RT
So that'll be why they used a contemporary photo on the front of the Radio Times then?
Tom Baker is reportedly breaking his legendary Who hiatus to appear in tomorrow’s BBC TV special, the Day of the Doctor - marking Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary. And you'll be able to check El Reg tomorrow for coverage. With his flowing scarf, 1970s ‘fro and pockets full of jelly babies, Baker left an iconic mark on the sci-fi …
Dr.Who special without Tom Baker would have been a travesty. Met him once. I regressed into a 10 year old.. apologised for bumping into him in the london underground and out of all the things I could have said to him was .. 'you're dr.who' to which he replied 'yeeeahhhsssss' and walked off.
To explain why Tom Bakers doctor now looks like a grandpa. Don't get me wrong , Baker looks good for his age especially given his fondness for the booze in his earlier years, but he ain't no 30-something anymore and I suspect just dying his hair would look ridiculous. This should be interesting!
Some of us are actually gently pleased that Who has reached 50 years, why can't you be happy for us or just not read the articles?
Even if you hate sci-fi or kids horror, any TV show that's managed that kind of life of entertaining millions across multiple generations deserves some recognition. The fact the fanbase has a big overlap with 1) techies and 2) Brits means The Reg would be silly not to carry items to celebrate it.
Well - I didn't know Tom Baker was going to appear in the anniversary episode but there he was in his full glory and a head full of hair - albeit white. I thought it was quite good that he was the curator - seemed sensible and tied up the plot quite well.
Here in France, they showed an earlier episode of the Doctor after the 50th anniversary episode (don't know if it was the same one in the UK), so next time how about John Simms regenerating as the Doctor? After all he is (was?) a time-lord.
Phil
Doctor Who is quite popular in the USA, even in Texas. SciFi stores carry dolls / action figures, tardis, books, comics, sonic screw drivers, etc. I've even gotten my wife into the (new) series. There is even a small anniversary Doctor Who convention in Dallas.
Since I am of the not-so-young age... in which I was watching the Tom Baker episodes before I owned my first computer... Tom Baker *IS* my favorite, easily. Sure the special effects were not up to Star Wars (or Space 1999 in many cases) - but the the stories and characters made up the show great.
Colin Baker was an excellent Doctor as well... I'd put him behind David Tenet thou. I'd still like to see deeper stories that take 2-4 episodes to finish.
BBC iPlayer, currently hosting an edition with a disco version of the Dr Who theme, by Mankind.
"Tony Blackburn presents Rocky Sharpe & the Replays, Hot Chocolate, the Buzzcocks, Elkie Brooks, Mankind, Chic, Elton John, Boney M and dance sequences by Legs & Co."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03j49l4/Top_of_the_Pops_14_12_1978/
...about 12 minutes in, just after Elkie Brooks performs Don't Cry Out Loud.
Would have been interesting to see what Legs & Co would have done with it - does anyone care (what the accompanying music is) - 24'30"
Also features Ian Dury & The Blockheads with "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick"
alternatively, on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBWEpbmd1Uk
I am so pleased that "the register" has chosen to honour this series (note the British spelling, I'm not!: I'm a colonial from North America). Like many, I became acquainted with Dr. Who years after it aired. Strangely, my students (I taught at the University of Rochester in the 80's), petitioned for no class in the mid-afternoon. Why? They were watching Dr. Who!
Consequently, as has been noted for decades, your first Doctor, is often your favorite, as is mine: Baker!
Larry
P.S. My son and I loved to watch it together nearly 15 years ago. But, his mother didn't approve of the series. Not suprisingly, we're no longer married either :-)
so VERY glad I missed this article when it ran last Friday. Seeing Tom Baker was a wonderful surprise. A fraction-of-a-second's "Hey, that voice sounds familiar" gives way to "HOLYSHITHOWCOOLISTHAT?!?"
Neither he nor Smith actually SAID Baker was the Doctor. It was inferred, but Smith's Doctor seemed somewhat unsure (to me, at least). I think to have said it outright would have cheapened the moment. For those of us who didn't know it was coming, it was absolutely brilliant. I had hoped we'd see other "classic" Doctors in there as well. I will definitely look up The Five(ish) Doctors reboot when I get home.
Holy shit I'm glad I wasn't at work last Friday to read that! The Tom Baker cameo was fantastic, particularly as it was supposed to be a SURPRISE! Understand that? You've been running these 50th anniversary things for how long? Then you spoil something like that the day before? lol, I am so glad I didn't see this before the show. So thank you, at least, for waiting until the day before so I missed it.
I'm not sure I'd say he is the "ultimate" Doctor. The Brigadier put best in the show itself:
"Fine chap. All of them."
Each interpretation of him adds something to the character with no one incarnation fully being The Doctor. We only get that with episodes like this one where several incarnations of himself meet for an extraordinary purpose.