After Doctor Who, like before, he took on many memorable roles and, to him, Doctor Who was just one in a long line. In 1983, while shooting ‘The Five Doctors’ on location in Wales, producer John Nathan-Turner and former Doctor Who Jon Pertwee spent some time convincing Troughton to attend the special 20th anniversary convention at Longleat, as Nathan-Turner remembered, ‘Jon Pertwee and I persuaded him to do it… And then he did cartwheels to get out of it… And [eventually] he said, “I’m not going to get out of this, am I?” and I said, “No!”’
It is important to note that Troughton and Pertwee were very fond of each other, as Pertwee was very keen to point out, ‘We are tremendously fond of each other, but we made out we didn’t get along at conventions because Pat’s Doctor and mine didn’t get on in “The Three Doctors”. So it was all an act!’ And a fine one too, causing all sorts of fun banter.
As soon as Pertwee had taken over the Tardis reins in 1970, Troughton was already working hard on another major project, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, playing the role of Norfolk. This re-established him in serious character roles, although he would continue to enjoy other genre roles in horror and fantasy, such as Father Brennan, the tortured priest in The Omen (1976). This was a tremendous role for Troughton, allowing him to adopt an Irish accent and pester Gregory Peck to murder his adopted son, who just happened to be the spawn of the Devil.
The Omen remains one of the greatest horror movies to this day, but, in fact, it is a typical thriller with such quality thriller actors as Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner and Billie Whitelaw.
Billie Whitelaw was terrifying in the movie and proved that the most evil person was the one who looked normal. But Troughton didn’t look that normal in the movie. He had to play a desperate priest, a man with terminal cancer who papered the walls of his home with pages of the Bible and was desperate to tell Peck and Remick the truth about their son Damien. His thick Irish accent, his deathly pale features, his inner frustration and desperation to be heard – his inner turmoil – make Troughton’s role a truly memorable one in the film, and his death scene is one of the most iconic in horror-movie history. Couple that with a haunting score by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith, and you have cinema history that is impossible to remake with any credit. Troughton had worked with Billie Whitelaw before in an episode of Espionage (1963), called ‘He Rises on Sunday and We on Monday’.
After The Omen, Troughton took a part in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977), one of Ray Harryhausen’s last stopmotion movies. Troughton played the part of the wise man Melanthius. He had, of course, played the part of the blind man, Phineas, in Harryhausen’s classic Jason and the Argonauts (1963) before Doctor Who, so he was not offered such parts because of his connection with the show. Indeed, he played alongside Christopher Lee in two Hammer Horror classics The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Scars of Dracula (1970) (playing the small roles of Kurt and Klove respectively); so the role of the Doctor had no ill effect on his career at all. Troughton could still take on small, interesting roles like any other jobbing character actor.
Returning to Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger: despite being a Harryhausen movie, the film was quite poor. It was the fourth Sinbad movie and it was clear that ideas were no longer plentiful. The over-dubbing in the film was annoying to begin with, and Harryhausen’s bony demons were a poor copy of his killer skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts over 15 years previously.
Jane Seymour is the obligatory gorgeous love interest, just as Caroline Munro was in the previous Sinbad film, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, which starred Tom Baker (see Chapter Five). That said, the wicked Zenobia (Margaret Whiting), is an unconvincing counterpart to Tom Baker’s wizard in the previous film, who physically ages due to her deals with demons and the prince of darkness.
Although Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger gave the appearance of being more expensive in budget than its predecessors, it was an unimaginative story that walked down tried and proven pathways with little additional imagination. So what of Patrick Troughton’s performance?
Troughton had taken part in the iconic Jason and the Argonauts, albeit in a smaller way, and so was an inspired piece of casting for this latter movie, because there were some pretty poor choices of actor for other parts.
As Melanthius the wise man, Troughton lives in a dead city on a desert island with his daughter. He starts off cantankerous and vain, but manages to muster a sense of wonder and amazement that brings a whole new dimension to the movie, albeit a third of the way through it.
While most of the cast try to dazzle the audience with their stunning good looks, Troughton settles down behind his big bushy grey beard with an ever-building sense of humour (which must have been as contagious off camera as on). One can probably see a little of the Doctor in his character, especially when an experiment he is conducting goes wrong and explodes (to his immense joy).
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger is Sunday-afternoon family fodder to this day; it’s just a little lazy in its creativity in comparison to other movies in the Sinbad series, and especially the Harryhausen canon.
Troughton’s love of popping in and out of familiar roles is clearly shown in his strong ties to two particular novels of Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped and Treasure Island. Despite being in the classic Disney movie in 1950, Troughton returned to Treasure Island in 1977, where he played a very convincing Israel Hands in the TV series. His portrayal of the infamous swashbuckler Alan Breck in 1952 and 1956 in TV versions of Kidnapped were mentioned as career highlights by Troughton shortly before his death in the 1980s. There were some stories Troughton revisited throughout his career, Robin Hood being another one and, of course, Doctor Who, which he returned to three times.
Troughton enjoyed dabbling. He even dabbled in the soaps, taking a role in the longest-running one of the lot, Coronation Street, playing the part of George Barton in 1974. So his character actor status was fully appreciated by all sorts of casting directors, not just those associated with action and fantasy. Troughton was an accomplished character actor and Doctor Who did not tarnish that in any way.
Despite severe heart attacks (in 1978 and 1984), Troughton continued to work hard, taking on cameo roles in All Creatures Great and Small (opposite future Doctor Who Peter Davison in an episode entitled ‘Hair of the Dog’), Minder and The Two Ronnies 1984 Christmas Special. He took a more permanent role in TV sitcom The Two of Us with Nicholas Lyndhurst in 1986 (on a rowing machine in one particular scene!). He was also the first person ever to be murdered in Inspector Morse (George Jackson in the very first story ‘The Dead of Jericho’) in 1987. Troughton’s last performance was in the TV comedy Supergran also in 1987.
Patrick Troughton died on 28 March 1987, in Atlanta, USA. He was attending the Magnum Opus Con II in Columbus, Georgia. While taking part in the panel Q&A, he complained of feeling unwell and retired to his room. He suffered a fatal heart attack the following morning after ordering his breakfast and was found lying on the floor. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. He was 67.
When people discuss Troughton’s great roles, the part of the Doctor is always there, but his Quilp and Breck, even so long ago, are also considered classic performances, as is his portrayal of Cole Hawlings in the BBC six-part fantasy for children The Box of Delights. If we look at this role against that of Father Brennan in The Omen and then his roles in Coronation Street and Doctor Who, Troughton’s diversity and skill as a character actor is quickly showcased and appreciated.
Patrick Troughton was the quintessential British character actor, never staying in one place – or one role – for too long. Perhaps Doctor Who fans were initially upset by this, especially the way he would talk about his other roles with equal or more love, but they soon came to understand why Troughton was sometimes shy of public appearances and interviews. He didn’t want to