Did Tom Baker really stay too long?
- Thread starter The Four Doctor
- Start date
Baker made official requests to leave and the sixth floor turned him down, the whole story is on the DVDs.
Yes, I actually read an excerpt from his memoir where he said he was incredibly depressed about not being the Doctor anymore. He loved the role to the point where he felt like he actually *was* the Doctor.
Me? I can't get enough of Baker as the Doctor.
agreed! and I saw those interviews too, he did love the role very much, but judging by how bad JNT did in the latter days of the series, he may have gotten out just in time.
Tom Baker didn't stay too long at all & could have kept going if JNT didn't come along.
JNT took everything I liked of Bakers Era and wrecked it.
JNT took everything I liked of Bakers Era and wrecked it.
You say this like it's a bad thing. Tom Baker had some real quirky charisma. He was eminently "watchable" even when the story was dull and dragged on. That's a real asset. I know everyone is fond of different Doctors but Peter Davison was a huge step down after Tom Baker, maybe because they kind of knew they could never replace him, so they went in the complete opposite direction.
Not only that, but Tom had the best companions with Sarah Jane Smith, Romana, Leela, and K-9. So really across the board, the show was firing on all cylinders when he was there. If there's anything that dragged Tom down in the end it was the switchover from fun companions to annoying sidekicks like Adric, which wasn't Tom's fault. Adric was kind of Wesley Crusher before there was Wesley.
Even there, the chemistry seemed to work better. Tom came across more as a father figure that kept Adric a bit more in check. Plus, his "force" of personality helped the audience to overlook any perceived weaknesses in the younger actor's performance. Davison was more of an "older brother" whom Adric would not obey and Peter's comparatively "understated" performance (which certainly is not a bad thing unto itself) didn't "mask" the kid's less than stellar acting.
Okay, yes, Tom was my "first" Doctor, so I'll likely retain a certain bias in his favor.
Sincerely,
Bill
Okay, yes, Tom was my "first" Doctor, so I'll likely retain a certain bias in his favor.
Sincerely,
Bill
Tom Baker is my favorite 'classic' Doctor- I think he could have gone on a couple more seasons the way the quality of the later seasons was.
there's a reason most of Classic Who's companions were female. Girls and women were seen as softer, more gentle, more trustworthy by society. Though, of course, the victims of the Moors Murders could warn you what happens when society thinks children should in general not be warned against strange women.
Turlough was in a shirt, shorts, and bathing suit in Planet of Fire.
Nyssa's costumes went from Traken-normal to... increasingly bizarre choices, until she ended up leaving in her underwear.
I didn't care for Horns of Nimon, but Nightmare of Eden was an excellent story about drug smuggling and the excuses criminals use to justify it.
Have most of the nuWho companions been male?
There were plenty of male companions in Classic Who.
First Doctor:
Ian
Steven
Ben
Second Doctor:
Ben
Jamie
Third Doctor:
U.N.I.T. personnel: Brigadier, Benton, Yates
Fourth Doctor:
Brigadier
Harry
K-9 (honestly, who doesn't think of K-9 as male?)
Adric
Fifth Doctor:
Adric
Turlough
Sixth Doctor:
Jamie (in The Two Doctors)
Seventh Doctor:
Brigadier (in Battlefield)
Eighth Doctor:
Chang Lee
If K-9 counts, then so does Kamelion.
The EIghth Doctor also had C'Rizz.
Turlough was in a shirt, shorts, and bathing suit in Planet of Fire.
Nyssa's costumes went from Traken-normal to... increasingly bizarre choices, until she ended up leaving in her underwear.
I didn't care for Horns of Nimon, but Nightmare of Eden was an excellent story about drug smuggling and the excuses criminals use to justify it.
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the Nightmre Of Eden caused horrible production problems and arguments on the set and in the end caused Graham Williams to leave the show.
The story is a prime example of why Tom Baker had stayed too long.
Williams had some major league constraints -- including that his predecessor, Philip Hinchcliffe, had overspent on his final season and the BBC were being lobbyed by certain viewers groups about the alleged violence in the series, so he had to tone it down and do it all with a fraction of the money -- but he had some good ideas about what he felt the show needed. Foremost among them was the 'Key To Time' concept, which he thought up for Season 15 as a means of bringing a sense of drama over multiple episodes, a "myth arc"; if you will, but he ended up having to postpone it for a year due to the afforementioned budgetary constraints.
I think any actor can tire from a role long before they finish it. Tom Baker was no exception. One story I heard was he only stuck around because he was peddling a Doctor Who movie script he'd written, but by 1979/1980 it had become clear to him that it was never going to get made.
The Eighth's only other male companion was his great-grandson. Thats it.
Would that be Susan's son? (not that she had any kids onscreen)
