Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker is an English actor and writer. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who from 1974 to 1981, making him the longest-serving actor in the role.
Raised devoutly Catholic in Liverpool, Baker initially sought to become a cleric before turning to acting. He joined the National Theatre company in 1968. His first major film role was as Rasputin in Nicholas and Alexandra, for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes. Following supporting roles in genre films such as The Vault of Horror and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, he was working part-time on a building site when he was cast as the lead in Doctor Who. Baker, who incorporated his own eccentric personality into the Doctor, became highly popular with audiences both in the UK and abroad. His incarnation is often considered the best and most quintessential of the programme's classic series.
Baker appeared in the television series Medics, Randall & Hopkirk and Monarch of the Glen. He moved into voice acting later in his career, providing narration for the comedy series Little Britain and Little Britain USA. In 2006, his "sonorous" voice was voted the fourth-most recognisable in the UK.
Early life
Thomas Stewart Baker was born in the Scotland Road area of Liverpool on 20 January 1934. Both of his parents were born and raised in Liverpool. His mother, Mary Jane, was a barmaid and cleaner. His father, John Stewart Baker, was a steward in the Merchant Navy often absent from the household due to being away at sea. Baker was raised by his mother as a devout Roman Catholic.Baker attended St Swithin’s Primary School and St Matthew’s Catholic Secondary Modern School. He "failed" his eleven-plus and subsequently sought a religious career as "a way out" of becoming a labourer. At 15 years old, he became a novice religious brother with the Brothers of Ploermel in Jersey and also in Cheswardine Hall, Shropshire. He left the monastery six years later, due to feelings of guilt. By 1974, Baker had lost his faith in God.
He undertook his national service as a medical orderly in the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving for two years. He developed an interest in acting by taking part in the medical corps’ amateur dramatics. He left the army in 1956 and took up acting, studying at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Sidcup for three years.
Career
1968–1973: Early work
Baker was in his thirties when his professional acting career began and he worked in provincial repertory theatre, which he later recalled as "mostly flops or even disasters". His first acting role was in The Winter’s Tale at Edinburgh's Assembly Hall in 1966, where he played multiple characters including Rogero, Autolycus and the bear. He made his film debut in a 1967 TV movie adaptation of the play with the same cast. Baker had his first break whilst performing in a late-night pub revue for the 1968 York Festival. His performance was seen by a scout with the Royal National Theatre who encouraged him to audition for the company. Following a successful audition for Laurence Olivier, Baker was given small parts and understudied. One of his bigger roles was the horse Rocinante in The Travails of Sancho Panza, directed by Joan Plowright. This led Olivier to cast Baker as the Prince of Morocco in The Merchant of Venice. Other productions included The National Health and A Woman Killed with Kindness.File:TomBaker Rasputin NicholasandAlexandra Trailer.png|thumb|Baker's breakout role was Grigori Rasputin in Nicholas and Alexandra.
His stage work led to work on television, where he gained small parts in series such as Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars, Market in Honey Lane and Softly, Softly. He played Dr Ahmed el Kabir in the BBC’s 1972 Play of the Month production of The Millionairess, directed by Bill Slater and starring Maggie Smith. Baker's National Theatre contract ended in 1971. He continued to appear in theatre productions, with a role in The Novelist at Hampstead and as the lead in Macbeth at the Shaw Theatre, London. Due to Baker's role as a Russian in The Idiot, Olivier suggested Baker to Sam Spiegel for the part of Grigori Rasputin in Nicholas and Alexandra, his first major film role. Baker was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for his performance, one for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and another for Best Newcomer. Baker appeared as a tortured artist in The Vault of Horror and as the villainous sorcerer Koura in Ray Harryhausen's The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. He also appeared in Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1972 film adaptation of ''The Canterbury Tales.''
