Colin Baker
Template:Short description Template:About Template:BLP sources Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox person
Colin Charles Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor. He is best known for playing Paul Merroney in the BBC drama series The Brothers (1974–1976) and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction series Doctor Who (1984–1986).
Born in London and raised in Rochdale, he began his career with supporting parts in historical dramas such as The Roads to Freedom (1970), Cousin Bette (1971), War and Peace (1972) and Fall of Eagles (1974). Baker's role in The Brothers brought him fame but typecast him as villainous characters.
Producer John Nathan-Turner was impressed by Baker's performance as Commander Maxil in the Doctor Who serial Arc of Infinity (1983) and cast him as the series' sixth lead actor in 1983.<ref name=":3" /> Baker's tenure as the Doctor proved to be turbulent. BBC executives Michael Grade and Jonathan Powell were unhappy with the series' direction, enforcing an 18-month hiatus after Baker's first season and ultimately forcing Baker's dismissal from the role.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn Since 1999 Baker has regularly played the Sixth Doctor in licensed audio dramas produced by Big Finish Productions. He also reprised the role in the stage play The Ultimate Adventure (1989) and the television stories Dimensions in Time (1993) and "The Power of the Doctor" (2022).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Early life and education
Colin Charles Baker was born on 8 June 1943 in Waterloo, London, the son of Charles Ernest Baker (died 1971), managing director of an asbestos company, and Lily Catherine (died 2001).Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He has Irish ancestry on his mother's side.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As a child he moved with his family to Rochdale due to his father's work.Template:Sfn
Baker's first experience acting was in a nativity play at his primary school. During his education at St Bede's College, Manchester, he took part in productions of The Yeomen of the Guard and Iolanthe. He made his first television appearance in the 1956 Christmas special of My Wife's Sister.Template:Sfn
Baker studied French, Greek and Latin at A-Levels, achieving A grades in Greek and Latin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Despite a desire to study at the University of Oxford, his father found him employment as a trainee solicitor at Fox, Brooks & Marshall.Template:Sfn<ref name=":2">Template:Cite interview</ref> Baker stated in 1991:
"When I was 18, I told my father I wanted to go to Oxford. It was immaterial what I studied there. His income was such that, without his say-so, I couldn't go anywhere, because I couldn't get a grant and he thought University was a waste of time so at 18 I was shoved into a solicitor's office. I did what I was told."<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Baker initially felt that "the idea of being an actor seemed silly, frankly", but an encounter with a member of an amateur dramatic society led to him joining the North Manchester Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society and later the Rochdale Curtain Theatre amateur group.Template:Sfn After his father had a stroke, Baker jettisoned his law career at age 22<ref name=":2" /> and moved to London with his mother. Baker unsuccessfully auditioned for RADA; he succeeded the following year but instead chose to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).Template:Sfn
Career
Early work in television
Baker briefly worked as a taxi driver in Minehead during his first year as an acting graduate in 1969. His first professional role was in a three-week tour of Plaintiff in a Pretty Hat. He then appeared in The Other House at the Mermaid Theatre. Baker's first television appearance as a professional actor was in two episodes of The Roads to Freedom (1970), an adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's book series. The same year he appeared with Kate O'Mara in the science fiction comedy series The Adventures of Don Quick.Template:Sfn He played Count Steinbock in an adaptation of Cousin Bette the following year, opposite Margaret Tyzack and Helen Mirren.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1972 he played Anatole Kuragin in the BBC's television adaptation of War and Peace.Template:Sfn In Fall of Eagles (1974)Template:Sfn he played Crown Prince Wilhelm of the German Empire.Template:Citation needed
In September 1974 he joined the fourth season of BBC drama series The Brothers as the ruthless banker Paul Merroney. The sarcastic and self-conceited character—Baker's most prominent role to date—was a figure audiences loved to hate.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Sfn Baker recalled that the character was so disliked that he was occasionally accosted in public by viewers with their umbrellas.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite AV media</ref>Template:Sfn He also became an unlikely sex symbol.Template:Sfn Baker was typecast after The Brothers ended in late 1976. He returned to the theatre, acting in tours of Underground, Trap for a Lonely Man and Stagestruck. He played Macduff in a 1978 production of Macbeth at the Haymarket in Leicester.Template:Sfn
