Patrick Troughton on the possibilities of The Doctor's regenerations

[@thomasdocking7629]

Troughton, despite being one of the earliest doctors, really understood the character of the Doctor

[@nobodyshome4633]

What a fantastic Man. He really knew and understood the character of the Doctor. Marvellous.

[@pastorbri]

and now he might agree the dr being female was not such a good idea

[@hexogramd8430]

@@pastorbri blame chibs, the writing was bad not the concept. Michelle Gomez showed that a female version can work with good writing.

[@pastorbri]

@@hexogramd8430 ah but Missy ONLY worked because we KNOW the master can take over bodies as we saw in the movie and traken.....thats why that worked.

[@kylethedalek]

@@hexogramd8430 Don’t like a female master.

[@frankshailes3205]

@@pastorbri Actually when he was alive Troughton on Nationwide cooed "what a good idea!" when told the Doctor might be played by a woman.

[@ashbridgeindustries380]

I imagine he would sympathise with Jodie the most if he were still alive. Being the Doctor's first ever regeneration must have been a BIG responsibility, and being the first woman to take on the role will be similarly challenging...

[@georgeblumer1496]

Ashbridge Industries it’s really a shame, something went wrong with the approach to this Dr. writing, preachy, she almost seems unnecessary. I’m afraid someone has ruined a great franchise and character. She’s trying to be every doctor but not her own doctor.

[@BenSmith-od8fc]

Shame she was so bad and the BBC is politically driven by the worst kind of people

[@Renshen1957]

Colin Baker voiced his support for a female Doctor. However, in context, Patrick Troughton refers to the unlimited possibilities, but neither advocates nor recommends. The Doctor could regenerate into a talking horse, for that matter, not that all the fans would have accepted such.

[@fjccommish]

Yeah, it's sooooooooooooooooo coooooooool the Doctor is now a woman.

[@pferreira1983]

@@fjccommish I detect sarcasm.

[@orlansmith6230]

R.I.P we miss you Patrick Troughton

[@yuria_nihilisten]

He's so adorable, "What was the question?" :)

[@UberDr009]

Thank you Patrick Troughton, we owe you a lot.

[@Loverboy19691]

My goodness, his impression of Christopher Thompson is excellent.

[@carealoo744]

Lol! I like creative comments, like these! :)

[@danielstone4555]

@@carealoo744 Harry Melling's grandfather

[@vermyntonic7297]

Rocking that beard

[@ABMultimediaDesigner]

People need to watch this before talking bad on Ncuti or Jodie or whoever that parts the Doctor

[@costelinha1867]

Indeed. And here's the fun part, Troughton wasn't the only one who teased the idea of a female doctor, I think there was a producer during the Tom Baker era who did as well? But I know he wasn't the only one.

[@The-Cosmic-Hobo]

@@costelinha1867 Tom Baker himself publicly suggested that a female could replace him. I believe it was the first time it had been suggested - so, circa 1980. The above interview I suspect was close to Patrick's death in 87... I've not actually seen that footage before - it's great to hear him speak to candidly about the idea.

[@joanguimaraescastro]

No, no. Patrick Troughton would have also disliked the way the show is being made and managed nowadays since the Jodie's era. It's a shame. THIS IS NOT THE DOCTOR.

[@The-Cosmic-Hobo]

@@joanguimaraescastro Patrick would be vehemently defending the decision to cast a woman, and applauding the "wokeness" of the show, as some selfish people like to call it.

[@Benjiesbeenbetter.]

​@@The-Cosmic-HoboWhen Tom Baker was announcing his departure at a press conference, he decided on the spur of the moment to wish well to his successir "whoever he ir she may be". There had never been discussion of a female Doctor until then. Afterwards, though, every time an actor left the show, hacks would write newspaper articles about how it was time we had a female Doctor.

[@KingofPotatoPeople]

How interesting that Troughton naturally switches to ‘they’ when referring to the Doctor.

[@MaskedMan66]

Because he said "Doctors." He was deliberately using a plural.

