Here you go Den!
The 4th Doctor was played by Tom Baker between 1974 and 1981. He is famous for an extremely long scarf and a robot dog called K9 and one of his most famous assistants Sarah Jane Smith, is returning in the 2006 Series!

Thanks - I've requested a poll to rate his performance and will post some of my own thoughts a little later when I have more time.

ah well this is where the doctor really started for me, though i have since caught up with earlier docs...

i think more than any other actor to play the role, TB has become iconic... it is testament to his era that his is the image which is still conjoured by mention of DW.. of course it helps that his was also the era when the beeb became wise to the marketing possibilities of the show...

more important than this, TB also features in my all time favorite story "city of death", which i honestly think it DW at its very zenith. if there is anyone out there who has not seen it, get a copy now! if there has been a better character than duggan in any other story i would like to know about it!

I bought a copy of that just last week, after spotting it in my local second-hand DVD/video shop, but haven't yet got round to watching it - good to know it wasn't a waste of money

As the longest serving Doctor (to date), Tom Baker absolutely dominated this role. For many, he IS the Doctor. A genius like all of the previous incarnations, this one was also eccentric in the extreme and it was inevitable that he would steal just about every scene he was in.

He was the second Doctor to "break the fourth wall" although it was done so subtly, most were unaware of it. (clip recently reshown as part of the Confidential series, where Tom ad-libs that not even the sonic screwdriver would get him out of this.)

A great deal of Time Lord 'lore' or canon was explained during his tenure - for instance, Omega and Rassilon, the eye of harmony, the Matrix, The Guardians and the limit on the number of regenerations. Some would say that parts of this were later contradicted or became unwieldly, but whichever way you look at the programme, Tom Baker is still the first person to spring to mind when the subject of DW is mentioned.

Previous work included a major part in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (playing a baddie). When he left the role, he went on to make a fortune from voiceover work, and of course he's known as the narrator in Little Britain.

He was "my" Doctor for sure.

The one I grew up with - the one I wanted to find round the corner, waiting to whisk me off to God knows where.

He mastered the art of scaring us - and then making us laugh - happy that all was well after all.

TB did get a bit self-indulgent after a couple of years. Thankfully that was reined-in for his last season under producer John-Nathan-Turner. His performance was in this season, sometimes verging on melancholy.

I loved him - and looking back at his stories now, nothing has changed. Unlike many "fans" I see many qualities in his successors. But like the majority, I don't think anyone has bettered him.

Favourite story: Talons of Weng Chiang - simply Tom Baker, and DW at its best.

P.S. (By the way DenWatts - wasn't Omega part of Jon Pertwee's Time Lord history? The Three Doctors?)

Yes Jim, you're quite right - I am in desperate need of a memory upgrade!

I was thinking back to when they mentioned Rassilon but momentarily forgot The Three Doctors (not sure how, as it was a favourite as a child, despite the dodgy 'monsters'.)

And yes, I love Talons - I laugh even now whenever I watch Tom Baker telling the story of how Leela was found, floating up the Amazon in a hat box in a parody of the 'handbag' scene from the Importance of being Earnest.

P.S. Would someone else be kind enough to also request a poll for this thread? I did so a few days ago now but have heard nothing from the mods so far, not even a 'no chance.'

I've only seen Tom Baker in one story - "Revenge of the Cybermen", but I do have a copy of "City of Death" as I said further up.

He was very good, in my opinion. He took a bit of getting used to, because I was used to CE (and the CGI-less "effects" were a shock as well ).

Am I right in saying he was a wee bit eccentric? His actions and words showed him to be that way!!

Tom Baker was always my Doctor and I have all the stories of his now. I always loved the way he tried to get himself out of trouble by offering baddies jelly babies.

My favourite stories of Toms has to be

The Android Invasion ((really creepy))
Genesis Of The Daleks
The Robots of Death

Nice to see Tom is still the best Who....

Aitch,

I think a lot of early Dr Who's were creepy as they were filmed outside and being shot on film gave it a real edge.I like Sontaran experiment and Terror of Zygons.A village near me looks same as one in Sontaran ep.Creepy.Tom Baker was teh man when it comes to Dr Who never bettered!

He was indeed - after Jon Pertwee's very (almost) human portrayal, Tom Baker brought back some very alien qualities. Whereas JP had spent most of his time on Earth, TB took us back out into space - and reminded us that our hero came from afar.


Notably in Pyramids of Mars when Sarah Jane argues that he could be a little more concerned about the number of deaths occuring. TB simply points out that many millions more will die unless they get a move on. (A scene adapted for "Rose").

His "praise" to the countess in "City of Death" -: "You're a very beautiful woman - probably" is another of my favourite lines (actually come to think of it - that was adapted for "The Unquiet Dead"!) And shows how his values were very different to ours.

He brought us an unpredictable hero - less stuffy and pompous than Pertwee had been on occasions.

Did I say I loved him?!

P.S. I also loved Pertwee - I'm just trying to point out how TB was a real change at the time.

not sure who feels the same way but i so wish we could have seen more cameo role reprisals from Tom after he left Dr who....it almost seemed like he turned his back on on the show!

A cameo in the latest series would be great!

Any thoughts?

I'm not sure how they would explain his ageing? The only way I could come up with would be to go to an alternate universe, where Doctor no. 4 never fell from the satellite tower and became Peter Davison...

He has expressed regret at his decision not to appear in The 5 Doctors - at the time he felt it was too soon after leaving the role. Which I kind of understand too, although I was gutted at the time...

One of 'my' Doctors by default (right up until the new series and the arrival of Chris) even though I am only 20 years old. One of my first exposures (that I can remember) to Who was through his excellent serial 'Genesis of the Daleks' when it was repeated on BBC2 in 1992. I continued to follow his adventures when my family got cable and started to watch the omnibus repeats (first time around) on UK Gold in the 1990s.

Now I am getting back into Dr. Who because of the new series and I look likely to buy almost every one of his DVDs!

Does anyone know why the Key to Time season was released in the US on DVD but not here? I'd love to see those again.

The last I heard, there will be a boxed set in a few months time, jim - although I have no idea why it was released in the US before we got it here.
Last edited by DenWatts : 23-08-2005 at 14:40

I was caught between the Pertwee and Baker years as a child and had the pleasure of watching both Doctors as I grew up.

I find it impossible to say whether one was better than the other, but they both brought their own individuality to the role.

I remember that I hated Tom Baker to begin with - I found him to be too jokey and not serious enough, but I quickly warmed to him (and I longed to own a really long knitted scarf, but never did

The Tom Baker years also introduced Leela, who was feisty and not afraid to get into a fight, which I thought was better than the stand-there-and-scream antics of Sarah Jane or Jo.

And, of course, K9, fondly remembered as being very unstable moving over anything but absolutely level ground. I was always worried that he was going to fall over at any minute.

Sarah Jane was a screamer, no doubt, but she didn't stand there. She often volunteered to investigate and always jumped in to help the doctor - even taking off across the rocky barrens though she was blind! to warn him of the dangers in Brain of Morbius.

Full disclosure requires me to reveal that I have a bit of a block when it comes to liking Leela because I wish she would put more clothes on!

hrh

Loved the Gothic (Hinchcliffe?) era which produced some of the best stories ever.

After that I feel it was pretty hit and miss (Albeit woith one or two classics) until JNT took the reigns

Fave stories

Genesis
Zygons
Morbius
Pyramids
Talons
Robots Of Death
Tara
Traken
Decay

And of course City Of Death