Would you like a jelly baby?

Would you like a jelly baby?

Tom Baker's era of 'Doctor Who' started on Twitch last night. watched at one point by some 20,000 viewers. Though the figures dropped as the episodes went on, it was still an impressive sight.

Anyone watching Tom for the first time is in for a real treat as the Fourth Doctor is (rightly} very  highly regarded. Tom is superb as The Doctor, a force to be reckoned with and a hero to be admired.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Tom Baker on two occasions; on the second we had a somewhat bizarre discussion about jelly babies, like you do. And then when Tom offered me one, I had the dilemma of whither to eat or keep it in a scrapbook for posterity...

 I ate it in the end.

Tom is a true eccentric and much of this comes through in his performance. I believe that he was once described as the best monster to feature in 'Doctor Who'...

Although a lot of his stories allow him to play the fool and be a little silly, there are many occasions where is able to show cold fury and immense passion. His anger with the Captain in 'The Pirate Planet' is chilling and frightening to watch. And when he is on top form there is no one else in the series that can touch him.

His first story 'Robot' is in many ways a carry-over from Jon Pertwee's era, featuring UNIT, the Brigadier and Sergeant Benton. But the Fourth Doctor interacts with them in a completely different manner to the Third.

However, the Fourth Doctor doesn't really emerge properly until 'The Ark In Space'. Here you get the first proper glimpse of the remote alien that Tom Baker's Doctor will become.

There's a lovely line in 'The Ark in Space' about The Doctor talking to himself because he is the only one that understands what he's talking about. Now that doesn't sound like Jon Pertwee's Doctor, who likes to explain fully to people what is going on. It almost implies to me that there has been another adventure in between 'Robot' and 'The Ark In Space' and that Sarah has come to understand how different the Fourth Doctor is to his earlier self. Though, of course, this is not what happens on screen, with Harry's surprise at the TARDIS still being fresh at the start of 'Ark'...

This could be a result of Season 12 being made out of order, with 'The Sontaran Experiment' being made before 'The Ark In Space', I suppose...

Tom Baker is the Doctor that the general public recognise most on sight - "the one with the scarf"...
It is telling that he is the only classic era Doctor to feature in the 50th Anniversary special playing a version of himself really rather than an older Fourth (or possible future?) Doctor.

So enjoy Tom Baker's era of Doctor; you've got Zygons to look forward to, along with the Loch Ness Monster, an Anti-Matter Monster, Sutekh The Destroyer, Mummies, The Invisible Enemy and many more.

Not to mention Leela, K9 and fine pair of Romanas.

He's not a human being... he walks in eternity...

(By Lisa Parker)