page_title: Tom Baker
section_title: Doctor Who
hierarchical_section_title: Tom Baker / Career / Doctor Who
caption_attribution_description: English: Tom Baker in London, 1991, at a photocall in Trafalgar Square
context_page_description: Thomas Stewart Baker is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1974 to 1981, a longer tenure than any other actor in the title role, and provided narration in the television comedy series Little Britain. His voice, which has been described as "sonorous", was voted the fourth-most recognisable in the UK in 2006.
  At age 15, Baker began study as a religious brother. He gradually lost his vocation, leaving religious life at age 21 to undertake national service in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Upon leaving the army, he served in the Merchant Navy and then became an actor, joining the Royal National Theatre under Laurence Olivier. He was in his thirties when his professional acting career began, and his first major film role was as Grigori Rasputin in Nicholas and Alexandra in 1971, when he was 37. He went on to play the villainous Prince Koura in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad in 1973, which led to his casting in Doctor Who.
  During his period as the star of Doctor Who, the series received high viewing figures and featured many stories which became regarded as classics.
context_section_description: In 1974, Baker took over the role of the Doctor from Jon Pertwee to become the Fourth Doctor in the BBC TV series. He was recommended to producer Barry Letts by the BBC's Head of Serials, Bill Slater, who had directed Baker in a Play of the Month production of Shaw's play The Millionairess. Impressed by Baker upon meeting him, Letts then became convinced he was right for the part after seeing 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 because he had been supplied for a press conference with some old studio set clothes to replace his modest garments. Letts left the series after producing Baker's debut story, Robot (1974-75), and was replaced by Philip Hinchcliffe. Under Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes the series gained a "Gothic tone" influenced by Hammer Film Productions and, according to Hinchcliffe, was aimed "a bit more to the adults in the audience".
  Baker quickly made the part his own, viewing figures for his first few years returning to a level not seen since the height of 'Dalekmania' a decade earlier. His eccentric style of dress and quirky personality (particularly his trademark look of wearing a long scarf and having a fondness for jelly babies), as well as his distinctive voice, made him an immediately recognisable figure and he quickly caught the viewing public's imagination. Baker suggested many aspects of his Doctor's personality and became known for making "frequent and often comedic scripting suggestions and ad-libs", but the distinctive scarf was created by accident. James Acheson, the costume designer assigned to his first story, had provided far more wool than was necessary to the knitter, Begonia Pope, intending for her to choose a suitable colour. However, due to miscommunication Pope knitted all the wool she was given. During Baker's tenure the scarf began to get longer in accordance with Baker's wishes.
  Baker played the Doctor for seven consecutive seasons, making him the longest-serving actor in the part, and his incarnation is often regarded as the most popular of the Doctors. According to BBC News in 2006, in polls conducted by Doctor Who Magazine, Baker had only lost the "Best Doctor" category to Sylvester McCoy in 1990 and to David Tennant in 2006. In a 2010 interview, Baker said that he had not watched Tennant's performance as the Doctor but thought his Hamlet was excellent. Many of the stories from his early period are considered to be classics of the series, including The Ark in Space (1975), Genesis of the Daleks (1975), The Brain of Morbius (1976), The Deadly Assassin (1976) and The Robots of Death (1977). However, the violent tone of the stories produced by Philip Hinchcliffe saw the series come under heavy criticism from morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse. Concerns over violence during this early period led to a lightening of the tone and an "erratic decline" in both the popularity and quality of the series. In a 2014 interview, Baker described Hinchcliffe as "amazing" and identified that as his favourite period of his time on the series. He described Hinchcliffe's successor, Graham Williams, as "absolutely devoted" but lacking his predecessor's flair and "let me get away with murder". He acknowledged that his final producer on the series, John Nathan-Turner, made changes he did not agree with and they "did not see eye-to-eye really about very much"; however, according to Baker, the two became good friends afterwards and forgot their disagreements. Baker additionally criticised season 18, his last on the show and Nathan-Turner's first as producer, for an increase in the regular cast, which resulted in what Baker saw as stories that were excessively reliant on the Doctor (rather than other principal characters) to drive the plot forward. Baker ultimately suggested that he may have stayed in the role for one series too many, stating in hindsight that he felt it would have been better for him to have left with Williams and let Nathan-Tur
caption: Baker and a Dalek in Trafalgar Square, 1991
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