- 2 weeks ago
Tom Baker starred in Doctor Who (the 4th Doctor), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), Sinbad and many others. Here he is welcomed by his friend Michael Jayston (Tsar Nicholas II in Nicholas and Alexandra, Tom Baker being Rasputin in the same film) and by other friends. Michael Jayston played The Valeyard opposite the 6th Doctor (Colin Baker).
Michael Aspel tells the story of the life and career of the former monk and building site labourer who went on to become the longest-serving and perhaps most popular star of Doctor Who (1963).
Michael Aspel tells the story of the life and career of the former monk and building site labourer who went on to become the longest-serving and perhaps most popular star of Doctor Who (1963).
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00:00Tonight we're on a special mission to find someone who very kindly, and on more than one occasion, has saved Earth and the galaxy from unspeakable evil.
00:19EXTERMINATE!
00:30It's the only way to travel, you know, especially when you're chasing someone through space and time.
00:37He wasn't always a high-flyer, for a while he studied to become a monk, then he realised his true vocation was acting.
00:43He was a success on stage and screen, but the good times didn't roll for long, and to make a living he took a job as a labourer on a building site.
00:51But his bad luck was exterminated for good when he landed the role that made his name.
00:56So, who is he?
00:58Seek and locate. Do not deviate.
01:03These days he's also a successful writer, and right now he's here at Kingston-upon-Thames signing copies of his latest book.
01:10Let's see if I can interest him in our plot.
01:14Charts indicate objective located in this precise position.
01:21Oh, look!
01:23From my past!
01:27Yes, there's a lot of past to talk about, actually.
01:29I'm a book lover, pardon the intrusion, but I've got a book of my own, which has got your name on it, because it is entitled,
01:36Tom Baker.
01:37Tom Baker, this is your life.
01:41That's a good day!
01:42That's a good move!
02:46Now, Sue, you were an assistant film editor on Doctor Who.
02:50I was, Michael. It was my first job in television, and I used to see Tom from afar striding through the studios.
02:56Never thought I'd meet him.
02:57And then one day, I happened to walk past him in the BBC bar, and he said to me,
03:03Dinner?
03:04And I said, Yes, please.
03:05And we've had a few good dinners since then.
03:08We'd have a few more, Michael.
03:10Yes. That is young.
03:12So the charm works, and you marry in April 1986.
03:16Your new role as a writer, Tom, is the latest chapter in a diverse life.
03:20You've lived in a monastery, worked as a nurse, been a building site labourer, married three times, and drunk many dear friends under the table.
03:28And you've also found fame on stage, film, and television.
03:31Let's wind back the clock.
03:33For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly grateful.
03:36You are abominably rude, but you inspire confidence as a doctor.
03:40If I attended all those in whom I inspire confidence, I should be worn out in a week.
03:45Lestrade, will you give us the pleasure of dining with us?
03:49Thank you, Mr. Holmes, but it's back to the yard for me.
03:51Then you and I, Watson, will change our clothes, stop at Marcini's for a little dinner, and then to the opera.
03:57Now, tell them what I've got here.
04:00He is holding a primed explosive device.
04:03And one false move, and it goes right down inside his chair.
04:06Truth is, I don't know the way to the Cape of Good Hope anyway.
04:11Well, what are we going to do?
04:12Oh, what I usually do.
04:14Sail round and round the Isle of Wight till everyone gets dizzy.
04:17I mean, it created all this so that you would feel at home.
04:20But we could just as easily be sitting here.
04:28Or here.
04:29But I thought here would be the most comfortable.
04:40And you see me like this.
04:43But this is not what I really look like.
04:47And what do you really look like?
04:49You don't want to know, Marty.
04:51Believe me, you don't want to know.
04:53Now, your latest role in the remake of Randall and Hopkirk, Deceased, has teamed you with a comic taking his first straight acting job.
05:05A short speech now from your dear friend, Jim Moyer, alias Vic Reeves.
