Space Age Romance
- Publication: TV Scene
- Date: 1981-01-17
- Author:
- Page: 25
- Language: English
DR Who star Lalla Ward did her courting in outer space.
But now, on the eve of her marriage to actor Tom Baker — her co-star in the TV series — Lalla's feet are firmly on the ground.
"The idea of romance didn't really enter my mind until I suddenly realised that we weren't going to be working together any longer," she said.
Lalla left the series at Christmas to do theatre work, and Tom plans to hang up his Dr Who scarf shortly.
"When we first met. I wasn't aware of any great chemical attraction between us — I didn't see stars or anything like that.
"It certainly wasn't a question of sweet nothings being whispered in between camera takes," says Lalla.
"We've always been very professional together.
"We just got on terribly well together right from the word go, and now the relationship is out of this world!
"We are very similar in our habits. For instance, neither of us really likes to plan anything very far ahead. We're great spur-of-the-moment enthusiasts.
"Also, we are both great readers. We love books, and I'm sure we must have about 3000 between us."
Recently, Tom bought a flat — the first place he has ever owned — and already, says Lalla, the books are piled from floor to ceiling.
Two people could hardly come from more differing backgrounds than Tom and Lalla — as the pair are the first to admit.
Tom, who is 46, was brought up in a working class area of Liverpool. He planned for a while to become a monk, but later got married, and is now divorced with two teenage sons.
Lalla 28, is the daughter of Viscount Bangor.
"But I never use the title except on a few official documents like passports," she says hastily. "I've always been called Lalla since I was a child.
"Tom has a wonderful zany sense of humor, and that's something my mother and father both appreciate," she said.
Lalla and Tom have no plans to live together for a while before getting married.
"We knew how we felt about one another," she says simply. "Neither of us could imagine going through life any other way but together. And that, we decided, meant marriage."
Will they have a family?
"To be honest, we're enjoying the present far too much to think that seriously about the future," Lalla says.
"I've no doubt we'll get around to thinking about children one of these days," she added.
It was only two years ago that Lalla vowed never to get involved with an actor again.
That was just after a long-term romance had come to an end. And just before she joined the cast of the Dr Who series as the doctor's "Girl Friday".
Now, of course, she's actually going to marry 700-year-old Dr Who — tousle-haired Tom Baker.
Caption: LALLA and Tom ... unbearable separation.
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.: (1981-01-17). Space Age Romance. TV Scene p. 25.
- MLA 7th ed.: "Space Age Romance." TV Scene [add city] 1981-01-17, 25. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: "Space Age Romance." TV Scene, edition, sec., 1981-01-17
- Turabian: "Space Age Romance." TV Scene, 1981-01-17, section, 25 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Space Age Romance | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Space_Age_Romance | work=TV Scene | pages=25 | date=1981-01-17 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=5 December 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Space Age Romance | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Space_Age_Romance | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=5 December 2025}}</ref>
