There are various biographies on TOM BAKER out on the Internet. Just as a diversion here are some of them. Enjoy.

***********************************************

Tom Baker is now the elder statesman of the surviving Doctors and is also the longest actor who ever played the role: seven years from 1974 to 1981.

His wore a long overcoat, a 24 foot long scarf and floppy fedora hat, enhanced the characteristics that he brought to the role; aloof, somewhat humorous and a strange mystery about him.

His characteristic "teeth and curls" along with the scarf has made him the most popular and well known of the Doctors and became the first Doctor who introduced the series to American viewers.

His first story was called Robot, had him defeating the machinations of the SRS and Professor Kettlewell's Giant Robot. the following stories of that season; The Ark in Space, The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks and Revenge of the Cybermen are considered by some to be a classic period of Doctor Who. The fourth Doctor also returned to 20th century Earth and to UNIT early on his tenure and settled into the role of "cosmic wanderer," exemplified by the fact that five of his companions, Leela, Romana (in 2 regenerations), Adric and Nyssa were not born on Earth. He also had K9, a robotic dog as a companion.

The Doctor was also sent to recover the Key to Time, was framed for assassinating the Lord President of the High Council in The Deadly Assassin by the Master and at one point, even assumed that position. (The Invasion of Time). He also encountered many of his foes again Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, the Master and met some new ones, namely the Rutan (The Horror of Fang Rock) and the Black Guardian.Toms last ever story was Logopolis, which was broadcast in 1981. This saw the fourth Doctor regenerate after falling off a radio telescope in an attempt to foil a scheme by the Master to conquer the galaxy.All of his 40 stories are held by the BBC, but one of his stories,Shada by Douglas Adams was never completed due to BBC strikes. Shada would have been broadcast in 1980 and would have been the pinnacle of his penultimate season. The completed footage has been released on BBC Video with splendid narration by Tom Baker.

Since leaving the series Tom has declined to take part in any major reprisal of his role and now lives in France.

***********************************************

Tom Baker profile

The Baker genesis
Born in 1934 and raised in a poverty-stricken area of Liverpool, Tom claims his childhood ambition was to be an orphan. He was enticed by the US President's vow to send presents to any child who lost both parents in the war!

Ducking the docks
Tom failed his 11-plus exam, but was determined not to get trapped in the then standard Liverpool pattern of working in factories or on the docks. At fifteen, he made an eccentric decision to become a monk in a bid to raise the family kudos.

Another kind of Lord
Tom admits the hardest part of being a monk was maintaining his vow of chastity. If his superiors ever suspected him of impure thoughts, Tom would be sent to Brother Richard, a fearful man, who would deal out severe punishment. Tom grew disillusioned with it all and left after six years.

Hidden talent
It wasn't until he did National Service that Tom found he had a talent for acting. He was accepted to train at The Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama before joining the National Theatre. While there, he met Laurence Olivier, who was so impressed that he recommended Tom for the 1971 film, Nicholas and Alexandra. Ironically, the part Tom landed was that of Rasputin - a monk.

Hard times
Despite two award nominations for Rasputin, and then landing big roles in 1973's Vault of Horror and 1974's The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Tom found money hard to come by. He slept on fellow actor Paul Angelis' floor and earned extra cash on a building site.

Timely letter
Tom's financial crisis led him to beg for work at the BBC. Head of Serials Barry Letts received one such letter on the very day the then current Doctor Who, John Pertwee, resigned. Letts contacted Tom, who successfully auditioned for the role. His spell as the Doctor coincided with the show's most popular period.

***********************************************

Before Who

Born in 1934 to a Catholic mother and a Jewish father, Tom Baker was a religious lad who left school at 15 to become a novice monk in Jersey. He stayed at the monastery for over six years before growing tired of it and becoming a sailor with the Merchant Navy instead.

The ever-restless Baker then switched careers again – deciding that he'd rather like to have a try at acting. He attended drama school, appeared in plays and a number of, frankly, rather rubbish films. Then came 1974's The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, in which he played a flamboyant villain. It was this performance that got him noticed by the producers of Doctor Who – by which time Baker was so short of cash that he was actually working on a building site when he heard he was cast as the Doctor.

His Who

"You may be a doctor. But I'm the Doctor. The definite article, you might say." So proclaimed the Fourth Doctor, and it was true: Tom Baker's incarnation became so famous that he's still regarded by most fans as the quintessential Who (though today's younger viewers will no doubt defend Tennant to the death).

Playing the part from 1974 to 1981, Baker gave us the most bohemian and eccentric Doctor of them all: by turns witty and aloof, stroppy and generous, he delighted in danger and always thought of clever ways to befuddle his opponents ("Now drop your weapons, or I'll kill him with this deadly jellybaby"). A kind of space-bound Oscar Wilde (with elements of Sherlock Holmes and Lord Byron), the Fourth Doctor has strong claim to be considered the most memorable Doctor of them all.

After Who

Baker didn't pause for breath after those seven years of Who came to an end. He turned up in all sorts of productions, from Blackadder II, where he played a demented sea captain, to the blackly comic Life and Loves of a She-Devil, in which he had a mad, moaning sex scene – no doubt traumatising any Doctor Who fans who happened to be watching. In more recent years he's appeared in Monarch of the Glen and the remake of Randall and Hopkirk, but is perhaps most loved for his bonkers voice-overs for Little Britain ("Britain, Britain, Britain! We've had running water for ten years and we invented the cat!").

Who knew?

Tom Baker's most famous accessory, the unfeasibly long scarf, came about by accident. The costume designer for Doctor Who gave too much wool to the knitter, who naturally assumed it was all to be used. The resulting scarf was almost thrown out by the designer, until Baker noticed it and realised it was just perfect.

Who says...

Baker's epic tenure in the role can be put down to one thing: his sheer love of the part. As he once said: "Playing Doctor Who came as a great surprise to me – I had no idea that I would enjoy it so much. All that was required of me was to be able to speak complete gobbledygook with complete conviction!"