Tom Baker

Last updated 09 January 2020

Acting Creditsexpand all 6 roles
Doctor Who: Robot; The Ark In Space; The Sontaran Experiment; Genesis of the Daleks; Revenge of the Cybermen; Terror of the Zygons; Planet of Evil; Pyramids of Mars; The Android Invasion; The Brain of Morbius; The Seeds of Doom; Doctor Who and The Pescatons[Misc]; The Masque of Mandragora; The Hand Of Fear; The Deadly Assassin; The Face of Evil; The Robots of Death; The Talons of Weng-Chiang; Horror of Fang Rock; The Invisible Enemy; Image of the Fendahl; The Sun Makers; Underworld; The Invasion of Time; The Ribos Operation; The Pirate Planet; The Stones of Blood; The Androids of Tara; The Power of Kroll; The Armageddon Factor; Destiny of the Daleks; City of Death; The Creature from the Pit; Nightmare of Eden; The Horns of Nimon; The Leisure Hive; Meglos; Full Circle; State of Decay; Warriors' Gate; The Keeper of Traken; Logopolis; The Fourth Doctor Boxset[BF]; Destination: Nerva[BF]; The Renaissance Man[BF]; The Wrath of the Iceni[BF]; Energy of the Daleks[BF]; Trail of the White Worm[BF]; The Oseidon Adventure[BF]; The Auntie Matter[BF]; White Ghosts[BF]; The Sands of Life[BF]; War Against the Laan[BF]; The Justice of Jalxar[BF]; Phantoms of the Deep[BF]; The Dalek Contract[BF]; The Final Phase[BF]; The Light at the End[BF]; Night of the Stormcrow[BF]; The King of Sontar[BF]; The Crooked Man[BF]; The Evil One[BF]; Last of the Colophon[BF]; Destroy the Infinite[BF]; The Abandoned[BF]; Zygon Hunt[BF]; Philip Hinchcliffe Presents[BF]; The Exxilons[BF]; The Romance of Crime[BF]; The English Way of Death[BF]; The Darkness of Glass[BF]; Requiem for the Rocket Men[BF]; The Well-Mannered War[BF]; Death March[BF]; Suburban Hell[BF]; The Cloisters of Terror[BF]; The Fate of Krelos[BF]; Return to Telos[BF]; Wave of Destruction[BF]; The Labyrinth of Buda Castle[BF]; The Paradox Planet[BF]; Legacy Of Death[BF]; Gallery of Ghouls[BF]; The Trouble with Drax[BF]; The Pursuit of History[BF]; Casualties Of Time[BF]; Philip Hinchcliffe Presents: The Genesis Chamber[BF]; The Beast Of Kravenos[BF]; The Eternal Battle[BF]; The Silent Scream[BF]; Dethras[BF]; The Haunting Of Malkin Place[BF]; Subterranea[BF]; The Movellan Grave[BF]; The Skin Of The Sleek[BF]; The Thief Who Stole Time[BF]; Shada; Fourth Doctor - Series 7: Volume 1[BF]; Fourth Doctor - Series 7: Volume 2[BF]; Diary of River Song: Series 4[BF]; Fourth Doctor - The Syndicate Masterplan: Volume 1[BF]; Fourth Doctor - The Syndicate Masterplan: Volume 2[BF]; The Comic Strip Adaptations Volume 01[BF]; The Legacy of Time[BF]; Fourth Doctor - Series 9: Volume 1; Fourth Doctor - Series 9: Volume 2; Shadow of the Sun; Return of the Cybermen[BF]; Fourth Doctor - Dalek Universe; Fourth Doctor - Series 10: Volume 2; Fourth Doctor - Series 10: Volume 1; Out of Time 1; Philip Hinchcliffe Presents 3[BF]; Castrovalva(uncredited) (from archive recording); The Name of the Doctor(uncredited) (from archive recording)Info; The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot(uncredited)[Misc] (from archive recording)Info; Earthshock(uncredited) (from archive recording)Info; Mawdryn Undead(uncredited) (from archive recording)Info; The Magician's Apprentice / The Witch's Familiar(uncredited) (from archive recording)Info | as Dr Who: Exploration Earth[Misc] | as The Doctor: The Five Doctors (from archive recording)Info; Dimensions In Time[Misc]; The Day of The Doctor | as The Fourth Doctor: Destiny Of the Doctors[Games] | as The new Dr Who: Planet of the Spiders(uncredited)
290 credits in
125 entries
Self: KTEH Specials[Factual]; Carnival of Monsters[Factual]Info; Regenerations[Related]; A New Dimension[Factual]; Bringing Back the Doctor[Factual]Info; Aliens: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly[Factual]Info; I Get a Sidekick out of You[Factual]Info; Doctor Who Explained[Factual]; Tales from the TARDIS[Factual]; Behind The Lens: The Day of The Doctor(uncredited)[Factual] | as "The Fourth Doctor": The Ultimate Guide[Factual] | as Contributor: The Doctors Revisited: The Fourth Doctor[Factual] | as Presenter: Doctor Who Night[Factual] | as Presenter (as The Doctor): Disney Time[Related]
14 credits in
14 entries
4 credits in
1 entry
Meglos: Meglos(uncredited)Info
4 credits in
1 entry
(unlisted roles): as Dr. Who: Regenerations[Related]
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5 credits in
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Tom Baker
(this image appears for illustrative purposes only and no attempt is made to supersede any copyright attributed to it)

