Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

He didn't really leave the show on good terms, but I think once he had left he was happy to be free of it. He certainly wouldn't have wanted to come back if he wasn't the center of attention and the story.

Well first, it was 7 years, a term no one has done before or since. He was way past the line of being forever associated with DW. Second, a new production crew came in that he didn't particularly get along with. By his 4-6 years, he had established his position in the production and had as much input as he wanted. He supposedly became notoriously difficult to work with, ignoring direction and writers if he felt he wasn't getting his way. In Season 18 (Leisure Hive through Logopolis), new producer John Nathan-Turner and script editor Chris Bidmead kind of brought that to a halt, raising tensions. I think by that time, Baker felt he just wasn't having fun any more (and you can see in Season 18 that it started to affect his health somewhat). So it was time to move on.

He returned to theater work, did the occasional TV series or film, and in many ways became Shatneresque as a personality and brand of his own (like his VO in Little Britain). He's really picky about what work he does accept. I don't think he ever felt DW was below him, he just had his own standards for it. I think he did do a Children in Need thing in the early 90s as the Doctor, and he recently did his first Big Finish audio as the Doctor. But The Five Doctors? It was too soon, and as I said, he wouldn't be front and center.

So I'm about half way through Season 4, and I have to say, some of those episodes have been hilarious. I just loved the Doctor's, "Are you my mommy?" joke when he put on that gas mask during the 2 parter with those egg men things (Sonatarium or something like that I believe). Also, the Agatha Christie episode was really good too, but The Doctor's Daughter to me made absolutely no sense and is probably my least favorite of the season thus far.

I was so prepared to hate Donna. She really bugged me in The Runaway Bride, and I find The Catherine Tate Show only amusing about 25% of the time. But by the end of Series 4, she had become my second favorite all time companion, 2nd only to Sarah Jane. There was a lot of depth to her and in hindsight it was a really brave move.

Anyone catch the sneek peak at the new Daleks? No more gold it seems like. I think that the show will try to go back to the original roots and all. It seems like it by the changes that were made.

It was great to "relive the thrill" from someone seeing all of this the first time. Thanks for sharing, and don't get too despondent about the wait. I would bet we'll be watching Series 5 by next summer on BBC America, and disc this time next year.

Picked up THe Next Doctor today, which was really awesome, but I am trying to figure out why the hell the audio was in standard 2.0 stereo when the series was 5.1 Dolby. It makes no sense to me, but other than that, I have no complaints. The extra feature (another hour long concert thing) was also excellent.

BTW, The Doctor made an appearance in Sarah Jane Adventures this season.

The Waters of Mars was excellent. It would have been fairly standard fare, but the last 10 minutes was a wholly unexpected gamechanger. And the preview for The End of Time, just wow!

^ I agree! It's all coming to a head! The Doc is starting to get a bit more
worried about things. Tennant was great but the rest of the cast was as well.

Tennant in the airlock towards the end was amazing, what a great actor.