Marco Polo finally brought the Doctor and his companions to meet the Mighty Kublai Khan today in 1964 - the penultimate episode of this story.
In 1970, The Ambassadors of Death moved on to its second episode.
Today we remember the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton. He passed away on this date in 1987.
He had been attending a convention in the USA, just a couple of days after his 67th birthday, when he suffered a fatal heart attack. He was found in his hotel room still wearing his Doctor costume.
Initially reluctant to take over from William Hartnell, he was working on a Hammer film in Ireland when the BBC began courting him. He featured in several films for the horror studio.
A complicated home life, involving more than one family, led him to accept the role as Second Doctor due to the financial security it would bring.
His first story was The Power of the Daleks in 1966, early in Season 4.
He tended to shun publicity, only really getting involved with this aspect of the role long after he left.
His final story was The War Games, in 1969. He had been unhappy for a while as the programme offered little time off, and he was starting to dislike the scripts. He agreed to return to the show in 1973 for the 10th Anniversary season story The Three Doctors. He was back again in 1983 for the 20th Anniversary and The Five Doctors. Peter Davison's departure from the role came about partly because Troughton had advised him to only do three years as he had done. Troughton enjoyed this last story so much, during which he was briefly reunited with Frazer Hines as Jamie, that he spoke to producer JNT about a further comeback. This saw light as The Two Doctors, in 1985.
A consummate character actor, Troughton never suffered from any of the typecasting which befell other stars of the show. He went straight into a production of The Six Wives of Henry VIII, and later appeared in TV series and films as diverse as Inspector Morse (the first ever episode) and The Omen. As well as a number of Hammer films, he featured in a couple of Ray Harryhausen movies - Jason and the Argonauts and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.
One of his last big roles was in the family drama The Box of Delights.
Two of his sons - David and Michael - have appeared in Doctor Who.
A couple of birthdays of note today:
Morris Perry, who played Captain Dent in Colony In Space, is 97.
Gareth David-Lloyd - Torchwood's Ianto Jones - turns 41.
Recent guest artists Orla Brady (Time of the Doctor) is 61, and Nick Frost (Last Christmas) is 50.
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