05:10Well, I'm here growing antlers in a luxurious country resort.
05:14Now, Tom, I remember we had a fantastic time filming Randall and Hopkirk,
05:18and I remember at about 5 or 6 o'clock every evening you would say,
05:21Jim, I feel it's time for a gin and tonic.
05:25And on the final day, you presented me with your special gin and tonic,
05:30which was a bucket of gin, a bit of tonic, some lime and ice.
05:36Delicious.
05:36I haven't looked back since.
05:38Tom, have a fantastic evening, and I hope to join you once again very soon for more gin.
05:44Cheers.
05:44Cheers.
05:45Now, the idea to bring Randall and Hopkirk back to life came from another of your funny friends,
05:56The Fast Show's Charlie Higson.
06:04Hello, Charlie.
06:05She didn't need to paint that.
06:08Charlie, tell us all about reincarnation, please.
06:11Well, Vic Reeves there plays the dead detective, Marty Hopkirk,
06:15and I felt when we were writing it that he needed someone who could teach him how to be a ghost,
06:20a sort of spirit guide.
06:21So he needed this supernatural mentor figure, a sort of Obi-Wan Kenobi,
06:25and he had to be larger than life, a voice like God, and half mad.
06:31Yes, yes, yes.
06:33There was only ever one name on the list.
06:37Charlie, thank you.
06:37Thanks, Charlie.
06:38So to Act One, Scene One, Tom Baker, this is your life.
06:47You were born on January the 20th, 1934, at Oxford Street Maternity Hospital in Liverpool,
06:53the first of three children for Mary Jane and Stuart.
06:57There was you, your sister Louisa, and baby John.
07:00Your father served with the Merchant Navy on board the Mauritania and Queen Elizabeth,
07:04rising from boy waiter to chief steward.
07:07And for a while, your family lives at your aunt's house,
07:09and your cousins, Michael and Billy, are more like brothers to you.
07:13Billy, you went to school together.
07:14Yes, we went to St. Swinton's, which was an old farmhouse converted into three classrooms.
07:20No, but it was good, though, wasn't it?
07:22Yes, it was.
07:22Yeah, we used to enjoy it.
07:23We were confident about everything then, yes.
07:25And then there was God.
07:28You know, we gave him every chance.
07:30We were so devoted to him, yeah.
07:31Because he and I were an item, as you know, for years.
07:33Well, we'll come to that, if you like.
07:35We'll still talk.
07:36You haven't got God here, have you?
07:37Well, your father was away for two years during the war,
07:47and one survives no less than three torpedo attacks.
07:50That's the thought the Germans were getting personal.
07:52Bombing raids on Liverpool bring fresh adventures for you and your pals,
07:57and 60 years on, here is one of them, Frank Weston.
08:10So, Frank, you went on treasure hunts together.
08:12Yes, we did.
08:13And after the air raids of the night before, we'd go down the shores, around the fields.
08:17We'd go everywhere, picking up pieces of shrapnel.
08:20And two stones of German prisoners of war, yes.
08:23But not at Italians.
08:25We used to let the Italians stroke us because the Pope was Italian, yes.
08:30Which reminds me, you were both altar boys, weren't you?
08:32Yes, we were.
08:33We served together, didn't we?
08:34Yes, we did.
08:35We had to learn Latin, and my mother, fortunately, was familiar with the Mass,
08:39and she used to teach us Latin.
08:40She did, she did, yeah.
08:41You'd come down, and you were a great scholar.
08:43Yeah, we had a lot of talking in Latin, yes.
08:45And you've done so well, Tom.
08:46We're so proud of you from Liverpool, yes.
08:48We really are.
08:49Frank, thank you.
08:49We wish you luck and continued success.
08:51Thank you very much.
08:52Bye-bye.
08:59As a boy, you're keen on sport, particularly football and running,
09:03and you encourage a school friend to get involved.