Thomas Stewart Baker

Born: Saturday 20th January 1934 (age: 90)

Emptage Hallett (agent)
IMDB
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Tom Baker was born in Scotland Road, Liverpool. His parents were working class Liverpudlians. Baker left school at 15 to become a Roman Catholic monk and remained in the monastic life for six years, but left after losing his faith, and did his National Service in the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving for two years from 1955 until 1957. 

In the late 1960s and early 1970s Baker was part of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre company, and got his first big film break in 1971 with the role of Rasputin in the film Nicholas and Alexandra. for which he was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, one for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and another for Best Newcomer. 

In 1974, Baker was cast by Barry Letts to take over the role of the Doctor. Letts was convinced he was right for the part after seeing his performance in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. He played the Doctor for seven seasons, making him the longest-serving actor in the part so far. T

he manifestation played by Tom Baker (1974-1981) is often regarded as the most popular of the Doctors. In polls conducted by Doctor Who Magazine, Baker has lost the "Best Doctor" category only three times: Once to Sylvester McCoy in 1990, and twice to David Tennant in 2006 and 2009.

Baker returned to the role for a series of five audio dramas for BBC Audio, co-starring Richard Franklin as Captain Mike Yates, which were released in September 1979. He has also played the Fourth Doctor for a series of plays for Big Finish Productions. 

In 2001 Baker was cast as the narrator of Little Britain on BBC Radio 4, and remained in the role when it transferred to television. From 2000 to 2005 Tom voiced the character Max Bear in the Channel 4 (UK) Max Bear Productions animated series. 

More recently, he voiced the role of the villain ZeeBad in the 2005 computer-animated film version of The Magic Roundabout. Baker narrates the children's computer animation series The Beeps which is shown on Five's Milkshake! as well as narrating Tales of Aesop on BBC, a television series based on Aesop's Fables with puppet animation. Baker played Puddleglum, a "marsh-wiggle", in the BBC adaptation of C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair. 

He also portrayed Sherlock Holmes in a four part BBC miniseries version of The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1982. Baker made a memorable appearance in Blackadder II, as a wild-eyed sea captain who advocated drinking one's own urine as a survival tactic. 

In a 2005 survey of British adults, Baker's voice was found to be the fourth most recognisable after the Queen, Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher. During the first three months of 2006, his voice was used by BT for spoken delivery of text messages to landline phones. He recorded 11,593 phrases, containing every sound in the English language, for use by the text-to-speech service. His voice may be heard at London's Natural History Museum narrating commentary to some of the exhibits that support Darwin's theory of natural selection.

Baker's autobiography, Who on Earth is Tom Baker? , was published in 1997. He has also written a short fairytale-style novel, The Boy Who Kicked Pigs, which is subtitled "A Grotesque Masterpiece".

Baker's first marriage in 1961 was to Anna Wheatcroft. They had two sons Daniel and Piers, but divorced in 1966 and Baker lost contact with his sons until a chance meeting with Piers in a pub in New Zealand allowing them to renew their relationship. In December 1980 he married Lalla Ward although, the marriage lasted only 16 months. In 1986, Baker married for a third time, this time to Sue Jerrard, who had been an assistant editor on Doctor Who.



Additional Details


Tom Baker on being Doctor Who
In this event Justin Johnson leads a discussion with actors Tom Baker and Louise Jameson and producer Philip Hinchcliffe on the era of the Fourth Doctor, and the making of The Robots of Death.

Doctor Who Stamp Collection Revealed
The BBC Breakfast team take a look at the commemorative Doctor Who 50th anniversary stamp collection released by Royal Mail.

Exclusive
In this exclusive clip from new documentary Interview With The Time Lord, Tom Baker discusses the complicated emotions around regeneration, and how -- when they meet at conventions -- the Doctors are all terribly polite to one another.

In conversation with Tom Baker
To mark his 80th birthday on 20 January 2014, the Doctor Who website presents a series of features saluting one of Doctor Who's most enduring and engaging icons, the mighty Tom Baker! In this video, Tom Baker discusses playing the Doctor and his return, in 2013, to Doctor Who in the 50th anniversary special - The Day of the Doctor.

Credit: BBC Worldwide