Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981, and for being the narrator of the comedy series Little Britain. He was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for his role as Rasputin in the 1971 film Nicholas and Alexandra.
Baker was born in Scotland Road, Liverpool, the son of Mary Jane (née Fleming), a cleaner, and John Stewart Baker, a sailor who was rarely at home. Baker was raised in a working class Catholic family who had a pet budgerigar called Herod. He left school at 15 to become a novice monk and remained in the monastic life for six years, but left after losing his faith, and did his National Service in the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving for two years from 1955 until 1957. At the same time he took up acting, at first as a hobby.
In 1971, Baker got his first big break with the role of Rasputin in the film Nicholas and Alexandra. He also appeared nude in Pier Paolo Pasolini's version of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (I Racconti di Canterbury), released in 1972, as a younger husband of the Wife of Bath.
In 1974, 40 year old Baker took on the role of the Doctor from Jon Pertwee. He was cast largely because of his performance in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Baker was working on a construction site at the time, as acting jobs were scarce. Initially he was dubbed "Boiler Suit Tom" by the media, as he had been supplied for a press conference with some old studio set clothes to replace his modest garments.
He quickly made the part his own. As the Doctor, his eccentric style of dress and speech — particularly his trademark long scarf and fondness for jelly babies — made him an immediately recognisable figure, and he quickly caught the viewing public's imagination. Baker played the Doctor for seven consecutive seasons over a seven-year period, making him the longest-serving actor in the part on-screen. Baker himself suggested many aspects of the Fourth Doctor's personality. The distinctive scarf came about by accident: James Acheson, the costume designer, had provided far more wool than was necessary to the knitter, Begonia Pope, and Ms. Pope knitted all the wool she was given; it was Baker who suggested that he wear the resulting — ridiculously overlong — scarf.
Tom Baker in his Dr Who costume during a parade in Sunderland in 1977.
In October, 1980, the BBC announced that Tom Baker was leaving Doctor Who at the end of the 1981 season. This was communicated to the public at a press conference on just before the transmission of Full Circle (Doctor Who). Baker's departure from Doctor Who was based partly on his feeling that he could not develop the Doctor any further, and partly on the (then) new producer of the show, John Nathan-Turner's, dislike of Baker's portrayal of the role.
The incarnation played by Baker is often regarded as the most popular of the Doctors. In polls conducted by Doctor Who Magazine, Baker has lost the "Best Doctor" category only twice: once to Sylvester McCoy in 1990, and once to David Tennant in 2006.
Tom Baker is not known to be directly related to Colin Baker, who played the Sixth Doctor in Doctor Who, nor to Bob Baker, the script-writer for many of the series' episodes.
Baker's sense of humour is like that of the character he played. When asked how he felt about having a star named after him, Baker quipped, "I'm over the moon!" In a poll published by BBC Homes and Antiques magazine in January 2006, Baker was voted the fourth most eccentric star. He was beaten by Björk, Chris Eubank and David Icke.
He continues to be associated with the Doctor, appearing on documentaries such as The Story of Doctor Who and Doctor Who Confidential and giving interviews about his time on the programme. Although he reappeared as the Doctor for the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time and audio for the PC game Destiny of the Doctors, he has, to date, declined to follow his successors and reprise the role for any of the audio dramas based upon the series, saying he hasn't seen a script he's liked. Baker has, however, filmed inserts for a video release of the unfinished Shada and also provided narration for several BBC audio releases of old Doctor Who stories. He does get interviewed often in documentaries on the extras of Doctor Who DVD releases from his era as the Doctor.
In a 2004 interview regarding the series' revival, Baker suggested that he be cast as the Master. In a 2006 interview with The Sun newspaper, he claims that he has not watched any episodes of the new series because he "just can't be bothered". In June 2006, Baker once again expressed interest in the role in a guest column for Radio Times, noting that he "did watch a little bit of the new Doctor Who and I think the new fella, Tennant, is excellent."
More recently Baker has been involved in the reading of old Target novelisations in the BBC Audio range of talking books, "Doctor Who (Classic Novels)". Doctor Who and the Giant Robot was the first release in the range read by Baker, released on 5 November 2007, followed by Baker reading Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius'(released 4 February 2008),Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit (released on 7 April 2008). and Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars Released on 14 August 2008).
