that he was absolutely adorable to this fan.
Aged 56 I can just about remember Patrick Troughton as my first doctor , but it wasn’t until Jon Pertwee that I really can remember watching it and understanding what was going on. The “drop hands” of the The Autons crashing through the shop windows was my forever memory as well as the Ice Warriors. I think I tailed off watching it mid way through Tom Baker era , never really to return to it being a regular watch , but this series that you’ve put together has been brilliant watch
This is a really fantastic series, I can't thank you enough for putting these videos together. I have a great respect for Patrick Troughton, as do many Classic Who fans. I still remember the day I heard of his passing in 1987 (at a US fan convention, no less) and felt very sorry for the loss. That loss was compounded by the fact that, at the time, so few of his Dr. Who episodes were available, the lion's share having been destroyed by the BBC. Thankfully, we had the Target paperbacks to read, which is really where my love of the series is rooted, but it's never quite the same thing. Today, we have found a few more episodes, and Tomb of the Cybermen is a miraculous find (I loved the book). The use of recorded audio, still photos and animation to reconstruct these serials is a wonderful innovation, and I hope all fans appreciate the hard work and dedication required to make such things happen. Of the Troughton serials, I enjoyed the Cybermen adventures, particularly Tomb and Wheel in Space. The Mind Robber had a brilliant inventiveness that almost broke through the fourth wall, making you question the reality of the program itself. And The War Games was a brilliant epic. It doesn't work nearly as well in the "US format" (episodes crammed together into a long movie format, instead of 20-minute episodes), but the paperback edition works very well. I would certainly agree that the mystery surrounding the Time Lords works best here, and their power becomes is dramatically reduced over time as details and histories are revealed. By the end of the classic series run, the Time Lords are just another weak parody of British politics, stripped of their mystical powers and little more than dull snobs. I do wish Troughton had stayed on a little longer, or that we at least found more lost episodes. His personality just shines and his approach to Dr. Who is as close to iconic as one can get. He's the one that all the other actors used as inspiration, and there's good reason for that. If I were in charge of the program, I would have crammed him into as many cameo episodes as humanly possible.
Like a lot of fans in UK, I am currently enjoying most of the catalogue on BBC iPlayer. Haven’t seen most of the pre-Tom Baker era. What a treasure trove!
Troughton's Doctor was much more the eccentric time traveller that he would continue to be in the show. A classic character who took the role and made it his own. A perfect casting choice. Wish more episodes of his existed though.
I don't understand why you don't have 10 times the number of views. These films are excellent quality, extremely informative and fascinating. I'm thoroughly enjoying this series - and this is the first comment I've ever left on TH-cam!
Classic Doctor Who isn't a very popular topic. I don't mean that as a pejorative, but as matter of fact. It's simply too obscure to gain any sort of large traction.
Richard, I am watching your series here for the second time. It’s terrific stuff! Thank you so much, again, for all your immense work on this Dr Who Review series. Excellent narration, and well researched and written. Your series here is a sparkling gem and should be archived forever as part of the historical records of this wonderful Sci-Fi series.
The early, Mondas Cybermen are still some of the most terrifying monsters the show has put out. They remind me of Klansmen, with their cloth masks and dark, soulless eyes.
I've always felt that the original Cybermen looked that much scarier than the later ones. They were so obviously people in suits which was the whole point, a genius idea considering the budget. They were so creepy. The ones in The Tomb Of The Cybermen do look a little more like The Tin Man from Wizard Of Oz and subsequent appearances have varied. On the subject of Tomb, it was the first 2nd Doctor story that I saw, and I didn't initially take to him. I remember thinking that I wasn't going to enjoy this version of the show as much. By the end of part 1 though, I had started to come around and by the end of the story, any doubts I had were completely gone.
I have the same opinion about the cybermen, the early b&w ones are more chilling. Up until The Invasion (which is still one of the best cyberman stories), when the heads were expanded, they creeped me out (yes, the wider heads made for a less creepy cyberman)
60s Who was a mixture of progressive values and patriarchal throwbacks. There were stories back then quite clearly showing a black hero in an important profession (like astronaut), yet quite often the women are left making the tea for the fellas and waiting to be rescued while screaming at monsters. Saying that, one of my favourite lines from the Troughton era was when a woman is asked the question "What's a nice girl like you doing working here?" "Well, when I was a little girl, I wanted to become a scientist. So I became a scientist." Brilliant!
I love how Patrick Troughton could just casually admit that he was absolutely terrified of having his performances analysed by millions of people. Reportedly, he was "scared stiff" about taking over for William Hartnell and given how openly he confessed the terror of acting onscreen, I suspect that report was genuine. Who wouldn't be terrified out of their wits in his situation? Hartnell had cemented himself as the Doctor in 3 years and this was the very first test of regeneration. If Troughton screwed up, Doctor Who was finished. There were only two other Doctors who were under anywhere near as much pressure as Patrick Troughton. The first was Matt Smith, who was not only the youngest and therefore least experienced actor to play the role but came directly after David Tennant, the only Doctor who rivalled Tom Baker in popularity, AND had no established characters to help ease people through the transition. The second was John Hurt, who was brought in at the last moment during the 50th Anniversary and had only 1 full episode to get the Doctor right whilst all 3 of the most popular Doctors of all time were sharing it with him.
@@redfish3858 Ecclestone was brilliant but he wasn't under as much pressure because Doctor Who's reputation wasn't particularly good at the time. People weren't going into it with high expectations due to the failure of Paul McGann's TV movie. A high bar is much more intimidating and David Tennant and Matt Smith took Doctor Who to heights that haven't been seen since Tom Baker.
