Tom, during his long reign as the Doctor.

The 4^th Doctor joined at the start of Season 12, and lasted through to the end of Season 18, making him the longest running actor to play the Doctor. Tom is also the first actor for the BBC to still have all the colour episodes of his adventures, and is also the oldest actor to play the Doctor (as, sadly William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee have all passed away.) Tom's stories are noted for their eccentricity, where it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. He also faces many enemies, such is the length of his career, but most of his adventures have a distinctly moral element to them, Genesis of the Daleks being the classic example where the Doctor cannot destroy the Daleks at birth as it would alter the course of history. Tom is considered by many to be the best Doctor, something highlighted by the length of time he was in the series. Although Tom appears in The Five Doctors, he was unavailable for the show, so elements of the unfinished Shada were used instead. He still writes books, The Boy Who Kicked Pigs, being his latest.

This is going to be an upset- I rate Tom Baker as number 7 out of 8 in my favourite Doctor. Now I like Tom as the Doctor- I really do, and his stories are extremely good, but I prefer the latter Doctors. He is a great actor and a great Doctor- but it just ain't me.

Click here to read about the stories starring the 4th Doctor.

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