Talk:Colin Baker

Biography assessment rating comment

WikiProject Biography Assessment

The article may be improved by following the WikiProject Biography 11 easy steps to producing at least a B article. -- Yamara 07:30, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

General Chatter

OK, I haven't really got much to add, but I must say that I have met Colin Baker in Sydney, Australia and I felt that he was a lovely accommodoting chap. Given that he was exposed to so may keen Dr Who fans he kept his cool and was happy to chat.

I'm amazed to see the main article say 'The Controller of BBC One at the time, Michael Grade, criticized Doctor Who, saying that the programme had become overly violent and its storylines farcical.' "Farcical"? It's as though they never truly understood. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by RevJohn (talk • contribs) 09:57, January 15, 2006 (UTC)

Well, no, they didn't. It's notable, however, that Grade has eaten his words with regard to the new series: before it aired, he said, "This time it's none of my business what happens to Doctor Who, as long as I don't have to watch it." [1]. After the 2005 series aired, he wrote to Director-General Mark Thompson:

This is not easy to write - as you will readily understand. But here goes å congratulations to all involved in Dr Who: to whoever commissioned it, those who executed it, the writers, the cast, the publicity folk that promoted it, the schedulers and of course the late Sydney Newman who invented the whole thing.

I truly enjoyed it and watched it every week with my six and half year old son who is now a fan.

A classy, popular triumph for people of all ages and all backgrounds - real value for money for our licence fee payers.

PS never dreamed I would ever write this. I must be going soft!"

And around the world, a million fanboys wept. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 17:26, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

I think he always rather enjoys his pantomime villain status as a Doctor Who-disliker, really. Hence him rarely, if ever, denying the title of the man who cancelled Doctor Who, when of course he'd buggered off to Channel 4 two years beforehand.Angmering 17:30, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

The biog of this silly fat man should mention he was in the BBC's 1972 adaptation of WAR AND PEACE, with Anthony Hopkins, the only noteworthy thing Baker's ever been in. I'm sure in the daft world of Whovian geeks, Baker is more famous and more worthy of attention than Hopkins, but that's their problem. Incidentally, Baker was one of the least popular dr.'s, not just because we'd all grown up and realised it was silly stuff for kids by then, but because THE A-TEAM was on ITV at the same time. Dolmance 16:43, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

Please try to remain civil — there's no need to insult other editors, even by implication. Calling the subject of the article a "silly fat man" isn't exactly in the spirit of WP:BLP either. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 20:01, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

There needs to be some removal of ambiguity.. as Tom Baker is used in this article, the shortened Baker is used immediatly thereafter, raising the possibility that Colin Baker is being referenced. Or perhaps he is being referenced, without having a "baker-shift", Leaving the reader with possibly wrong semantics of the text. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.146.33.133 (talk) 00:45, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Seventies Porn Colin

I've deleted this stuff. The link provided doesn't actually say anything, and only links to http://www.yahoo.com/ I've googled, but I can't find any talk of an Internet meme on this. No indication at imdb.com that Colin ever did any porn. Nfitz 18:41, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

It can't be found on Google because it's mostly an LJ thing. It's spread rather wide in some parts of the fandom. Of course, it doesn't literally indicate that he'd ever done any porn, but is a humourous nickname. It does exist but Google or even Google's blogsearch don't seem to bring up all the results from communities and other discussion where the pics have been referred to as such. But it does exist as a meme, in the original meaning of the word, if only as a nickname and a humour site existing independently amongst fans. No reason why humour should be excluded, when it's explicitly stated as such. Snowgrouse 11:13, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

I'm with Snowgrouse here — I'm at the Gallifrey One convention, and yesterday in a conversation with a random group of fans mentioned "Seventies Porn Colin", and everyone laughed, clearly recognizing the reference. The photo has been reprinted in Doctor Who Magazine, although I can't remember whether they called it by that name. I believe that the term originated on the Outpost Gallifrey forum, and has spread to LiveJournal and other communities from there. I think we can include the photo and a short explanation of the term, taking care to explain that Colin didn't actually do porn. (It's just that he looks like a Seventies porn star in that photo.) —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 16:42, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

If we had a 10-page article on Colin, with lots of images, I can see that it could be there, but we don't. Seems a little excessive, particularly given that the reference given didn't seem to go anywhere but a broken site. Discussion of wikipedia should be encylopedic, providing answers, rather than creating more questions than it answers. Nfitz 15:36, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

It still exists. I know the fandom of Colin Baker is fairly small, but the discovery of those photos really started a cult amongst the few fans he has. Therefore I do think it's worthy of a mention. Like Nfitz said, it has appeared in Doctor Who Magazine and all:). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Snowgrouse (talk • contribs) 16:14, February 25, 2006 (UTC)

Well, if we are going to mention it we should take care to avoid the suggestion that Baker was actually involved in porn. I know that my po-faced rewording isn't really in the spirit of SPC, but I hope that it's more in the spirit of Wikipedia. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 22:03, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

I'm with Snowgrouse too. SPC deserves mention. Ide Cyan 05:17, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

I've come across SPC too among fans at conventions and so on. It is definately a mini-movement. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Steve R (talk • contribs) 10:24, February 26, 2006 (UTC)

So there you go--it is an internet meme in the original sense of the term. Seventies Porn Colin should not be ignored, for, verily, it has brought a lot of joy into the fandom. Snowgrouse 14:36, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

question

is colin baker related to tom baker —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Imagine Wizard (talk • contribs) 14:42, May 10, 2006 (UTC)

Nope. No relation. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 19:14, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Doctor Who_The Ultimate Adventure

In 1989 Colin Baker starred in the stage production "Doctor Who_The Ultimate Adventure"written by former script-editor Terrance Dicks.Baker replaced Jon Pertwee who played The Doctor on tv from 1970-1974. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.224.5.27 (talk) 16:37, 9 March 2007 (UTC).

