Patrick Troughton: The Biography of the Second Doctor Who

by Michael Troughton, Colin Baker (Afterword)

Respected and loved, Patrick Troughton is probably best remembered as the second Doctor Who - a role in which he made television history. A prolific actor, he was also a complex and troubled man, constantly wrestling with two lives, one of which he was determined to keep secret.

Michael Troughton presents here an entertaining and personal account of his father’s professional and private life. Meticulously researched, he explores Patrick’s childhood, his experiences at sea during World War II and the successful acting career which led to his historic casting as Doctor Who in 1966. Patrick’s Doctor Who years are recalled in vivid detail, from his initial uncertainty about taking on the part through the legendary ‘monster years’, to his troubled final season and three subsequent returns to the role.

In this fascinating biography, Patrick’s extraordinary career and his multi-layered personal life are enhanced by the memories of family members, actors, friends and colleagues. Michael peppers the book with revealing extracts from Patrick’s own diaries, and many rare and personal photographs. This book is an honest, affectionate and complete account of Patrick Troughton the actor, and Patrick Troughton the man.

Genres: Doctor Who, Biography, Nonfiction, Audiobook, World War II

250 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

Michael Troughton is an English actor, writer and teacher. He is the son of actor Patrick Troughton (known for his lead role in Doctor Who in the 1960s) and the younger brother of David Troughton.

He has appeared in many film, television and theatre roles, most notably as Sir Piers Fletcher-Dervish in The New Statesman from 1987 to 1992. Troughton also starred in the first series of Backs to the Land. More recent roles include senior science master Derek Halliday in the Taggart episode "Out of Bounds", 1998, a therapist in the fourth series of Cold Feet and Mr Mermagen in Enigma.

According to Internet Movie Database his last appearance on television was in 2002.

Troughton took a rest from acting in 2002 in order to care for his disabled wife and qualified as a physics and drama teacher. He taught at two schools in Suffolk. In 2009 he stopped teaching and became a full time carer. His biography of his late father, Patrick Troughton, published by Hirst Publishing, was launched at the 2011 Dimensions Convention in Newcastle in November 2011.

Reviews

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patrick Troughton was an actor who among many roles played the second doctor in Doctor Who and he was also the first actor to play Robin Hood on television. This biography was written by his son, Michael Troughton. Like his father, Michael also acted in a Doctor Who episode and he now voices his father’s beloved character of the second doctor in the Big Finish audio stories.


There are snippets from Patrick Troughton’s diary and letters inserted into the book, which really gives you a sense of how he saw and experienced things. This includes diary entries from his time serving in the navy during the Second World War. One part is about his ship getting blown up as it struck a sea mine. Another part is about the lives he saved, and him hoping that humanity in general will learn from the horrors of the war so that the world could become a better place for everyone.


It’s clear there is a lot of respect shown to Patrick Troughton’s dedication and passion for acting. This book tells us the philosophy behind his acting and how serious he was about performing to the best of his abilities. He was incredibly ambitious, but also anxious as he was well aware of the responsibilities he shouldered for his family. His plan for success was to be seen and heard as frequently as possible, so the job offers kept coming. But that came at a cost. In his own words: “I want more of the bright lights but feel guilty I have to sacrifice family. Instinct tells me one thing and brain tells me another. I am confused.” His divided soul is what tore his marriage apart.


This book is a bit different from what I imagined it would be. It’s clear that as an actor, Patrick Troughton was extremely dedicated and very skilled. Though as a person, it’s clear he was flawed just like everyone. He definitely made some mistakes, but he tried to do the best he could without losing himself. It’s that balance between responsibilities/love and ambition/personal happiness that is the red thread throughout this book. And the Doctor Who part is a highlight for me personally.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has taken a long time for a biography of Troughton to appear. William Hartnell, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker all had either biographies or autobiographies appear during the mid 1990s. Troughton's life was however more of a mystery and this volume answers at least some of the questions why. From the mid 1950s Troughton ran something of a double life, maintaining a pretense of a marriage for public purposes whilst living with another woman and having a separate family with her. A third significant relattionship also seems to have occured during the 1950s and he married again in the mid 1970s. This complex personal situation, in a time when 'appearances' were still important is the most reasonable explanation for his personal secrecy.