09:06Later, you go your separate ways, but when you become well-known,
09:08he writes to you.
09:10Nick Ryan.
09:10Hello, Tom.
09:12I didn't realise at first that you were Doctor Who,
09:15and when I found out, I went back home and I said to my children,
09:20see that guy on television?
09:22I used to play with him.
09:24I used to play football with him.
09:25I used to go running with him.
09:27And they said, nah, don't be daft.
09:29You're kidding us.
09:31So remember, I wrote to you, and you sent a card back to my daughter, Claire,
09:35saying, on the back, everything your dad said is true.
09:39Tonight, I'm off to St. Lucia with my wife to celebrate our Ruby wedding anniversary.
09:45Have a lovely evening.
09:47God bless you.
09:48Cheers, Tom.
09:49In 1946, at the age of 12, you go to St. Matthew's Catholic School in Walton.
09:58One day, a Christian brother comes to the school to talk about his life and work,
10:02and you were inspired, weren't you?
10:04I was.
10:05I was then.
10:08He isn't here, is he?
10:13No, you can relax.
10:14We'll just tell the story.
10:15It's okay.
10:16Here I am.
10:18So you decide to join.
10:20After initial instruction in Shropshire comes the big question,
10:23is the monastic life really for you?
10:26Now, you've written that when you were sent to the Maison Bon Secours,
10:29a monastery in Jersey, your happiness was complete,
10:32but obviously it didn't last.
10:33Well, that's the way it is with happiness, isn't it?
10:36Yes.
10:37You don't expect it to last.
10:39I was looking for another kind of happiness.
10:41I think one goes through lots of happinesses.
10:43This is my latest happiness, but I hope this one lasts.
10:52So it was another happiness, you know, which was inevitably going to fail.
10:57Well, leaving the order might have disappointed the brothers,
10:59but you were more concerned about upsetting your mother,
11:01so you call on your cousin, Billy, for his support.
11:04I do.
11:04Billy, you remember that?
11:05Yeah, the day that you came to our house, do you remember?
11:08Yes.
11:08You were dressed in your black suit.
11:10Yeah.
11:10A hat.
11:12And you were crying, actually.
11:13I was, I was.
11:14I was so distraught and afraid of hurting my mother.
11:20So in my grief, I went to my Auntie Louie and to Billy.
11:23That's right, first.
11:25It was an amazing day.
11:28I'll never forget that, Bill.
11:29Yeah, never.
11:30But your mother wanted you to be happy, of course.
11:32Of course she wanted me to be happy, yeah.
11:34I mean, yes, she adored me.
11:37And I always wanted to be adored.
11:39Actually, I wanted to be worshipped, but...
11:42Well, from the quiet contemplation of the monastery,
11:46you get a massive culture shock in 1955.
11:49Age 21, you're conscripted into the army.
11:52You're posted to a British military hospital in Germany
11:54as a medical orderly.
11:56And I've flown in from Australia
11:58to say thank you, Tom, for saving my life.
12:02Forty years on, from Adelaide,
12:03your army pal, Tony Maudsley.
12:05Tony Maudsley.
12:17Tony, this sounds suitably dramatic.
12:20I was the butt of a barrack room joke going really wrong.
12:25I was... I'd hopped into bed,
12:27I was just about to go off to sleep,
12:29and about six guys out the billet
12:31got the end of my bed and tipped it up.
12:34Do you remember that?
12:35They tipped the bed up.
12:37Yeah.
12:37I slid through the top rung of the bed,
12:40and my head was against the wall,
12:42and they were pushing to try and get their bed up right.
12:44Yeah, that's right.
12:45And I asked them to stop.
12:46You didn't ask them to stop.
12:48You didn't ask them.
12:49I heard this thunderous roar coming down the barrack room there,
12:53and I heard you shouting,
12:55put him down, put him down.
12:57Yeah.
12:57And then they dropped the bed down,
12:59and that's when I saw you standing there,
13:02two fists up, all ready to go.
