Why I Love The Fourth Doctor
Guest contributor Ed Smith celebrates Tom Baker’s Doctor.
The hair. The jelly babies. That very long scarf. The Fourth Doctor took the world by storm. Tell anyone to think of the Doctor, and the Fourth Doctor will immediately pop in to their heads. Countless times has he been voted top Doctor, and while I may not be that fond of those sort of polls, I do agree that he is worthy of the title. The Fourth Doctor has become the Doctor, the one that you could show a picture of to a casual viewer and they’d know exactly who he is. He’s been in The Simpsons, his scarf in The Big Bang Theory and his costume in the game Team Fortress 2. He is an icon of the show, and even more so, an icon of TV history.
What makes Tom Baker one of my favourite Doctors? He doesn’t play your normal, dashing hero. Like the Doctors before him, he’s a bit of an oddball, he has a sense of quirkiness to him, and a wit like nothing else I have seen. He has been an icon that I have learned from. He taught me that long scarves were cool, he taught me that sleep was for tortoises, and he there was no point being grown up if I couldn’t be childish. Most of all, he taught me to be who I wanted to be, which is something that I value massively. He doesn’t care what people think of him and he will go to whatever lengths to save not just his friends, but anyone around him.
Tom Baker took the character to places that the Doctor, at the time, hadn’t really been before. He was the youngest actor at the time, and through this showed a completely different character, too. He was like a little boy, running around from place to place, with a sense of humour that was occasionally badly timed and a tone to his voice that is oddly charming. He wins you over the minute you see him step out his TARDIS and he’ll capture you in his character as soon as you see him on the prowl for answers. His snappy responses to any frivolous individuals that he can’t be bothered to waste time with don’t get old, and his humour constantly entertains.
The Fourth Doctor can switch between two completely different people instantly. One minute he can be a bonkers, crazy uncle, offering his enemies sweets and throwing his hat at them, but the next he will transform in to a dark, sometimes even menacing, warrior that you really wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of. He captured the essence of a warm hearted puppy and the coldness of an experienced soldier. Though whatever happens, you know he will always save the day, with a grin on his face that you can’t help but smile at, even if he does tell you that everyone is going to die.
His tenure lasted a whopping seven years – his era including the gothic, creepy Holmes and Hinchecliffe era, all the way to the glammed up, 80s, John Nathan Turner era. He had stories spanning from the eeriness that is The Horror of Fang Rock, to the fun and enjoyable romp that is City of Death. The Fourth Doctor can fit both scenarios like a glove, dancing his way through each episode with a yoyo and a rotten apple core in his pocket, and a wide hat perched on his forehead. This freeness is something that I find fantastically charming.
As we all know, in The Day of the Doctor, Tom Baker returned as the Curator. If you hadn’t squealed with delight yet, you probably did then, when we all heard perhaps the most chilling line in the special. “You know, I really think you might”. It was instantly recognizable. My face lit up at that familiar voice, the magical grin I had grown to love making me want to dance around the room. A dream of mine was playing out in front of me. I could still see the man with the big hair, the hat and the scarf. It was an absolutely beautiful and poignant scene.
The Fourth Doctor is a mighty icon in the show’s history – and rightly so. Tom Baker carved the character in to the Doctor we all know and love. As well as being an inspiration and hero to the generation of the 70s, he remains so today.