This is not a conventional biography. It is a memoir written by the actor's son but with some interpolations from undated interviews with a number of figures in Troughton's life. However, there are no references, acknowledgements or footnotes and the interviewees sometimes go entirely uncredited. This robs the book of context. Some of the named interviewees have been dead a long time (Doctor Who producer Innes Lloyd, who is quoted extensively, died as long ago as 1991)and it is not clear if the memories recounted are from recorded interviews or are merely reported conversation.

The writing style is a little clunky and the book is riddled with spelling and grammar issues. This independently published book desperately needed a good copy editor to tidy up the more obvious issues

However, there are many delights in this book, including the recounting of Troughton's early life, the details of his many live television performances lost to history and the large number of photographs illustrating the life and work of this most chameleonic of actors.

Troughton was a genius but perhaps the biography needed more distance - a cold eyed researcher to conduct interviews and research to give the text a little more weight. This is not a wasted effort but really quite disappointing.

[Justin K. Rivers · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only book about Patrick Troughton. Draws on private diaries and extensive research. If have a burning desire to know any and all possible information about Patrick Troughton, then this is the book for you. But in the end, although it had lots of details, it still felt a bit thin. As if Michael had found a bunch of stuff but didn't add it up to anything.

There are several chapters on Troughton's early career, which include lots of meaningless details about people he worked with or performances he gave. No, meaningless is the wrong word, I'm not sure how to put this. The book is topheavy with this information, whereas his last decade flashes by in a few pages. And yet - no appendix to list all of this extra (and potentially useful for historians) information that the author has uncovered about old TV plays and such.

What the book lacked was description and narrative. The search for one's father can in fact be a powerful unifying theme for a book about such an enigmatic person. Patrick Troughton's dual family life is covered in part, but with meaningful absences. Michael seemingly quotes people, but the sources of the these statements are obscure, the people who seem to be talking are out of context and in any event no footnotes or sources are cited for anything.

Is this book a biography or a memoir? It is neither comprehensive nor rigorous enough to be a biography. And it is not unified enough (or personal enough) to be a memoir.

In any event, it is the only book on the subject. So you will probably buy it no matter what, as I have done.

[John Peel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patrick Troughton was always something of an enigma, shunning interviews until very late in life, and frequently repeating the same simple stories about his life. His son, Michael, has taken us behind the scenes of his father's life with amazing clarity and detail, revealing an endearing - and often frustrating and unreliable - human being behind all of the wonderful characters he created. This is a delightful and insightful book that is sure to please anyone who remembers Patrick for any of the many, many memorable characters he created on screens both big and small.

[B.M.B. Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book about the the life of Patrick Troughton. I won't even quibble that the title should have been Second Doctor, instead of, ugh, Second Doctor Who.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Audiobook) An insightful and frank biography about Doctor Who No.2, written by son Michael. Pat is one of my favourite Doctors, and I enjoyed hearing about his life either side of the Tardis. The fact that the book is narrated by the author is a joy, as he impersonates his father when quoting him. It was interesting, but saddening, to hear about his double life, and the tension held between treating his many children fairly well, but perhaps not so much his wives/girlfriends (never meet your heroes etc.)

A big strength of the work is how many sources Michael uses, including family members and those who worked with Pat.

Recommend to all DW fans.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2962166.html

Patrick Troughton, possibly the most versatile actor to take on the role as a regular, and certainly the only one to appear in a Oscar-winning film (as the Player King in Olivier's 1948 Hamlet, which also features Peter Cushing as Osric; John Hurt is in A Man for All Seasons which won the Oscar for Best Film in 1966, and of course Peter Capaldi shared the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film in 1994). The author is one of Troughton's many acting descendants, his third child Michael, who actually appeared in the 2014 Christmas special Last Christmas as Dr Albert Smithe.

