Doctor Who's 10 best Second Doctor moments as Patrick Troughton's Time Lord turns 60
"Oh my word!"
BBC, Archive
- Rhianna Evans
Published: Thursday, 5 November 2026 at 7:00 am
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It seems as though we're never far away from a Doctor Who anniversary, and this week marks a very special one - it's been 60 years since we were first introduced to the Second Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton.
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"Life depends on change and renewal", as the Second Doctor himself famously said. Without it, the show couldnt have survived for over 60 years.
Back then, the concept was referred to as a "renewal" and seen as a chance to reinvent the character - for the Doctor to remain the same at his core, but be totally different in personality. That was exactly what Patrick Troughton brought to the role. He was given William Hartnell's blessing to carry the torch. Hartnell famously said: "There's only one man in England who can take over, and that's Patrick Troughton."
Today, Troughton is remembered as the "Doctor's Doctor", with virtually every subsequent Doctor Who actor earmarking him as their childhood Doctor and ultimate inspiration when they themselves stepped inside the TARDIS.
So, on this special anniversary, it's the perfect time to take a look at ten moments that defined the Second Doctor, as he changed the role forever and ensured that it could continue to evolve for generations to come.
10) The Doctor's most famous declaration of his catchphrase – The Dominators (1968)
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Patrick Troughton's Doctor instilled humour into the very heart of Doctor Who, ensuring that it became a vital component of the show's enduring success. Sydney Newman (one of Doctor Who's creators) envisaged the Second Doctor as a "cosmic hobo", directly inspired by Charlie Chaplin's Tramp character and dressed in his image. Yet, despite the occasional bit of physical comedy, Troughton's humour was subtle and full of dry irony. With an oddly hilarious lilt in his voice, he could wring any line for comic potential.
It was opposite Bill Kerr (one of Tony Hancock's famous comedic foils) in the story The Enemy of the World that Troughton delivered a memorably surreal line whilst examining the remains of a broken plate: "Sad really, isn't it? People spend all their time making nice things, and other people come along and break them."
But it was in Frazer Hines's Jamie McCrimmon (the longest-serving Doctor Who companion of all time, starring in 113 episodes) that he found his greatest comic partner; you could even call them a double act of sorts. Coincidentally, Frazer shared a scene with Charlie Chaplin as a child star in A King in New York in 1957.
In a memorable scene from the finale of The Dominators, Jamie informs the Doctor that they are in fact still on the island that is just about to blow up, prompting the Doctor to proclaim what became known as one of the Second Doctor’s most famous catchphrases - altogether now: "Oh, my word!"
9) The Second Doctor debuts the sonic screwdriver – Fury from the Deep (1968)
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The Second Doctor is ironically the Doctor of firsts, and one of his many famous firsts is the introduction of the sonic screwdriver.
Now, it wasn't yet the wonderful, shapeshifting gadget with indefinable powers that we all know and love today - it was a very literal interpretation of the idea of a sonic screwdriver in that it was only ever used to remove screws - sonically.
The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver for the first time ever in the missing story, Fury from the Deep (1968). However, its full capabilities are on display in episode three of The War Games (1969).
The effect of its screw removal may look a bit tame by today's standards, but this simple idea paved the way for that glowing and enticing Swiss-army-wand that has become another cornerstone of the Doctor Who brand.
8) The Doctor brings about the "final" end of the Daleks – The Evil of the Daleks (1967)
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Doctor Who without the Daleks? Unthinkable, surely? But at the time The Evil of the Daleks was made in 1967, the production team really thought that this would be the case, owing to Terry Nation's wish to take his creation stateside and remove it from the Doctor Who brand altogether.
So, an epic story was crafted (one that is now largely missing) which told of the Daleks' quest to capture "the Human Factor" from the noble actions of Jamie McCrimmon as he tried to rescue Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling). The resulting serial was a spiralling seven-part epic that saw a dramatic falling out between the Doctor and Jamie, and left audiences with a genuine belief that the Doctor's most iconic enemies were put to an end for good.
"The final end," the Doctor declared as he looked back at the wreckage of the Dalek city. It would be five years before they appeared again in a story with Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor.
