Si Hunt Brings Down... Tom Baker
I know, I know. You're probably thinking this is a gut reaction due to the request for another sequel to the original thread. But that was a few days ago, and since then (and before) I've been thinking very hard about the next topic.
During that time, I've been watching the "New Beginnings" set, in which Tom Baker, most popular Doctor Who of them all, apparently gives his most frank interview ever. Having heard about this in advance, what I eventually watched on the DVD's wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Whilst it's true that Tom mentions Lalla (although reveals little except that they apparently parted amicably, which is hard to believe given they seem to have avoided being in the same room for the past 25 years) mostly what comes out is pent-up anger. In short, he seems to demystify himself a great deal - aided by rare footage, we see a man that was unreasonable and rude while making Doctor Who from the start of his final year ("The Leisure Hive") right up until its last shooting session ("Logopolis").
Previously we've smiled wryly when hearing stories about how Tom could be a "bit of a bugger" on-set, but suddenly a picture begins to emerge of a man who wasn't actually very nice to anyone, unless it suited him (or he happened to have not had a row with his co-star that week). His interview reveals not a flicker of remorse - in fact he explains, rather bitterly, that he always felt that HE was right, that he still thinks he was right, and there's little in the way of acknowledgement that this was ill-judged. This view, that everyone else apart from him was always so unimaginative and hacklike at making Doctor Who, doesn't exactly square with the common perception his era, which is now among the most popular and celebrated.
Last night, I read the "Dr Who Meets Scratchman" synopsis - a project which, by the sounds of it, Tom caused trouble with for five long years. Not only did he know how to direct and produce Doctor Who better than the trained Directors and Producers he browbeat on set for doing their jobs, it seems at this point he decided, and relentlessly insisted, that he knew best how to write it as well. Of course, "Scratchman" sounds terrible, an aimless story with no solid characters or plot, and weird token cameos for Daleks and odd Cybermen rip-offs for no reason. Sort of like a cheap story, with hugely expensive set peices chucked in.
Back with the interview, you wonder about Tom's final year and the reason why he was so difficult. But, sadly, you then recall that his history of being so unpredictable on-set stretches back through countless other popular anecdotes as well - his battles with Graham Williams, his two pre-Season 18 resignation letters, the time he ultimatummed the Head of Serials to sack the Producer or he would resign, the notorious shooting of "Horror of Fang Rock" when he wouldn't walk through a door properly... and you realise we're going back to his first few years here. It would seem the only time he was ever easy to work with was when Liz Sladen was around, right at the start of his tenure. It's impossible to blame the subsequent five years of Nightmare Tom on the Producers, or scores of different Directors he saw off, or on changes in the show. Not to mention the 20th anniversery special he almost wrecked by an about-face. You begin to wonder, with a shudder, if he was, or is, just not a very nice person.
Which doesn't detract from the fact that he was a great Doctor. But previously we've worshipped Tom the Man because he gave good soundbites, because he was elusive, witty, because deep down we thought he was probably always right. But was he? "New Beginnings" unmasks an uncomfortable truth, one where outbursts like the "f**king dreary prop" don't make you smile, but just feel sorry for the poor people trying to make a TV show to the best of their ability in the face of a diva-ish star who now doesn't appear to be having an "off day", but is just always like this. Finally, Tom goes for one of his famous, quotable, sign-off mini-monologues to camera at the end of the documentary; "I'm still the Doctor". I'm afraid to say that it didn't make me go "aaah" and chuckle as usual. It just made me think "that doesn't really make sense. Sorry, but you arn't."
But these are just thoughts, a point of view. Perhaps Tom IS all he's cracked up to be? This is your forum to argue the case either way. Restore my faith!
Si.