Tom Baker
(born 20 January 1934) was the fourth actor to portray the Doctor. His first episode was Robot in 1975 and his final episode was Logopolis seven years later. Baker is perhaps the most widely recognized of all the Doctors (at least before David Tennant). His hat and over-sized scarf have become the kind of iconic image for Doctor Who. Baker's Doctor was quirky and unpredictable.
In 1971, Baker got his first big break with the role of Rasputin in the film Nicholas and Alexandra. He also appeared nude in Pier Paolo Pasolini's version of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (I Racconti di Canterbury), released in 1972, as a younger husband of the Wife of Bath.
In 1974, Baker took on the role of the Doctor from Jon Pertwee. He was cast largely because of his performance in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Baker was working on a construction site at the time, as acting jobs were scarce. Initially he was dubbed "Boiler Suit Tom" by the media, as he had been supplied for a press conference with some old studio set clothes to replace his modest garments.
He quickly made the part his own. As the Doctor, his eccentric style of dress and speech — particularly his trademark long scarf and fondness for jelly babies — made him an immediately recognizable figure, and he quickly caught the viewing public's imagination. Baker played the Doctor for seven consecutive seasons over a seven-year period, making him the longest-serving actor in the part on-screen. Baker himself suggested many aspects of the Fourth Doctor's personality. The distinctive scarf came about by accident: James Acheson, the costume designer, had provided far more wool than was necessary to the knitter, Begonia Pope, and Ms. Pope knitted all the wool she was given; it was Baker who suggested that he wear the resulting — ridiculously overlong — scarf.
The incarnation played by Baker is often regarded as the most popular of the Doctors. In polls conducted by Doctor Who Magazine, Baker has lost the "Best Doctor" category only twice: once to Sylvester McCoy in 1990, and once to David Tennant in 2006.