He gradually return to television, notably guest-starring as the villainous Bayban the Butcher in the 1980 Blake's 7 episode "City at the Edge of the World".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Sfn He also had a regular role as James West in the ATV soap opera For Maddie with Love (1980). Other programmes in which Baker guest-starred include Dangerous Davies (1981), The Young Ones (1982), Juliet Bravo (1982), The Citadel (1983) and Swallows and Amazons Forever (1984).Template:Sfn
Doctor Who (1984–1986)
Baker made his Doctor Who debut as the antagonistic Time Lord Commander Maxil in Arc of Infinity (1983), who notably shoots the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) in the cliffhanger to Part One.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="bbc.co.uk">Template:Cite web</ref> Davison later joked that Baker was going after his job.<ref>Template:Cite video</ref> Baker was unavailable to reprise the role in "The Five Doctors" (1983);Template:Sfn during the filming of that episode, Davison informed producer John Nathan-Turner that he was leaving Doctor Who.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Nathan-Turner had initially chastised Baker for upstaging Davison with his "arch" performance (reminding him that the series was titled Doctor Who, not Maxil),<ref name=":4" /> but after encountering Baker entertaining guests at the wedding of a mutual friend, he remarked to his partner Gary Downie "I think I may have found my new Doctor". Baker was offered the part of the Sixth Doctor on 10 June.Template:Sfn Baker was a fan of the series since the 1960s, and had considered applying for the lead role when Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker (no relation) left in 1980. He accepted a four-year contractTemplate:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and his casting was announced on 19 August 1983.Template:Sfn<ref name=":5" />
The Sixth Doctor first appeared in the final moments of The Caves of Androzani (1984).Template:Sfn Baker was keen to emphasise the Doctor's alien qualities and verbosity,Template:Sfn and the intention was for his brash and arrogant incarnation—an intentional contrast to the more reserved Fifth Doctor—to mellow over time.<ref name=":3"/>Template:Sfn However his first full story The Twin Dilemma (1983),Template:Sfn and Baker's portrayal of the Doctor, caused immediate controversy over one scene in which the Doctor attempts to strangle his companion, Peri Brown. According to PopMatters, "Colin Baker's first appearance was just out-and-out dislikable, showcasing a hubris and harshness that was heretofore unseen in the Doctor's emotional canon."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Script editor Eric Saward, who felt Baker was miscast,Template:Sfn clashed with Nathan-Turner over the series tone.Template:Citation needed The BBC hoped Baker would stay on for longer than Davison's three years.Template:Sfn<ref name=":5" />
Baker's era was interrupted by an 18-month hiatus which was announced in February 1985, midway through transmission of Season 22, his first full season. The Controller of BBC1 at the time, Michael Grade, criticised Doctor Who, saying that the programme had become overly violent in 1985. Grade later admitted that he "hated" the series, which he described as a "very clunky studio show".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One new Doctor Who story, Slipback, was produced for radio during the hiatus, which starred Baker and his regular television companion Nicola Bryant.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Sfn
Doctor Who returned to television for its 23rd season in September 1986. The season featured a reduction in episodes, was made entirely on video for location scenes and was produced as a 14-episode-long serial called The Trial of a Time Lord. This serial was a meta-textual reference to the fact that the series itself was "on trial" at this time.<ref>DVD Commentary: Trial of a Time Lord, Discs 1–4 Region 1 Edition</ref> In 1986 Baker told an interviewer: "Tom Baker did it for seven years. ... There's a part of me which likes to have a tilt at records. I would like to think that maybe I'd still be doing it in eight years' time."<ref>Template:Cite video</ref> Later that year the series was recommissioned, but Nathan-Turner was ordered to change the actor playing the Doctor. Although sources have attributed this decision to Grade, he denied this in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=Conversation>Template:Cite AV media</ref> The BBC's Head of Series, Jonathan Powell, later said that the BBC was looking for "one last chance saloon, for an actor who would take off with the public."<ref>Trials and Tribulations – documentary on Colin Baker's era of Doctor Who (2008 2entertain DVD release).</ref> Peter Davison argued in 2018 that the decision was more to do with the executives wanting to get rid of Nathan-Turner, saying: "I was upset about what happened, really – because, first of all, it wasn't to do with Colin, I know that. It was to do with other issues. The power structure in the BBC had changed and they didn't want John Nathan-Turner around is the truth of it."