Currently watching 6th season of the Classic Who for the first time and can't stop thinking about how great Second Doctor is. I adore William Hartnell and pesronal arc of the First Doctor, how he learnt from companions and became a better person by the end of his era, but Patrick Troughton has had more influence on the character than I could possibly imagine.

I've often read about how great Jon Pertwee is and of course everyone knows that Tom Baker is a massive figure for the classic show, but so many things have happened for the first time in the history of show and were executed brilliantly during Troughton’s era. I would even go as far as suggest that in many ways he invented the character that we know and love today. His mannerisms and vibe without a doubt have had a massive influence on every actor who played Doctor since him. Before I've started watching his era I used to think that he was kind of clumsy and childish judging from descriptions, and yes, he can be that, but there is so much more to his version of character, that has become vital for character since this era regardless of who is playing the Doctor. He can be manipulative, but also caring and sincere to his companions, he often seems to be ingratiating with villains, but when the time comes he can also be harsh and even do terrible things to bad creatures. I think Troughton managed to capture moral ambiguity of the Doctor with great accuracy.

I used to imagine that first two eras would be something like mandatory and not very fun viewing considering how many episodes are missing and how TV has changed since then, but I couldn't have been more wrong. As someone who adores NuWho and whose all round favorite is 12, I now have to admit that Second Doctor era is in many ways defining for the show, that many episodes now still look fresh and adventurous even though they were shot more than 50 years ago. The only downside could have been companions as I'm not a huge fan of Polly, Ben or Zoe. But Doctor's relationship with Jamie are so wholesome and deep even by the standards of NuWho that I can't complain about this aspect, and overall Doctor, Jamie and Victoria might be one of my favorite Tardis teams. I would probably recommend to anyone who has doubts about watching first two eras to try for themselves, because my expirience of Doctor Who definitely wouldn't be complete without William Hartnell and especially Patrick Troughton eras.