A bittersweet, poignant, and often funny look at the life of the man who occupied the shoes of a certain Time Lord in the mid to late 1970s. You can tell that Tom Baker is a very intelligent man, yet, despite his popularity as The Doctor, has almost crippling self-esteem issues. He admits as much and lays the blame for most of his misfortunes in life solely at his own feet, though I would argue his upbringing in war-torn Liverpool is more to blame to that than his own shortcomings. Whether his misfortunes are the result of bad decisions or bad circumstance, one can’t help but feel sympathy for this man who has brought so much entertainment to so many for so long.
I’m reminded of a poem, by Robert Burns, I believe:
Behind every clown is a sad man.
Beneath every smile there are tears.
In front of all women there are stop signs.
In the heart of all hero’s are fears.
Sometimes smiles and tears mingle.
My wish is all the time it’s that way.
Every woman and clown put all obstacles down,
Just turn around from sadness, each day.
The above two verses are simply brilliant.
I cannot think of what else I can say.
But this poem needs a third verse,
Sometimes it’s a curse.
But I smile as I am writing, it’s O.K.
If you’re looking for a behind-the-scenes look at Doctor Who, look elsewhere. It was a short 7-year period in this man’s life and largely seems to have been an escape from reality for him, a reality he perceives as being a string of failures, both before and after his time as The Doctor.
Who is Tom Baker? He was The Doctor and The Doctor was him. He remains a gifted, captivating story-teller.