Doctor Who: Tom Baker Might Return as Fourth Doctor
Posted by Kevin Carr (kevin@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 31, 2008
Not too long ago, I was on a bus being chauffeured to a media event, and my phone rang. It’s a unique ringtone that I haven’t heard anyone else use, but it shows my devotion to geekdom. However, one person on the bus recognized it as the Doctor Who theme.
“I’m impressed,” I told him, and he turned his nose up at me and said, “Well, I work for PBS.”
All snotty film critic fluff aside, I do give PBS credit for introducing me to Doctor Who, when they imported a slew of episodes during the 1970s. Of course, this is what introduced much of the American audience to arguably the most popular incarnation of the Doctor – Tom Baker.
He consistently played the Doctor for more years than any other actor (from 1974 to 1981), and his trademark wild curly hair and ridiculously long scarf are staples of television history.
Now that Doctor Who has been regenerated again by the BBC (and airing in the States on BBC America and the SciFi Channel), it has regained mainstream popularity. This new life has spurred Baker to consider reprising his role as the Fourth Doctor alongside the current Tenth Doctor, David Tennant.
“Perhaps I might make a guest appearance – perhaps,” Baker told Kent News. “Providing they ask me nicely, of course.”
This wouldn’t be the first time a classic Doctor has jumped into the new series. Peter Davidson (who succeeded Baker in the original series) showed up on the most recent Children in Need special.
On the same note, it’s not the first classic Doctor Who character to come back to the show. In season two, Elisabeth Sladen reprised her role as Sarah Jane Smith (companion to both Tom Baker and the Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee), which served as a launching point for The Sarah Jane Adventures. The mechanical companion K-9 also guest starred on the series.
Talk Back: Which classic Doctor Who character should come back, and why?
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