13:04Come on, you guys, one at a time.
13:06But all together.
13:07I didn't say one at a time.
13:10You said all together.
13:13Oh, I said all together.
13:15Yeah, that sounds more preposterous.
13:18But one at a time makes me sure of it.
13:21I'm here because of that, mate.
13:23Oh, good.
13:23I'm not sure.
13:24Thank you, Tony, very much.
13:25Now, while you're in the Army,
13:33you perform in a Christmas review,
13:34and you're bitten by the bug.
13:36You're convinced the actor's life is for you.
13:38Yeah.
13:38And after the Army,
13:39you enroll at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama
13:42at Sidcup in Kent.
13:43Yes.
13:44Whenever I think of you, Tom,
13:45I think of sausages.
13:47Well, that's a start.
13:47He was a student with you, Malcolm Tierney.
13:49Oh.
13:51Yes.
13:52Yes, welcome.
13:55Malcolm, sausages, I think you said.
13:59Sausages, yes.
14:00I was in a play at the Royal Court,
14:02long hair, beard, and everything,
14:04and I'd adopted a philosophy of frugalism
14:06and shunning worldly pleasures and so on.
14:09I was living out in Greenwich,
14:10and you hadn't got anywhere to live,
14:12and you were completely broke.
14:13And you were an absolutely model lodger.
14:16You know, you tidied up for me,
14:18kept the place clean,
14:19and you never complained once about the sausages.
14:21Anyway, one night I come back,
14:24I do the potatoes,
14:25and I'm going for the sausages,
14:27and you say,
14:27Mel, bad news, I'm afraid.
14:30The sausages are no longer with us.
14:33And I said,
14:33but, oh, you mean you've eaten them?
14:34They said, no, no, no, they're off.
14:37They're off, they're buried,
14:38they're dead and buried.
14:39They probably died about a week ago,
14:40but I hadn't got the nerve to tell you.
14:43You see,
14:44and so I was so mortified by this,
14:46I gave up frugalism forever.
14:48And that's my story.
14:50I'm so glad.
14:51I'm so glad.
14:52So, I joined you.
14:54Thank you, Martin.
14:55Thank you, thank you.
14:56Thank you, Martin.
15:02As a newly qualified thespian,
15:04you're not a very busy one,
15:06although you do manage to find yourself a wife,
15:08Anna Wheatcroft.
15:09Yes.
15:09And you have two sons,
15:11Daniel and Piers.
15:12But the marriage ends in 1967,
15:14and you lose touch with the boys.
15:16Three years ago,
15:17you flew with Sue to New Zealand
15:19to appear in a commercial.
15:20And we go to Auckland now
15:21to take up the story
15:22with your son, Piers.
15:24Hello, Tom.
15:25It was here in January 97,
15:28I'm sure you remember,
15:29where we had one of the most bizarre meetings of our life.
15:32I walked into the restaurant,
15:34looking for a table,
15:36and who do I see but you there?
15:38Quite a shock for me.
15:39But nothing compared to the shock for you.
15:43I had to plan my strategy
15:44of how to introduce myself to you.
15:46I hadn't seen you for so many years.
15:49I had a word with the waiter,
15:51asked him if I could take care of your tab,
15:54of which I did,
15:55and therefore you'd have to come to the bar
15:56and inquire about who had paid this tab,
16:00of which, of course, you did.
16:02Now, there was a semblance of recognition
16:04you had in your eye,
16:06but I thought I should help you along the way,
16:08so I introduced myself to you.
16:11My name's Baker, I said.
16:13Piers Baker.
16:14Well, the look on your face,
16:16really quite fantastic.
16:18A great reunion we had, too.
16:20I'm delighted you're being honoured this evening,
16:22and delighted that we're back in touch.
16:24There we are.
16:30Well, he certainly has the Baker voice.
16:32That must have been quite unnerving for you.
16:35He was, yes.