Has the play been published? Type 40 (talk) 22:07, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

Only fired

Thus, Colin Baker became (and remains) the only actor to be "fired" from the role of the Doctor.

I'm removing this for two reasons.

1. As I understand it, legally he was not dismissed but rather his original contracted period had been reached and the option for a further year was not taken up, despite widespread expectation that it would.
2. William Hartnell and Jon Pertwee's departures are also sometimes described as dismissals. Pertwee asked for a significant increase in his fee, possibly as a means to make it easier to leave the role, and was apparently told he was no longer needed. Hartnell similarly was only offered a new contract for just four episodes and pretty clearly was replaced (albeit at producer level).

Timrollpickering 20:00, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, there are stories that Hartnell was eased out of the job as well as Pertwee. Tom Baker has even suggested that JNT and the new production team wanted him to leave because he was difficult. Type 40 (talk) 13:49, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

Actually is Baker had a contract for three full series and he only did two that is a firing but it is not the only one Hartnell was certainly fired.--209.181.16.93 (talk) 15:12, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

They didn't actually make the second season but Baker secured his salary for it anyway - I think the key point was that they had already given notice to take up the option before the season was axed. Certainly all the discussion on the point seemed clear that it was about the option for a fourth year, not a third. Timrollpickering (talk) 17:33, 8 October 2011 (UTC)

I don't think Colin was the only Doctor to be fired, I'm pretty sure Hartnell was as well. It certainly seemed that he didn't want to leave. In the case of Pertwee - he did give in his notice due to his request of a raise being denied (although seemed to regret it afterwards), but he wasn't fired - nor was Tom Baker (who most likely gave his notice just in time!)--Tuzapicabit (talk) 02:14, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

Picture

I've replaced the poorly-coloured picture with the one from the Sixth Doctor page, unless or until we can find a free-use image. --El Zoof 23:38, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

• Poorly-coloured? Racist. --Fennavitch 10:25, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
  • I confess my sins... I am dead against all people with flourescent yellow skin. It's a problem, I know, from watching too many Ted Turner colourised movies on NTSC tapes, but I'm working through it, one day at a time. --El Zoof 03:39, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:2775-Colin.jpg

Image:2775-Colin.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 01:42, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Photo

Do we have any pictures of Colin as the Doctor? Type 40 (talk) 01:08, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Eight years later, I say the same. -- Beardo (talk) 03:29, 31 May 2016 (UTC)

Big Finish

Shouldn't there be some mention of the several dozen appearances he has made in Big Finish audio plays as the Doctor?

Photo (again!) - Cropped vs. Full

There are two versions of the Colin Baker image; the first is the original, the second a cropped version. (I've tried to show them with the same total area here).

Personally, I'd say that the cropped version is obviously better for two reasons:-

• Makes more efficient use of limited space available in article. Including more pointless detail simply means that Colin himself appears smaller.
• Focuses on subject of interest. The carrot juice adds nothing to the photo and the sign is actively distracting in this context.

Surprisingly, someone reverted the change to the cropped version with the summary "change made w/o explanation - the full pic is better since it includes the items that he is holding"). Well, IMHO... so what? The items he is holding don't add to the photo- the sign was probably to indulge the fan who originally took the photo. Fair enough for them, but irrelevant for this use.

Anyone disagree? Ubcule (talk) 21:12, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for your work on this. I remember something like this being done on Ben Kingsley's pic at some point. I'm afraid that was me before, but, without an edit summary there is no way to know whether it was just an IP test edit or not. Your reasoning is sound and makes sense to me. Thanks for taking the time to post it here. The carrot juice is an inside joke for Dr Who fans but doesn't mean anything to the average reader. Good work and cheers. MarnetteD | Talk 21:43, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Personal life

Does anyone know what years he was married to Liza Goddard? It's said on both Goddard's and Michael Grade's pages that Grade fired Baker for personal reasons due to Baker having divorced Goddard, who was a friend of his. Baker was married to Marion during the Dr Who years, but it'd be interesting to add some more specific dates.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 02:07, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

Relation?

I've got a follow up question to the Baker relation up there. One of the '70s writer's name was Bob Baker. Does he have any relation to either Tom and Colin? Or is Baker just a common name in England? Nemmex (talk) 9:28, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

It's a fairly common name. My local telephone directory - which covers part of south-east England so is probably typical - has 223 pages of residential numbers (at around 450 entries per page); of these, Baker occupies about half a page (227 entries to be exact). Very common surnames in Britain include Smith (2+1⁄2 pages); Jones (1 page) and Brown (1 page). By contrast, Hartnell, Troughton and McCoy have just 1 entry each; there are two Pertwee, 29 Davison and eight Tennant. There are no McGann or Eccleston at all. --Redrose64 (talk) 10:25, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Or take a look here:Baker (surname), not sure if any of these are related to each other.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 16:43, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

honorary doctorate

I think this should be edited to point out that he has an honorary doctarate — Preceding unsigned comment added by Superkid761 (talk • contribs) 11:13, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

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