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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Baker was removed from the part after starring in only eleven stories and just short of three years in the series, including the hiatus, making his tenure as the Doctor the shortest at that point. After his sacking, Baker was offered a single four-part story that would end in his character's regeneration, but he refused the offer. In response, Baker offered to do the entirety of the following season and regenerate at its conclusion, but the BBC never responded to his letter. Instead, his replacement, Sylvester McCoy, played the injured Sixth Doctor in a blonde wig as he regenerates in the opening minutes of Time and the Rani, his face hidden by video effects as the regeneration process occurs.<ref name="cambridge-news.co.uk">Template:Cite news</ref> In an interview in 2019, Baker expressed regret for not returning for the scene, stating that he was "brutally selfish at the time" and that he was not thinking about the fans.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 4 September 2011 at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London, Baker accepted the presidency of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, which had previously been held by Jon Pertwee and Nicholas Courtney. He was elected following an online poll of the society's members where he won more votes than all the other candidates combined.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
Further appearances in Doctor Who media
From 5 June to 19 August 1989, Baker appeared as the Doctor in the stage play Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure, taking over from original lead Jon Pertwee who had fallen ill.<ref name="terrestrial124">Lofficier, Jean-Marc: (1991). Doctor Who: The Terrestrial Index: Target Books. Template:ISBN, pp. 124–125.</ref>
In 1992, Baker became the first Doctor to write a published Doctor Who story, The Deal, as part of Doctor Who MagazineTemplate:'s Brief Encounters series. He wrote a second Brief Encounter the following year. Both featured the Sixth Doctor and Mel. In 1994 Baker wrote a comic strip, The Age of Chaos featuring the Sixth Doctor and Frobisher, and in 2001 contributed a story entitled "The Wings of A Butterfly" to a charity short story anthology based on Doctor Who, "Missing Pieces". He also presented special Doctor Who videotape releases Cybermen – The Early Years in 1992 and The Colin Baker Years in 1994, with the latter a look back at his tenure on the series highlighted by clips and his memories.
Baker reprised the role on television in the 1993 Children in Need charity special Dimensions in Time alongside Pertwee, Tom Baker, Davison and McCoy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1997, he provided audio dialogue for the BBC video game Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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1999 saw Baker voice his first Doctor Who audio adventure for Big Finish Productions, The Sirens of Time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As of Template:Year, Baker has appeared as the Sixth Doctor in 166 releases, with more planned for the future. These audio plays are generally well received by fans and in a poll conducted by Doctor Who Magazine, Baker was voted the "greatest" of the Doctors in this format. He also reprised the role of Commander Maxil in the Gallifrey audio series story "Appropriation" in 2006; in 2022, he played alternate versions of the Fifth Doctor (known as the Doctor of War) in the Doctor Who Unbound series and the Curator in The Eighth Doctor Adventures.
In recent years, Baker has appeared on a number of DVD releases of his episodes, featuring in either "making-of" documentaries or commentaries. The documentary Trials and Tribulations, included in the 2008 DVD release of The Trial of a Time Lord examines his turbulent three years on the show.
Baker co-starred in the comedy short film The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot (2013), where he played a fictionalised version of himself who assists Davison and McCoy in sneaking into the production of the 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the 2022 special "The Power of the Doctor", Baker returned for a cameo appearance alongside Davison, McCoy and Paul McGann as a manifestation of the Thirteenth Doctor’s subconscious.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Baker reprised his role as the Doctor in Tales of the TARDIS to mark Doctor Who's 60th anniversary.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since 2023, Baker hosts the Big Finish-produced podcast Into the TARDIS, presenting the various audio stories broadcast in the series.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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. Other theatre appearances have seen Baker tackle the role of Inspector Morse in House of Ghosts<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and a UK tour of The Woman in White.
