Tom Baker, Class Act….

Updated on December 2, 2013 By Ken Begg 12 Comments

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  • sandra

    Tom Baker. My favorite Doctor Who.

  • Ken_Begg

    Ha, he was the Beatles of the Doctors.

  • GalaxyJane

    *Sniff* My allergies are really acting up tonight.

  • Eric Hinkle

    That must be a magic moment for any actor.

  • rtpoeman

    I have a theory that a person’s favorite Doctor is the one they encountered first. Since Tom Baker played the role the longest, and was the first Doctor seen in the US, most people therefore choose him as their favorite.

    Now if we can only get the fans of “New Who” to watch some of the stories from before they were born (or read the novels, or listen to the audio dramas)…

  • Ken_Begg

    Well, Baker was my third Doctor (Peter Cushing being the first), but easily the one I had the most exposure to at an early age. I think you’re generally correct, but Baker really was a crowd-pleaser.

    I have to admit, though, my childhood preferences really have created a preference for an Earthbound Doctor fighting alien menaces with UNIT. Which is handy, as an hour ago I picked up via Interlibrary Loan the new 2 disc edition of Terror of the Zygons.

  • Eric Hinkle

    Were the Zygons the guys who had a cybernetic Loch Ness monster running interference for them?

  • Yup yup. And in some of the episodes, Nessie looks quite good.

    Then there’s Episode Four. Where it takes a sad turn.

  • The Rev.

    Outside of a Hartnell episode I caught at someone’s house as a lad, Pertwee was my first. Tom Baker is my favorite; after that I have a hard time picking between Troughton, Pertwee and McCoy. (I have seen none of the newer ones so I cannot comment on them.)

  • The Rev.

    You can tell by the way he recounts it that he was truly touched by it. Of course, who wouldn’t be? Still, his calling it a knighthood was top-drawer.

    Related anecdote: They say opposites attract…I watched this on PBS every Friday night for years. Dara didn’t know who Tom Baker was when I had her read this, until I mentioned Stewart dressing as his incarnation of the Doctor on an episode of “The Big Bang Theory.”

  • Gamera977

    You’re probably right, my favorite Doctors are the Fourth and Fifth, and they’re the first two I was introduced to. Frankly I’ve loved all the Doctors that I’ve seen but the Seventh- and that’s more due to the poor quality of last couple of seasons than due to any dislike of McCoy. Still need to catch up with the last couple of seasons.

  • Sandy Petersen

    Mine was, of all people, Peter Davison, whom I was already pre-disposed to like because of his performance on All Creatures Great And Small. I think he is the favorite doctor of about 1% of Whovians worldwide, though David Tennant shares my preference, so that is nice.