New Dr. Who well into his stride
- Publication: News Letter
- Date: 1975-01-21
- Author: Frances Hare
- Page: 3
- Language: English
New Dr. Who well into his stride
Actor Tom Baker was not "resting" as other actors say. He was working on a building site at the time...
For the man who is now firmly establishing the Dr. Who role as his very own is not the sort of person who takes the theatrical term "resting" literally.
"If I'm out of work I do other things," he told me.
"I was working on this building site in London and had written to some people at the BBC when I was. chosen for the part."
Tom Baker is the fourth Dr. Who and says that what makes him slightly nervous is the fact that his predecessors have built the series into such a success.
"I find it rather daunting." Yes, he says, like most people he has watched Dr. Who and always thought it would be rather nice to "have a stab at it." Little thinking that he ever would.
He is 40, unmarried and comes from Liverpool. Sitting in his dressing room between rehearsals for an episode of "The Robot," which was the first 4-part adventure in the new series and wearing his Dr. Who outfit, he looks like a cross between a clown in his baggy, check trousers, and an eccentric academic gentleman.
He says he sees Dr. Who as rather more innocent and surprised by events than his elegant predecessor, Jon Pertwee.
"The thing about Dr Who is that he can really be anything he wants to be.
"I think the heaviest responsibility is suggesting that while he is not a superman he is definitely different. That although he looks human he is from another world..."
Another thing about Dr. Who that Tom Baker likes is the fact that he always wins.
"For half an hour every Saturday night, I save the universe" he says with a wide grin. He says he became an actor because he wanted to do "something splendid and heroic." He also always liked telling stories. When he left school at 16. the Channel Isles, leaving he joined a religious order in four years later when he realised he wasn't suited to the life.
"I joined for the same reasons as I became an actor -only I answered the wrong calling initially..."
After the army-national. service and drama school, he joined the York Repertory Theatre where he was spotted by a director from the National Theatre.
He did a two-and-a-half year stint with the National, playing a variety of roles, including the Prince of Morocco in "Othello" with Olivier.
And it was Olivier who suggested him for his best. known film part, Rasputin in "Nicholas and Alexandra."
Tom Baker likes working in the theatre, television and films equally. "I think each gratifies the other and ideally one should be able to switch around. I'd like to do a play a year, plus television and films."
He says he has a hankering to do Falstaff one day.
He did Macbeth last year at London's Shaw Theatre
and says it was a "most painful process."
"It was painful because of two things. I wasn't very good and the kids who came to see it didn't seem very interested in the play. It's not much fun having marsh mallows thrown at you during a soliloquy."
After this he was out of work and took to the building site. He has also been a gardener in his time
Caption: Tom Baker who took over from Jon Pertwee as Dr. Who adds his own decidedly odd style to the character
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- APA 6th ed.: Hare, Frances (1975-01-21). New Dr. Who well into his stride. News Letter p. 3.
- MLA 7th ed.: Hare, Frances. "New Dr. Who well into his stride." News Letter [add city] 1975-01-21, 3. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Hare, Frances. "New Dr. Who well into his stride." News Letter, edition, sec., 1975-01-21
- Turabian: Hare, Frances. "New Dr. Who well into his stride." News Letter, 1975-01-21, section, 3 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=New Dr. Who well into his stride | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/New_Dr._Who_well_into_his_stride | work=News Letter | pages=3 | date=1975-01-21 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=11 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=New Dr. Who well into his stride | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/New_Dr._Who_well_into_his_stride | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=11 April 2025}}</ref>