7**) The Doctor displays his mind powers – The Mind Robber (1968)**
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The intense first episode of The Mind Robber came about almost by accident, owing to the fact that the previous serial, The Dominators, was cut short. This was a happy accident, as this first part of the story remains a firm favourite among fans. A bottle episode centred almost entirely inside the TARDIS, it sees Jamie, Zoe and the Doctor do battle with an existential threat trying to tempt them outside into a world of nothingness.
This makes for a trippy 20-minute episode that brought powerful psychological scares to Doctor Who. As one of the many instalments of the era that benefited hugely from being filmed in black and white, its most impactful moments come from the Doctor's desperate struggle against a mysterious invasive force, as he fights to maintain control whilst the void lures his companions away.
6**)** The Doctor fights Salamander in the TARDIS – The Enemy of the World (1968)
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The 1968 serial The Enemy of the World saw Troughton take on two roles: that of the Doctor and his evil doppelganger, Salamander.
The idea was ambitious (although it had been attempted before with William Hartnell in The Massacre). Owing to how technically demanding it was to get Troughton to act against himself in a scene, the characters rarely shared any screen time - until the final moments of the story.
A delirious Salamander finds himself mistaken for the Doctor and holds the controls of the TARDIS at his mercy. Jamie and Victoria are oblivious and ready to leave, so the Doctor must act quickly to stop him. Yet, he enters the scene with a cool confidence, just as you'd expect from the Time Lord. With steely eyes, the Doctor sarcastically welcomes Salamander into the TARDIS. A scuffle for the controls ensues, in which Salamander pins the Doctor against the console, rasping: "And now I'm going to kill you."
Using only a then-high-tech split-screen effect and a stunt double, this fight scene looks utterly incredible.
This story was only recovered in 2013. Before then, we just had the soundtracks and could only wonder quite how the production team managed to achieve this dramatic finale; few imagined that it would look this good.
5) The Doctor pleads his case – The War Games (1969)
The Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his companions Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) and Zoe Heriot (Wendy Padbury) in Doctor Who - The War Games. BBC
In one of the most pivotal moments in Doctor Who history, the Doctor is forced to regenerate for the second time, but he's not going down without a fight as he argues with the Time Lord tribunal:
"While you have been content merely to observe the evil in the galaxy, I have been fighting against it!"
In this first, and by far the most sinister, depiction of the Time Lords on the as-yet-unnamed Gallifrey, the Doctor faces a trial where the punishment is effectively his own execution.
And what's startling about The War Games is that the Doctor does essentially lose this trial; he is forced to regenerate. The decisions made in this story shaped not only the entire Third Doctor era, but also marked a need for Doctor Who to have these intense, brutal moments showcasing the sheer power of regeneration.
As Peter Capaldi observed of Doctor Who: "It has a very, very powerful death motif in it, which is that the central character dies. I think that is one of its most potent mysteries because somewhere in that, people see that - that's what happens in life. You have loved ones and then they go, but you must carry on."
There was a thought at the time that without Troughton, the show wouldn't carry on. For a brief time, The War Games was considered the grand finale of Doctor Who… however, the show always finds a way to return.
4**) The Doctor uses his recorder to help destroy Omega – The Three Doctors (1972–73)**
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Perhaps owing to the fact that his Doctor's dispatch was so brutal, Troughton frequently returned to the series, cementing his status as one of the most prolific returning Doctors in classic Doctor Who. In his first and most famous return to the role, we finally get to see the Second Doctor in colour in The Three Doctors, which saw Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor reunite with his past incarnations to defeat Omega. This also marked William Hartnell's final turn as the First Doctor.
This story is the perfect introduction to classic Doctor Who, jam-packed with jokes and camaraderie, owing to the Brigadier's frustration with the Second Doctor's never-ending search for his beloved recorder and the Third Doctor's embarrassment at encountering his former, slightly more eccentric self. But there's still time for some serious storytelling and the all-important laying down of Time Lord lore, as this team of iconic characters find themselves opposing a founder of Time Lord society.
