Friday, November 27, 2009

Who On Earth Is Tom Baker?

This is about as irreverent and humorous as autobiographies get by a former science fiction super star. Tom Baker has no shortage of humor in his funny bones. The man is completely unhinged.

The book, Who On Earth Is Tom Baker?, is intelligent and witty and off the wall at times. It traces the man's life from childhood to life after his biggest role as Doctor Who. He is indeed one of the strangest, most frightening, oddly likable fellows you'll ever read about. It's a miracle his life became what it was really.

I must admit that I enjoyed the first portion of the book the most and felt it was at its most funny when referencing his youth. I was disappointed to find there was very, and I mean very, little coverage of his life as Doctor Who, maybe a chapter. If you think you'll get much insight into his relationships with Louise Jameson, Ian Marter or Elisabeth Sladen on the set or off think again.
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It's a hard book to find being out of print, but worth a read and a few laughs to be sure. It's a unique pleasure to read as autobiographies go. If an autobiography is there to paint a portrait of a man and a personality, Tom Baker had it in abundance. Fortunately, as of this writing, he still does.
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Who On Earth Is Tom Baker? An Autobiography: B+

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have watched Doctor Who off and on for a couple of years now,and Love it !!,was Tom Baker the first Doctor Who ???

SFF said...

Yeah, the history of Doctor Who is really complex and the mythology goes deep. It's a fun ride to dig into the show.

Tom Baker was and still is the Fourth Doctor. The first three doctors on up to John Pertwee have sadly all passed away. I honestly do not know much about them.

I was raised on Baker and plan on launching into the Ninth and Tenth Doctors soon. Number Ten being David Tennant.

So there you have it, ten doctors to date with the eleventh doctor currently filming the latest series. A brief rundown on the Doctor.

Anonymous said...

You know one thing I have noticed though,is no matter who is playing Who (lol) I still Love It !!! :)

SFF said...

Righto. You know the creators, writers and producers have their finger on the pulse when they can swap actors an keep the franchise alive. Doctor Who and James Bond are two huge successes out of the UK with that formula.

Anonymous said...

You got that Right !!!,also besides your site,they also have the best B5 site !!!

Anonymous said...

You got that right !!! The UK also havs one of my most favorite B5 sites(www.babylon5.org.uk)