Hi folks! Welcome to day two in my countdown to the new year, marking the end of my first year as a member of Tardis Guide by giving a list of recommendations for each Doctor. Yesterday I gave a list for the First Doctor and I really appreciate the feedback I recieved and hope you enjoyed having a read of it. I do plan in the fullness of time to write proper reviews on these stories on the website as I’ll have more to say on them but in the meantime, just consider these brief overviews of some ideal watching/listens for each Doctor. Today we look at the Second Doctor, in my opinion, the one who’s owed more for Doctor Who’s longevity than William Hartnell, which in no way is to take away from what Hartnell brought and getting Doctor Who off it’s feet, but the idea of recasting the lead of your show, especially one as beloved as Hartnell, is certainly a risky move and Troughton rose to the occassion, proving that Doctor Who had a long term future. He also in a lot of ways set the template for the Doctors that followed as he was more eccentric and childish than his predecessor.
The Power of the Daleks - What better way to begin than with The Power of the Daleks, in my opinion the most important Doctor Who story of all time. We take regeneration and a new Doctor for granted nowadays but really put yourself back in that mindset of this being the first time a new Doctor takes centre stage. It was absolutely the right move pairing Troughton with the Daleks in his first outing, proving that while this new Doctor was completely different from the one we knew before, underneath he was still the same formidabble oponent of the Daleks. It’s also one of Dalek’s strongest appearances, manipulating a colony world into thinking they’re humanity’s humble servants, when in behind the scenes they’re slowly regaining their power.
The Macra Terror - It still puzzles me to this day how the Macra of all things got a return appearance in the show, but in an episode where they’re not even the main focus and they’re not even portrayed as they were in the original. The Macra Terror is utterly insane, presenting a colony where the population has been brainwashed into being ignorantly happy and obidient, when unbeknownst to them, their true masters are gigantic crabs!
The Evil of the Daleks - Laughable as it is today the idea of killing off the Daleks for good, but for this story, they got as brilliant an exit as you can get, it really speaks volumes how Troughton in only his first year as the Doctor gave us two of the best Dalek stories in the show’s history.
The Tomb of the Cybermen - This one has not aged well admittedly, it’s lost a lot of that mystique back when it was one of the lost episodes but then with the restored visuals a lot of the hype seemed to die away. On a story level it’s a simple 7/10, but one a purely entertainment level, this is a solid 11/10! It’s so funny and enjoyable with how ambitious it gets and how it goes all out with it’s set pieces, characters and new ideas for the Cybermen; from the Cybermats which are more cute than terrifying despite the story’s attempts, to the Cyber Controller who yes looks like he should have a censor bar above his face! And really this is another story that Doctor Who needed as it helped cement the Cybermen as the show’s new main villains following on from the Daleks exit the previous episode.
The Enemy of the World - This story showcases just how talented Patrick Troughton is as an actor, one of the most talented to ever play the Doctor as he effortlessly shifts between performances as the Doctor and the villain and even the two impersonating one another! The Enemy of the World is a rare case where it’s neither big on sci-fi nor is it pure historical. It is set in the future, as in the future of the 1960s, which is funny to look back on now as in 2024 it’s set in the past! It’s more of a Doctor Who does 007 with tons of espionage, a cartoonishly mad villain and an insane evil scheme.
The Web of Fear - I get the appeal of colourising the 60s episodes, but some were just made for black and white and The Web of Fear is one of those! It’s one of the most cinematic Doctor Who episodes of all time with it’s chilling and eerie setting in the London Underground where the local army have their backs against the wall against a near unstoppable foe who continuously thwarts the Doctor at every turn.
The Mind Robber - This has more imagination than the 20 years history of Modern Who put together! And that’s not a dig at Modern Who, you can also put this above most of Classic Who in terms of imagination, it’s the Second Doctor episode I’ve revisited the most and I never get tired each time, from the mysterious opening episode with one of the show’s best cliffhangers to just the pure insanity and all the amazing characters and monsters our heroes come across in the Land of Fiction.
The Invasion - Much like Evil of the Daleks, though unintentionlly, the Cybermen would bow out for a period of five years following this story and they got one hell of a story to go out on. Action packed with a great villainous performence from Kevin Stoney as what you can basically call a British Lex Luthor! There’s two types of Cybermen stories, the ones that focus on the horrors of becoming a Cyberman and the ones where they stomp around shooting things, this one falls in the latter category and I’d say it’s the best in that field.
The War Games - My personal favourite Second Doctor story, mostly for those final two parts where we finally get the reveal of the Doctor’s own people. Most old school fans would agree, The War Games is the Time Lords at their absolute peak, no other story shows them even close to this level of power. They have such a fall from grace in all the years since to the point where getting nuked offscreen by the Master is seen as a mercy killing! As far as the upcoming colourised version, I’m sure it’ll be a decent “highlights” package of The War Games, but it really won’t do any justice to the story. Yes it’s an absolute beast being just over four hours long and no it’s not a story for everyone, but it surprisingly makes full use of it’s runtime with each episode flowing together naturally and building piece by piece to it’s grand finale.
