Tom Baker has revealed new details of his return to Doctor Who last year, The Five Doctors and much more, plus a cheeky dig at the other Doctors! Speaking at the official launch of Doctor Who on the Horror Channel, Tom spoke on how he considered not appearing in The Day of the Doctor till the intervention of Caroline Skinner:
“I did contemplate not doing it, but I was persuaded by a girl called Caroline Skinner. She came to meet me in Rye in some little hotel and she begged me to be in it, and she’s a very persuasive girl and she was very charming about it and said I could tamper with the script, so I said yes to her. Anyway then the script arrived a few months later and I didn’t much care for the script so I rang the BBC and said, ‘Listen get me Caroline Skinner. They said, ‘Who?’ I said, ‘Is that the ‘Doctor Who’ production office?’ They said, ‘Yeah.’ I replied, ‘And you’re asking me who Caroline Skinner is? She’s the producer.’ Then I heard, ‘Oh I’m so sorry, she’s not with us any more.’ … By that time I’d agreed to do it. But I’m not sorry now.”
Tom also said he would consider working on the show again, commenting on why exactly he declined to return at the first opportunity, 1983′s Five Doctors:
“I turned down the five Doctors because it wasn’t long since I’d left – I had left Doctor Who because I think I’d run my course, I didn’t want to play 20 per cent of the part. I didn’t fancy being a feed for other Doctors – in fact, it filled me with horror. Now, of course, if someone asked me to do a scene with some other Doctors, I think, if they let me tamper with the script, it would probably be quite drole. I would think about that, yes…. I wouldn’t rule anything out, if it was a nice part, with some good lines, I might deign to appear!… I greatly admire Capaldi, he’s lovely and apparently he’s a great fan of Doctor Who - he might ask for me!”
Tom turned on the mischief as only he can when asked about ruffling the feathers of the other Doctors with his role in The Day of the Doctor, much to his amusement:
“Oh I hope so, yes! Thanks a lot for reminding me of that. That really pleased me”
Tom also sadly revealed that he may have returned to the canon sooner as part of the Sarah Jane Adventures alongside former Doctor Who co-star Elizabeth Sladen:
“I think it was being mooted, at a time when Elisabeth began to be ill, I’d never seen it, but she was so thrilled - I never got round to doing that.”
And as for Peter Capaldi? Tom has no advice to give:
“No I don’t have any advice for anybody and certainly not somebody taking over ‘Doctor Who’. He’s a very accomplished actor, I’ve seen him do lots of mean things, you know swearing into his mobile phone. I’m sure he’ll be good. Nobody has ever failed, have they? So they you are, he’ll be all right.”
Tom will be seen as the Doctor again shortly on The Horror Channel following the beginning of the channels broadcast of the classic series which began this evening.
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