16:36I looked at him and I said,
16:38I think I showed him,
16:38is your name Morgan or something?
16:40He said, no, my name's Baker,
16:42Piers Baker.
16:43I'm your son.
16:45That was the killer, yeah.
16:47Naturally, I said, how do you do?
16:49Well, they introduced him to his stepmother.
16:56Well, back to the plot and the 1960s.
17:00Your life isn't exactly swinging.
17:02And then you write and you perform
17:03your own comedy fringe show,
17:05and you impress a talent spotter
17:06from the National Theatre.
17:07Yes.
17:08You audition for Laurence Olivier,
17:09and you join the company,
17:11playing a variety of roles,
17:12including a very convincing horse
17:14in the travels of Santa Rosa.
17:16But then Olivier suggests you
17:18for a part in a new film
17:19about the doomed Russian Tsar Nicholas
17:21and his family.
17:23One night, the Hollywood producer,
17:24Sam Spiegel, comes to see you on stage,
17:26and that's how you become
17:28Rasputin the Mad Monk.
17:29Oh, yes.
17:30I don't like St. Petersburg.
17:33It makes me drink too much.
17:35And when I drink,
17:37the women come.
17:41The women here are worse
17:42than the peasants in my village.
17:44They have no restraint.
17:46Is Matuszka angry with me?
17:51She won't admit you even take a drink,
17:53much less...
17:56No.
17:57She believes in you completely.
17:59She is a saint.
18:01Playing Tsar Nicholas in that film,
18:03Michael Jaston.
18:04Yes.
18:07Oh, Michael Jaston.
18:12What I thought was Nicholas and Alexandra,
18:18and Rasputin was a terrific character.
18:21Well, he was absolutely perfect casting
18:22because Tom had been a monk
18:24and he was mad,
18:24so he plays a mad monk.
18:26And he did get the Golden Globe
18:28nomination for Best Newcomer.
18:31We've marched together for 30 years
18:33and you're not mad.
18:36You're a glorious eccentric.
18:38And you're boundless generosity
18:40to me and my family.
18:42I can't repay it.
18:43And I cherish your friendship.
18:44Oh, good.
18:46Next, you appear in Italian director
18:55Pier Paolo Pasolini's film
18:57of the Canterbury Tales.
18:58And then, disappointingly,
18:59work dries up.
19:01For a while,
19:01you teach English to foreign students,
19:03but by 1973,
19:04you're hard up and fed up.
19:06After that,
19:07you take on a different kind of toil,
19:09labouring on a building site.
19:10Yeah.
19:10And there was no time
19:11for play-acting with us, Tom.
19:13With his brother, John,
19:14your boss, Arthur Cordes.
19:16Yeah.
19:27Arthur, you hired Tom
19:30as a builder's mate.
19:32Well, yes.
19:33Yeah, a general labourer.
19:34He wasn't a bad lad, either.
19:37Thanks.
19:37Did he specialise in anything?
19:38What was he doing?
19:39He liked the can-go.
19:40He was a great can-go man.
19:41Yes.
19:42What's a can-go?
19:42He liked the...
19:43A can-go.
19:43It's deep.
19:47He means a drill.
19:49He means a drill.
19:51Mike was a vengeance.
19:52It was.
19:53It was a vengeance.
19:53But I liked it, yes.
19:55Have you still got the white suit, Tom?
19:56I've still got the can-go.
20:00Gentlemen, thank you very much.
20:02Thanks so much.
20:02Thank you very much.
20:04Thank you very much.
20:09Well, it was while you were hammering or drilling away on the building site in 1974 that you remember
20:13a name from your past.
20:15A few years earlier, you'd appeared in the BBC play The Millionaire S with Maggie Smith.
20:20The director was Bill Slater.
20:21And Bill, Tom wrote to you.
20:23Yes, he did.
20:24His timing was always superb.
20:26It just so happened that the letter arrived as I was about to become head of drama serials.