In 1991, Baker played a Doctor-like character in the BBV video series The Stranger. This character appeared in six video adventures as well four audio stories. Another standalone BBV drama entitled The Airzone Solution appeared in 1993 and featured former Doctor Who actors Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy.
Television work through 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.
In 2003, Baker appeared on Top Gear, participating on a one-lap run on the Top Gear track in a Honda Civic hatchback. Baker competed against a Klingon, a Cyberman, a Dalek, Darth Vader and Ming the Merciless. Baker came in 4th position, with the Cyberman coming 1st.
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.
Away from his Doctor Who work for Big Finish Productions (see above), Baker appeared in the audio dramas Sapphire and Steel: The Mystery of the Missing Hour and the 3 part Earthsearch Mindwarp. The latter, based on a James Follett novel, was broadcast on the digital radio station BBC 7 in 2006.
In 2010, Baker narrated and provided additional voices for the audiobook version of the sci-fi/comedy novel, Kangazang! Remote Possibilities. Written by Terry Cooper, and published by Candy Jar Books.
Baker's film work over the years includes The Harpist (1999), The Asylum (2000)<ref name="denofgeek.com">Template:Cite web</ref> and D'Artagnan et les trois mousquetaires (2005).<ref name="denofgeek.com" /> 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 2012 series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, finishing in 8th place.<ref name=":0" />Template:Sfn
Baker played Sherlock Holmes in a 2022 stage adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a 2025 radio adaptation of The Sign of the Four.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
In July 1976, Baker married actress Liza Goddard, who played his on-screen wife in The Brothers. They divorced 18 months later.Template:Sfn<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn
Baker married actress Marion Wyatt in 1982. They have four daughters.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Baker and Wyatt had a son who died of sudden infant death syndrome in 1983. In 1996, Baker became the Chairman of the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Baker is a friend of American writer Stephen R. Donaldson, who dedicated his 1991 novel Forbidden Knowledge to him.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective | William Lind | |
| 1991 | Summoned By Shadows | The Stranger | |
| 1992 | More Than A Messiah | ||
| 1993 | In Memory Alone | ||
| Template:Sortname | Arnold Davies | ||
| 1994 | Template:Sortname | The Stranger | |
| Template:Sortname | Peter Russell | ||
| Breach of the Peace | The Stranger | ||
| 1995 | Eye of the Beholder | ||
| 1999 | Template:Sortname | Father Rupitsch | |
| Soul's Ark | Galico | ||
| 2000 | Template:Sortname | Arbuthnot | |
| 2014 | Shadows of a Stranger | William Fallon | |
| 2015 | Template:Sortname | The Narrator | |
| Template:Sortname | Charles Dickens | ||
| 2017 | Arrows of Time | Narrator | |
| 2021 | Hiraeth | Wynn Seaward | |
| You Might Get Lost | Conrad | ||
| The Ghosts of Borley Rectory | Charles Sutton | ||
| 2022 | Minacious | DS Rawlins | |
| 2023 | Secrets of a Wallaby Boy | Bruce | |
| Christmas at the Holly Day Inn | Ben Holly | ||
| TBA | Bug-Eyed Monsters Conquer the Universe! | Sous Chef |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Template:Sortname | Rebel | Episode: "People Isn't Everything" |
| Happy Ever After | Receptionist | Episode: "The Ambassador" | |
| No – That's Me Over Here! | Uncredited | 2 episodes | |
| Roads to Freedom | Claude | 3 episodes | |
| 1971 | Template:Sortname | Reigate | Episode: "The Shadow Man |
