The newest name in TV's Who's Who...

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Publication: Belfast Telegraph
Date: 1984-01-28
Author: Helen Howard
Page: 9
Language: English

WHEN Colin Baker was told that he had landed the plum role of the sixth "Dr. Who," taking over from Peter Davison in his last series now on our screens, he just didn't believe it!

"I was convinced. someone had made a mistake and that Tom Baker had gone back to playing the role," says Colin. "Then I found who really was Who, and I was amazed and delighted.

"No one could wish for a more charismatic part, with a built-in fan-club of millions. Whoever plays "Dr. Who" always enjoys a tremendous loyalty from the fans. They don't seem to mind that the face is always changing."

Womaniser

In fact, charisma is something that Colin Baker has always had. Once, he was very much the dashing young actor-about-town. He was seen in all the best places, dining in all the trendy restaurants and always seemed to be escorting some of the most beautiful young women in showbusiness..

The glamorous girls in his life included actresses Angela Down, Adrienna Posta and Liza Goddard, whom he married in 1976 and divorced four years later. But Colin explains: "I was never really the womaniser I was made out to be. My love life was blown out of all proportion, because it just happened that the ladies I knew were people that the public recognised.

"I've always been useless at chatting up girls," he adds, "perhaps that was why they liked me so much!"

Certainly, none of Colin's romances were short-term affairs. For instance, actress Angela Down was the one girl in his life for several years, after which he had rather a tempestuous romance with Adreinne Posta, which lasted less than a year.

And although the speed with which he married Liza Goddard a few months later surprised many of their friends, Colin explains: "We'd known each other for years."

They met up again when they were both starring in "The Brothers" television series Colin was a business tycoon, and Liza played his fiancee!

Their real-life marriage lasted for four years before they drifted apart and finally divorced. Now Colin has been re-married for more than a year to actress Marion Wyatt. They met about two years ago when "we were both appearing in a stage play ... and love just grew from there."

Sadly, their happiness was shattered when their two-month-old son, Jack, was found dead in his cot. Colin was appearing in a play in Stockholm when he heard the news and rushed back to comfort his wife at their home in Buckinghamshire.

The cause of death was the inexplicable cot death syndrome, which has baffled medical science for years. Stranger

Now the sixth actor to play "Dr. Who' in 21 years, Colin says the role will enable him to finally be forgotten as the ruthless tycoon, Paul Merroney, in "The Brothers."

"Not long ago a perfect stranger came up to me in a shop... and handed me a bottle of champagne. He explained that he had watched my performances as Paul Merroney, admired my ruthless behaviour... and set out to follow my style of doing things. Today, he runs a successful chain of shops!

The newest name in TV's Who's Who...

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