Why was the 2nd Doctor so well regarded?

[The Thinker]

Patrick Troughton, a fine Doctor in my opinion. Here we can discuss the Highs and Lows and such of his era.

Patrick Troughton: 1920- 1987.

The 2nd Doctor just happens to be my second favourite. In my opinion his best story was 'The Evil of the Daleks', of that episodes 1, 3-7 are gone but not forgotten, like Troughton is. His worst story in my opinion was 'The Underwater Menace', it was silly, absurd, frivolous and ridiculous. Why Joseph Furst took the part I shall never know.
However 'The Tomb of the Cybermen' is a classic, beaten to my top three Troughton stories list by 'The Evil of the Daleks', 'The Web of Fear' and 'The Power of the Daleks'. It's things like that which improve a person's image. Good stories were what Patrick Troughton was blessed with, and what Colin Baker needed more of.

[sontaran]

Hi there .. I loved Troughton's Doctor without ever quite knowing why. He had that marvellously expressive face and voice, could once in a while look a bit scary in B/W, but there was a zest and joy in his performance which shone through, especially when matched up with Jamie. People say how good Ace and Dr. 7 were together, but I love Jamie and the 2nd Doc even more! They just played so well together, and were great, popular characters. His Doctor was mostly full of warmth, and many of his stories were superlative, with terrific creature designs (I may be in a minority, but I choose to think Who isn't just about monsters, it can be about alien beings or creatures; they don't always have to be monsters, you know!)
The Yeti, the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Ice Warriors, Quarks, even the Servo Robot (!), the scary Weed Creature, the twist at the end of The War Games: all added up to a rich text, a pot-pourri of tales and adventures! Seasons 4 and 5 were among the very best. What a pity the full tapes are gone, yet thank heaven we have the audios and telesnaps, and hooray for the reconstructions! Wouldn't it be something, if Loose Cannon or the BBC actually went and colourised the recons for Troughton and Hartnell; linked to the great restored soundtracks, this otherwise "lost" Who could be made as good as possible, for posterity..
Troughton was my favourite Doctor until Tom Baker came along; overall though, I think I still prefer those wonderful Troughton stories and adventures .. Hinchcliffe's 3 seasons came very close though!

[Eryx]

I've heard it said that he was a great character actor and thats why his portrayal of the Doctor was so loved after Hartnell's grumpy old uncle.

I've not seen many of Troughton's stories but he certainly has the charm come through that makes his Doctor as memorable as he is.

[Dominic Smith]

I think he was so well regarded because of his complete difference to William Hartnell who had played the part before him; he was generally a much warmer character the audience could relate to, whereas Hartnell portrayed the character with an almost dislikable touch sometimes. I happen to think that was a nice touch but I can see why the audience may not have thought so.

His real talent was his versatility, his wonderful ability to be cheeky in a disarming way and switch from very light-hearted to very serious with great ease. He was really one of the finest actors to have worked on the series; he could turn his hand to pretty much anything as his portfolio of work shows.

[Ice Warrior]

I find that the simple fact that Troughton was more nimble that Hartnell helped his character greatly. You would never see the 1st Doctor run away from a situation as the 2nd would. Also his re-appearances after his regeneration gave him a more colourful image

[The Thinker]

I think 'The Tomb of the Cybermen' helped things a bit as far a Troughton's popularity is concerned.

[The Valeyard]

He was such a change from William Hartnell. With so much of his material gone, there is a certain amount of romance about his era. Also, Troughton was probably the best actor to play Who. People forget Troughton was a character actor before he became the 2nd doctor.

[Nytik]

The episode I saw first with him in, was, I believe, The Two Doctors. He was brilliant in that.