THE IRREPLACEABLE TOM BAKER

PHOTO: OLIVER McNEIL

THE ULTIMATE INTERVIEW

PART SEVEN

“We all were sea-swallowed, though some cast again, and by that destiny to perform an act whereof what’s past is prologue...”

– Antonio, THE TEMPEST

DAY EIGHT (CONT’D)

TOM’S HOUSE, EAST SUSSEX STILL SAT IN TOM’S KITCHEN 27/04/16

“I’m more fulfilled than i have been at any time in the past 25 years..."

In one guise or another, you’ve been entertaining the British public for almost 50 years – yet still no knighthood. What’s going on, Tom?

“They’ll have to hurry up. I’m close to the bloody grave. A man sent me a message the other day: he said, ‘I think you’re a saint.’ I’ve forgotten the context now, but it made my wife laugh. Actually, I met a guy in Soho quite recently – he’s a tailor on Berwick Street, a fabulous-looking young man – and he’s called Sir Tom Baker. No, he is. You can Google him up. He said he’d make me some clothes. He wanted me to come to one of his fashion shows. I said, ‘Yes, and we could have one of your very pretty models on a dog collar and chain.’ Then he got frightened. He said, ‘Christ, Tom, I don’t think we can do that.’ I said, ‘Well, how about I take to the catwalk? I know how to do the walk – the cystitis walk. It’s terribly theatrical.’ But he wouldn’t let me. It turns out that, despite him being rather outrageous, he bottled it. I would have modelled for him, with whips and chains, but he turned me down. I talked myself off the catwalk.”

That’s an upsetting story. Hey, I’ve got something for you. As this is our last interview, and as you gave me one of these five years ago in Rye... I’ve bought you a lottery ticket.

“Oh, goodness me! (Laughs) That’s absolutely great. You’d better sign it.”

It’s for this Saturday’s draw. If it wins, I’ll have made an old Doctor Who even richer.[1]

“We might make history. Yes, that’s a lovely thought. Thank you, Ben.”

Talking of making history, I’d like to ask you about The Day of the Doctor [the 50th anniversary episode, broadcast in 2013, in which Tom played ‘the Curator’, or possibly a future incarnation of the Doctor]. I’ve heard you say that you were a bit nervous doing it. I can’t imagine Tom Baker being nervous.

“I was nervous, because I’d been away from Doctor Who for so long. I didn’t know what was going on. I don’t know anything about modern TV cameras – about changing focus or whatever they did, and they can do quite long takes now – and there was no-one there to explain those things to me. I don’t think I actually even spoke to the director [Nick Hurran]. No-one gave me any notes. I suppose they were being kind, weren’t they? Maybe I looked a bit worn out or something. It was a long journey through the night, down to south Wales. They couldn’t put me in a local hotel, because they were trying to keep it secret. It was very arduous, really, because I wasn’t all that well, and I’ve been unsteady on my legs. It was a bit of a miserable experience, if it hadn’t been for Matt Smith, who’s got impeccable manners and seemed so thrilled to see me. He was such a darling. He was very kind; a lovely young man. We did several takes, and Matt responded to whatever I did, then away I went.”

Have you seen much of Matt’s successor, Peter Capaldi, playing the Doctor?

“Well, I don’t watch television, but I’ve seen bits. He’s wonderful, isn’t he? He’s got that bunched-up, knotted energy. He’s manic. In other words, it’s the heroic side of Malcolm Tucker [the aggressive and profane spin doctor that Capaldi played in BBC comedy The Thick of It, 2005-12]. It’s someone on the boil.”

Peter is a big fan of yours.

“Well, he’s a bighearted man. I didn’t find out until not all that long ago that he was a very dedicated Doctor Who fan as a child. He sent me the most enchanting email for my last birthday. He said how he has such warm memories of watching me as a young man. Is he signed on for a long time?”

He’s signed on for next year. And they’ve just cast a new companion, Pearl Mackie – a virtual unknown.

“That excites the fans, doesn’t it? – as they discover someone anew. She’s a black girl, isn’t she?

That’s good. That’s very good. Is Steven Moffat [showrunner, 2010-17] still in charge?”

Yes. He’s leaving at the end of next year.

“He’s had prodigious success with it, hasn’t he?”

Did Steven have to work hard to persuade you to come back for The Day of the Doctor?

“First of all, it was a woman who talked me into it. Because I didn’t know anyone on Doctor Who. I was doing a shoot and an interview down at The Mermaid [an event space, formerly a theatre, in Blackfriars, London] – I don’t know what it was for, maybe a Post Office promotion – and there was this girl there, hanging around, who seemed to be paying me a lot of attention. I said, ‘Are you the assistant stage manager?’ She said, ‘No, no, I’m from the BBC. I’m the producer of Doctor Who.’ Was her name Claire Skinner?”

Caroline Skinner. She was the programme’s executive producer [on 2011’s The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe and the following series broadcast between 2012 and 2013].