@@tomnorton4277 I always say there's a different between "starting importance" and "Long lasting importance", technically the first of any long lasting series will be the most important for getting popular for it, In Doctor who's case this happened twice with William Hartnell and Christopher Eccelston, with Paul McGann possibly also fitting into this category, but sadly that attempt failed. However For long lasting importance though, which is arguably more important than the first, that'd go to Patrick Troughton and Matt Smith for different reasons, Patrick Troughton had the hardest job of being literally the first time The Doctor had ever changed his appearance and personality, had Troughton failed, this series would not be alive. And Matt Smith well, there was A LOT going against him, and somehow he managed it spectacularly.
It wasn't just that he was inheriting someone elses role in a successful series, he was inheriting a role in a show whose ratings were going down the pan. Regeneration was a desperate all-or-nothing gamble that could easily have blown up in everyone's face.
I remember watching the transformation episode in October 1966. It was a national sensation. We were prepared for it by the front cover of the Radio Times. To me at the time it seemed both fantastical and contrived.
@@wahmaster2788 I watched around on Ebay until I found the war games for region 1 (U.S. and Canada) for $99.95. This was the cheapest copy I ever found.
For years my brother would complain that people always hold some of the missing episodes as the best stories ever. He said people only thought that because they couldn’t see them. When Tomb of the Cybermen was found he was proved right. It’s still good, but it was hailed as the best Doctor Who story ever before it was found.
War Games is pretty unique in television - I don't think there really are any other TV dramas that got to push out a 4 hour episode. It allowed for a lot of depth in the story, and imo it wasn't a bloated episode.
The second doctor was the doctor that made me realize the concept of a “favorite doctor” wasn’t for me. Nine is my first doctor, Twelve is the one I hold dearest, but Two might be the one I enjoy the most as a person. Troughton is certainly one of my favorite actor players, especially of the classic era. I feel like more than most his Doctor is very similar to himself.
Nice way of looking at it. I wonder then, if my response is: 5 = first, 7 = dearest, 4 = enjoy the most. Although I absolutely adore Tom Baker and think he’s perfect, love the diversity of the program (before they felt the need to get heavy handed with it) and wear my huge scarf with pride!
@@mikerandall3819 I feel like it’s when parents say they don’t have a favorite kid. Like yeah, they probably do have a “favorite” they do more with, but it’s more about loving different aspects of them. I’m definitely past the “my doctor” or “favorite doctor” phase of my life because they’re all so good
Not talking about Zoe leaves this episode incomplete. She was the first female companion that was in some ways more intelligent than the doctor. Not to mention her great skin tight outfits. ;-)
I finally found someone optimistic and positive in this fandom
Love your job man, keep the great work
Thanks so much! I totally agree about the negativity one comes across frequently online. I think it's easier for some to be endlessly critical- maybe it's more entertaining, I don't know. However, part of my philosophy for this series is to redress that balance a little. I hope you enjoy the rest of the series!
The War Games is my favorite 2nd doctor story.
Life Upgrade I don't know why but for some reason the Moonbase is my favourite second Doctor story rather than the Wargames. It's something about the cybermen walking across the moon..
Capivaramaster 4 ?
So you are a transhumanist then?
"He actually uses a sonic screwdriver to unscrew something."
*Dear God.*
Back before the sonic screwdriver was a tool and not an overpowered magic wand.
I am 62 years old, As a young boy Dr.Who was my escape my joy, i remember, connecting to Dr Who because my father was an alcoholic my mother bless her driving me mad with catholic propaganda./ Patrick Troughton was my Dr. Who and to end this story i am not bitter, just grate ful that some of us know Dr. Who was a product of our dreams our hopes in the 1960,s and a wonderful gift , take care everybody
Troughton seemed like he would have been a nice guy to just sit down and have a conversation with. He seemed very welcoming and kind, like a favorite uncle.
He was quite a quiet and shy man from what I heard. A bit like Freddie Mercury when he wasn't performing.
If you could get 5 minutes between work.
By all accounts the weirdest thing about him was his second family
He sounds so pleaseant to talk with during interviews
@@oswin1234second family? What’s so strange about that?
"If The Doctor had not helped, none of this would have taken place"
That reminds me, if the First Doctor had never gone to Skaro, would the Daleks have ever realized there was life in the universe in which to exterminate? Is The Doctor the true catalyst of the rise of the Daleks, and maybe why he always seems to feel a responsibility in stopping them?
Wow, just wow. Great theory
I mean he seems to keep getting involved with skaro’s past. After going to skaro that first time, he goes back to stop their creation, and then he saves Davros as a child. He just keeps going back farther and ther the older he gets
Nice mention. In Tom Baker's season 14, he seems to cause most of the trouble he encounters. Starting with Masque of Mandragora in which his TARDIS inadvertently transports the malevolent foe, to The Hand of Fear in which he and his companion's presence in "the wrong rock quarry" allows the evil to come back to life. Then on to The Deadly Assassin in which he is accused of being the eponymous culprit. Next it's off to The Face of Evil where he is reviled as an evil god owing to past misadventures. Perhaps Leela's presence alongside him was a welcome good influence indeed.
Perhaps the Tribe of Gum in the first serial were the race that evolved into the Kaleds. By introducing them to fire, the Doctor sent them on their way.
I really love the little speech Doctor gives to Victoria (the one you titled as key moment). As someone who's still pretty young and not very used to loss of family members it really helped me through some harder times in my life.
Classic Who fans have a great debt of gratitude to pay to Troughton. His brilliant interpretation of the Doctor insured it would continue for decades.
The more quiet and philosophical moments of Troughton‘s Doctor are among the best of the whole show. When he breaks the image of the jester and you get to see just a glimpse of the knowledge and wisdom of his character, genius.
It drives me insane that the BBC lost almost every episode of the second Doctor.
Well, 'lost' would be a nice way of putting it! I'm sure they lament it as much now as you though.