[@KingofPotatoPeople]

@@MaskedMan66 well, yes. That's the whole point.

[@MaskedMan66]

@@KingofPotatoPeople No, not remotely. Troughton was talking about the different personalities, and also himself and his fellow actors.

[@gooper3644]

As someone who’s just gotten into some second Doctor stories watching the old stuff, it’s great to see that the actor behind the character was so kind and ahead of his time. Loving his performance so far, although I’m only halfway through the underwater menace so haven’t seen much yet.

[@The-Cosmic-Hobo]

Oh you've got some amazing stories to come! Pat is my fave...

[@Willy_Fisher]

He’s swiftly becoming my favourite doctor. It’s a crying shame so many of his episodes are missing their visuals with how brilliant of an actor he is. Everyone since him has just been doing their best Troughton impression.

[@The-Cosmic-Hobo]

@@Willy_Fisher Matt Smith is absolutely this - inspired by Tombs of the Cyberman and bringing a lot of the 2nd Doctor into his performance. I appreciate Matt more and more as I get older... much as my appreciation for Troughton grew, too (though - largely that's because when I was a kid, so little of his material was available!)

[@Discrimination_is_not_a_right]

Wow, he's so dignified in this clip.

[@PurpleRotations]

man, he had soo much carisma. Also he knew how and when to use "they" as a singular to refer to an individual such as the doctor.

[@the.youtube.of.sam.gotter]

I hate to break it to you, but he said "Doctors"

[@CaptainScarLeg]

"The Doctors could change, that they could transmogrify" - Pretty sure he's using "they" to refer to multiple Doctors, rather than referring to the singular character here, and then shortly after he's more referring to Timelords as a species. Still, it's nice to hear that even the second Doctor saw no reason why The Doctor couldn't regenerate in any number of ways. Also, "transmogrify" is such a great word and a perfect descriptor for regeneration. "Transmogrify: transform in a surprising or magical manner."

[@CineMadame]

Thanks for this.

[@blackmoreinc]

Any idea what year this is from? Just curious. Love Troughton and would love to see the full interview :)

[@MaskedMan66]

1986.

[@danieldunn1469]

Truly based

[@dylerturden8018]

Wonderful bloke

[@alexhodgkinson6718]

My second favourite Doctor! More forward thinking and logically minded than half of today's population :)

[@MaskedMan66]

According to whose definition of "logic?"

[@alexhodgkinson6718]

Michael McGrath There's no reason not to have one. That's why this is logical and forward thinking. Troughton got it. Nine of the Doctors have stated that they want it and the creator wanted it in the 80s. None of the arguments against have any logical backing. Traditionalists serve no place with Who, as Who has always, constantly broke tradition to break new ground and try new things. There's never been a stable piece of lore to follow, as it constantly changes and adapts. It's forward thinking to be fine with it because anyone who isn't sexist knows that anything a man can do, a woman can, and that there be no difference between a male Doctor and a female Doctor. None at all. Nothing would change. That's why the complaining is illogical and stupid.

[@MaskedMan66]

+Alex Hodgkinson "Logical." Sure. "Forward thinking." Yeah, right. Those terms are frequently used by people who know they've got hold of a silly idea-- usually a "popular" idea with a very short shelf life-- and which they'd to shove down people's throats if they had the power. Where exactly is your "logical backing?"

[@soundacious]

Logic: a) The Doctor changes bodies. b) No in-story limit has been set on what kind of body The Doctor can possess at any given time. c) Many possible body types are female. ERGO d) The Doctor can regenerate into a female. Indeed, the same logic applies to all kinds of things, as Troughton was amused to point out.

[@alexhodgkinson6718]

MaskedMan66 My point was that YOU have no logical arguments

[@buhe1]

Timelords probably don't see race as in white, black and oriental, since the General not only reverted back to being a woman, but a black one.

[@TheCrippledEgg]

Timelord probably wouldn't place any significance on it. It wouldn't even be refereed to as "race". Skin color would just be another physical trait.

