Tom Baker, the Dr Who Lit.

Press, 28 April 1981, Page 15

Tom Baker, the Dr Who Lit.

From

MARY KAYE,

Features International.

I had half-expected him to turn up in his "Dr Who" uniform of long, straggly scarf and floppy hat. But when Tom Baker came swinging through the doors of the Chelsea pub he wore a highly elegant brown velvet jacket, matching tie, cream shirt and natty' checked trousers.

Yet it couldn't have been anyone but "Dr Who,” with his beaming smile, beaky nose, and a wild mop of curly, copper-coloured hair. The 46-year-old Tom has long since reconciled himself to the fact that although he's been a National Theatre player, and appeared in numerous films and tele-

vision series, everything else pales into insignificance be- i side "Dr Who" — at least as ; far as his public are con- ] cerned. And he doesn't mind a bit! | “With a programme like ] 'Dr Who.’ which has entered < the national consciousness, f you become a part of j people's lives." Tom says. ] "Everybody recognises me— t even the Royal family!" i

There wasn’t much scope in his schooldays for a working class lad from the Scotland Road area of Liverpool — and certainly not for reading. “Now, I’m mad about books,” Tom told me. “I’m a compulsive collector.

“I must have about 2000 books in all now, of which about 150 are dictionaries. I’ve got the Oxford Dictionary in 16 volumes, and the Dictionary of National Biography in 32. It’s not because they’re valuable — I just like the idea of being able to reach for information.”

Until very recently, storing his books was an enormous problem. But earlier this year he bought himself a flat, the first place he has ever owned.

“I’ve always been a bit of a nomad,” he said. "And until I became an actor, I had no real idea about what I wanted to do with my life.

"I spent six years in a monastery after I left school, and then gave it up to do National Service. "After that, I had serious thoughts of joining the Foreign Legion, because it sounded very glamorous. But then, thank God, so did acting! So I got a grant from Liverpool Council and went to drama school instead. And now here I am.

“I still can’t quite believe I am where I am today. In the past, when I was 'resting' between parts, I’d take a job as a builder’s labourer, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. “But, apart from the fact that I don’t get much socalled ‘rest’ these days, I can't really do it because of my instantly-recognisable face. “I have this thing about the morality of hard, physical work. I work hard’ — very hard — but I can’t help feeling that it isn’t the same as honest manual labour, and I feel guilty about being paid for something that I like doing so- much — acting, I mean.

“I suppose it’s the Catholic in me. If it's fun and you enjoy it, then it’s a sin!” He laughed. "Like sex." Tom admits he adores women. But, although he was married once, briefly, and has two grown-up sons, he has no plans to take the plunge again.