There are far fewer “Billy fluffs” than you might expect
Although some examples of William Hartnell falling over his lines are notorious, there are far fewer than you may imagine. Considering the pace at which he was working, memorising huge chunks of often-complex dialogue, his performance is pretty sturdy on the whole. Patrick Troughton, who was much younger when he succeeded Hartnell to the part, has his fair share of fluffs too, yet his aren’t nearly so well-celebrated. Perhaps because Troughton was much more willing to improvise lines and recover when he made mistakes, they are less obvious.