Wonderful they recovered The Enemy of the World and all but one episode of The Web of Fear though. Personally I don't care for the DVD releases of other in complete stories from the same era. Nice for some but feel like it's ripping fans off.
C 82 And the last missing episode of the Web of Fear was found, but was apparently stolen, so is probably still out there somewhere.
Troughton was come and gone before my time but he's still the #1 defining Doctor to me when you consider how his portrayal is so different from his predecessor yet so resonant with all the best Doctors after him. Troughton could've followed Tom Baker without it feeling like a downgrade, for example, and all the New Who representations are far closer to Troughton than they are to Pertwee. If Hartnell is the lyrics to the spirit of Doctor Who then Troughton is the music.
The Doctor's speech with Victoria about grief is perhaps my favorite 2nd Doctor moment. It's so tender and such a lovely way to describe living with loss to a young audience. As to the cybermen, while they are generally not my favorite on camera monsters, the concept behind them is one I find particularly horrifying. I find them most effective when they are not an amassing army but rather a small scale, intimate threat. When you watch a body horror flick, you don't need an army of psychos with a sea of victims, you need a football player tied up in the school basement with his eyelids taped open and a bitter janitor with a rusty melon-baller.
Your example of body horror was oddly specific... you're not a janitor by any chance?
These retrospectives actually got me into Doctor Who. And Troughton is my favourite doctor. Thank you!
Patrick Troughton probably had the hardest job of all the actors to portray the Doctor - what with dealing with the regeneration and establishing some connection with the audience after Hartnell's time. It's very sad that most of his stories have been lost. A lot of people(including Peter Davison and Colin Baker) think highly of his portrayal, as the clownlike cosmic hobo with a recorder. It says a lot that he came back later on for three separate appearances(The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors and The Two Doctors). I tend to like the more surreal style episodes of his era. I also thinking the pairing of his Doctor and Jamie is one of the series' best. My favourites are Tomb of the Cybermen and The Mind Robber.
The second doctor's final episode is seriously one of the most touching scenes inn all of Dr. who. Like, it gives "I don't want to go" a run for its money.
I really miss the pure historicals. They were great fun and I´m sad they got rid off them. I find that they do work very well on their own even without sci-fi.
The second doctor and Jamie will forever be my favourite duo
It would be perfect if they had been lovers. The perfect couple!
the Cybermen ... the original Borg ... just shows how innovative this show was in its day, Kirby wires, low budget and all. Wonderful.
What I find scariest about the Mondasian, and why I think they are the creepiest iteration of the Metal Monsters from Mondas, is, in some scenes, you can quite clearly see their eyes behind the dark felts on the mask, something I find incredibly creepy, as it is a constant reminder of their origins.
Another reminder of that is that you can see their bare hands
A personal favourite of this era is the Eight Part Invasion from Season 6. It's strange because when you step back, you notice things about the story like how Tobias Vauhgn is really the main villain, the Cybermrn don't appear until half way through and it's really long, like, they have to split it across two discs length. But when you actually watch it you find you don't even mind. The acting is perfect, it's perfectly paced, the titular invasion doesn't even begin until around Part Six but because the story is so engaging, you don't care. 9/10. Don't worry, it's impossible to achieve a perfect grade.
These reviews are very well written and presented. A lot of childhood memories are being recalled and now I want to watch every episode that's available
Thanks! Glad to know my videos are bringing back fond memories!
7:39 Jamie laughing at The Doctor frolicking in the shallows is my favourite Jamie moment. 🥰
Watching Patrick Troughton he was a wonderful Doctor, giving the impression of being both very kind and intelligent..Tomb Of The Cybermen is an excellent pastiche of The Hammer Mummy films with the Cybermen at their most iconic. A well researched documentary that explains elequently this fundamental era of Doctor when so much of the mythology of the programme was created
The Highlanders is the last purely historical (meaning no aliens or non-human villains) episode of Doctor Who until the 5th Doctor story Black Orchid (but even that one relies on using the Tardis to prove to the people that they are from the future).
You omitted Two's biggest contribution to Whovianism:
RUN!!!
Mr. Carrier, I must offer you my compliments on the depth of research and passion on display in this series of retrospectives. I feel like I've learned or better understood something about every era of one of the greatest heroes of science fiction in general and British sci-fi in particular. And that goes for every entry in this series.
I'll admit, I hope one day you tackle the New Adventure novels and Big Finish Who in even greater detail than you already have. I feel like they're both so expansive, so varied, so complex that they could take up a series of videos by themselves.
I must ask in regards to this video in particular, where did you find the music selections? There are some tracks I'd like to cherry pick but are hard to find.
Thanks so much for your kind words! Glad you're enjoying the series!
Regarding the NAs and Big Finish - you're absolutely right; there's so much to cover that they do deserve greater coverage, although the lack of visuals make constructing a video a bit more challenging. One day, I do hope to do them justice more comprehensively.
With the music, I'm fortunate to have gathered a wide selection of classic and modern Who soundtracks over the years from which I select tracks for the respective eras. One of the best in this regard is the 50th Anniversary Collection (the extended multi-disk box set). It's pretty hard to get a hold of but you can find many of the tracks on TH-cam. Quite a few of the DVDs have isolated soundtracks also, from which I have sampled songs. If there are any particular track names you're looking for, feel free to comment with a timecode and I'll let you know the title!
Thanks again for your lovely feedback!
When I see a comment saying something like, “Doctor Who used to be good” or some such rubbish, I never take it seriously as it did exist even in Troughton’s run. Proves that people will never accept change in a show that is built upon the idea.
When people say, “I used to love Doctor Who”, what they usually mean is: “I only have seen Tennant’s run and will not accept anything different.” Those people have probably have never seen a classic episode.