It must be very difficult to write about a father like Patrick Troughton, who was loving but physically distant. Troughton's own life was full of much human drama, which we must largely infer from Michael's childhood memories and his father's preserved correspondence. Soon after Michael was born in 1955, Patrick left his first wife, Margaret, for another partner with whom he had another three children; at the point that he decided to take on the Doctor Who role, he was in the middle of a brief and ultimately unsuccessful reconciliation with Margaret, played out to a certain extent in front of the children. At the same time there was a third partner in the mix. He married someone else entirely in the mid-1970s. He said to Michael, years after the final split with Margaret,

"‘I needed change. Things have to change all the time for me I’m afraid, that’s the way I am made. I am sorry if I hurt you.’"

Reminiscent of one of his first lines as the Doctor: "Life depends on change and renewal."

He seems to have been a man who broke many hearts, but continued to take his emotional commitments to all his lovers and children very seriously, but always suffered from the pressure of generating enough income to meet his financial obligations to his two families, which eventually ground him down; he had his first heart attack at 58, and died of another at a convention eight years later. (Incidentally the circumstances of his death are clarified here, and are much less exciting than we had been led to believe.)

There is quite a lot here about Troughton's approach to acting, including his early education ain London and New York. He is on record (sometimes contradictory) about his philosophy of theatre, particularly on how it defined his own sense of personhood:

"My father was a complex man but one thing was very clear – he had to act. He once confessed to me, whilst working together on an episode of the seventies TV nursing drama Angels, that acting was part of his being, something he had to do rather than had chosen. He likened the process of inhabiting another character in performance to ‘a drug-like craving that seemed to keep my whole self in order. I can’t imagine my world without it. It sparks me with life.’"

This craving for multiple identities perhaps played out in his complex private life, and even his approach to being an ex-Doctor Who, where he embraced the American convention circuit once he had discovered it, but was much less visible in the UK, where he wanted to avoid typecasting for the sake of future acting work. He would no doubt be pleased that IMDB ranks The Omen as his most notable performance. There's not much on politics here (Troughton fought in the second world war, where he became noted for wearing a tea-cosy; he was contrarian for the sake of it in argument). Interestingly, there is more on religion: Troughton was deeply hostile to organised Christianity, boycotted one son's wedding service and was dismayed when another decided to get ordained.

It's a more lively book than Jessica Carney's biography of her grandfather, William Hartnell, because Troughton had a more lively life, and Doctor Who came in the middle of his career rather than at the end (chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10 out of fifteen total). It scratches one's itch of curiosity about its subject, while inevitably leaving you wishing you knew more.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I realized that there was much I did not know about Patrick Troughton's personal life. Extra-marital affairs and a secret family were not what I was expecting when it came to him. The fact that his son Michael wrote and read this was a reminder of how people's perception of certain family members can really change when growing up.

I did already know about Patrick's suggestion of how his Doctor should look which was big yikes, though how it's presented here makes it feel like he was perhaps ignorant of the implications and first and foremost trying to disguise himself to avoid being typecast. He had his own rules for returning as The Doctor onscreen and at convention circuits. His reasoning for going to conventions only in the US is actually pretty funny.

Fascinating behind the scenes tidbits for the show include an early idea for The Three Doctors, which would've involved the Doctors fighting a Federation of Evil in an underworld setting, going up against zombies, dark riders, goddess Kali, and a cyclops, which sounds absolutely bonkers. And the original context for his regeneration was that The Doctor supposedly regenerates every 500 years or so, and it's like taking LSD but experiencing only the bad memories, such as those of fighting an intergalactic war. While Patrick vetoed this, it doesn't sound too dissimilar to the Ninth Doctor's characterization, weirdly enough.

