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Tom Baker talks Doctor Who
Even as the time-travelling Doctor from Gallifrey, Tom Baker could have had no idea that one day he would have a home in a new universe – www.tom-baker.co.uk, his own website.
In Doctor Who he was a familiar figure in people's living rooms, causing many young viewers to hide behind the sofa.
Now he welcomes these long-time fans to his virtual home, where a new addition is Tom's recollections of the night he switched on Blackpool Illuminations in 1975.
Speaking to Memory Lane, Tom said: "The switch-on marked me down in the history of Blackpool, a town that I love because the people who are there are absolutely determined to enjoy themselves. So much so that the fun is infectious."
So who has been the best Doctor?
"I would not know the answer, as I have never watched any of them, including myself. A lot of actors do not watch what they do because it is so easy to look at a scene and think that with one more take I could have got that better.
"But in terms of the most successful of all time, then that has to be David Tennant who has enjoyed worldwide success, not just playing the Doctor, but the many other roles.
"I've never met him but when he first took over he sent me a sweet message."
Tom, 76, lives in the East Sussex countryside near Rye, after four years in France, and says: "I set my own pace now."
He's the man of a thousand voiceovers, including a series of radio adverts for Blackpool jewellers Leonard Dews and the distinctive voice of the 1982 Illuminations TV campaign with the line: "And this year we have lasers too!"
But to many, his trademark tones are synonymous with the cult TV comedy series Little Britain.
"I've done many voiceovers, but whereas before Little Britain they were sweet genteel ones about oak trees and engagement rings, now they are more raucous."
Apart, that is, from a new range of Doctor Who audio book CDs and downloads.
Tom says: "Nostalgia fuels a great deal of our lives. The future does not exist in the present and so we talk about the past, largely of when we were young and happy.
"I finished with Doctor Who almost 30 years ago and I still get invitations to attend conventions around the world.
"People of the generation that watched me, come along and bring their own children, and they even show me photos of themselves wearing my hat and sitting on my knee.
"Moments like that make me feel that I'm a national treasure."
The five part series that Tom is referring to is called Hornets' Nest and can be found at the link below.
http://www.bbcshop.com/Science-Fiction/Doctor-Who-Hornets-Nest-The-Stuff-Of-Nightmares/invt/9781408426739
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Weather for Blackpool
Wednesday 30 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 12 C to 20 C
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