The Tom Baker Era - Doctor Who Reviews

[EddMarkStarr]

When I look back over the course of my life it seems that a sci-fi future was already established and growing all around me.

Doctor Who has become a part of me thanks to the brilliant Tom Baker, bringing the character to life waay beyond the show's creators ever imagined.

 

[Stardreamer]

Tom Baker was my introduction to Doctor Who and the best in my opinion.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

Tom Baker was my introduction to Doctor Who and the best in my opinion.

View attachment 1252854

Believe it or not, I stumbled upon Tom Baker as The Doctor by random chance, channel surfing one Saturday night. It was, "The Ark in Space", and I was fascinated. Doctor Who was television a la live-theater!

The set designs, the prop-heavy storylines and the presentation style - it all reminded me of staged plays from the local dinner theater. I couldn't look away, it was so unusual from the over-produced TV in the USA.

But what hooked me was, "Image of the Fendahl". What a coo story, all represented by a young woman wearing robes and heavy make-up over her closed eyelids.

 

[Stardreamer]

It is interesting that you compare it to live theater. The BBC at the time couldn't afford to set up the sets for more than a day. The actors usually did not see the sets until the day of shooting and did their practicing in rooms with tape on the floor and walls to mark where the scenery would be. This didn't allow time for many reshoots either, if a scene was messed up it often was used anyway unless it was just unusable.

This lead to sets that could be easily be set up and taken down quickly. The inventive design of the aliens trying to create something that was more than just a man with bumpy foreheads we see in Star Trek was wonderful and giggle-inducing at the same time. The grubs in Ark in Space appeared to be little more than a man wrapped in green painted bubble wrap crawling along the floor but it made me fall in love with the effort being made to make something truly alien. It didn't always work of course as the adult aliens were laughable but you had to appreciate the effort.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

It is interesting that you compare it to live theater. The BBC at the time couldn't afford to set up the sets for more than a day. The actors usually did not see the sets until the day of shooting and did their practicing in rooms with tape on the floor and walls to mark where the scenery would be. This didn't allow time for many reshoots either, if a scene was messed up it often was used anyway unless it was just unusable.

This lead to sets that could be easily be set up and taken down quickly. The inventive design of the aliens trying to create something that was more than just a man with bumpy foreheads we see in Star Trek was wonderful and giggle-inducing at the same time. The grubs in Ark in Space appeared to be little more than a man wrapped in green painted bubble wrap crawling along the floor but it made me fall in love with the effort being made to make something truly alien. It didn't always work of course as the adult aliens were laughable but you had to appreciate the effort.

Absolutely!

Some of the best sci-fi on television had shoestring budgets. Aliens that were people in wild clothes and makeup and sets made of cardboard box computers. But the 60's and 70's Doctor Who had the advantage of actors and writers that could take a blank wall and some cans of spray paint, and make you believe it was a portal to another dimension, (adding a bit of animation to help, lol).

Tom Baker knows something special - sci-fi isn't about stuff, it's really about people.

The Tom Baker years gave us great stories with Tom's easy, lovable character quirks, supported by fascinating guest characters that appeared in only one story arc. Notice how in this clip, which lasts only a few seconds, there's an instant chemistry between the characters. With only a few words a "depth of personality" can be established that says, "she's on Our Side!".