Back in 2013, Doctor Who celebrated the fan-favorite series’ 50th anniversary with a special episode that saw Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker make a special guest appearance. Now, the actor is opening up about the experience and it turns out he didn’t have the best experience on the set of “The Day of the Doctor”.
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In a recent interview (via CinemaBlend) Baker revealed that the only member of the episode’s cast to welcome him was Matt Smith, who played the Eleventh Doctor at the time.
“Matt Smith is a darling young man — he made me very welcome,” Baker said. “[But] he was the only one who welcomed me — I drove through the night to Cardiff, and Matt Smith came seeking me out, so full of joy and so happy to see me! He made it very, very easy acting with him, and I’m so glad he’s going on to tumultuous success. Nobody else bothered with me at all. I was a bit nettled about that.”
While it’s nice to hear that Smith was gracious to Baker, it’s a bit disappointing that Baker wasn’t welcomed as warmly by others involved with “The Day of the Doctor”. Baker starred as the Fourth Doctor on the series for seven straight years between 1974 and 1981. This run makes him the actor to hold the role the longest and while Baker’s time as the doctor is considered part of the “classic era” for the series — it was cancelled in 1989 before being relaunched in 2005 — his time in the role helped shape the series.
Baker’s experience with “The Day of the Doctor” is, sadly, not the only time he had a negative experience with Doctor Who. Baker also revealed what led him to end his legendary run on the series — then-producer John Nathan-Turner.
“I didn’t like his approach to anything very much,” Baker said. “His approach as a producer, to the scripts and to my performance…he managed somehow — how terrible — to diminish me. He made assumptions about how I should do things or what lines meant, or how it should be shot, which diminished me, and I found that unbearable.”
What do you think about Baker’s comments about “The Day of the Doctor”? let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
