By Elliott West
“It’s better to know nothing. And to be good-natured. The trick is to respond generously to other actors, which halves your task because you don’t have to be driving it all the time.”
Tom Baker
Introduction
I must say that I could listen to Tom Baker for hours. His voice is as mesmerising as that of the richness of Richard Burton’s. An actor who was entrenched in my youth as Doctor Who, instantly recognisable for his brimmed hat, long wool scarf, a constant supply of a paper bag of jelly babies and accompanied by his electronic dog K9. Playing the part of Doctor Who from 1974-1981, Tom became a science fiction god in 68 countries who his fans still want to spend a treasured moment, a national treasure who became so famous that he could not walk down the street without someone wanting his autograph, a kiss, fleeting embrace or nowadays a selfie on their mobile phone.
Baker still marvels in his success, a popularity that rides high on the Richter Scale. For many years, Tom used to successfully cruise around Sloane Square, a favourite haunt being Peter Jones. Once approached by an old woman here, she stopped him, questioning whether she knew him. The penny dropped and she declared that he was Doctor Who. When Baker asked how she knew. She replied “As soon as I saw you, you made my titties tingle”. A funny statement that Baker wants as an epitaph on his grave. ‘Here lies Tom Baker who made titties tingle.’
Who is Who?
Tom Baker was born in Vauxhall, Liverpool in 1934, living on Scotland Road. The son of Mary Jane Baker, a cleaner and devout Catholic and John Stewart Baker, a seaman who was largely absent, away at sea. Tom was educated at Cheswardine Hall, a boarding school in Shropshire but at the age of 15, joined the religious brotherhood, the Brothers of Ploermel but left six years later after losing his faith. In his eyes, he wanted to do something serious and so undertook national service, firstly in the Royal Medical Corps from 1955 to 1957 and then in the Merchant Navy.
Baker found his calling in life when he started acting in 1956, attending Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama and becoming a professional actor in the late 1960s. In his late thirties, Tom worked in rep theatre and due to a performance at the York Festival in 1968, was encouraged to audition for the National Theatre, run at the time by Laurence Olivier. Offered a contract, he worked here from 1968 to 1971, performing a number of small part and understudy roles.
Moving to television, he can be spotted in small parts in iconic shows such as Dickson of Dot Green, Z Cars and Softly Softly. His first big role came as Rasputin in the film Nicholas and Alexandra in 1971. A role that was recommended by Laurence Oliver and one that earned him two Golden Globe Awards. More villainous roles would follow as Moore, an artist in The Vault of Horror in 1973 and as Koura, a sorcerer in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad in 1973. He also appeared as the husband of the Wife of Bath in the 1972 film version of Geoffrey Chaucher’s Canterbury Tales.
“It’s a wonderful thing to be told you are wonderful”.
Tom Baker
The Time Lord
Tom Baker has always made it known that he has no great love for other actors so becoming Doctor Who was a perfect part for him. His pieces to the camera were ingenious and a part that he stayed with for so long because he thought it was fun to do. The fourth Doctor battled with Davros and the Daleks. His long, dashing locks and eloquent voice and vocabulary, resonated with children and adults alike. A man who was once entranced by the smell of incense and used to go to three funerals a day, fascinated by their overpowering meaning. A power that Tom could command, weeping at a funeral once which caused a mourner to place a half-crown in the palm of his hand.
Tom used his own mystique and poured it into the Doctor Who character. It was dark but funny. A Time Lord who found hilarity in the moment of despair. Baker has a slickness for being silly, his forceful and dominant voice plays trickery with the viewer, making them buy into the trickery that he is sincere with the performance. A performance that it was so powerful, that it could make children cower behind the sofa in fright. An actor who no matter the personal circumstances, could make Saturday night good for children.
Tom was once so desperate to see an episode of Doctor Who that Mary Whitehouse who was critical for its violent content drove off the motorway and knocked on a hose. A shocked father answered the door and Tom persuaded him to him watch it on his television with his two sons. When the two boys realised who he was, they had to do a second take and got him to sign a piece of paper that it was actually him, paranoid that the other children in their class would believe the story. Tom later contacted the local press and he returned to join the family for an article about it in the local newspaper. A man who was amazingly working on a building site when he was offered the part in his thirties.
Life After
Tom still lives in the shadow of the Doctor even at the age of 90. His voice continued his work with brilliant voiceovers for Little Britain and various adverts A comical part in Black Adder or the game show Fort Board were mixed with the more serious in C.S. Lewis’s television adaptation of The Silver Chair or Monarch of the Glen. A voice that has even been heard at the Natural History Museum and in the written form with his books, The Boy Who Kicked Pigs and his brilliant autobiography Who On Earth is Tom Baker? Now in his ninth decade, a much leaner Tom can still be spotted sipping coffee in his local coffee shop.
