PATRICK TROUGHTON - 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH - MARCH 28TH 2007

I remember it quite vividly. It was April 1st, 1987. The Co-Pilot & I were both in Year 6 at Primary School. I think it was recess time & we were standing next to some play equipment made out of old tyres hung on a metal frame. It was a warm morning & there was dappled sun through the pine trees above. I remember the ground was covered with dying rust coloured pine needles & scattered pine nuts that everyone called 'monkey nuts'.

The Co-Pilot told me that Patrick Troughton had died. I didn't believe him at first. I desperately didn't want it to be true. He knew Pat was my favourite Doctor, so I thought it had to be some sort of sick joke, even though I knew he wouldn't do that to me. I soon twigged that it was April 1st. 'Aaah, very funny, you got me!' I thought. Alas no, it was old news The Co-Pilot told me, it had happened a few days ago & Co-Pilot Snr had read it in our local newspaper 'The Advertiser'. No April Fool's sadly.

I still couldn't quite believe it. I rushed home after school that night & scrambled through the old newpapers. I found it in the March 30th paper I think, the news had taken a few days to filter through. It was buried deep in the paper on page 19 or thereabouts. The briefest of obituaries. 3 or 4 lines at most in tiny print in the 'World News' section with a small heading; 'Dr Who Dies'. A pitiful rememberance of a legend. I was upset by that almost as much as his death. He was my favourite Doctor in my favourite show & the first hero of mine that had died during my life time. Come to think of it, my first hero full stop.

I had been treated to two return appearances to the show by Pat since I began watching Dr Who only 4 years earlier, back in 1983 ('Five Doctors' in late '83 & 'Two Doctors' in '85) I had also seen him in a subsequent repeat of 'Five Doctors' & a repeat of 'Three Doctors' during that period. I had even been lucky enough to witness very rare Troughton era repeats when the ABC screened 'The Mind Robber' & 'The Krotons' just prior to a full run of Pertwee repeats in Jan/ Feb 1986. It was a wonderful & relatively generous introduction to the man & his marvellous talents. Considering that this was before the days of the VHS releases, DVD & the Internet; the Co-Pilot & I got to see a fair bit of Pat during that magic time. English fans have, until recently, always been starved of Doctor Who repeats. Not so in Australia at that time. The show was rarely off air until 1990 & we revelled in it.

What exactly was the appeal of Pat & his Doctor to me as a 7 year old (or so)?. Hard to nail that down, but here's a few ideas...His 'naughty' anti-authority stance perhaps? "Me!, not allowed!, I'm allowed everywhere". His witty one liners, particularly at the expense of the 3rd Dr; "mine was pretty unpromising too" (& thrown away with comic precision). The fact that he often showed he was scared, which kids could relate too, but he was courageous & heroic when he needed to be? Maybe it was his youthful wonderment, exuberance & curiosity despite The Doctor being a hugely intelligent, several hundred year old alien being? Perhaps it was also his endearing scruffiness & 'man of the people' touch? He was the only Doctor who looked like he might sit down in the sandpit with you, pick up a bucket & spade, listen to what you have to say & start digging! It was all these things & many more I'm sure. In Pats' return appearances, we got to see him as a 'Doctor on holiday' sort-of. Removed from his usual time stream, we see a more relaxed & fun loving Doctor, perhaps without the darker & more manipulative edges of the 2nd Doctor's reign. He was very easy to engage with as a young kid & there has been so much more to him to enjoy since then.

Since his death I have gradually seen every remaining episode from Pat's sadly depleted reign as The Doctor & have listened to many of the audios. Very recently I have been been getting into the fan reconstructions of Troughton stories on youtube. So far I have watched 'Fury From The Deep' & 'The Highlanders' & enjoyed them immensely. 'Macra Terror' is next on the agenda. Pat's work is still giving me great enjoyment 20 years on. So sad though that he was a relatively young 67 when he died. He would have been 87 yesterday. Still young enough to be alive & giving his marvellous performances. His subtlety, his intensity, his deft comic touch & brilliant use of body language all capped off by his marvellous, unmistakable voice, put him up with the greats.

RIP Pat!...The Lucozer