[@TheSkully343]

Time Lords are beyond our petty quarrels and issues. Even in death they view as little more than a minor setback.

[@MaskedMan66]

It's Time Lords, and they are sure to make some sort of delineations, if only for classification purposes. And it is true that K'anpo changed from an apparent Occidental to an apparent Oriental.

[@Joseph-uo3mx]

buhe1 they're like the British. We don't stigmatise people based on their race but their class. Or on galifrey their chapter.

[@DrPacman]

well not all people from galifray are time lords so it's more like an elite class if you are a time lord anyway so i doubt they would care

[@rodneysexton1034]

Patrick Troughton would be proud of this video!

[@d.j.p.g.b.9662]

Yes.....because its himself talking 🤣

[@sk8terboi188]

_”Timeless Child” take notes_

[@alexlazebat839]

that was based on moribus

[@costelinha1867]

Person: IT MAKES NO SENSE FOR THE DOCTOR TO BE A WOMAN, OR A BLACK PERSON! (Meanwhile an actor who actually played the Doctor literally contradicting him.)

[@Chapmike]

I bet they would label Patrick as "woke" if he was still alive and saying the same thing today.

[@The-Cosmic-Hobo]

Even when we saw Romana regenerate - she appeared in all kinds of sizes and colours and all sorts of things. (Which - considering we'd visited Gallifrey and it was mostly full of old white men... was a bit odd really.) The one thing they didn't try with the various options that Romana chose was a male...

[@lbricks7631]

"Yes Jamie, it is a big one. " Show this to those who moaned about a female Doctor.

[@joshuahughes5761]

3rd favourite doctor patrick troughton is, david tennant 1st and matt smith 2nd

[@tobiasvaughn1601]

Great clip. Anyone know it's origin and if the whole interview is up somewhere?

[@dogblessamerica]

Apparently Patrick actually considered blacking up for his portrayal, but luckily decided against it. But if we're honest, there's no iron clad reason why regeneration should always result in a white, male doctor

[@costelinha1867]

Yeah, even some actors and producers seem to agree, and honestly, the possibility of The Doctor changing gender or skin colour only adds to the whole idea of regeneration where you never know what the new Doctor will look like.

[@Jordan3DS]

I think people would have accepted it more if the Doctor changed sex or race back in the 70s or 80s. The problem is that after every regeneration was a white guy, it basically created a rule in the lore that that regeneration can't change your gender or race. Otherwise, how would he have regenerated so many times in a row without ever changing? So when they suddenly go like "the Doctor is a woman now, and now he's black!" it comes off as the creators not taking the franchise seriously because they contradict lore that's been established for 50 years. They really should have just made a spinoff show featuring a female Time Lord and a black Time Lord, that way there wouldn't be any controversy or destruction of the series canon.

[@spooks2086]

They're aliens it doesn't matter

[@64oil65]

​@@Jordan3DSI seriously want to know what destruction of canon you see here? A change of skin colour was shown in the 70s multiple times with regenerations. And gender change was referenced multiple times since the revival, and was clearly an idea that had been floated or somewhat accepted by the time of this clip, which would have to be by the 80s.

[@Jordan3DS]

​@@64oil65 Was it? I don't recall that. But if that's true, then you're right It just feels weird when the Doctor regenerates as a white man over a dozen times, then suddenly becomes a woman THEN becomes black back to back. Statistically and logically, it just makes little sense. I have no problem with the idea of female time lords or time lords of any or all races, but it just feels forced and illogical with how they handled it with the Doctor specifically. Plus, it doesn't help that Jodie's tenure as the Doctor had so many continuity fuck ups that it felt like the writers genuinely didn't care about the series at all. Also, I like your Fuuka PFP!

[@spoonfedtwice9171]

even he, a classic doctor, says the doctor can be female!

[@MaskedMan66]

And others say otherwise; Hartnell most certainly would not have said so.