Tom Baker is currently the oldest living actor to have played the Doctor, having taken over the title from Jon Pertwee upon the latter's death in 1996. Measuring 6'3 (190cm) he was the tallest actor to play the Doctor.
Recently, the online gossip column Lying in the Gutters claimed that Baker will make a return appearance in the fifth series of the new Doctor Who series in the year 2010, but in what capacity he will appear is unknown so far.
In 2001 Baker was cast as the narrator of Little Britain on BBC Radio 4, and remained in the role when it transferred to television. Baker has suggested that he was chosen for the part in Little Britain due to his popularity with Walliams and Lucas, part of the generation to whom he is the favourite Doctor. "I am now being employed by the children who grew up watching me" he said in a recent DVD commentary. His eccentric voice-overs include such comments as "The Conservative Party is my favourite political party, after Labour and the Lib Dems", and "If people in Britain want to buy a pet, they go to a pet shop. If they want to buy a pet shop, they go to a pet shop shop. If they want to buy a pet shop shop, then they're just being silly." During the end credits sequence of one programme, Baker suggested that Queen Elizabeth should "pop one out" during her next address of Parliament. On the Little Britain Abroad special he remarked " In Paris, Anne is paying a visit to the Louvre. At my age I'm up all night visiting the Louvre". Another trademark of Little Britain's narration is the deadpan quotation of old rap lyrics, usually in the opening credit sequence. Songs like Salt n Pepa's "Push It" and House of Pain's "Jump Around" have so far received the Tom Baker treatment.
On 17 November 2005, to mark the start of Series 3 of Little Britain, Baker read the continuity announcements on BBC One from 1900 to 2130 UTC. The scripts were written by the same writers as Little Britain (David Walliams and Matt Lucas) and Baker assumed his Little Britain persona. He used lines such as "Hello, tellyviewers. You're watching the BBC One!" and "In half an hour, Jenny Dickens's classic serial Bleak House. But first let's see what the poor people are up to in the first of two visits this evening to the EastEnders."
During the late 1970s, Baker appeared in four episodes of the BBC2 series Late Night Story and in each episode, read an eerie tale involving the theme of childhood. Episodes ran for fifteen minutes and were aired before the station closed for the night. One episode entitled Sredni Vashtar by Saki was scheduled to start the second series, but went unscreened due to a writer's strike.
In the 1980s, Baker played several character parts on television, including Captain Redbeard Rum in the Blackadder II episode "Potato", Sherlock Holmes in the 1982 BBC version of The Hound of the Baskervilles and Father Ferguson in the 1986 BBC adaptation of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil.
In 1984, he made a rare American television appearance when he played Interpol agent Anatole Blaylock in an episode of the series Remington Steele ("Hounded Steele"), which starred future James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan.
In 1990, he was cast in the role of Puddleglum in the BBC's production of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair. He starred alongside the likes of "Big Mick", Camilla Power, Patsy Byrne, Geoffrey Russell and Richard Henders.
In the 1990s, Baker starred as the Software Agent in Douglas Adams's futurology documentary Hyperland; played Professor Geoffrey Hoyt in Medics; and had a recurring role in the Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer revival of Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) as Wyvern, Hopkirk's mentor.
In 1992, Tom Baker played Professor Plum in the third series of the mystery game show, Cluedo.
He also appeared as a guest on the quiz show Have I Got News For You and was subsequently described by presenter Angus Deayton as the funniest guest in the show's history. According to the Daily Mirror, Baker's appearance made him a cult figure once again and helped revive his career.
In 2003 he appeared in the final episode of the Science fiction series Strange as a blind Vicar.
In 2004 and 2005, Baker appeared in the sixth and seventh series of the BBC drama Monarch of the Glen. He plays Donald MacDonald, an eccentric former race car champion who, having been away since early childhood, returns home after hearing of the death of his brother Hector (who was played by Richard Briers until his departure).
Baker played the role of the Captain in the Challenge version of Fort Boyard, and has also hosted the children's literature show The Book Tower.
He played Robert Baron in a guest role on the BBC's children's tv series The Secret Show.