I have watched every episode of classic who, buy big Finnish audios, the figures, the lot and it has become utterly awful since Moffat took over. I stopped watching from series 7 and not had any intention of watching the new series, especially after they have now got a woman doctors, its ruined the show beyond saving
RIP doctor who 1963-2010
It Hurts When I Pee An argument built upon assumptions.
Davros was both over the top and wonderfully subtle. He would often build to that Dalekian shriek, but would start with a cunning, quiet rumble. Arguably the best performance of all the Doctor's villains.
Couldn't agree more! It's a shame Michael Wisher wasn't available for 'Destiny of the Daleks'.
The power of the daleks was the most important story in all of dr who, six weeks of that story and if people didn’t like it then it would have destroyed the show but thankfully it was one of the greatest stories ever making everyone manage to accept and be happy of the change
I agree; it's probably my favourite regeneration story!
That's it. I'm gonna go find and catch up on all this classic Who I've been missing out on.
This entire series of videos is utterly amazing. in depth, sympathetic to the cast/crew, objective yet adding some personal flourishes for flavor. This is high quality work my man! Been watching the whole series bit by bit.
Thanks so much! Hope you enjoy the rest of the series!
I started watching classic who on amazon prime about a month ago, and even tho a large amount of his stories are missing, Troughton is my favorite doctor so far. Going into season 4 I had no prior knowledge of him other than just being the doctor with a recorder. But the first story established his personality very well and it quickly grew on me. "The Enemy Of The World" solidified him for me and the story overall won me over and hes been my favorite since.
I have watched your series so many times(to the point I am now rewatching classic who again currently on the troughton era) That I wish someone could do the same with star trek one day. The amount of information about the series I have learned is astounding and they are also so fun to watch every time.
Well, I am also a fan of Star Trek so you never know!
@@cleverdickfilms DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!
Give me a Cyberman, a base, and Troughton and Jamie, put a cup of tea on and boom my day is sorted.
While the Cybermen's initial appearance is the most creepy, it makes sense for their appearance to constantly be changing. It's in their very nature to be constantly, for lack of a better word, upgrading. Haha
Also, Capaldi liked their original form so much, he had to have been thrilled for his final season finale to feature them.
Yes, my friend got to work on the costumes for the Mondasian cybermen featured in Capaldi's episodes. I'm not envious.... at all!
Patrick Troughton will always be very special to me although I never watched his Doctor Who era. He played Cole Hawlings in the 1984 BBC show The Box of Delights, a ancient pagan magician of sorts who travels with a Punch and Judy show, his dog and possesses the Box of Delights. As soon as I knew Troughton had played the Doctor, I immediately loved the idea that Hawlings was an older version of him :)
the cybermen are the scariest monster to me, and the fact that they change so much each era just makes them more fascinating to me. i'd love a full deep dive on them, especially as i'm not very familiar with classic who. they were supremely creepy in season 10, but i dislike what was done to bill so much that it's hard for me to fully appreciate it. i'm glad capaldi got his wish though.
"Oh, You've Redecorated! I Don't Like It."
-Patrick Troughton
-David Tennant
-Matt Smith
Edit: 9:36
It Says Moffat Ruined Doctor Who, But Guess Who's Coming There Way!
If you watch interviews with the remaining classic Doctors including Tom Baker they all hold Patrick Troughton as the bench mark.
Been steadily making my way through the classic series have since finished the P.T. era and Currently on the Baker era, he is so far my top Doctor of the classic Doctors
The War Chief was a character I always thought deserved a reappearance. Sure he was shot down by the War Lord's troops, but he could have regenerated.
Terrific job my man! Patrick Troughton will always be my doctor :)
Thanks Finlay! Part 4 is coming soon!
He is my favourite doctor. I love his warmth, charisma and humour.
Interesting fact: Producer Innes Lloyd was born in the North Wales coastal town of Penmaenmawr, where I presently live.
Keep up the good work,sir. I’ve very much enjoyed this series so far. I look forward to going through the rest!
Excellent footage here.
Great work.
Troughton is the first Doctor I recall as a kid, that scary theme music, but my favourite was Jon Pertwee.
So the timelords basically sentenced the doctor to death and exiled him by court order!
Well, I've always speculated that a culture so advanced would not cause him to regenerate (ie. using his own limited number of regenerations), but would rather use their own resources to cause him to regenerate. Of course, this would have meant that Matt Smith would NOT have been the last Doctor, Capaldi would... and that could have led into a better conclusion (and a better transition to a female Doctor, if that's what they wanted).
My thinking was this: The Doctor is at the end of his life. He's done something on his last adventure that is going to kill him, but he has a little time before the end. So, he goes around and visits old companions, old places that had meaning to him, before retiring to the Eye of Orion (or some other beautiful place) to die peacefully. But then... the Master appears. The Doctor rises up, declaring he still has enough strength to stop the Master one last time, but the Master demurrs, telling the Doctor he's only there to watch the Doctor die... because once the Doctor is gone, nothing and no one will stand in his way. The universe will belong to the MASTER.
Horrified, the Doctor realizes he can't let himself die, and he spends the next arc struggling to stay alive as his body decays, searching for a way to get another regeneration, even as the Master himself had done.
And this was the Master's real reason for going there... to push the Doctor to become just like the Master. To force the Doctor to do anything to survive, even the unthinkable, to take an innocent life, as the Master had consumed Consul Tremas.
The Doctor travels around desperately, and takes aboard a new companion to help him, while the Master trails along to taunt him. Every effort fails, and the Doctor decays until he has nothing left, he simply can't hold on any longer. His companion pleads with him not to die. The Doctor says, "It's not up to me anymore." His companion sets her jaw and says, "You're right," and she begins the process to allow the Doctor to transfer his consciousness to her body, and hers to his.
