Colin Baker (born 6 June 1943) played the Sixth Doctor between 1984 to 1986, beginning with an appearance at the conclusion of The Caves of Andrazani and concluding with The Ultimate Foe.
He reprised the role in the 1993 30th Aniversory Special The Lords of Time.
Baker reprised the role again in 2003 for the Season 40 story The Horror of War which depicted Six's regeneration into the Seventh Doctor, and in the first Doctor Who Motion Picture Movie.
He then played Dr Edwin Ball in Doctor Who: Genesis
Biography
Prior to Doctor Who
Colin Baker was born in Waterloo, London, England. He moved north to Rochdale with his family when he was three years old. He was educated at St Bede's College, Manchester, and originally studied to become a solicitor.
At the age of 23, Baker enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
Baker's numerous television roles in the early 1970s included a supporting role in a 1970 BBC adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's trilogy The Roads to Freedom, a leading role as Count Steinbock in their adaptation of Cousin Bette the following year, playing opposite Margaret Tyzack and Helen Mirren. In 1972 he played Anatole Kuragin, opposite Anthony Hopkins in the BBC adaptation of War and Peace. His regular television work continued and in Fall of Eagles, Baker appeared as Crown Prince Willy of the German Empire.
By far his most prominent role to date came in 1974, playing the ruthless banker Paul Merroney in the hugely popular BBC Sunday evening family series The Brothers, Baker joined the series half-way through its run, as Merroney became one of the leading characters over 3½ series from 1974–76.
After The Brothers, although he worked regularly in theatre, his television work dried up for several years, although he guest-starred memorably as Bayban the Butcher in a 1980 episode of Blake's 7. This led to further TV guest roles and in 1983 he featured in a BBC production of A.J. Cronin's The Citadel.
Work on Doctor Who
Prior to being cast as the Doctor, Baker had guest starred in the programme, as Commander Maxil in the Peter Davison serial Arc of Infinity. At one point in the serial, Maxil shoots the Doctor; Baker often jokes that he got the part of the Doctor by killing the incumbent. Before that, he had been considered by director Christopher Barry for the role of Arnold Jellicoe in Robot, which debuted Tom Baker as the Doctor. (REF: The Fourth Doctor Handbook)
Baker's era was interrupted by an eighteen-month hiatus, officially because the show was moved back from the spring to the autumn schedule. He was ultimately dismissed from the part at the insistence of BBC management, who wanted to refresh the show. The Controller of BBC One at the time, Michael Grade, criticised Doctor Who, saying that the programme had become overly violent and its storylines farcical. Baker was offered the first four episodes of the next season in order to pave the way for a regeneration, which he turned down as he did not wish to miss out on other work in the meantime. He did offer to do the whole season and have the Doctor regenerate at the end, but this was refused. As of 2019, he is the only actor to play the Doctor who has been fired by the BBC.
Baker later reprised his role as the Sixth Doctor in the 30th Anniversary story The Lords of Time. He then returned to play his incarnation in the Season 40 story The Horrors of War which gave the Sixth Doctor a proper regeneration story. In that same season he also played a manifestation of the Other in the Season 40 finale, The Other.
Baker appeared as the Sixth Doctor in Doctor Who (2003)
In Doctor Who: Genesis Baker played Edwin Ball, a member of UNIT who looked and sounded like an older Sixth Doctor due to a psychic projection from the Matrix.
After Doctor Who
Since leaving Doctor Who Baker has spent much of his time on the stage with appearances throughout the country in plays as diverse as Peter Nichols' Privates on Parade, Ira Levin's Deathtrap, Ray Cooney's Run for Your Wife and Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden. For many years he has been a pantomime stalwart. In 2000 he appeared in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs alongside actress Louise Jameson who had previously played the Fourth Doctor's companion Leela. In 2003 he starred in the Carl Rosa Opera Company's production of operetta H.M.S. Pinafore, directed by Timothy West. In 2008, he toured with ex-wife Liza Goddard in She Stoops To Conquer. More recent theatre appearances have seen Baker tackle the role of Inspector Morse in House of Ghosts and a UK tour of The Woman in White.
Television work during the 1990s included guest appearances in the BBC's medical drama Casualty, The Knock, Dangerfield, the first episode of Jonathan Creek, Channel 4's adaptation of A Dance to the Music of Time and as himself as the resident celebrity in 'Dictionary Corner' on the daytime quiz show Countdown, also on Channel 4.
A 2005 guest appearance in comedy sketch show Little Britain was never transmitted but can be seen in the deleted scenes special feature on the Little Britain series 3 DVD. Other television appearances have seen Baker appear in Kingdom, Hustle and Doctors.
In 2010, Baker narrated and provided additional voices for Candy Jar Books' comedy sci-fi audiobook Kangazang, written by Terry Cooper.
Baker's film work over the years includes The Harpist (1999), The Asylum (2000) and D'Artagnan et les trois mousquetaires(2005). In 2010 he filmed scenes for an independent feature film, Shadows of a Stranger. Since 1995 Baker has written a regular weekly column for local newspaper Bucks Free Press. A compilation of his articles from 1995 to 2009 were published in the book, Look Who's Talking.
Baker participated in the 12th series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, finishing in 8th place out of 12 celebrities.
Personal Life
Baker's first wife was actress Liza Goddard who had appeared with him in the TV series The Brothers. Their marriage lasted 18 months and ended in divorce. With his second wife, actress Marion Wyatt, whom he married in 1982, Baker has four daughters. They also had a son who died of sudden infant death syndrome. Baker is a friend of American writer Stephen R. Donaldson, who dedicated his 1991 novel Forbidden Knowledge to him.
Baker is a critic of fox hunting and was among more than 20 high-profile people who signed a letter to members of parliament in 2015 to oppose Conservative prime minister David Cameron's plan to amend the Hunting Act 2004.
Selected Credits
Doctor Who
As the Doctor
- The Caves of Androzani
- The Twin Dilemma
- Attack of the Cybermen
- Vengeance on Varos
- The Mark of the Rani
- The Two Doctors
- Timelash
- Revelation of the Daleks
- The Mysterious Planet
- Mindwarp
- Terror of the Vervoids
- The Ultimate Foe
- The Lords of Time
- The Name's Shakespeare, William Shakespeare (archive only)
- The Horrors of War
As Actor
As Director
- The Name's Shakespeare, William Shakespeare (newly shot scenes)