Tom Baker difficult to work with in Doctor Who.

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Tom Tit

05-02-2015

Originally Posted by tiggerpooh:
“Well, from what we see in An Adventure In Space and Time, Hartnell could be grumpy and irritable behind the scenes.

Mark Gatiss's DW drama seems to depict William Hartnell as being okay-ish on set, but grumpy and difficult behind the scenes. For example, when he meets Verity Lambert and Waris Hussein for the first time, for a read-through of the AUC script, he says that he doesn't like it and gets irritable.”

The important thing to remember about 'An Adventure in Time and Space' is that it is fictional. You shouldn't expect to know William Hartnell's real character from it.

davidnumen

05-02-2015

Originally Posted by Vopiscus:
“Not by all accounts: Peter Purves and Carole Ann Ford (for instance) tell a different story.”

I think that both would admit readily that Bill could be difficult but that he could also be extremely sweet and generous. I think that they both knew how to handle him to get the best behaviour - especially Peter. Other actors didn't try very hard and got different results - not that they should have had to try at all but it just shows the issues aren't as simple as "so and so was a right git"

Vopiscus

05-02-2015

Originally Posted by davidnumen:
“I think that both would admit readily that Bill could be difficult but that he could also be extremely sweet and generous. I think that they both knew how to handle him to get the best behaviour - especially Peter. Other actors didn't try very hard and got different results - not that they should have had to try at all but it just shows the issues aren't as simple as "so and so was a right git"”

Yes: I wasn't seeking to imply that William Hartnell was an unmitigated delight to work with, any more than an "absolute pain". I was, however, interested in cat666's comparative assessment of Tom Baker and WH. There must be a fair number of people who have worked with both on Doctor Who. Have any of them gone on record explicitly comparing the two?

davidnumen

08-02-2015

Funnily enough I couldn't think of anyone offhand apart from directors but then I remembered I saw Julian Glover at a convention in Paisley about 20 years ago. He didn't seem to like Hartnell at all and my memory is that the dislike related to Hartnell's bigotry and intolerance. I don't recall that he went into great detail, just to say he didn't like him.

As for Baker, he referred to Tom and Lalla as believing themselves to be the intellectual powerhouses of the BBC if not indeed the whole of Europe!

Face Of Jack

09-02-2015

In my own little tiny mind I like to think of the Doctors (actors) like: -

William: Grumpy but leave him alone, he'll be ok!
Patrick: Take him with a pinch of salt!
Jon: Get on, learn your lines, and have a bit of fun.
Tom: Do as you are told (not by the director - Tom!)...go for a pint later!!
Peter: Speak nicely and get acquainted, and join him in his next comedy show!
Colin: Tell him he was your fav Doctor - he'll love you to bits! Lovely chap he is!
Sylv: Tell him how crap Mel and Ace was....misdirection is the best tactic here!
Paul: : Say how much his lovely blue eyes looked (don't mention the hair!)
Chris: Mention his luverly northern accent, and luvverly leather jacket)
David: How slim and slender he looks, and what a lovely hairstyle!
Matt: What a toff you look in that fez and bow tie (not!) !!
Peter: How dashingly mature you look, you are almost like Peter Cushing!

William Hartnell was MY AGE when he started as Doctor Who (which is a bit scary - cos I look nothing like him!)

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