Now restored and alive in her body, he cradles her in his arms as she dies, and the Master departs reminding the Doctor he still has no more regenerations, that he's bought perhaps 50 years at best. The Doctor (now a woman) goes on in his new body in search of more regenerations.
This story would have seen the Doctor pushed to do more and more terrible things, becoming darker and darker... but getting nowhere as his body decays. Capaldi would have been brilliant in this role.
Coming here straight from finishing The War Games, very glad you gave it the credit it deserves. I'll now be off to rewatch the pertwee years and I'll see you on that review
Hope you enjoy!
War Games and Tomb of the Cyberman are the two second dr must see shows for me.
The Dominators is also quite good
Herohammer Studios cool thanks for the heads up on that title
Dude! Thanks for making these! They're awsome to watch!!
Thanks Chris, you're very welcome!
Marvelous! Pat Troughton forever! Tomb of the Cybermen is also one of my favorites.
Thanks! It's a good one, isn't it?
These are such a treat. I used to watch dr who after school with tom Baker I still love it
Patrick Troughton is my four favourite doctor who and love every story from the second Doctors era
Excellent docco! Looking forward to the rest of the series.
Thanks, Matt! The next one will b coming sooner I hope!
This is so amazing!!!! Great work, love it :)
Thanks so much!
Your videos are so great, you should def do The Doctor 10-12 era
Have no fear, I’m working on the Tennant era as we speak!
Clever Dick Films 🙌🙌
I’m currently in Patrick troughtan era and I’m loving it so far, tho I’ll miss that grumpy old man
patrick appeared in disneys live action version of treasure island as one of silvers crew, he gets shot inside the fort on the island
I always loved the bureaucratic timelord stories.
They have their moments, I agree! They do somewhat take the majesty promised by 'The War Games' away though!
Yes I would agree. They should have at least one more story where they showed them as majestic as they did in the 'The War Games.' Maybe once they gave them that over the top regalia they wrote themselves in box so to speak.
Yeah, I agree. Such an awesome power cannot really been done justice on the screen, no matter the budget.
I respect the story of The War Games. But god damn, that was 10 episodes I had to sit through! That's 25 minutes x 10 episodes = 4 hours 10 minutes! I have watched through almost the entire show up to present, only skipping some early serials with many missing episodes. (I've watched the ones that have since been animated, and look forward to more being animated, as the chances of discovery have diminished.) And that single serial still sticks out to me for its lengthiness.
I wish they could have fit a separate 4-episode serial in and made The War Games 6 episodes. That extra 100 minutes made the serial drag for me. I suppose the response would be it was too difficult to fit in a different story due to time constraints, but that they still had to commit to completing 10 episodes. Times have very much changed since.
Apparently they were planning two different stories to close off the season, but both fell through at the last minute so Terrence Dicks had to quickly write up The War Games to fill the remaining ten parts, two and a half months worth of episodes.
Even though as is typical for the longer shows that run 6 parts in that you have lots of getting captured & escaping over and over for some reason War Games is a more enjoyable sit for me for than nearly all of the 6-parters. It never feels like it's dragging and the time just flies by (I mean, when you have 2-hour-plus Marvel movies 4 hours of Who ain't bad). Most of the enjoyment comes from the actors, which keeps most of classic Who still enjoyable for me even now.
@@christophertheriault3308 Gotta say I agree. I think despite the repetitiveness that can appear, it just flies up quicker than even some four-parters, probably because the writing and plot is so good.
“He brought out a sonic screwdriver-“
Me: what’s so special about tha-
“To actually unscrew something”
Me: this is groundbreaking
Would be 100 today.
May he rest in Peace, was a True loss, he was amazing in almost every thing he did
2nd: “Hm! I see you’ve been doing the TARDIS up a bit. I don’t like it.”
11th: “Oh you’ve redecorated! I don’t like it.”
10th: “Oh, you’ve redecorated... I don’t like it.”
Runs in the dialect
And the doctor having a go at his own fashion tastes has become a staple
"Oh yeah, oh you never do!"
It is almost criminal that hardly any Patrick Troughton stories exist in full. Despite that, his portrayal was convincing and powerful enough to warrant continuing the series and meaning that a change of lead actor wouldn't mean the end of the programme.
He is also my second favourite Doctor next to Tom Baker.
I remember reading somewhere that Fraser and Troughton slipped as many gay innuendos as they could into their character interactions to troll and spite the BBC. What a duo lmao
Without William hartnell the show wouldn't have been a success but without Patrick Troughton the show might not have continued
William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton aren't necessarily the best Doctors (I'd put them high on the list but not at the very top of it) but they're definitely the most important. Without Hartnell, Doctor Who wouldn't even have gotten off the ground and without Troughton, it would have ended when Hartnell left.
@@tomnorton4277 Yeah that's what I meant, William Hartnell Patrick Troughton and Christopher Eccleston had a lot more pressure put on them to prove that the show could still be a success. Without them it might have failed
Yeah
The Sonic Screwdriver was introduced in Fury of the Deep. Interestingly Patrick lost the actual prop and they decided to use one of the lifevest whistles instead. Of course, that episode is lost
That first regeneration was really well done - better than some of the later ones.
ahem colin baker
What was that nonsense about 'the watcher' all about?
It took a while to do that, too.
So much respect for the portrayal of Time Lords as powerful, mysterious beings of an other worldly existence. They really seem to imply that the Doctor is a below average Time Lord, gallivanting around and being smart next to other humans but being somewhat of a weirdo to his own people.
I started on the Tenth Doctor's run and that was my perception and respect for the Time Lords grew as I slowly learned more and more about the Time War. It provided an excellent example of power escalation as the Doctor's threats became greater and greater. First I learned about the Daleks and how big of a threat they were. The Doctor kept fighting them and they kept getting stronger. But then we saw the Master, the first Time Lord besides the Doctor and he was such a huge threat! It was like he was both a dark reflection of the Doctor as well as a shadow of what a Time Lord could be.