While Patrick had his issues, you definitely see how committed he was to his craft. He even acted with future Master Roger Delgado! Definitely essential reading for Whovians, even if it's not all comfortable.

[Norma · Rating 4 out of 5]

( Format: Audiobook )
"Smile on the face."
Michael Troughton has written a simple, straightforward biography of his father, Patrick Troughton, faithfully listing most, if not all, of his acting appearances, especially those on T.V. as well as also revealing his personality and parts of his off screen life, which were kept mostly private and separate at the time. Michael, who also narrates, is Patrick's third and youngest son from his first marriage; other partnerships followed but Patrick kept in close touch with his children. Michael's performance is admirable, revealing his own acting talents as he replicates his father's voice, bringing him vividly back to life.

As would be expected from the subtitle, a large section of the book is dedicated to Patrick's role as the second Dr.Who. Ironically I never saw this incarnation of The Doctor but had, as a child, fallen for him in the 1950's BBC serialisation of Kidnapped, in which he played the devil may care highlander, Alan Breck Stuart,, and again, in the mid 1980, watching with my young daughter, the magnificent Box of Delights. And we personally experienced Troughton's generosity and love of children when learning that my five year old was upset because her intense chemotherapy regime meant she could not attend his book signing at a local bookshop, arranged for a private session for her alone. A lovely man who made her feel like a princess.
Recommended.

[Erin Curran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the man behind my favourite incarnation of The Doctor, even if some parts of his personal life were difficult for me to understand.

The only reasons I haven't given five stars are the constant grammatical and formatting errors that are a constant throughout the book. I don't know if Michael Troughton had written much before this book, or if he had an editor, but this book definitely needed to be looked over a few more times before publication. I found it incredibly distracting at times.

Regardless, reading about Patrick Troughton's life through the eyes of his son was fascinating. The story of his life most certainly prompts many conflicting emotions and it is not easy to come to a final conclusion about the sort of man he was. Maybe that's for the best. Human beings are incredibly complex. We can't always be pinned down as good or bad, innocent or evil. There's too much nuance in between.

[Tim Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this touching tribute to his father, Michael Troughton looks back over the life and career of one of the UKs most celebrated character actors. This isn’t a saccharine account though and showcases a conflicted man who on one hand lived for his art, was compassionate and supportive to all whom he worked with and generous to a fault, but on the other lived a dual life with 2 families, was an absent father to many of his children and who never felt truly comfortable in his own skin.

The book follows Troughton from his years of saving pilots in the 2nd World War captaining a rescue ship, to his first forays into acting diverse and memorable parts, to his rise to fame playing the second Doctor and then the unrelenting work ethic that ultimately killed him.

A beautiful account of a wonderful man.

[Jefferson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author's first-hand view of the subject helps to make up for an inconsistent writing style that meanders between first and third person. There are a weird number of inaccuracies in the chapter on convention appearances, as the author describes (clearly secondhand) a convention that very obviously happened after Troughton's death. But overall, it's a surprisingly balanced look at the actor's life.

[Joseph B. Deagle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read, lovely insights shared by his
Son. Only flaws were that on the Kindle version I have all the photos were too small and zoom function was unavailable.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this.

[Tell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm crying. This was a poignant and beautiful depiction, real and truthful as it was. I'm so happy to have read this.

