How Dr Who grew into a Dr Huge
- Publication: The Sun
- Date: 1986-02-17
- Author: Charles Catchpole
- Page: 9
- Language: English
Sun special on Britain's tubby time-traveller
Colin has piled on 2 stone!
DOCTOR WHO is fighting a whopping new enemy. Not the Daleks. Not the Cybermen. But the flab!
For, since the long-running telly series was rested last year, actor Colin Baker has become... Doctor Huge.
Chunky Colin groaned: "There's only one word to describe me at the moment—fat! I'm not a pretty sight.
Rocketed
"They'll probably have to widen the door of the Tardis to allow me back in."
Six-footer Colin was a cuddly 13st when he joined Doctor Who. But while he has been kicking his heels at home, his weight has rocketed to almost 15st.
And when he turned up to meet his new assistant, little Bonnie Langford, the show's producers were so taken aback by Colin's bulk that they decided to write it into the script.
Colin, 41, said: "They are making Bonnie a health and fitness fanatic, who is always nagging the Doctor to exercise and lose weight.
"I only wish she was around to nag me all the time."
The Doctor's downfall, it seems, has been BOTTLES of red wine and OODLES of home cooking from his lovely wife, Marion.
Colin confessed: "I've made a start by giving up booze for Lent.
"I was drinking a bottle of wine a day, and it was going straight to the old waistline.
Problem
" So far, I haven't missed it—much!
" But eating right is proving more of a problem. I really enjoy my food.
Marion is a marvellous cook and whatever she dishes up, I wolf down.
" Trouble is, it's all the wrong stuff—steak and kidney pud, roast beef or lamb with all the trimmings. I just can't say no!
"What makes it worse is that Marion eats exactly the same as me, but never puts on any weight at all.
" She stays exactly the same, seven-and-a-half stone.
"It's enough to drive a man back to drink !"
Colin's only regular exercise is walking his two dogs in the fields around his home, near the Thames in Buckinghamshire.
He said: "We go for a two-mile trot every day, which ought to be enough for a man of my age.
Idle
"The only other exercise I get is running up and down the stairs.
"I'd go to a gym if there was one in the basement. But I can't be bothered with all the hassle of driving somewhere, changing and driving back.
" I can be an idle so-and-so."
Colin may be fat, but he insists he is fit.
He protested:" Considering my size, I reckon I'm in pretty good shape.
Stunts
" I've always done all my own stunts on Doctor Who.
"And when I was appearing in pantomime last Christmas, I had to leap over the orchestra pit into the front row of the stalls."
After warnings from BBC 1 Controller Michael Grade, the next series of Doctor Who, which starts shooting in April, will have fewer violent or sexy scenes than before.
Colin said: "It will be jokier and lighter - even if the Doctor is heavier than he has ever been!"
TIME LORD TIPS
WE ASKED Sun slimming expert Sally Ann Voak what Colin should do to trim down for the Tardis. She tells him:
■ Don't start running up stairs until you've lost a stone. You're putting too much strain on your heart. Walk instead.
■ Stick a picture of yourself on the fridge door to stop sneaky snacking.
■ Get Marion to try out some new fish, chicken and turkey recipes. All that roast beef and steak and kidney pud is calorie loaded.
■ Cut out fat. No butter on your bread or vegetables, no full cream milk (drink skimmed instead), no fatty gravy. Try low fat bangers for breakfast.
■ Don't give up booze completely. Half a bottle of red wine daily is a good anti-stress remedy. A whole bottle is dangerous and adds a massive 600 calories to your daily total.
■ Try some shock treatment. Zip up a pair of trousers you wore when you weighed 13 stone. If ypti can.
■ Pile on the vegetables. Broccoli, spring beans, leeks and tomatoes have minimum calories and taste delicious.
Eat less salt. It encourages fluid retention and could raise your blood pressure. It also makes you thirsty.
■ Do some easy stretching exercises with your new assistant Bonnie Langford during breaks in filming. They'll help you get trim and keep your mind off food.
■ At supper, eat a large salad before your main course to cut your appetite.
■ As the weight falls off, start running again—a mile daily.
Ask the BBC scriptwriters to send Dr Who to a health farm for a few days and make sure the location is genuine.
Caption: NOW . . Bonnie nags the whopping Doctor to lose weight.
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: Catchpole, Charles (1986-02-17). How Dr Who grew into a Dr Huge. The Sun p. 9.
- MLA 7th ed.: Catchpole, Charles. "How Dr Who grew into a Dr Huge." The Sun [add city] 1986-02-17, 9. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Catchpole, Charles. "How Dr Who grew into a Dr Huge." The Sun, edition, sec., 1986-02-17
- Turabian: Catchpole, Charles. "How Dr Who grew into a Dr Huge." The Sun, 1986-02-17, section, 9 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=How Dr Who grew into a Dr Huge | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/How_Dr_Who_grew_into_a_Dr_Huge | work=The Sun | pages=9 | date=1986-02-17 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=26 March 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=How Dr Who grew into a Dr Huge | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/How_Dr_Who_grew_into_a_Dr_Huge | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=26 March 2025}}</ref>