The Second Doctor's recorder was never really put to any sort of critical use in his own era, beyond a quick burst of "The Skye Boat Song", but here, the instrument is used as a matter-filled weapon thanks to the protection of the TARDIS's force field generator. When flung into Omega's antimatter universe, it causes a catastrophic reaction that seemingly finishes the fallen Time Lord for good.
3) The War Chief reveals that the Doctor is a Time Lord – The War Games (1969)
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We all know that there's a lot of fun to be had with the Second Doctor, but what made The War Games so great was its sheer confidence to play this ten-part final farewell to Patrick Troughton's Doctor straight, giving him a real chance to display his acting chops.
In a talk with the War Chief (played by Edward Brayshaw), we get a glimpse into the serious side of the Doctor and, for the first time, see how he interacts with one of his own people.
"You may have changed your appearance, but I know who you are," the War Chief memorably announces.
This scene from episode eight of the saga gives us a little peek into the true feelings of our favourite Time Lord and the machinations of the War Chief.
"I had every right to leave," the Doctor tells him candidly.
"Stealing a TARDIS? Oh, I'm not criticising you, we are two of a kind," the War Chief retorts.
The tension is palpable. The legendary Doctor Who writers, Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke, changed history with these two characters. It was in this episode that the Doctor was first revealed to be a Time Lord.
This moment alone makes a great case for crowning The War Games as perhaps the most important Doctor Who story of them all.
2) The Doctor reassures Victoria – The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967)
Tomb of the Cybermen - Doctor Who. BBC
Another vital component of Doctor Who's enduring success is the love and chemistry that the Doctor shares with his companions, and this moment with Deborah Watling’s Victoria Waterfield is often considered not only the Second Doctor's greatest display of that, but also his defining speech.
After young Victoria's father died during the events of The Evil of the Daleks, she became a slightly hesitant member of the Doctor's TARDIS team. In a touching conversation during the succeeding story, The Tomb of the Cybermen, the Doctor tries to reassure Victoria and encourage her to talk about her father.
"You probably can't remember your family," she tells him after chatting about how old the Doctor actually is. He replies with a utterly beautiful speech:
"Oh yes, I can when I want to. And that's the point, really. I have to really want to, to bring them back in front of my eyes. The rest of the time they… they sleep in my mind and I forget. And so will you… Oh yes, you will…You'll find there's so much else to think about. To remember. Our lives are different to anybody else's. That's the exciting thing, that nobody in the universe can do what we're doing."
There's only one Second Doctor moment that's more astounding than that…
1) The Doctor regenerates for the first time – The Power of the Daleks (1966)
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You've got to hand it to The Power of the Daleks: for a serial that is almost entirely missing (aside from a few surviving clips, a full audio track and tele-snaps), it has tremendous staying power. That is thanks in no small part to it depicting a crucial moment that proved utterly pivotal to the future of the show - the very reason why Doctor Who is still one of the world's most popular sci-fi franchises: the first-ever on-screen regeneration.
It was touch-and-go for Doctor Who at this time, so there was enormous pressure on Troughton's shoulders to get this right. Most viewers were seriously questioning if the show could really sustain itself once Hartnell left. If this regeneration (then referred to as a renewal) failed to convince fans, then Doctor Who really was over in a matter of months.
The moment itself (made with a faulty cross-fader machine) survives, but the body of the scene remains missing. There is one other memorable clip that was recovered, in which Troughton throws back his hooded cloak dramatically to reveal his alert and ready face to the audience, declaring: "It's over! Ha-ha, it's over!" with an impish grin.
We have the animations to thank for showing us the poignant moment when the new Doctor stands at the TARDIS controls and the First Doctor's ring falls symbolically from the new Doctor's fingers. There's mystique, intrigue and a lot of quiet in these tense moments, as his first companions, Ben and Polly, are in disbelief as to what has just taken place.
Add to that the fact that this entire serial is perhaps the darkest Dalek story ever made, punctuated with a little bit of light relief from the Doctor communicating via his recorder, and we have what is widely regarded as the greatest regeneration story of all time. Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor certainly does hold tremendous power.
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Rhianna Evans
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