Doctor Who: The Big Review (The Patrick Troughton Era)

Doctor Who: The Big Review

Patrick Troughton Era (1966 - 1969)

A more comical character with bundles of charm and a rather weird love for wind instruments... The Second Doctor fought off Cybermen like there was no tomorrow, met fairy-tale creatures and some rather odd-looking monsters like the Krotons, but his tenure came to an end with his own race... The Time Lords. Throughout this post I'll explore the viewing figures, the overall ranking of his era, my personal favourite stories and some likes and dislikes. As it is for @Ratings_UK, there'll be plenty of facts and stats throughout. 

First of all, let's look at the ratings. Patrick Troughton had a rather consistent audience for his three-season tenure, although the occasional episode slipped, it didn't quite have the range of some other Doctors. 

Each season intercepted each other most of the time, the largest differences being the downward spiral of season six where it hit just under 5 million. However, for the most part each serial had between six and eight million, a pretty sturdy audience to keep the show running. Now, what could be the reason for these figures. Well, I do think Troughton's serials were all fairly similar in length and fairly alike in story, so it managed to keep its audience quite well. By that I mean, no killer ants and such, although the Macra were close enough. However, when longer stories took hold, like 'The War Games,' ratings dwindled. Keeping the attention of your target audience is not always going to be easy, especially during warmer months of the year which 'The War Games' entered. 

Beyond that though, there really isn't too much to say. Troughton's era was wonderfully consistent, which is what you want for the show. He left just as ratings hit low meaning the show could be refreshed and when it came back in colour, refreshed is definitely one way to describe it! Anyway, the highest figure came from Season 4, Serial 6 with an audience of 8.33 million. his story was 'The Moonbase' and saw the return of the Cybermen. The Cybermen were last seen in Hartnell's last story where he met his demise. A coincidence that the most watched story was the one they returned in. Maybe? I would like to think, however, that since these creatures last came about in Hartnell's last story, to see them returning so soon gave them Dalek vibes. They would be one to watch. And that was the truth. In today's climate, a figure like this would likely place it in the top few positions for a week so a teatime show getting these ratings is impressive! Where there's highs, there's also lows. As aforementioned, Doctor Who hit its lowest figures for Troughton's last story, The War Games. The serial had an average viewership of 4.94 million. This is very similar to Hartnell's low of 4.48. It happens. All I can think of is that this story was a lot longer, aired in warmer months, and likely had a premise for more mature audiences. Audience stagnation will always happen, it's lucky Doctor Who can come to outlive that, but it does show a sign that it's time to change on some occasion. Maybe that was just this. It would also further solidify Troughton's want to leave the show by the end of his third season. 

The appreciation index for Troughton's stories were very consistent however, growing throughout season 4 and remaining in the 50's for the rest of his tenure. This is the sort of high you want to go out on. No matter the ratings, as long as the appreciation is good!

Moving on, let's discuss some of the things I liked and didn't like about Troughton's era. When I say 'didn't like' it doesn't actually mean that. It's Doctor Who, there's nothing I truly hate because I love the show so much. It's more just a want or something I'd have liked to have seen. First of all, one thing I loved was the cast. Jamie McCrimmon is not only fun to watch but seemed like a genuine best friend to The Doctor, not just someone to show around. I did really enjoy the companions. I normally do to be fair. I don't really think too much of them. Victoria was great, and Zoe was really fun to watch. I do forget about Ben and Polly and wish more was done for them, but I still liked what we got. Of course, that brings us to Troughton. He was lovely! I do wish there was more development for him and more range. He did seem to constantly be doing that shouting/high-pitched panic voice and that's it. It would've been nice to see him be funnier and stranger whilst sinister. Negativity aside, I still liked him. I don't think I'd ever hate a Doctor. After all, every Doctor will follow the same premise and ideals, so the character never technically changes. Well, it does, but the premise of the character remains the same. Hopefully, that makes sense. He was a lot of fun and it almost felt too soon when his tenure came to an end, almost as if there was more to give. A pity. 

What else was a particular standout for me? I fear repeating myself as this is something I mentioned in my thoughts for Hartnell, but it has to be the cliff-hangers. Now, they weren't perfect in every story, but for some, they hit hard! 'The Krotons' Now, the episode itself may not have been perfect but each part ended with a shock and that's what we like to see. Classic Who was done in parts, without cliff-hangers, what's gonna keep the viewer watching next week? They're so much fun to write so they will definitely be fun to watch!

