Tag: Patrick Troughton

Five Run Away Together

The Famous Five: Five Run Away Together dir. James Gatward; adapted by Gail Renard (ITV, 1979) The character interactions are stilted and the story is heavily abridged. However, this is the one episode of the 1970s Famous Five adaptation worth sitting through—for Patrick Troughton’s comparative masterclass as the understated yet commanding, henpecked yet still villainous Mr Stick.    

The Black Archive #40: The Underwater Menace

The Black Archive #40: The Underwater Menace by James Cooray Smith (Obverse Books, 2020) An intelligent and impeccably researched reappraisal of the somewhat maligned Patrick Troughton story. Cooray Smith not only considers the production on its merits but also takes into account the historical circumstances behind its coming to lodge unfavourably in Doctor Who fan consciousness.    

Doctor Who: Fury From the Deep

Doctor Who: Fury From the Deep by Victor Pemberton; dir. Hugh David (BBC, 1968/2020) This lost story always had good wraps—a tightly written, claustrophobic six-parter bolstered by Dudley Simpson’s tense score (and a resolution that validates the screaming companion!). Its rebirth in animated form makes for a welcome addition, albeit that Troughton remains quintessentially inimitable.