Patrick Troughton's Top Five Best Roles
Most people know Patrick Troughton best as playing The Second Doctor in Doctor Who, But Patrick, or as he was otherwise known as Pat Troughton was a versatile actor, who had a transcending talent and metamorphic ability to play a very wide range of parts.
Born in Mill Hill on the 25th of March 1920, He acted in a production of J.B. Priestley's Bees on the Boat Deck in March 1937. His brother A.R. Robin Troughton shared the 1933 Walter Knox Prize for Chemistry with the future Nobel Prize winner Francis Crick, who also attended Mill Hill School.
After the war, Troughton returned to the theatre. He worked with the Amersham Repertory Company, the Bristol Old Vic Company and the Pilgrim Players at the Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate. He made his television debut in 1947. In 1948, Troughton made his cinema debut with small roles in Olivier's Hamlet, the Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed Escape (one of the stars of which was William Hartnell), and a minor role as a pirate in Disney's Treasure Island (1950) appearing only during the attack on the heroes' hut. Television though was his favourite medium. In 1953 he became the first actor to play the folk hero Robin Hood on television, starring in six half-hour episodes broadcast from 17 March to 21 April on the BBC, and titled simply Robin Hood. His grandson Sam Troughton played one of Robin's colleagues in the 2006 BBC TV series of the same name, and Patrick himself would make an appearance in The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Richard Greene. He appeared as the murderer Tyrrell in Olivier's film of Richard III (1955). He was also Olivier's understudy on the film and appears in many long shots as Richard.
Troughton's other notable film and television roles included Kettle in Chance of a Lifetime (1950), Sir Andrew Ffoulkes in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1955), Vickers in the episode entitled "Strange Partners" in The Invisible Man (1958, the series also featured one of his future Doctor Who co-stars, Deborah Watling, as Sally), Phineus in Jason and the Argonauts (1963), Quilp in The Old Curiosity Shop (1962), Paul of Tarsus (BBC 1960, title role), Dr. Finlay's Casebook (BBC 1962, semi-regular). He voiced Winston Smith in a 1965 BBC Home Service radio adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Prior to Doctor Who he appeared in numerous TV shows, including The Count of Monte Cristo, Ivanhoe, Dial 999, Danger Man, Maigret, Compact, The Third Man, Crane, Detective, Sherlock Holmes, No Hiding Place, The Saint, Armchair Theatre, The Wednesday Play, Z-Cars, Adam Adamant Lives! and Softly, Softly.
Troughton was offered the part of Johnny Ringo in the Doctor Who story The Gunfighters but turned it down.
Throughout his acting career, Troughton has played a diverse range of roles. These are just some of the roles of which he is most remembered for.
5. HAMMER FILMS
The movies from the Hammer film studios were low in quality and production values, but they retain a cult following and a great deal of affection from fans. Troughton appeared in several, giving perhaps his most notable performances in The Gorgon and The Scars of Dracula (in the latter playing Christopher Lee’s Igor-like manservant). It was whilst he was filming The Viking Queen on location in Ireland in 1966, a tale about Boudicca and one of Hammer’s few titles without a supernatural element, that Troughton famously received the call offering him the part of Doctor Who.
4. JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS
The 1963 film is probably best-known for the sequence in which the heroes have a sword-fight with skeletons, but Ray Harryhausen’s stop-frame animation film stands up to this day. Troughton plays the blind seer Tiresias, haunted by the evil Harpies. He would later appear in another Harryhausen film, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977).
3. THE OMEN
Troughton’s Father Brennan character is one of the first victims of the evil child in the classic horror movie, yet the five-minute sequence leading up to his demise, filmed at All Saints Church in Fulham, is one of the greatest and most memorable screen deaths in movie history. Troughton starred opposite Hollywood legend Gregory Peck, and again showed his skill at creating unforgettable characters with little screen time. The morphine-addicted priest living in a room with pages from the bible covering every surface is perhaps only outshone by Billie Whitelaw’s chilling nanny as most striking supporting part.
2. THE BOX OF DELIGHTS
A lasting Yuletide favourite, The Box of Delights has enthralled new generations with its Christmas spirit since its original airing in December 1984. Troughton plays the kind old Punch and Judy man who sets the young Kay Harker (Devin Stanfield) on his adventure. The series was directed by Renny Rye, who went on to make many of Dennis Potter’s later scripts. Troughton is magical in it.
1. DOCTOR WHO
Well, what else could it be? Troughton played the Second Doctor from 1966 to 1969. He always spoke fondly of his time on the show, but he was under enormous pressure and over-worked throughout. Nevertheless, he brought a kindness, quirkiness, and vulnerability to the part, and audiences warmed to his portrayal, which followed on from William Hartnell’s more aloof, austere grandfatherly take on it. With his Beatle-mop and cheeky irreverence, Troughton helped to establish Doctor Who as an iconic part of 1960s British culture. He returned to the role three times, in 1972, 1983 and 1985 and remains enormously popular among fans of the classic series and the remake, and generally regarded as one of the best.
The Box of Delights will be uploaded on to my YouTube channel at Christmas!