Finally, in the Tenth Doctor's last arc we saw the true power of the Time Lords. They had become a people so corrupted by war they were as bad as the Daleks! The Daleks were brutal enough and now you're showing me the guys they couldn't defeat? It was awesome and horrifying, especially when we saw both the Doctor and the Master as mere pawns compared to the full might of the Time Lords!
Now I had an understanding of both sides of the war and I also thought I understood the mechanisms of the Time War itself. I thought Time War as a war in which time itself was a weapon. The war would have had Daleks and Time Lords constantly fighting all over the fabric of Time, rewriting history and then racing the other to re-rewrite history or stop history from being re-rewritten! It would have been an unimaginable battle of paradox, time loops, and time travel. It would have been such an insane war the was beyond human comprehension, a war taking place in the past, present and future simultaneously!
Then we got Day of Doctor. Now I love Day of the Doctor but I'm not going to pretend that it didn't diminished both the Time War and the Time Lords. The previously incomprehensible and accordingly impossible to show Time War was finally shown and it was... an ordinary war fought with laser guns. Seriously? All this build up and it's a normal war with lasers? That's it? The Time Lords are relegated to normal foot-soilders and generals who plan the war in conference rooms while the Daleks also had soldiers and spaceships that shoot lasers. That's pretty standard when it comes sci-fi and it has nothing to do with time at all!
And this special also makes the Doctor seem way more powerful in comparison to the Time Lords. He's always been treated as being smarter than Earthlings but now he's even smarter than his own people! He's basically the smartest man in the universe! Before it seemed like the Doctor was a belt average time lord and fate of ending the Time War was thrust upon him. Now is seems like he's an unstoppable force, a man who is so far and above the Time War but that doesn't make sense! The Time War nearly had a huge impact on him! It was the war he, the Doctor could not solve and was accordingly pulled into as just another ordinary solider. That level of humanity and normality makes the Doctor interesting and makes his relationship with his own people very unique!
And this problem gets even worse with some of Peter Capaldi's episode. The Time Lords are for the most part treated as ordinary guys with an ordinary alien civilization and ordinary laser guns. The prison they devised for the Doctor was absolutely cool but it was definitely overshadowed by all the mediocrity that followed in the next episode. All in all, it's a pretty ordinary disappointment and ordinary is never how you want the Time Lords to be described. I really do think Time Lords and the Doctor both deserved better.
This is a very good point.
I love the fact you include the public responses to these. It shows that the saying " (insert name here) ruined Doctor Who" is just as old as the show itself.
Yes, that's something I've noticed, too. I remember it happening when Peter Davison took over from Tom Baker (my own personal introduction to the character, though I've gone on see most of the original series as well as the reboot). Personally, I feel that each actor has brought something quite valuable to the role, and while I have my favorites, I think it would have been sadly diminished if any had NOT played the Doctor. As for Jodie Whittaker... she (like Capaldi) very quickly won me over, and in fact I think that, in time, quite a few of the stories featuring each of these will come to be regarded as superb examples of the show. Someone else here asked what the OP thought of the new origin story. I had heard a lot of negative reactions before I had a chance to see the latter part of the latest season, and was unsure how I'd feel. In the end, I think it is a brilliant, albeit challenging, move. It IS a game-changer, and shakes things up tremendously... and I see that as a good thing. The show has always had a tendency to do this, and I think that aids in its vitality. I also like the way they took various anomalies from throughout the show's history, and wove them into the pattern in a way which allows them to make sense (e.g., the Toymaker as one of the Eternals; the deadly game between Morbius and the Doctor, where we see what seem to be numerous earlier regenerations of each, etc.). I've been quite favorably impressed; and I say that as one who has seen (or, where the video is lost, heard) all of Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, and the majority of Colin Baker (one story to go) and Sylvester McCoy (about 3 left). As someone who loved the "classic" series, I was more than dubious about the reboot, but (with a wobble here and there), I think they've done a wonderful job, and I look forward to seeing what lies ahead.
It would’ve been a lot worse back then though, they’ve only ever known William Hartnell whole today we’ve been spoiled with 13 different incarnations and we are used to it. Imagine if a show you enjoyed today pulled something like regeneration and the character basically became a new person
The regeneration of a Doctor Who fan:
*Part 1* I hate this new guy.
*Part 2* I think he's growing on me.
*Part 3* YEAH! This is my fave!
*Part 4* Wait? Are you regenerating!
*Part 5* WAIT! DON'T GO!
*Part 6* Repeat.
@@MatthewsStopMotions well she's not a guy.
Lol! I'm liking all 3 of these comments; I don't care what people think! :)
As a Person of Colour myself I don't get wound up/offended when watching old media. It's the past, they were different. You have to watch it with that lens or everything will annoy you in old media :).
*bangs desk* THANK YOU!
I love the way you think :) It's quite logical
@@noahsark4528 Thank you :)
Ye
It's only "offensive" to white guilt infested idiots who think that they can speak for minorities and out of touch celebrities, as well as their cults of personality
21:02
Don’t forget on a 60s television that wire would’ve been near invisible. One of the downsides of TVs these days picking up every detail.
Man the BBC should be paying you for this content, it’s top notch
Thank you so much!
I concur. First rate job.
Having watched both Tomb of the Cybermen and The War Games for the first time tonight, i can definitely say I was quite impressed, especially by The War Games, whose unwinding mystery is so compelling that you can get through those ten episodes without getting bored. And yeah, you're totally right, the Time Lords have never been as enigmatically engaging as they are in their short, subdued appearance here.