20:31And in this pathetic letter, Tom had written,
20:34Dear Bill, I haven't worked in two years.
20:37Is it something I said?
20:38And I suddenly had this wonderful picture of Tom, with wild eyes, like a Merlin, storming
20:46his way through the universities in a TARDIS, of course.
20:49I got wildly excited.
20:51But I wasn't the producer, Barry.
20:52Barry Lettsier was the producer.
20:54So as soon as I could, I got a hold of Barry.
20:56You've got to meet Tom Bacon!
21:00What happened next, Barry?
21:01Well, you see, as producer, I'd been searching for months to find a doctor unsuccessfully.
21:07But within minutes, it was obvious he would make a fantastic Doctor Who, and our search
21:14was over.
21:16And I'm very grateful.
21:17Those two men there, and with your colleague, Sean Sutton, I remember being kind to me, but
21:21those two men there changed my entire life.
21:24I'm a big star in Abu Dhabi, and I don't know how to turn that to my advantage, but everywhere,
21:31because of those two, yeah.
21:32Yeah, that's right.
21:33So you win the role, and as part of the publicity, you're even pictured with your mates on the
21:38building site.
21:38Yeah, look.
21:39In December 1974, you make your first appearance as the fourth Doctor Who.
21:44Doctor, Doctor, give me the news.
21:47I've got a bad case of love in you.
21:51No pill's gonna kill my ear.
21:53I've got a bad case of love in you.
22:00Canine, are you all right?
22:02Affirmative.
22:02Good, good.
22:03Come on, Sarah.
22:04We've an appointment in London.
22:06We're already 30,000 years late.
22:07Here now, your very first assistant, Elizabeth Slayton, and the voice of canine, John Leeson.
22:18Elizabeth, take us back.
22:27I love lots of things about Tom, but what I love most is you always managed to make anyone
22:32who worked on the programme feel so special, so wanted, so important.
22:37Endorsed, master.
22:40That's how you remember it, John.
22:42Very much so.
22:43I mean, Tom was absolutely special.
22:45I've never worked with such an energised actor in my life, and I don't expect I shall work
22:50with such an energised actor again.
22:52And the three Doctor Who fans whom I've spoken to in the last 17 years said they quite enjoyed
22:57you, too.
22:59Thank you very much.
23:00Thanks, Elizabeth, to you.
23:02See you in a minute.
23:09You're the definitive Doctor for six years until 1981.
23:13During that time, you marry your co-star, Lala Ward, but later you part.
23:18Yes.
23:18As Doctor Who, you record more than 170 episodes, but eventually you cast your scarf to the winds.
23:25It's goodbye Doctor Who, but Tom Baker works on in television and on stage.
23:29In 1984, you're in the National Theatre tour of She Stoops to Conquer.
23:34Tom, you always gave me pause for thought.
23:36Your co-star, Julia Watson.
23:38Oh, dear.
23:39Oh, dear.
23:40Oh, dear.
23:42Oh, dear.
23:43Thank you for giving a chance.
23:44Julia was my daughter in the...
23:49I was, and a very happy daughter.
23:52You were playing a very frustrated Mr. Hardcastle, and you invented the series of war dances
24:00that would grow as the evening went on, and you became more and more frustrated.
24:07Yes.
24:08And we did several months at the National, and then you decided to leave, and I re-rehearsed
24:13with another actor playing my father, Michael Bryant, and the director during these re-rehearsals
24:19said, why are you leaving pauses at these points in the scene?
24:24And I thought, I don't know.
24:25And then I remembered.
24:27It was because I left pauses for these wonderful war dances that used to entertain me and the
24:33audience, as you pirouetted round the stage.
24:37Oh, did I?
24:38And I don't know if the Royal Ballet ever realised what they were missing.
24:44Oh, no, no, no, no.
24:46Not anymore.
24:47Thank you very much, Julia.
24:50That kind of one, yeah.
