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The fourth Doctor Who was Tom Baker,
a largely unknown actor before he took the role. He was the longest
running Doctor, holding the part for seven years. There is no doubt
that he was also the best Doctor - it was the part he was born to
play. After the domesticity of his predecessor, Baker's Doctor was an
eccentric wanderer through time once more. Like Patrick Troughton, he
would clown around and act the fool to disguise his intellect.
Initially, the characterization was quite serious in tone, with Baker
providing just the odd moment of light relief amidst the rather grim
scenarios of his early stories. But as time went on, the comedic side
of his character came very much to the fore, and he developed a very
sophisticated humorous style. Yet through it all, there remained an
overwhelming sense of moral authority in this Doctor, as with the
previous three, due no doubt to the very charismatic personality of
the actor. The huge success of Doctor Who continued with Tom
Baker's portrayal, building on the foundation established by Jon
Pertwee - and indeed, it reached its absolute peak of popularity at
this time. Ironically, at the same time, the series was held in very
low regard by organized fandom, who despised the humorous style, an
attitude which has only been revised in very recent years. The fans
therefore welcomed the arrival of a new production team for Baker's
final season, who started by establishing a completely different
style from what had gone before. The tone of the stories became more
serious, with a hard science fiction edge, and most significantly, the
humour was almost completely excised. Whilst the long term fans may
have loved it, the ratings went into a massive decline almost
overnight. It is rumoured that Tom Baker didn't like the enforced
changes, and this contributed to his decision to leave the series at
the end of that season. Interestingly, this new serious approach
actually works in context. We see an apparently much older Doctor
than when we last met him, perhaps more weary and fatalistic, almost
as if he knows his time is running out - and this, coupled with the
season's running theme of entropy, provides a good build-up to the
regeneration. There seems no doubt that the first four Doctors - and
Pertwee and Baker in particular - are the most highly regarded by the
general public, even after all this time. Doctor Who was at
its most popular during the seventies, due in no small part to the
immense talents of the lead actors.
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