When it comes to improving the show, I don't think there's much to add. I maybe occasionally would've liked shorter stories, or more music to heighten scenes, but it isn't necessarily something that I crave of this era. It was solid and enjoyable which is what matters. I do feel the pacing was worked on, but there could be improvements with that too. Watching five episodes of a serial to build up to a climax and resolution in the last episode isn't exactly perfection. However, thinking back, I don't remember it being too much of a concern for Troughton's stories, so it must've been better. I do believe there was a lot of hype for some of Troughton's stories, some that just didn't live up to the expectation. That can't be improved, but it did happen often. 

Before I move on, I do want to specify how much I absolutely adored Jamie and Zoe. Their departure was truly devastating for me. When it comes to goodbye's in Doctor Who, I don't handle them well. Their goodbye was just so sad, knowing I won't see them again is really quite emotional. I sign this section off to a really fantastic pair of companions! 

Top 5 Troughton Stories

5. Let's start in fifth. I feel the top five for me was quite an easy one, so on this occasion we're going to jump right in without any special mentions. In at number five is the first of three Season 6 stories The Krotons. I loved this story. I'm not even sure it was necessarily the episode themselves I enjoyed or the brilliant cliff-hangers that really pulled in the excitement factor. The Krotons were a tad silly to look at, but their sculpt was still fun and different. I don't have much to say on this one other than that I enjoyed it!

4. Another season 6 episode takes its place in my top five, it's The Seeds of Death. So, the Ice Warriors are plotting to invade the Earth and kill of humankind. After their first story failed to wow me, I had lower expectations for this one. However, I was pleasantly surprised. If we put aside the flimsy sets and the rather irritating constant laboured breathing from the Ice Warriors, we get quite a good story and a rather interesting performance from the main cast. 

3. Now we get to the bronze medal position, and this goes to the only Season 4 story in the list, The Macra Terror. I don't know whether this is because I watched the animated version or whether it was just a really good story, but I did enjoy it quite a lot. I found the Macra to be used just enough that they remained frightening and I particularly loved the tension as Ben fell under the control of them. I always enjoy seeing tension of upset within the TARDIS team, so that was a nice addition. Infuriating to watch, but that just adds to the experience. 

2. In second place, taking the silver medal is the third entry from Season 6, The War Games. It is very rare I thoroughly enjoy long stories, especially ones that hit eight parts. However, this was rather special. I especially loved Zoe in this story. Her genuine flinches and such from Padbury added a great realism to the war zone story. It did feel a tad padded for a few of the stories, but the first few and that devastating ending was really quite special. Season 6 marks the first time I properly cried in Classic Who.

1. Despite some brilliant stories, Season 5's first story, The Tomb of the Cybermen, is in gold medal position. What an amazing story. The Cybermen were genuinely brilliant and the music in this story added a nice gravitas to the visuals. I really enjoyed seeing a more hard-headed female companion in the form of Victoria, also. Honestly, this was just a really fantastic piece of television which is why it's the only story so far to gain an A+ rating. 

Overall, the Troughton era was a mixed bag with a rather large variation in grades from highs of the A+ score to D's. It really did do a lot. Below is a full chart of my rankings. 

As you can see, the B- holds a red line since this is what I'd call the average level. Twelve of seventeen stories achieved this grade or above. This works out at around 70% of the episodes achieving a B- or above. This is slightly weaker than the Hartnell era. 75% of Hartnell's story achieved a B- or above, so this is a very slight decrease but still slightly worse. Having said that, Troughton's era saw the first A+ grade from me, so there's a positive to be had. Around 30% of stories did rank under that grade, the lowest being a D grade which went to The Dominators. This happened with the Hartnell era too so evidence would suggest that it would've happened again... And it did. 18% of Troughton's stories achieved a grade of A+ to A-, a slightly higher average than Hartnell, which is quite lovely. These grades coming from three stories, each of a different season. 

The most common grade for Troughton's era was a B. Not quite the B+ of Hartnell, but still above average and still a solid grade to get. B grades made up 24% of the grades, on par with the top of Hartnell. Ranking each Doctor as I get further on in relation to previous eras is going to get difficult, isn't it?! 

There we have it, Patrick Troughton's era came out with a B grade average, just like its predecessor. A grades appeared in ever season and grades below B- did also. The variation was still good enough to strike up a B average. Like last time, we had some ups and downs throughout Troughton's era, but it did come out with a solid outcome and leaves us hoping Pertwee can offer the same sort of figures if not better! Season 7 onwards, here we come!

P.S. If you wish to discuss my thoughts or share your own opinions, feel free to drop a comment on this post or DM me on twitter at the handle @Ratings_UK or my Instagram! Thank you so much for continuing to read my work!