Tom Baker, Doctor Who
Certain actors play a character, and then there are actors who seem to become the character. Tom Baker was one of those rare actors. For many people, Tom Baker is Doctor Who. That is not to diminish the Doctors who came before or after him—far from it. Each Doctor brought something unique to the role—but Baker’s portrayal became so distinctive, so instantly recognizable, and so deeply embedded in popular culture that his image has become almost inseparable from the idea of Doctor Who itself. The wild hair, the impossibly long scarf, the wide grin, the booming voice, the eccentric mannerisms, and that unmistakable combination of humor, intelligence, danger, and melancholy created something that has never really been duplicated. Interestingly, Tom Baker was not my first Doctor. That honor belongs to Peter Davison, the Fifth Doctor. Davison was the Doctor I first came to know, and because of that, there will always be something particularly special about his interpretation. He was m...
