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It was towards the end of the Doctor's first battle against the dreaded silver Cybermen that the Time Lord collapsed, seemingly from exhaustion. 'This old body of mine is wearing a bit thin,' he muttered before stumbling back to the TARDIS where, before the amazed eyes of his two companions, Ben and Polly, his face blurred and changed, the elderly features giving way to those of a far younger man.
The second incarnation of the Doctor came as much a shock to his companions as to the viewing audience. Gone was the elderly and dignified statesman and in came a clownish, unpredictable figure with a sense of the absurd about him. 'What have you done to BBC1's Dr.Who,' cried Mrs Estelle Hawken in the Radio Times. 'Of all the stupid nonsense! Why turn a wonderful series into what looked like Coco the Clown?' However this was perhaps a minority view and before long the BBC's listings magazine was printing letters of praise.
The second Doctor could be impish, fun-loving and devious, always ready to pull out a recorder and tootle a tune, or to act the idiot in order to gain the upper hand against his enemies. Appearances can be deceptive, however, and the Doctor's skill with words and manipulation was still very much in evidence. This Doctor actively encouraged his foes to underestimate him and played this card to his greatest advantage.
He was also a master impersonator, and loved dressing in a number of disguises over the course of his adventures. These included an old washerwoman, a Redcoat, various soldiers, army officials and indeed any persona that would allow him to continue his fight against evil. As he said to his friends during a battle against the Cybermen on the Moon, 'There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things They must be fought.' 1998 David J Howe
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