“Doctor, I’m in trouble... ”

Seen: 16th / 23rd February and 2 March 1985.

The Long Way Round

In his introduction to the novelisation of The Two Doctors, its producer John Nathan-Turner admitted that he had “no special anniversary in mind” when inviting Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines to return to Doctor Who and guest star alongside Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant. Whereas The Three Doctors had opened Doctor Who’s tenth series, and The Five Doctors marked the show’s twentieth anniversary, The Two Doctors was simply the result of Nathan-Turner observing the camaraderie between Troughton and Hines during their single scene together in The Five Doctors, and his willingness to take at face value the pair’s spoken declarations in the BBC Club that they would jump at the chance to return again at any opportunity.