Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: Tom Baker The Fourth Doctor

 

Tom Baker is the longest serving Doctor of all time or for now unless someone new wants to tackle that record.   But more importantly he is the Doctor who got me hooked on this crazy show we call Doctor Who.  It was Tom Baker in “The Ark in Space” that got me hooked.  That charismatic character with the curly hair, big grin and the scarf that went of forever was what did it for me.  But to be honest it did it for a lot of Doctor Who fans especially in the United States where he was the Doctor that most of us were exposed to by the local Public Television Stations. 

To most Tom Baker is the definitive Doctor.  Whether or not he is your favorite Doctor or not you must acknowledge that he is best incarnation of The Doctor.  He took the show back to being fun.  After taking over for Jon Pertwee and taking the show away from the science and Earth bound UNIT stories the 4^th Doctor was all about exploring and helping those in need on any planet he visited.  The show returned to the monster of the week where the 4^th Doctor was pitted against monster like The Zygons, The Kraal, and Rutans.  Plus the 4^th Doctor visited lots of different planets, a lot looked awful and alike, and helped many people on those planets.   

The earlier Tom Baker stories were my favorite most of all.  I like the gothic feel to them and this was the era that the 4^th Doctor wasn’t to over the top.  Tom Baker was still silly but he wasn’t overly silly.  He was very stern and serious a lot but he would have that perfect time to throw in a funny statement or break up the serious factor with a smidge of silliness.  The Robert Holmes/ Philip Hinchcliffe era is quite honestly one of the best if not the best eras in Doctor Who and without Tom Baker it wouldn’t of happen as his bigger than now presence and the way he approached the character of The Doctor was just perfect and the stories were written so perfectly.

I can say that the middle seasons were not really any of my favorites.  His 5^th and 6^th year in the show is what I called Tom foolery.   He was really silly and unfortunately some of his stories just weren’t up to snuff of the ones that he did in his first four seasons.  I just didn’t like his over the top manic Doctor as much as his serious and silly one.  It just seemed he was way over the top and needed to be reined in.  Don’t get me wrong there are some good performances there but I guess it is more dominate in the stories that are really bad like Creature From the Pit and The Horns of Nimon.  It is an era I’m not that fond off but by all means I do not hate it but wish Tom wasn’t so crazy.

His last season is pretty good and it ushered in a new direction and the decade of the 80’s.  Gone were the 70’s and Tom Baker gave us one more season that reminded us of the way he was when he started.  Yes he was a bit cranky during these stories but look who he was with Mathew Waterhouse as Adric and John Nathan – Turner the new producer of the show.  That two some would be enough to drive anyone grumpy and cranky. But his performance was spot on as usual and everyone was sad to see him leave during Logopolis another triumph for Tom Baker and the 4^th Doctor going out saving the universe from The Master.

Tom Baker was, is The Doctor for so many of us that love Doctor Who.  You can see his influence all through the show and many of the writers now grew up watching his Doctor.  His adventures were fun to watch and had some of the best stories in the shows history.  Tom Bakers era gave us some wonderful companions and memorable monsters that are now returning to the show like the Zygons.  What is also great about Tom Baker is that he has returned to the role of the 4^th Doctor for Big Finish and listening to those adventures is like reliving ones childhood again.

Tom Baker will always hold a special place in my heart as the man who got me hooked on Doctor Who a show I have loved for 32 and will continue to.  He may not be my favorite Doctor but he sure is the best of the 11 and the one we all should be thankful too for giving us this wonderful character to fall in love with and to be a part of the greatest show of all time.  So here is to Tom Baker the best Doctor of all time and the guy responsible for the huge worldwide success it has today.