[@landfish7a]

@MaskedMan66 You really can't know that. The only Doctor with any confirmed hesitations towards there being a female Doctor is Peter Davison and he hasn't even been totally opposed to it, he just feels like young boys are losing a male role model, which to me is a bit of a weak argument anyway since there are so many good role models for boys, and so few for girls.

[@MaskedMan66]

+Taylor Fish Of course I can know that; Hartnell was an old world type with some very fixed ideas. And girls have tons of role models from Dorothy Gale to Merida; there is no sensible reason in the world that a male character has to be co-opted to add to the ranks upon ranks of strong female characters in fiction.

[@MondySpartan]

Sydney Newman, the creator of the show itself, also considered the idea of the Doctor being female

[@MaskedMan66]

+TehMondasianSpartan Yeah, right, as revealed in an alleged letter from him which JUST HAPPENS to have surfaced recently. How convenient.

[@lionqueen2975]

41 seconds of memoirs and sadnes

[@doctorwhoproductions834]

I was a little against a female at the start but watching my favourite ever doctor saying its fine to accept a female doctor just completely changed my mind

[@pastorbri]

yet now it happened we see why it was a bad idea

[@Hhhhhh-sz9ud]

@@pastorbri no? There was just a bad showrunner.

[@pastorbri]

@@Hhhhhh-sz9ud that and it was a bad idea.

[@hexogramd8430]

@@pastorbri it could have been good with good writing, I’m preordering any big finish audio Jodie ends up doing when it’s inevitably announced. She’s definitely going to get the 6th Doctor treatment in audio I don’t doubt it. People later on will be talking about chibnal the same way we talk about JNT and how much she was wasted like Collin. Her lackluster performance can be blamed entirely on bad writing and bad directing, as someone who’s seen her in other roles I know she could have been incredible. I also am someone who really enjoyed Michelle Gomez as the master and don’t really care about gender or race. Story IMO is all that matter the doctor could be 3 headed and I’d still watch.

[@pastorbri]

@@hexogramd8430 well it won't sell and I think BF know this......It odd you don't care about gender swapping, can we have a man as wonder woman too? The ratings prove chibbs has damaged this franchise, most have tuned off......the master can take over bodies so it was feasable he can change gender, not the dr.

[@AceOfHeartz4]

my only coment is this, anyone trying to say he has no clue? this is the second doctor. the man who made the doctor the hero. before you ever assume you know best, this man was the guy onscreen. so do everyone a favor and shut up. thank you patrick for your wisdom.

[@thesoundunit]

Dont want to be picky but doesnt he mean 'Timelords' or Galifreyans, can indeed ALL Galifreyans regenerate or only the 'Timelord' type, when he refers to 'the doctors' ?

[@caitlin329]

I know this is old now but- generally 'Time Lord' became used to generically mean 'people from Gallifrey'.

[@ender7278]

He has a beard!

[@MaskedMan66]

He wore a beard many times in his life.

[@ssp6186]

He grew a beard when he was out of work, so you can tell how long he has been out of work by the length of his beard.

[@MaskedMan66]

+Space Shark Productions Actually, especially when the actor is British, a beard usually means he's grown it for a role; in Troughton"s case, this might have been around the time he played Cole Hawlings in "The Box of Dewlights."

[@ssp6186]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWKoYpqdbtuZnrs

[@meduiosino5600]

A very nice one too!

[@DaveTravelsthroughTime]

I wonder what Jon pertwee his view on a female doctor and William Hartnell what his opinion would be.

[@pikaplayzhd595]

I'm sure they would've been absolutely thrilled!

[@DaveTravelsthroughTime]

PikaPlayzHD hey like you should check out my channel I do some seventh doctor and first doctor impressions in them.

[@Fitzroyfallz]

I seem to remember somewhere Jon Pertwee speaking positively on the idea

[@pastorbri]

@@pikaplayzhd595 Jon was against it.

[@gooper3644]

Not everyone can be ahead of their time like Troughton, so even if they were against it (which they quite possibly would’ve been) I wouldn’t hold it against them. People today with a problem with it are another topic. It isn’t the 1960s or 70s anymore so I have no idea what their excuse is.