1974–1981: ''Doctor Who''
Baker worked on a building site between acting jobs, which earned him the nickname "Sir Laurence" from his workmates. He had expected to work on three films in 1974, but they had all collapsed by late 1973. Anxious at his career prospects, on 3 February 1974 he wrote to The Millionairess director Bill Slater asking for acting work. Slater recommended Baker to Doctor Who producer Barry Letts, who was seeking a successor to Third Doctor actor Jon Pertwee. Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks were impressed by Baker's performance in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and following a meeting with Baker in the BBC bar, the actor was quickly cast as the Fourth Doctor. Baker's casting was announced to the press on 15 February; he made his first appearance as the Doctor in the closing moments of Planet of the Spiders on 8 June. Baker's casting resulted in a wave of new acting offers. Even before recording his first season as the Doctor, he was cast in the television film The Author of Beltraffio, directed by Tony Scott. The same year he played the title role in The Trials of Oscar Wilde at the Oxford Festival.Although Baker had little idea of how he would play his version of the Doctor when cast, he quickly made the part his own, highlighting the character's eccentricity and alien qualities. Baker incorporated much of his own personality into the Doctor's and frequently made comedic scripting suggestions and ad-libs. His trademark look of wearing a floppy hat and long multi-coloured scarf, as well as his deep voice, made him an immediately recognisable figure. Audience-viewing figures for his first few years returned to a level not seen since the height of "Dalekmania" a decade earlier. Baker relished his status as a children's hero, preferring to be the Doctor than to return to his "tangled" private life. He avoided smoking or swearing in public out of awareness that the Doctor was considered a role model for children.
Under new producer Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes, the series gained a gothic tone influenced by Hammer Horror films and was aimed at a slightly more mature audience. Many of the stories from Baker's early seasons are considered classics, such as The Ark in Space, Genesis of the Daleks, The Brain of Morbius, The Deadly Assassin and The Robots of Death. Baker has named Hinchcliffe's tenure as his favourite period of the series, but the series' violent tone came under heavy criticism from conservative activist Mary Whitehouse. Hinchcliffe was replaced by Graham Williams, and the series' tone was lightened. Williams attempted to "rein in" Baker, but he was ultimately forced to accept the actor's growing influence over the programme.
Baker played the Doctor for seven consecutive seasons, making him the longest-serving actor in the part. His incarnation is often regarded as the most popular and quintessential of the Doctors. In polls conducted by Doctor Who Magazine, Baker was voted "Best Doctor" every year up to 2013, with the exception of losing to incumbents Sylvester McCoy in 1990 and David Tennant in 2006 and 2009. Baker's tenure corresponded with Doctor Who
Subsequent appearances
Although his predecessors Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee reprised their roles for the 20th-anniversary episode "The Five Doctors", Baker declined as it was not long since he had left. He added that he "didn't want to play 20 per cent of the part" or "fancy being a feed for other Doctors." A year later he stated "the programme is my past now - it would, I think, have been a mistake to try to turn the clock back". In 1992 Baker presented the video release The Tom Baker Years, where he looked back on the series by watching short clips from his episodes. Baker also filmed inserts for the 1992 video release of Shada, a serial which was only half-filmed due to a 1979 BBC strike.In early 1992, Baker expressed willingness to return to the role of the Doctor. Development began on The Dark Dimension, a direct-to-video 30th anniversary special featuring Baker as an older version of the Fourth Doctor who had not regenerated. However it was cancelled on 9 July 1993 for financial and logistical reasons. Baker returned to the role for the Children in Need charity special Dimensions in Time, along with every surviving actor who played the Doctor. In 1997 he reprised the role in an advertising campaign for New Zealand Superannuation Services, and for the Doctor Who video game Destiny of the Doctors. He also narrated various Target novelisations of Doctor Who stories for the BBC.
He made a cameo appearance in the 50th-anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor" as a mysterious curator in the National Gallery, implied to be the Doctor's future incarnation. In 2017, the cast of Shada reunited to complete the unfilmed scenes via voice-over and animation, with Baker filming one live-action scene. Baker and James Goss co-wrote the 2019 novel Doctor Who: Scratchman, based on a script Baker and Ian Marter wrote for a proposed 1970s Doctor Who film. As of 2025, Baker is the oldest living actor to have played the role.