Who on Earth is the best Doctor Who?

I’ve just finished reading Tom Baker’s wonderful autobiography for the second time.

“Who On Earth Is Tom Baker?” was published in 1997 and I have a first edition hardback; it is even signed by Tom Baker but I know I didn’t turn up at any book signing. I’m also sure, knowing me, that I didn’t buy the book for its cover price of £17.99, or 20.50 euros, or $27.86, or 31 Australian dollars, or 29 Canadian dollars, or 200 Swedish kronor, or 121.8 Finnish Markkaa, or 3,574 Icelandic kronur, or a small bag of Dumdad doubloons; I probably bought it in a sale for a tenner or less, or even picked it up for loose change at a charity shop.

It is also the sort of book I would rarely buy. There are not many celebs or actors or writers that I’m that keen on knowing so much about their lives.

I’m not even much of a fan of Doctor Who either. I adored the early episodes and doctors but my interest waned after the fifth doctor, Peter Davison (1981-1984), was regenerated into Colin Baker (1984-1986). I thought Colin Baker was a dull doctor while Sylvester McCoy (1987-1989) was not the true McCoy.

The Doctor Who series then was halted for some years and it coincided with my moving to Paris where I’ve lived ever since so I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing doctors nine, 10 and 11, Christopher Eccleston (2005), David Tennant (2005-2010) and Matt Smith (2010-) respectively.

But Tom Baker’s life story is a delightful read, full of fun anecdotes and rich with a quirky, gentle yet earthy humour. Baker was the Time Lord from 1974-1981 and he adored the role. In fact, he writes in his tome, he BECAME the Doctor as he cavorted his way around Britain meeting fans. He was never a prima donna and gave his time (he was a Time Lord, after all) generously to young and old alike.

He was a big boozer and womanizer in his day and a frequenter of all the low-life and high-life watering holes of Soho. He was once even married to one of Doctor Who’s assistants, Romana, played by Lalla Ward, who later married Richard Dawkins, the British evolutionary biologist.

I once saw Tom Baker in the flesh a few years ago in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, when I was on holiday; I mentioned it here on my blog.

But I didn’t go and tell him how much I enjoyed his book and his portrayal of Doctor Who and I rather regret that now.

Who on Earth is Tom Baker? A difficult man to define or understand. But he’ll always be remembered as THE Doctor Who in my book.