[@bettyblue1986]

But... but... SJWs!

[@Discrimination_is_not_a_right]

0:15 Except now we've had black Time Lords in the series. So the Doctor could eventually be black.

[@HazarTulum]

I think he was more referring to the fact that Time Lords don't see race as we do. They're aliens who can change what they look like 12 times, changing the colour of their skin isn't as big of a deal on Gallifrey as it is with us

[@salmonmammaries4485]

I think he meant race as in species, like the doctor regenerated into a hamster or a silurian.

[@YasonYou]

@@salmonmammaries4485 Don't be silly. Nobody thinks Timelords can regenerated into a different species.

[@bobtahoma]

Dr Who. Going “woke” for over 60 years 😂 Turns out it’s been woke along. No shit.

[@AlinaAniretake]

I want a full season of Doctor being regenerated into anything but human, with that being the cannon, to be honest Imagine, the doctor regenerating as a Lizard man, or as any other Humanoid creature.

[@malaikaarif1629]

The 293

[@twisted1801]

R u elflie

[@johngurnhill8743]

Most of Time traveled seeing the future of a Female Doctor Jodie is amazing choice

[@pastorbri]

not when we look at the ratings its not.

[@TeamTheme]

@@pastorbrior the bad acting by jodie

[@pastorbri]

@@TeamTheme her bad acting was not the issue but it was bad

[@TeamTheme]

@@pastorbri bad acting + bad script = shit show

[@leonconnelly5303]

Michelle gomez was great as the master, the 13th doctor sucked but that's cause of the writing

[@WilliamZeebub]

yeh, good point... must remember to put tampons in the tardis toilet

[@rockysandman5489]

Maybe Time Ladies don't have the same biological burdens as human females.

[@Jay-vb9ff]

Lol Timelords have two hearts. Thanks for the reminder sexist blindo

[@scottianson5133]

Gender and race has never been an issue with me. The quality of the writing is.

[@teamicecream9015]

Okay? If your apparent dislike of the current show has nothing to do with gender or race then why bring it up on a video not talking about the current show and only talking about gender and race.

[@MrsDoyle92]

Phew….was not sure what where he was going with that when he mentioned race

[@gooper3644]

I mean, he didn’t back down from it, just commented that race was the wrong word to use in this context since they’re aliens. He’s still very much supporting the idea of different races playing the Doctor.

[@markc8786]

Makes the suggestions of other doctors then starts laughing, guess he wasn't too serious about it afterall.

[@caitlin329]

He was laughing at his joke about the potential for multiples of other things (thus leading to him forgetting the question)

[@pastorbri]

@@caitlin329 but it was a daft idea, so it was funny.

[@costelinha1867]

Did you know? That just because someone's laughing, doesn't necessarely mean they're joking?

[@arutlit62]

Sorry but you seem to be coping, he clearly means what he’s saying

[@gooper3644]

That’s some serious cope, he’s laughing at his joke about them having multiple other organs other than hearts (likely alluding to genitals). He’s still being quite serious about the casting part. Sorry to disappoint, but the time traveling alien who commonly opposes hate isn’t bigoted like you, and neither are most of the actors who portray them.

[@MrPaulmorris7777]

The man is clearly drunk!

[@MrPaulmorris7777]

You have no sense of humour!

[@Jay-vb9ff]

And you a weird one

[@Fitzroyfallz]

He always had sense of humour, not just when drunk!

[@CarlB_1962]

Paul Charles Morris Nonsense.

[@12daleks]

Yet jon pertwee call it utterly ridiculous.

[@gooper3644]

Wow, two people had different opinions? That’s crazy!