I agree. I've often felt that most of the mystique and legend of the Time Lords comes from the fact that the Doctor, with all of his great accomplishments, is a member of their species, and they can automatically treat him/her as their equal (or even look down upon him/her) and it can make sense despite his achievements. It's hard to feature them in a major capacity without (a) making the Doctor appear mediocre in comparison to the rest of the Time Lords (good luck doing that to the protagonist) or (b) losing a lot of that mystique of the Time Lords.
I think the whole "Trial of a Time Lord" was about as good as it could have been done from that perspective (although it also made them look completely corrupt). By having it be a high-stakes encounter for the Doctor but not for the Time Lords, their power and command over the Doctor came through, while the Doctor was able to emerge victorious without having seriously damaged the Time Lords (keeping their mystique by avoiding a complete loss).
There’s something more complex about Patrick Troughton’s performance than other actors who played the role of the Doctor. I can’t really pinpoint what it is, but he knows more than he lets most people around him know.
He's one of the greats, I agree!
Capaldi being a fan of the Mondasian cybermen is cool in retrospect
It *is,* and the fact that Steven Moffat respects it and even bring them up in Season 10 finale makes it all the better!
I'm only young still and Troughton was my favourite era.
Such a fantastic time for the show!
i honestly wonder what they called "The Second Doctor" at the time. "The New Doctor"?
William hartnell will always be creditited as the first doctor. But if I'm honest I think Patrick Troughton was the most important incarnation due to what could very well of happened if he didn't knock it out of the park. None of what we have today would be here.
Totally agree. I've always said that. William Hartnell was obviously excellent or the series would never have been a success but Patrick Troughton had the hardest job because he was the first change in actor and had to convince the audience that regeneration worked at a time when we had never heard of it.
That's such a cliche.
Jamie ties it with Donna Noble and Leela for my second favorite companion (most favorite being Sarah). I loved how fiercely loyal and protective he was of the Doctor. His humorous and sardonic chemistry with Troughton was almost magical. It also didn't hurt that he was absolutely adorable to this fan.
Troughton is arguably the most influential Doctor; the genius playing the fool.
Aged 56 I can just about remember Patrick Troughton as my first doctor , but it wasn’t until Jon Pertwee that I really can remember watching it and understanding what was going on.
The “drop hands” of the The Autons crashing through the shop windows was my forever memory as well as the Ice Warriors.
I think I tailed off watching it mid way through Tom Baker era , never really to return to it being a regular watch , but this series that you’ve put together has been brilliant watch
Thanks so much! I’m glad that I could bring some happy memories!
This is a really fantastic series, I can't thank you enough for putting these videos together.
I have a great respect for Patrick Troughton, as do many Classic Who fans. I still remember the day I heard of his passing in 1987 (at a US fan convention, no less) and felt very sorry for the loss. That loss was compounded by the fact that, at the time, so few of his Dr. Who episodes were available, the lion's share having been destroyed by the BBC. Thankfully, we had the Target paperbacks to read, which is really where my love of the series is rooted, but it's never quite the same thing. Today, we have found a few more episodes, and Tomb of the Cybermen is a miraculous find (I loved the book). The use of recorded audio, still photos and animation to reconstruct these serials is a wonderful innovation, and I hope all fans appreciate the hard work and dedication required to make such things happen.
Of the Troughton serials, I enjoyed the Cybermen adventures, particularly Tomb and Wheel in Space. The Mind Robber had a brilliant inventiveness that almost broke through the fourth wall, making you question the reality of the program itself. And The War Games was a brilliant epic. It doesn't work nearly as well in the "US format" (episodes crammed together into a long movie format, instead of 20-minute episodes), but the paperback edition works very well. I would certainly agree that the mystery surrounding the Time Lords works best here, and their power becomes is dramatically reduced over time as details and histories are revealed. By the end of the classic series run, the Time Lords are just another weak parody of British politics, stripped of their mystical powers and little more than dull snobs.
I do wish Troughton had stayed on a little longer, or that we at least found more lost episodes. His personality just shines and his approach to Dr. Who is as close to iconic as one can get. He's the one that all the other actors used as inspiration, and there's good reason for that. If I were in charge of the program, I would have crammed him into as many cameo episodes as humanly possible.
Like a lot of fans in UK, I am currently enjoying most of the catalogue on BBC iPlayer. Haven’t seen most of the pre-Tom Baker era. What a treasure trove!
The black-and-white episodes have an epic quality. Really comes out on a 50" screen.
Troughton's Doctor was much more the eccentric time traveller that he would continue to be in the show. A classic character who took the role and made it his own. A perfect casting choice. Wish more episodes of his existed though.
In hindsight, Troughton is probably the most influential of all the Doctors.
I don't understand why you don't have 10 times the number of views. These films are excellent quality, extremely informative and fascinating. I'm thoroughly enjoying this series - and this is the first comment I've ever left on TH-cam!
Thank you so much! I'm honoured! Part 8 is coming very soon. Hope you enjoy!
Classic Doctor Who isn't a very popular topic. I don't mean that as a pejorative, but as matter of fact. It's simply too obscure to gain any sort of large traction.
Interesting that Peter Capaldi was vocal about being a fan of the original design and then they turn Bill into an original cyberman
It's just so weird how different Patrick looks when he's not in costume
Richard, I am watching your series here for the second time. It’s terrific stuff! Thank you so much, again, for all your immense work on this Dr Who Review series. Excellent narration, and well researched and written. Your series here is a sparkling gem and should be archived forever as part of the historical records of this wonderful Sci-Fi series.
The early, Mondas Cybermen are still some of the most terrifying monsters the show has put out. They remind me of Klansmen, with their cloth masks and dark, soulless eyes.
