Tom Baker is pleased his appearance in the ‘Doctor Who’ 50th anniversary special upset some of the other former stars.
The 80-year-old actor – who portrayed the titular Time Lord from 1974 to 1981 – had a cameo role as The Curator opposite Matt Smith in last year’s feature-length episode ‘The Day of the Doctor’, and he was the only classic Doctor to be asked back.
Tom mischievously claims his return was made even better by the idea it annoyed the actors from the sci-fi show’s original run.
When asked by BANG Showbiz if he was aware his appearance in the special upset some ex-Doctors, he laughed: "Oh I hope so, yes! Thanks a lot for reminding me of that. That really pleased me."
Colin Baker – who portrayed the Sixth Doctor from 1984 to 1986 – previously complained he felt like a "second class citizen" when he discovered only Tom would be in the episode, adding: "All or none, that’s what I would have thought."
Tom also revealed he had considered turning down his cameo in the 50th adventure but was persuaded to take part by the programme’s former producer Caroline Skinner.
Speaking at an event to launch classic ‘Doctor Who’ stories on The Horror Channel, the eccentric star revealed: "Yeah I did contemplate not doing it, but I was persuaded by a girl called Caroline Skinner. She came to meet me in Rye in some little hotel and she begged me to be in it, and she’s a very persuasive girl and she was very charming about it and said I could tamper with the script, so I said yes to her. Anyway then the script arrived a few months later and I didn’t much care for the script so I rang the BBC and said, ‘Listen get me Caroline Skinner. They said, ‘Who?’ I said, ‘Is that the ‘Doctor Who’ production office?’ They said, ‘Yeah.’ I replied, ‘And you’re asking me who Caroline Skinner is? She’s the producer.’ Then I heard, ‘Oh I’m so sorry, she’s not with us any more.’ … By that time I’d agreed to do it. But I’m not sorry now."
When asked if he knew whether the mysterious Curator was an older version of the Fourth Doctor or a new character, Tom quipped: "Typical of the BBC, nobody knows, he could be anyone, he could be the next Director General for all we know…"
‘Doctor Who’ kicks off on The Horror Channel this Friday (18.04.14) with the very first story ‘An Unearthly Child’, starring William Hartnell as the Doctor.
This will be followed by a special ‘Who On Horror’ weekend marathon featuring a story of each of the first seven Doctors shown in chronological order.
Tom Baker is happy Doctor Who cameo upset former stars