[@UnchainedEruption]

All the sjw’s see this and go “Aha! You see, this means a classic Doctor supports the female Doctor!” Hold on, listen to what he said. He said there’s no limit to how many Doctors or the gender. Now we know that’s demonstrably not true because there’s an explicit rule of 12 regenerations. There’s an implicit rule that time lords don’t change genders too, at least there was before Steven Moffat took over. So Patrick Troughton isn’t exactly the best authority figure on this subject because his only idea of the character is based on what was established during his era, and yes based on that infinite Doctors and female Doctors would be permissible. But the rules preventing those were established much after his era, so he wouldn’t know of them. So saying that Patrick Troughton supports a female Doctor is really misleading because he’s only interpreting the character based on part of the show’s lore which isn’t representative of the show as a whole.

[@pjgs4933]

Hasn't that "explicit rule of 12 regenerations." already been surpassed? The show always changes, and always will. This is just a bigger change than usual.

[@UnchainedEruption]

It has technically, but Moffat didn't really explain it very well. I mean c'mon, if it were that easy to overwrite a rule of Timelord biology, why wouldn't other members of the high council or other Timelords use that extra energy and sustain their lives indefinitely? Why is the Doctor special? Just the whole way he brought back Gallifrey was so poorly handled in general, really. No, the show is not about change. I've watched every episode in order, and I can assure you, it is most certainly not about change. Change has happened some times in terms of tone or style, but only because different producers/showrunners have different ideas on how to handle the show, so change happens naturally because of that, not because it's forced for the sake of change. Even then, change isn't always for the better. The Hinchecliffe era was worse than the Barry Letts era, and the Graham Williams era was much, much worse than both of those. In 1984 the show changed its format for Season 22, and that didn't work out. Change to Colin Baker's title sequence wasn't an improvement. You get the idea. Change is just that. It is not inherently good or bad. Stop acting like change is this secret to immortality that magically makes everything better. You can't say something is good or not just because it's different from what came before. It has to be judged on its own merits.

[@pjgs4933]

If Hartnell had never changed into Troughton, then Doctor Who wouldn't be the same show that it is today. The show may not be about change, but it is propelled forward by it. Change is what allows Doctor Who to continue. Obviously, you can't really judge a change before having seen it, but I'm optimistic about Chibnall and Whittaker. Why can't a woman play the role of a form changing alien with two hearts? Likewise, would there be a problem if an actor of color took on the role?

[@rockysandman5489]

What is this implicit rule that Time Lords don't change genders? Provide the name of the serial/story and specific episode where this happens, and a quote that verifies this. In other words, evidence or GTFO. And it seems like you don't understand the rule about twelve regenerations either. It's a rule that was set by Rassilon himself, that Time Lords get the amount of energy sufficient for approximately twelve regenerations at most at a given set. This means Time Lords definitely COULD get far more, it's not a biological restriction but a legal one. Time Lords simply abided by the rules, possibly since they wouldn't be able to get extra regeneration energy anyway - it's probably locked away somewhere and protected in some energy storage unit. And the Doctor, just so happened to be given a grant for a second set, a permission - as well as a proper transfer of the energy sufficient for a set of regenerations.

[@UnchainedEruption]

RockySandman Evidently you don't know the definition of implicit. Explicit means it is plainly stated. Implicit means it's unstated, but it's a rule that is very much implied nonetheless. Look at the episode "Brain of Morbius" where we see Morbius' past lives. He was a male in every regeneration. Look at Romana: she was a female in both regenerations that we see. Look at the Kastellan. Look at Lord President Borusa. Look at the Master's two incarnations. Never have we once seen it happen that a Timelord can change gender, yet we have seen tons of examples of them staying the same one each time they regenerate. Additionally, let us consider from a mathematical perspective the implications of the rule: if indeed Timelords can change gender and do so all the time, then it would be extremely unlikely for something like say, 14 male bodies in a row for the Doctor to happen just by chance. (0.5)^14 is a very small number. It doesn't make any sense that every single Timelord we've ever seen just happened to be the same gender in all their regenerations just by mere chance. Don't you think if it were an established rule that they can change that we would've seen it happen from the very beginning? The whole reason a female Doctor or female Master elicits such outrage from fans is BECAUSE it runs straight in contradiction to what the show established. If they don't show us a gender swap ever, it implies that it simply can't happen, because as I said it's very unlikely to just happen by chance.