I've always felt that the original Cybermen looked that much scarier than the later ones. They were so obviously people in suits which was the whole point, a genius idea considering the budget. They were so creepy. The ones in The Tomb Of The Cybermen do look a little more like The Tin Man from Wizard Of Oz and subsequent appearances have varied. On the subject of Tomb, it was the first 2nd Doctor story that I saw, and I didn't initially take to him. I remember thinking that I wasn't going to enjoy this version of the show as much. By the end of part 1 though, I had started to come around and by the end of the story, any doubts I had were completely gone.
I have the same opinion about the cybermen, the early b&w ones are more chilling. Up until The Invasion (which is still one of the best cyberman stories), when the heads were expanded, they creeped me out (yes, the wider heads made for a less creepy cyberman)
I think the creepiest Cybermen (and most true to their best qualities) are the Tenth Planet ones, but the ‘80s ones are great villains.
60s Who was a mixture of progressive values and patriarchal throwbacks. There were stories back then quite clearly showing a black hero in an important profession (like astronaut), yet quite often the women are left making the tea for the fellas and waiting to be rescued while screaming at monsters.
Saying that, one of my favourite lines from the Troughton era was when a woman is asked the question "What's a nice girl like you doing working here?"
"Well, when I was a little girl, I wanted to become a scientist. So I became a scientist."
Brilliant!
I love how Patrick Troughton could just casually admit that he was absolutely terrified of having his performances analysed by millions of people. Reportedly, he was "scared stiff" about taking over for William Hartnell and given how openly he confessed the terror of acting onscreen, I suspect that report was genuine. Who wouldn't be terrified out of their wits in his situation? Hartnell had cemented himself as the Doctor in 3 years and this was the very first test of regeneration. If Troughton screwed up, Doctor Who was finished.
There were only two other Doctors who were under anywhere near as much pressure as Patrick Troughton. The first was Matt Smith, who was not only the youngest and therefore least experienced actor to play the role but came directly after David Tennant, the only Doctor who rivalled Tom Baker in popularity, AND had no established characters to help ease people through the transition. The second was John Hurt, who was brought in at the last moment during the 50th Anniversary and had only 1 full episode to get the Doctor right whilst all 3 of the most popular Doctors of all time were sharing it with him.
I'd argue Christopher Eccleston, being the first of NuWho
@@redfish3858 Ecclestone was brilliant but he wasn't under as much pressure because Doctor Who's reputation wasn't particularly good at the time. People weren't going into it with high expectations due to the failure of Paul McGann's TV movie. A high bar is much more intimidating and David Tennant and Matt Smith took Doctor Who to heights that haven't been seen since Tom Baker.
@@tomnorton4277 I always say there's a different between "starting importance" and "Long lasting importance", technically the first of any long lasting series will be the most important for getting popular for it, In Doctor who's case this happened twice with William Hartnell and Christopher Eccelston, with Paul McGann possibly also fitting into this category, but sadly that attempt failed.
However For long lasting importance though, which is arguably more important than the first, that'd go to Patrick Troughton and Matt Smith for different reasons, Patrick Troughton had the hardest job of being literally the first time The Doctor had ever changed his appearance and personality, had Troughton failed, this series would not be alive. And Matt Smith well, there was A LOT going against him, and somehow he managed it spectacularly.
It wasn't just that he was inheriting someone elses role in a successful series, he was inheriting a role in a show whose ratings were going down the pan. Regeneration was a desperate all-or-nothing gamble that could easily have blown up in everyone's face.
I remember watching the transformation episode in October 1966. It was a national sensation. We were prepared for it by the front cover of the Radio Times. To me at the time it seemed both fantastical and contrived.
I just finished the second doctor era, The War Games is definitely my favourite story from the sixties
How did you watch it?
@@wahmaster2788 the dvds are only about 3-5 quid each if you buy them second hand
Well I assume they are easy to find in the UK. In canada it's another story. Well thanks for trying to help
@@wahmaster2788 amazon
@@wahmaster2788 I watched around on Ebay until I found the war games for region 1 (U.S. and Canada) for $99.95. This was the cheapest copy I ever found.
For years my brother would complain that people always hold some of the missing episodes as the best stories ever. He said people only thought that because they couldn’t see them. When Tomb of the Cybermen was found he was proved right. It’s still good, but it was hailed as the best Doctor Who story ever before it was found.
War Games is pretty unique in television - I don't think there really are any other TV dramas that got to push out a 4 hour episode. It allowed for a lot of depth in the story, and imo it wasn't a bloated episode.
I FORGOT ABOUT DALEK MASTER PLAN BEING LONGER!
The second doctor was the doctor that made me realize the concept of a “favorite doctor” wasn’t for me. Nine is my first doctor, Twelve is the one I hold dearest, but Two might be the one I enjoy the most as a person. Troughton is certainly one of my favorite actor players, especially of the classic era. I feel like more than most his Doctor is very similar to himself.
12's the one I hold dearest too. I love cranky characters who are more kind than they first appear.
Nice way of looking at it. I wonder then, if my response is: 5 = first, 7 = dearest, 4 = enjoy the most. Although I absolutely adore Tom Baker and think he’s perfect, love the diversity of the program (before they felt the need to get heavy handed with it) and wear my huge scarf with pride!
@@mikerandall3819 I feel like it’s when parents say they don’t have a favorite kid. Like yeah, they probably do have a “favorite” they do more with, but it’s more about loving different aspects of them. I’m definitely past the “my doctor” or “favorite doctor” phase of my life because they’re all so good
Always thought Philip Madoc in The War Games was scarily a dead-ringer for Steven Jobs...
i whish we had another companion from the past, like 1600's or something like that
Not talking about Zoe leaves this episode incomplete. She was the first female companion that was in some ways more intelligent than the doctor. Not to mention her great skin tight outfits. ;-)