The episode "Towards Zero" from the Marple series also stars Baker as Freddy Treves.
Baker appeared as Moore, an artist whose paintings are imbued with voodoo power, in The Vault of Horror (1973), the sequel to Tales from the Crypt (1972); as Koura, the villainous sorcerer, in Ray Harryhausen's The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973); and as Halvarth, the Elven healer, in Dungeons & Dragons (2000). In the late 1990s, it was reported that Baker was a candidate for the role of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films. Baker has since stated that he was only approached for "a role" in the film, and when told that it would mean spending months away in New Zealand, he turned down the offer.
Baker also appeared in the 1971 film Nicholas and Alexandra as the devout yet ultimately decadent and lecherous Grigori Rasputin. He was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for his performance, one for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and another for Best Newcomer.
Baker has appeared in various radio productions, including a role as "Britain's most celebrated criminal barrister", Sir Edward Marshall-Hall in John Mortimer Presents the Trials of Marshall Hall (1996), and a part in the 2001 BBC Radio 4 version of The Thirty-nine Steps as Sir Walter Bullivant. He guest starred in The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (a pastiche series written by Bert Coules) in the 2002 episode "The Saviour of Cripplegate Square".
From 2000 to 2005 Tom voiced the character Max Bear in the Channel 4 (UK) Max Bear Productions animated series. More recently, he voiced the role of the villain ZeeBad in the 2005 computer-animated film version of The Magic Roundabout.
He is the narrator of the new children's computer animation series The Beeps which is shown on Five's Milkshake! and the voice artist in the "Fords of Winsford" advert.
Baker voiced the spoken word part on the track "Witness To A Murder (Part 2)" on Mansun's second album Six.
Baker also returned to star as the Fourth Doctor in the video game Destiny of the Doctors in 1997. His voice has also featured in Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior (2003), Cold Winter (2005) and Little Britain: The Video Game (2007). Even though uncredited, Baker also narrates the epilogue to the video game Sudeki.
Baker's autobiography, Who on Earth is Tom Baker? (ISBN 0-00-638854-X), was published in 1997. He has also written a short fairytale-style novel titled The Boy Who Kicked Pigs (ISBN 0-571-19771-X), which is subtitled "A Grotesque Masterpiece".
Baker's first marriage in 1961 was to Anna Wheatcroft (niece of the rose grower Harry Wheatcroft). They had two sons Daniel and Piers, but divorced in 1966 and Baker lost contact with his sons until a chance meeting with Piers in a pub in New Zealand allowing them to renew their relationship. In December 1981, he married Lalla Ward who had co-starred him in Doctor Who (playing his companion Romana) with him for two years. However, the marriage lasted only a year and a half.
In 1986, Baker married for a third time, this time to Sue Jerrard, who had been an assistant editor on Doctor Who. They moved to an old manse in Boughton Malherbe near Maidstone, Kent where they kept several cats, before emigrating to France in 2002. During this time he was a regular in the Red Lion in Lenham village where his distinctive voice could be heard above all other voices. They sold the property to Vic Reeves, shortly after Baker had worked with him on Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased). He still pays regular visits to Tunbridge Wells in Kent. In 2006, Tom Baker and his wife moved back to Kent after spending four years in France.
Several reference books published in the late 1980s erroneously reported that Baker died of a drug overdose in 1982. The confusion arose from the death of an American actor who was also called Tom Baker. The American Tom Baker did indeed die of a drug overdose that year. Baker does have a reputation, acknowledged in his autobiography, of being a heavy drinker, and sometimes makes humorous references to it. For example, in response to the numerous inquiries he gets about his time as the Doctor he often replies, "You will have to excuse me but I was drunk at the time."
Despite, or because of, his religious upbringing, Baker has sceptical views on the subject and describes himself as irreligious, or occasionally as Buddhist, but not anti-religious. "People are quite happy believing the wrong things. I wasn't unhappy believing all that shit. Now I'm not unhappy thinking about it because I can laugh at it."
Politically, Baker expresses disdain for both the Conservatives and the Blairite Labour Party saying, in 1997, "When the Conservatives were in I cannot tell you how much I hated them. But I realise how shallow I am because I now hate the Labour Party as much."