[Emi · Rating 5 out of 5]

So amazingly eloquent! The life of a human who had there faults but tired there best. Will live on in doctor who history (at least with me) to be the best doctor and the favorite for me

[Chloe John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I became a fan of Patrick in 2020, years after his passing, his doctor means so much to me and always will. It was so interesting to learn more about the man behind the Doctor

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must admit I was a little disappointed in this. As a historian I found it quite frustrating that nothing was referenced. There were quotes from people, some living some dead, but Michael never stated any of the sources for the quotes he was using. Likewise there were lots of pictures, including pictures of things that should be still in copyright like theatre programmes, but no acknowledgement given for the sources. As I mentioned in my update there were several inconsistencies, like the fact that he was abused as a child, but then the next paragraph described his time before boarding school as idyllic. Michael clearly loved his father, but had issues with his behaviour. In a way it felt like Michael was too close to be able to write an objective biography about his father. Patrick seemed like a man who suffered from depression and guilt. Who had a great deal of love but felt like he was being condemned for expressing it. Michael just didn't seem to have a lot of understanding for his dad's psyche so the book came out as rather dry, like a list of tv show appearances but very little about the man himself. What I did really like were the excerpts from Patrick's diary and letters which gave a more personal glimpse. Even in his diary he seemed quite closed off, but there were some very interesting and insightful bits. That and the photos make this a book Patrick Troughton fans should have.

[Taksya · Rating 4 out of 5]

La figura di Patrick Troughton raccontata da suo figlio Michael. Lavoro, vita pubblica e privata, peccati e pregi del secondo attore che ha indossato i panni del protagonista di Doctor Who.
Se cercate una biografia dettagliata, con riferimenti incrociati ed elenchi e citazioni provate... allora non fa per voi.
È più una chiacchierata col figlio minore della prima famiglia di Patrick Troughton, che racconta del padre attraverso ricordi propri, delle famiglie (tre in tutto) e dei colleghi.
Nessuna nota a piè di pagina, tante foto e una bella carrellata di ruoli interpretati, molti non più reperibili per via della gestione BBC che ha portato anche distruzione di.buona parte dei serial da lui interpretati come Dottore.
Considerato quanto poco si conosce di Troughton fuori dal palcoscenico, è un ottimo punto di partenza per guardare dietro al sipario.

[Kristina Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intimate biography of the second Doctor. This is not written by a fan or professional biographer, but by Patrick Troughton's son, lending it a very personal feel. It is also surprisingly honest and open. The author carefully reveals enough of his own feelings about his father to make this feel almost like an autobiography yet he doesn't let his own bias sway his detailed account of his father's career.
This is not simply a child remembering his father however. Michael Troughton is himself an actor and thus focuses an experienced eye over Patrick Troughton as an actor. He also includes a wealth of extracts from interviews, letters and the like which help to provide a more rounded view of events.

[Ade Couper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm.....Patrick Troughton was the definitive Doctor Who (IMHO) , & 1 of Britain's finest actors . He was also a notoriously private man , so I hoped to learn more about him in this biography by his son Michael . I have to say I was quite disappointed in this .

Troughton's life (including his incredibly complex private life- 2 marriages , a long term live-in relationship & numerous affairs) is recorded in detail , including his war service - although his life post Doctor Who is dealt with in quite a perfunctory way . However , you get a sense that this is reporting , rather than analysis : there is very little sense of what made him "tick". A light read , but abit of a disappointment.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A informative and moving biography of Patrick Troughton. As my favourite Doctor it was wonderful to learn more about his life, especially from his son, Michael.

I felt that the book was slightly truncated in places and made Troughton's story feel less somehow.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was a bit of an eye-opener. The parts about the Doctor Who years were the best, but some of the personal stuff I think I would have rather not known, but kudos to his son the biographer for being so candid.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

An honest but wholehearted story of my favorite Doctor. A great and celebrated Actor of his time, Patrick Troughton is portrayed truthfully but also with charm. Great read, and well written. Definitely worth the pick up. Read it at least 4 or 5 times.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Troughton biography by Troughton Junior had a fair amount of new information (to me, anyway) do it's a pretty essential books for a Doctor Who-ey person.

[Ellis Morning · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great fun to read about the actor behind my favorite Doctor! :)

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended for Whovians and others!

A fascinating insight into the life and work of a versatile actor and a complicated man, told with candour and love by his son Michael.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately it felt very stale very quickly.