The Glorious Revolution - Moving to Big Finish we have The Glorious Revolution from The Companion Chronicles, this features Jamie in an event where he’s caught up in an adventure that takes place in a period of history that’s very personal to him and of course he sees this as an opportunity to makes changes for the better. One of the better “Companion tries to change history for themselves” stories and it’s gotta be said, and I do enjoy Michael Troughton’s work, he encapsulates the spirit of his father admirably, but Frazer Hines just nails that Patrick Troughton demeanour; the voice, the mannerisms, it really does sound like you’re hearing the man himself
The Jigsaw War - One of the shorter Companion Chronicles and one that highlights the strength and purpose of the series, the idea of the Companion Chronicles is not only to have companions recounting events from the travels, but also putting them in situations where they can’t rely on the Doctor’s help and they have to put all their knowledge and experience into practice. The Jigsaw War is a prime example with Jamie using his wits to try and solve a near impossible conundrum.
Lords of the Red Planet - a lost story that delves into the origins of the Ice Warriors, amazing how well regarded the Ice Warriors were back then as they’d have had the honour of being in the show’s first origin story. It doesn’t dissapoint and is my personal favourite Ice Warrior story.
Second Chances - This one not only concludes the single releases of the Companion Chronicles, but also concludes a story arc from all the way back to the beginning of the range where Zoe has gradually begun to shake off the memory loss of her travels with the Doctor, which has drawn the attention of “The Company” (code word for evil in fiction), and Second Chances features her recalling one of her worst experiences during her travels only to realise the event is actually from her own time and is about to happen to her all over again! Wendy Padbury puts in her best work as Zoe and makes for a great ending to her character’s story.
The Black Hole - Harsh as it to say, but out of all the former companion actors to reprise their roles in Big Finish, Deborah Watling’s voice had aged the worst, I don’t hold it against her given how young she was when she played Victoria but it it is distracting at time. But The Black Hole is still a great addition to The Early Adventures, serving in-part as an explanation for the The Two Doctors, whilst also recasting the first ever Time Lord antagonist with the perfect actor for such a character.
Lepidoptery for Beginners - One of the few Short Trips audios that’s a direct adaptation of one from the novels, except you don’t have to worry about spending over £100 on Amazon/Ebay! It’s a very clever short story that really delves into the butterfly effect and the power one could wield with it when combined with time travel
The Wreck of the World - Of all the Doctors, ALL the Doctors to do Doctor Who does Dead Space!!! Well yeah!!! Which is one of the things I love about writer Timothy X Atack’s style, he does bring a wildcard factor to a lot of his stories and gives us one of the most fun Second Doctor audios.
The Second Doctor Companion Chronicles Volume 2 - This release features a great story that honeslty doesn’t even feature the Second Doctor, it features UNIT Captain Ruth Mathieson voiced by Daphne Ashbrook (Grace from the TV Movie) who is in the midst of hunting a terrorist, but by chance, the TARDIS lands right in the middle of her adventure and she’s left to work alongside Zoe.
Daughter of the Gods - This shoud’ve been the last story of The Early Adventures, nothing against the two we got in 2021, but honestly! How could you top an ending like this? Big Finish best work with the Second Doctor, a true love letter to the 60s with the first two Doctors teaming up to battle the Daleks. But on top of which, I’d also call this the best multi-Doctor story I’ve come across. I’ll explain more when I eventually review it but what makes this my favourite is the fact that it doesn’t use the multi-Doctor gimmick as a crutch to lean on, there’s actually a lot of depth and drama that comes from this angle in both the danger brought on by this meeting and the consequences for the First Doctor’s companion Katarina.
Deleted Scenes - This one’s a fun Short Trip, we surprisingly don’t get many Doctor and Jamie stories (as in just the two of them) but there’s a good reason why they’re one of the best pairings in Doctor Who history and Deleted Scenes is a prime example.
The Second Doctor Companion Chronicles Volume 3 - Crazy how a month ago I believed this was the end of The Companion Chronicles as I felt it made for a great ending to one of Big Finish’s longest running ranges. I am glad we’re getting a relaunch of the series next year, though it’d be nice if they did more than just alternate between the First and Second Doctors as they’d done for many years. But this third box set is packed with excellent stories, from The Death of the Daleks, a surprisingly unique Dalek story which is rare in this day and age, to The Prints of Denmark where Zoe puts all her wits against the Meddling Monk who’s trying to enact his grandest scheme yet. (Though I deduct points for the extras not featuring Kanye West’s rap edition of Hamlet!)
The Dead Star - The Audio Novels is one of my favourite ranges in Big Finish currently and I’m so glad they’re continuing with them next year, I feel like they need to do at least one for every Doctor. The Dead Star in one of the ranges strongest with one of most cosmic Second Doctor stories, and unpredictable, I honeslty had no idea where this was going even when we’d long passed the halfway point, and I love Doctor Who stories that can pull that off. These audio novels are absolute beasts to listen to, clocking in at anywhere between 6-7 hours, so it’s better to listen to them over the course of a couple days, though I can proudly say I’ve been able to power through each of them in one go.
James Robert McCrimmon - The second volume in the new Second Doctor Adventures, bringing to life the famous Season 6B theory. It sucks that we have to wait a year for each new release, considering they form part of an ongoing story with a clear destination in mind, until then, the second volume makes for the best of the series with the Second Doctor reuniting with a much older Jamie and the two of them get into some really fun adventures such as The Green Man and The Shroud.
Operation Werewolf - This year’s Lost Stories really helped wipe the stink away from the previous year’s dreadful Genesis of Terror release. This is what a proper lost story is! It encapsulates the Troughton era to a tee with Michael Troughton giving one of his best works to date in his late father’s role, Michael really does him proud with his take on the Second Doctor.
Thank you if you’ve managed to read this far, look forward to your own recommendations and whether you agree or disagree, till then, see you tomorrow for the Third Doctor!
