About All Seven Regenerations: Tom Baker

Born, 20 January 1934.

Tom Baker's first of over forty complete Doctor Who stories was Robot, broadcast between 1974 and '75, and his last was Logopolis, broadcast in 1981. Tom enhanced the strangeness of the Doctor's character, when many fans think of or about Tom Baker they often think of his strange, staring eyes, toothy smile, and incredibly long scarf which gave the appearance of insanity in human terms. Four of his companions (Romana,in two regenerations, Adric and Nyssa) were aliens, and another was a robot dog named K-9. He was the best known Doctor world- wide, and most popular of all the Doctors so far. While none of the fourth or any subsequent Doctors' stories have ever been partially or fully destroyed, one Tom Baker story was never completed due to BBC strikes. This story was Shada, written by Douglas Adams, which would have been completed and broadcast in 1980 to crown the fourth Doctor's penultimate season, season seventeen. Footage from it ended up being used in the twentieth anniversary episode The Five Doctors. Tom never actually had a part in that story, as he felt it was too soon for him to return to Doctor Who and a wax figure from Madam Tussaud's took his place in publicity stills, which is why they made him "suspended in time". It is quite interesting to watch Shada and then see The Five Doctors again, now that the storyline for Shada, by Douglas Adams, is partially released. Tom Baker has said, after many years,that turning down the chance to reappear in The Five Doctors was one of his greatest regrets.

Audio theme for the fouth Doctor (size: 331 KB. run time: 30.74 seconds).

Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor) starred in the following episodes:

1•Robot
2•The Ark In Space
3•Sontaran Experiment
4•Genesis of the Daleks
5•Revenge of the Cybermen
6•Terror of the Zygons
7•Planet of Evil
8•Pyramids of Mars
9•Android Invasion, The
10•Brain of Morbius, The
11•Seeds of Doom, The
12•Masque of Mandragora, The
13•Hand of Fear, The
14•Deadly Assassin, The
15•Face of Evil, The
16•Robots of Death, The
17•Talons of Weng-Chiang, The
18•Horror of Fang Rock, The
19•Invisible Enemy, The
20•Image of the Fendahl
21•Sunmakers, The
22•Underworld
23•Invasion of Time, The
24•Ribos Operation, The
25•Pirate Planet, The
26•Stones of Blood, The
27•Androids of Tara, The
27•Power of Kroll, The
28•Armegeddon Factor, The
29•Destiny of the Daleks
30•City of Death, The
33•Creature from the Pit
34•Nightmare of Eden
35•Horns of Nimon
36•Shada
37•The Leisure Hive
38•Meglos
39•Full Circle
40•State of Decay
41•Warrior's Gate
42•Keeper of Traken
43•Logopolis.

It may interest you that Tom Baker's character was once broadcast on TV on a 1995 episode of The Simpsons, during the week of November 23, the anniversary of the first broadcast episode of Doctor Who. The forth Doctor (Tom Baker) was brought onto the screen because Mayor Quimby ordered that the esteemed representatives of television be brought to the room, so of course the Doctor appears on screen along with several other people . The fourth Doctor's appearance on the Simpsons lasted for exactly 37seconds and 61hundredths of a second. Although he did not say anything it was still good to have him on.

Another episode of The Simpsons later that season contained another Doctor Who reference. In the episode where Krusty the Clown goes bankrupt because of a child named Bart. There is a scene where the owner of the comic book store waddles by with a wheelbarrow packed full of tacos and says "Yes this should provide adequate sustenance for the Doctor Who marathon." This scene goes for exactly 4seconds and 42hundredths of a second.

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