24:55In a Royal Shakespeare production of Willie Russell's Educating Rita, you played the hard-drinking
24:59professor, and Rita was Kate Fitzgerald, Kate a tailor-made part for Tom.
25:04Well, yes, it was, and we had a good few drinks on the way, didn't we, Tom?
25:08But my overriding memory is of a very big man with an even bigger heart.
25:12And there was one particular time in air, and we were at the end of a long, arduous tour,
25:17and it was the last day of the week.
25:18We'd done eight performances, and my father had taken the opportunity of going to Glasgow
25:23to pick up a lady who'd been very kind to him when he'd be billeted there during the war,
25:27and bringing her to air to see the show.
25:30But they couldn't get back.
25:31There were problems with the trains or something, and Tom immediately gave up his hotel room
25:35so she could have somewhere comfortable to spend the night.
25:38The next year, you're back on the box playing a priest in Faye Weldon's The Life and Loves
25:43of a She-Devil, adapted for the screen by your friend Ted Whitehead.
25:47Another TV hit is Medics, with Dinah Stab, Hugh Quashie, and someone who is now a member
25:52of the lovable royal family, Sue Johnston.
25:55Hi, Tom. Congratulations.
25:58Well, I think this is a really lovely thing for you, and it's a lovely thing for me,
26:01because I can get a word in without you interrupting me.
26:06Tom, I miss working with you.
26:07We had such fun on Medics.
26:09You made me laugh so much.
26:11You're a fountain of joy and knowledge, and I miss you very much.
26:15And we've still got that date, remember, to go and watch Liverpool at Anfield.
26:20Don't forget.
26:21Have a great time, and I hope to see you soon.
26:23Bye-bye.
26:23And here's another voice from Memory Lane.
26:30Well, Coronation Street, actually.
26:32What did you say your name was, Inspector?
26:36Gould.
26:37He was Derek Wilton.
26:38He is Peter Baldwin.
26:40Peter Baldwin, yeah.
26:41Peter Baldwin, yeah.
26:42Peter, that was a line from an Inspector Calls.
26:53An Inspector Calls, yes.
26:54We played at the Westminster Theatre, remember, 13 years ago?
26:56Yes.
26:56Tom was a majestic Inspector, and I was a less than majestic Arthur Burling, the head of the family.
27:03But I think we worked together well on stage, Tom, didn't we?
27:05I think so.
27:06We got lots of laughs, I think.
27:07Yes, I don't think we were intended to, but I giggled a lot.
27:10I don't think you appreciate it.
27:13But there is one other reason I have to remember that production.
27:17Towards the end of the run, my wife went into hospital with cancer, you remember, and she died a few weeks later.
27:22And it was very difficult going on stage every night, but your kindness, your understanding, your thoughtfulness was immeasurable.
27:33I remember coming back from the hospital one day to the theatre, and there was a lot of champagne in the fridge.
27:37And I said, Tom, this is not a time for celebration.
27:42And you said, champagne is not only for celebration, it is for friendship.
27:47And I've never forgotten that.
27:48Thank you very much.
27:52The last few years have unleashed another of your talents, writing.
28:01Today I surprised you while you were publicising your book, The Boy Who Kicked Pigs.
28:05It's a follow-up to the success of your 1997 autobiography, Who on Earth is Tom Baker, which you dedicated to Sue.
28:13In the introduction, you recount the reunion with your long-lost son.
28:17Earlier, we heard how his work as a horticulturalist keeps him busy in New Zealand.
28:21However...
28:22Not today.
28:24From Auckland, your son, Piers.
28:26Ah!
28:28Son, Piers!
28:32That was a clever trick, that.
28:43I kept thinking, you must be still in New Zealand.
28:45Yes, it's good, yes.
28:47Tom Baker, this is your life.
28:49Ah, thank God.
28:57And Tom Baker's back in Randall and Hopkirk, Deceased, next Saturday, 8.55, here on BBC One.
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