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| The Doctor Regenerates |
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 During this season the unprecedented occurred: the popular William Hartnell left the show, and Patrick Troughton took over the lead role. With the departure of William Hartnell this left none of the original cast members remaining. Only the familiar look and sound of the TARDIS remained.
The Second Doctor was nothing like the crotchety old Doctor viewers had become to know so well. This new incarnation was feisty, mysterious and occasionally prone to fits of hysteria. Patrick Troughton was, right from the start, a very different type of Doctor. He was much more hands-on and more prone to slapstick. No longer a grandfather figure, but rather more of a favourite uncle. Although the Second Doctor frequently gave the impression that he never knew what he was doing, especially in the stories in this season, it became clearer as time went by that this was simply an act he put on to fool those who would then underestimate him.
Continuing their travels were Polly Wright and Ben Jackson - who witnessed the transformation and who were used as a means to make the transformation acceptable to viewers. They were soon joined by the Scottish piper Jamie McCrimmon (played by Frazer Hines) – who would remain with The Doctor right through his second incarnation. Before the end of this season Polly and Ben would leave the TARDIS but The Doctor and Jamie would be joined by a young Victorian girl called Victoria Waterfield (played by Deborah Watling).
As to the enemies encountered during this season; we would see the return of the dreaded Daleks. Not once, but twice. We would also see the debut of the Cybermen in the First Doctor‘s very last story. They proved to be so popular that even before the end of "The Tenth Planet" they were destined to return for a second story. Another monster making their debut was the hideous Macra. They would not prove as popular as the Cybermen and so would not return to the show for 40 years.
As well as in front of the camera changes were happening in the production team. With both Producer Innes Lloyd and Script Writer Gerry Davis expressing a desire to move on from the show, Peter Bryant was introduced into the production team to take over from them. He served as both Script Editor and Associate Producer on various stories towards the end of the season. Gerry Davis finally departed as Script Editor just before the season's end, but Innes Lloyd would remain right through – and in fact would stay at the helm for some time yet with Peter Bryant becoming Gerry Davis’ replacement as Script Editor
The most notable thing about this season, sadly, is it is the most affected by the deletion that occurred in the BBC archives during the Seventies. It is the only season where not a single complete story exists. And those that do remain, for the majority, only odd episodes exist from each story. The biggest losses to the show include the final episode of "The Tenth Planet" – which is William Hartnell’s final major contribution to the show (thankfully the regeneration scene itself does exist), Patrick Troughton’s first story "The Power of the Daleks" and Jamie's first adventure (and the final truly historical story) "The Highlanders". Even the season’s finale and Victoria’s first story, "The Evil of the Daleks", did not escape unscathed - with only the second episode remaining.
However, despite the lack of stories existing in the BBC archives today, at the time it was clear that the show was changing. And as history would show – for the better.
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| Dalek Production Line |
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Like the previous season with so many episodes missing and, in the case of this season, having not a single complete story, it is hard to distinguish items to look out for when it is very unlikely that viewers will ever get the chance of seeing these stories in their entirety in the future. However, there are still plenty of gems that exists in the few remaining episodes and of course we are lucky to still have the audio soundtracks to listen to.
A must watch story is The Doctor’s first on-screen encounter with the Cybermen in "The Tenth Planet". Thankfully three out of the four episodes, that make up this story, do exist and so we can still relive the scene where the ruthless Cybermen announce, for the first time, that the have no emotions and have only one aim – to turn the human race into Cybermen.
The Cybermen’s attempts to enslave the human race did not stop with this story. Even after their earlier defeat they would return again in "The Moonbase" where they use a space station, on the moon’s surface, as a means to disrupt the Earth’s weather. Who can forget the scenes, with the deadly plague spreading throughout the Moonbase’s crew, The Doctor, with the help of his companions Polly Wright and Ben Jackson, collecting samples throughout the base so as to find the source of the plague – and getting, literally, under everyone’s feet. Meanwhile, the semi-unconscious Jamie McCrimmon (who had injured himself Moonwalking) begins mumbling about a ‘Phantom Piper’ and then a large silver figure appears and takes away the dead body of one of the crewmembers, who had succumbed to the plague, distressing the delirious Jamie even more.
As well as the Cybermen’s double helping the Daleks would make two appearances. The first "The Power of the Daleks" is the very first story for the Second Doctor and so is used as means to introduce the viewers to Patrick Troughton in the lead role. Even only with the ability to listen to the remaining audio soundtracks for this story the best scenes are at the very beginning where Polly and (especially) Ben can’t believe what they have just witnessed with their very own eyes. Not helped by the ‘stranger’ before them, who could not sympathise with them for disbelieving that this ‘stranger’ is in fact still The Doctor.
As well as being in the first story for the Second Doctor the Daleks would return in this season’s finale. The classic "The Evil of the Daleks" is for many a must see from start to finish. Right from the start with the loss of the TARDIS (a scene that follows on immediately after the previous story "The Faceless Ones", to the introduction of Victoria Waterfield being held captive and chastised by a Dalek for feeding ‘The flying pests’, to the scene where The Doctor is spun around while the three ‘human’ Daleks play trains and the first sight of the Emperor Dalek. It is just a shame that so much is missing from this story that we are unable to watch it in its full glory today – even despite the criticism it had for using toy Daleks in the final battle scenes where the Dalek’s city is destroyed.
Of course the classic event is at the very end of "The Tenth Planet" is the scene that must not be missed. Thankfully, even though the majority of the final episode of this story is no more, we are still able to watch the very first regeneration scene, thanks to a low-quality, truncated copy of this sequence still surviving. Crude, it may be when compared to the regeneration scenes that would be made since, it is still a pivotal moment in Doctor Who history, and one that would be a crime if it was not possible to relive, even in its current state, today.
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(Position = 14 out of 31)
(Position = 16 out of 36)
