DOCTOR WHO INDULGED MY PASSION FOR CLOWNING by Patrick Troughton It now seems so long ago that I played the part of the Doctor that there is really very little I can add to what has already been written. And, of course, I've played so many different parts in the last forty years. How did I feel about taking on the role? To begin with, I thought it would last about six weeks after Billy Hartnell had finished. My children and I had been fans of the programme and I loved the way he had played the Doctor. But I knew I couldn't possibly do it like that. At one point in my discussions with the producer, he was going to become an old-fashioned wind-jammer captain - imagine the problems that would have caused in space! I even suggested he might be blacked up and turned into something out of Arabian Nights! However, my contribution lasted three years as it turned out - and that was a show every Saturday each year, except for August. They only do a few each year now. So it was very hard work. Nevertheless, it was the happiest time of my professional life- except perhaps for one play which I've just done with Gwen Watford on BBS TV. Doctor Who gave me a chance to indulge my passion for dressing up and being able to have some sly fun as well as a bit of clowning. It also gave me great pleasure coming into contact with children, for if I had not been an actor I would quite like to have been a teacher. Children keep one young. I believed totally in the possibilities implied in the series. I never thought of it as fantasy. Far from it - it's all happening. I think space will be conquered through the mind rather than the clumsy medium of space travel. I have been asked what impact the part of the Doctor had on my career and I can honestly say none. For, luckily, I got out in time before I was too type-cast. And when I'm asked if I have any anecdotes of those years, I'm afraid to say that there are none that could be printed! Why has the programme proved such a continuing success? I think the simple answer to that is because new children keep on being born! Patrick Trougton October 1982 X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X Another file downloaded from: NIRVANAnet(tm) & the Temple of the Screaming Electron Jeff Hunter 510-935-5845 Rat Head Ratsnatcher 510-524-3649 Burn This Flag Zardoz 408-363-9766 realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 415-567-7043 Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 415-583-4102 Specializing in conversations, obscure information, high explosives, arcane knowledge, political extremism, diversive sexuality, insane speculation, and wild rumours. ALL-TEXT BBS SYSTEMS. Full access for first-time callers. We don't want to know who you are, where you live, or what your phone number is. We are not Big Brother. "Raw Data for Raw Nerves" X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X