David Tennant’s return to the position of the Doctor for Doctor Who‘s sixtieth anniversary attracts some attention-grabbing comparisons with one in all his predecessors – Tom Baker. Both Tom Baker and David Tennant are the preferred and iconic Doctors of their respective eras. After enjoying the position for seven years between 1974 and 1981, Tom Baker’s portrayal grew to become indelibly linked with Doctor Who for many years. Baker’s recognition and simply recognizable silhouette meant that in the course of the wilderness interval of the present within the Nineteen Nineties, there have been a number of makes an attempt to carry again each Doctor Who and Tom Baker.
Unlike David Tennant, Tom Baker took a very long time to lastly return to the present after the Fourth Doctor regenerated in 1981. Tom had appeared because the Doctor in audio dramas for the BBC and Big Finish in the course of the early 2000s, however there was a protracted hole between his on-screen appearances. Aside from a charity sketch in 1993, Baker did not return to the present correct till the fiftieth anniversary in 2013, when he performed the Curator, a future incarnation of the Doctor. And but, between 1981 and 2013, there have been a number of makes an attempt to carry again Tom Baker because the Doctor, here is each time it was tried.
The Five Doctors (1983)
The first try and carry again Tom Baker was 1983’s feature-length twentieth anniversary particular The Five Doctors which was set to unite all of the surviving Doctors. Tellingly, one of many unique drafts for the script put Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor on the heart of the plot, touring to Gallifrey’s citadel to unmask his former trainer Borusa because the villain. Meanwhile, the Fifth Doctor and Tegan confronted off towards the Cybermen and the Master within the Death Zone. It was a wierd transfer to have the incumbent Doctor diminished to being a supporting character to Baker’s Doctor, however this would not be the final time that an anniversary particular tried to upstage the opposite Doctors.
Tom Baker had solely left the position two years beforehand, after a last season outlined by the enmity between Baker and producer John Nathan-Turner. With JN-T nonetheless within the position for the twentieth anniversary, it was unlikely that Baker would need to return to that setting so quickly after he left. Tom Baker said that it was too quickly for him to return to the position of the Doctor, and declined the chance to star in The Five Doctors. The Fourth Doctor was represented in The Five Doctors by footage from the unbroadcast serial Shada and Tom Baker was represented on the particular’s promotional photograph shoot by his waxwork.
The Dark Dimension (1993)
A decade later, and the high-profile celebrations of Doctor Who‘s twentieth anniversary felt like a distant reminiscence. The present had been canceled 4 years earlier, and the prospect of future Doctor Who episodes was very slim going into the thirtieth anniversary. BBC Enterprises had discovered that Tom Baker was eager to return to the position of the Doctor and commenced mounting a straight-to-video anniversary film that might carry the Fourth Doctor again. As with The Five Doctors, the plan was to carry again all 5 surviving Doctors, however Tom Baker’s incarnation took up nearly all of the display screen time within the draft script, fairly than incumbent Doctor, Sylvester McCoy.
The Third Doctor Jon Pertwee and Sixth Doctor Colin Baker voiced their objections to the unfair give attention to Tom’s Fourth Doctor and this, mixed with budgetary points led to the mission ultimately folding. After being promised a feature-length multi-Doctor film, followers needed to make do with a charity sketch the place the Doctors interacted with the forged of the UK cleaning soap opera Eastenders. Tom made a quick look firstly, in character because the Fourth Doctor, sending a warning message to his future selves, earlier than gracefully bowing out of the derided story.
The TV Movie (1996)
In 1996, a transatlantic co-production tried to revive Doctor Who for a 90s viewers, introducing the Eighth Doctor within the type of Paul McGann. The unique define for the brand new collection had some very controversial additions to Doctor Who canon, such because the Doctor and Master being brothers and the Doctor’s half-human biology. The Doctor’s human mom was the one ingredient retained in Matthew Jacobs’ script, which he needed to behave as a continuation of the present, fairly than a tough reboot. This included the addition of Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor, who would regenerate into the Eighth Doctor within the film’s opening moments.
However, govt producer Jo Wright needed Tom Baker’s Doctor to be the one who handed over the TARDIS keys to the brand new incarnation. This is sensible given Tom Baker’s recognition with American audiences due to his Doctor Who period screening on PBS within the Nineteen Seventies and 80s. Sylvester McCoy had already been supplied the prospect to return, and govt producer Philip Segal was intent that the McGann film observe on from the traditional collection, fairly than change Doctor Who canon with the return of Tom Baker
The 2005 Revival
Far from being left to fade into obscurity, there have been a number of makes an attempt to carry Doctor Who again to screens within the Nineteen Nineties. Tom Baker appeared in documentaries concerning the present and hosted a particular evening on UK channel BBC2 which celebrated the present. As plans to lastly carry the present again have been reaching fruition, showrunner Russell T Davies says he was current at a gathering the place the idea of bringing again Tom Baker was severely talked about. Not desirous to rock the boat, RTD simply nodded together with the suggestion, understanding full effectively that the present needed to transfer ahead from its previous to achieve success as soon as once more. It’s Davies’ forward-thinking and creativity that implies the return of David Tennant to Doctor Who is not all that it seems.
The Power Of The Doctor (2022)
At the top of The Power of the Doctor, the BBC lastly acquired their wish to carry again a vastly well-liked Doctor because the present’s lead. However, earlier than Jodie Whittaker’s shock regeneration into David Tennant, audiences have been handled to the returns of each surviving traditional Doctor bar one – Tom Baker. When Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor was pressured to regenerate into the Master, she got here nose to nose with the guardians of the sting, portrayed by Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker and David Bradley.
The cause that Baker didn’t cameo in Power of the Doctor was, in keeping with Chris Chibnall as a result of he was unavailable. This is actually an excellent cause not to participate in filming, however would not actually reply the query. Over the years, Baker hasn’t at all times been eager to share the limelight along with his fellow Doctors, though he was very complimentary of Matt Smith throughout their time filming Day of the Doctor in 2013. Apparently, it was working with Smith that made Baker’s impatience on the prolonged strategy of filming with 3D cameras extra tolerable. Perhaps on the age of 88, and following his experiences on Day of the Doctor, Tom Baker did not really feel like returning to Doctor Who for yet another transient outing.
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