Everything about Tom Baker totally explained
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.
Early life
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. 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.
Career
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.
Doctor Who (1974–1981)
In 1974, 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'd 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.
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 isn't 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.
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 hasn't 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."
While
Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann have all reprised their roles for audio adventures produced since the 1990s by Big Finish (and sometimes the BBC) Baker has thus far declined to voice the Doctor 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.
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) and
Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit (released on
7 April 2008).
Doctor Who Magazine has reported that Baker will be reading
Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars (to be released
14 August 2008).
Tom Baker currently holds the dubious honor of being the oldest living actor to have played
Doctor Who.
Little Britain
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's 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."
Television
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, 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 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.
Film
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.
Voice acting
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 also the narrator of the new children's computer animation series
The Beeps which is shown on
Five's Milkshake!.
He is also the voice artist in the "Fords of Winsford" advert.
Video games
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 (2003),
Cold Winter (2005) and (2007).
Narration
Baker is a prolific and highly recognisable voiceover artist. In a 2005 survey of British adults, Baker's voice was voted the fourth most recognizable, after
the Queen,
Tony Blair and
Margaret Thatcher.
In 1992 and 1993 Baker narrated BBC radio comedy series
Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World. In 1994 Tom Baker provided the narration for
Channel 4's
Equinox rave documentary
Rave New World. In 2002 he'd a speaking role in the critically-acclaimed but commercial flop
Hostile Waters as the Narrator.
Baker has worked on a number of
video games, including (also known as
Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition),
Hostile Waters (2001),
Cold Winter (2005), (2005), (2003),
Perfect Dark (2000) and (2000). He also voiced both the narrator and god
Tetsu in the role-playing game
Sudeki, but was uncredited.
During the first three months of 2006, his voice was used by
BT for spoken delivery of
text messages to landline phones. He recorded 11,593 phrases, containing every sound in the English language, for use by the text-to-speech service. A number of messages sent using this service can be heard at
"The Doctor Says"
.
The BT text message service returned from 1st December 2006 to 8th January 2007, with 2p from each text going to the charity
Shelter. In addition, a single 'sung' by Tom Baker's text voice - "
You Really Got Me", originally by
The Kinks - was released on 18th December 2006 with BT's proceeds going to the charity. The creator of the song was Mark Murphy, designer of the site
"Tom Baker Says..."
Baker has recorded voiceovers for
Virgin Radio.
His voice may be heard at London´s Natural History Museum narrating commentary to some of the exhibits that support Darwin´s theory of Natural Selection.
Baker has made three other brief forays into the world of music: he provides the monologue to the track "Witness to a Murder (Part Two)" on the album
Six by
Mansun; he appears on Technocat's single "Only Human" in 1995;
He even provides narrative at two British tourist attractions: the
Nemesis roller coaster at
Alton Towers,
Staffordshire; and the
London Dungeon, a museum depicting gory and macabre events in the capital.
Tom Baker voiced the character "Max Bear", a series of animated stories broadcast on Channel 4 (UK Terrestrial) from 2000 to 2005.
He narrated Australian cartoonist
Bruce Petty's 2006 movie about world politics,
Global Haywire.
Writings
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".
Personal life
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 for several decades until a chance meeting with Piers in a pub in
New Zealand allowing them to renew their relationship. 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 can't tell you how much I hated them. But I realise how shallow I'm because I now hate the Labour Party as much."
In popular culture
- British synthpop band The Human League recorded a tribute track to the actor entitled "Tom Baker". In 1981 it was released as the B-side to their "Boys and Girls" single. The instrumental track was re-released on some CD versions of their Travelogue album.
A cartoon Tom Baker, as one of the "esteemed representatives of television", appeared as the fourth incarnation of The Doctor, in The Simpsons episodes "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" and "Treehouse of Horror X".
His distinctive voice has become a gift for impressionists such as Jon Culshaw and John Guilor. Culshaw regularly impersonates Baker in the comedy series Dead Ringers: in one episode, he makes a prank call to Baker in character as the Doctor, which prompts the memorable reaction from the real Baker: "No, no, there must be a mistake, I'm the Doctor." Similarly, when Culshaw called another Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, in character, he got the response: "Tom? Is that you? Have you been down the pub?"
A tireless advocate of internet culture, Baker is known to field fans' questions on the DALnet Internet Relay Chat channel irc://irc.dal.net/digi
In a 2007 episode of Family Guy spoofing, the opening of Tom Baker's Doctor Who credit sequence is shown on the view screen as the Millennium Falcon enters hyperspace.
Female fans are known as "The Sisterhood"
Member of the WIN organization.Further Information
Get more info on 'Tom Baker'.
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