Doctor Who: The Troughton Years (1991 Video) User Reviews

The Cosmic Hobo

[bradphipps101 · 9 July 2002]

In 1966 Patrick Troughton took over the role as Doctor Who and never looked back. While William Hartnell before him had brought the Daleks into the spotlight, Troughton's term as Doc would highlight the Ice Warriors, the Yeti and the dreaded Cybermen.

In the 1970's the BBC destroyed thousands of episodes thought to be of no further financial use to them, many of these being Doctor Who. Patrick Troughton's time as the Doctor was hit hard, with many classics stories now represented by little or no footage at all in the Archives. In this special tribute to his time as the Doctor, Jon Pertwee (the 3rd Doctor) takes us on a tour of 3 surviving episodes - all that remain of their respective stories.

The Abominable Snowman episode 2 takes us to the Himalayas, where the Doctor must help combat a Yeti attack at a monastery in Tibet. The Enemy of the World episode 3 sees the Doctor trying to outwit a dictator threatening to take over the world, a dictator which is his exact double. Finally episode 2 of The Space Pirates has the doctor dealing with just that; Space Pirates.

This is a fine tribute to the late actor, who died in 1987. It is sad to see so many Dr Who episodes gone, but this video will allow the memory of those times to live on.

Probably The Worst Years Tape

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 13 April 2004]

If I remember correctly only FIVE of Patrick Troughton`s stories remain their entirety in the BBC archive and this is quite disgraceful considering the quality of the era

Jon Pertwee ( He is The Doctor as far as I`m concerned ) introduces the episodes and like the other years tapes the written linking material is very poor . What is also very poor are the episodes selected , most fans would have picked The Evil Of The Daleks episode 2 , The Web Of Fear episode 1 and an episode featuring the cybermen . Instead what we got was

The Abominable Snowmen episode 2 - This the debut adventure of the Yeti and is supposed to be set in Tibet , but strangely looks like it was filmed in Wales . That`s because it was ! I guess if you`re a fan of the show you have to use your imagination now and again . The only other episode featuring the Yeti that remains in the BBC archives is The Web Of Fear episode 1 which involves an evacuted London with the Yeti creeping around the underground . It`s a masterpiece and should have been chosen for inclusion

The Enemy Of The World episode 3 - I guess this was selected to show what a fine character actor Troughton was since he plays a dual role as the villain of the piece , a scheming politician called Salamander . Troughton is a fine character actor but since this episode is very talky and features no monsters it`s not very representative of the show or the era

The Space Pirates episode 2 - To be blunt this episode is a load of crap with a bunch of non actors doing unconvincing American accents and once again this episode is devoid of any monsters . Did you know children used to hide behind the sofa when they heard the DOCTOR WHO theme ? That`s because it nearly always had scary monsters in it . This and the previous episode didn`t

Almost certainly the worst of the DOCTOR WHO Years that was released

Troughton Lives!

[zedthedestroyer · 9 January 2001]

A nostalgiac look at Patrick Troughton's time as the Doctor, hosted by his friend (and successor to the role) Jon Pertwee.

Troughton's era was the most decimated of the first two Doctors as the BBC tended to junk most of the archival material from the 60s and 70s. So this tape is a good way to get re-acquainted with Doctor Who #2. These episodes have never been aired in the States, so if you're a Doctor Who fan this is a must-own.