| Public Eye | Town Hall Clerk | Episode: "The Man Who Didn't Eat Sweets" | |
| Cousin Bette | Count Wenceslas Steinbock | 5 episodes | |
| Template:Sortname | German Lieutenant | Episode: #1.3 | |
| Now Look Here | Uncredited | Episode: #1.4 | |
| 1972 | War & Peace | Anatole Kuragin | 4 episodes |
| Template:Sortname | John Herncastle | Episode: #1.1 | |
| Template:Sortname | Glover | Episode: "Murder Story" | |
| Villains | Reporter | Episode: "His Dad Named Him After the General" | |
| 1973 | Template:Sortname | Joseph Laycock | Episode: "Daisy" |
| Harriet's Back in Town | Mike Baker | 2 episodes | |
| Orson Welles Great Mysteries | George Barclay | Episode: "A Terribly Strange Bed" | |
| 1974 | Within These Walls | David Jenkins | Episode: "Prisoner by Marriage" |
| Template:Sortname | Bob Anderson | Episode: "Undue Influence" | |
| Fall of Eagles | Crown Prince Willie | 2 episodes | |
| 1974–1976 | Template:Sortname | Paul Merroney | 46 episodes |
| 1979 | Doctors and Nurses | Mr. Bennett | Episode: Mums and Dads |
| 1980 | Blakes 7 | Bayban | Episode: "City at the Edge of the World" |
| For Maddie with Love | Uncredited | ||
| 1982 | Juliet Bravo | Frankie Miller | Episode: "The Intruder" |
| 1983 | Template:Sortname | Mr. Vaughan | Episode: "Part 4" |
| Doctor Who | Commander Maxil | Serial: Arc of Infinity- 3 episodes | |
| 1984 | Swallows and Amazons Forever!: Coot Club | Dr. Dudgeon | TV film |
| Swallows and Amazons Forever!: The Big Six | |||
| 1984–1986, 1993, 2022 | Doctor Who | Sixth Doctor | 34 episodes |
| 1985 | Jim'll Fix It | Episode: "A Fix with Sontarans" | |
| 1986 | Roland Rat: The Series | Episode: #1.3 | |
| 1989 | Casualty | Colin Miles | Episode: "Accidents Happen" |
| 1993 | Template:Sortname | Harry George Chauvel | Episode: "Palestine, October 1917" |
| 1995 | Harry's Mad | Mr. Perkins | Episode: "Meaty Chunks" |
| 1997 | Template:Sortname | Fake Mr. Brent | 2 episodes |
| Jonathan Creek | Hedley Shale | Episode: "The Wrestler's Tomb" | |
| Template:Sortname | Donald Dewhurst / Desmond Dewhurst | 4 episodes | |
| Template:Sortname | Canon Fenneau | Episode: "Post War" | |
| Template:Sortname | William Guthrie | Episode: "Going Down" | |
| 1998 | Casualty | David Vincent | Episode: "An Eye for an Eye" |
| 1999 | Sunburn | John Buchanan | Episode: #1.2 |
| Template:Sortname | Giles Fleming | TV film | |
| Dangerfield | Vicar | Episode: "Haunted" | |
| 2000 | Hollyoaks | The Judge | Episode: #1.524 |
| Time Gentlemen Please | Professor Baker | Episode: "Day of the Trivheads" | |
| 2001 | Doctors | Jack Howard | Episode: "Matters of Principle" |
| 2004 | Template:Sortname | Mr. Allen | Episode: #1.2 |
| Template:Sortname | Rutaford | 2 episodes | |
| 2005 | Little Britain | Man in Regatta Tent | Deleted scene |
| 2006 | Template:Sortname | Judge | Episode: "Your Mother Should Know" |
| Doctors | Charles Dillon | Episode: "Honourable Gentlemen" | |
| 2009 | Kingdom | Mr. Dodds | Episode: #3.2 |
| Doctors | Professor Claybourne Jarvis | Episode: "The Romantics" | |
| 2010 | Hustle | Phil | Episode: "Tiger Troubles" |
| 2011 | Doctors | Augustus Bloom | Episode: "Every Heart That Beats" |
| 2013 | Template:Sortname | Colin Baker | TV film |
| 2014 | Comedy Feeds | Colin Baker | Episode: "The Committee Meeting" |
| 2015 | Star Trek Continues | Minister Amphidamas | Episode: "The White Iris" |
| 2021 | Emmerdale | Michael | Episode: #1.9156 |
| 2023 | Tales of the TARDIS | Sixth Doctor | Episode: "Vengeance on Varos" |
Stage
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Caesar and Cleopatra | Porter 1 | Chichester Festival Theatre Company |
| 1972 | Conduct Unbecoming | 2nd Lt. Arthur Drake | Liverpool Playhouse |
| Vivat! Vivat Regina! | Darnley | ||
| 1973 | Hamlet | Laertes | Theatre Royal, Windsor |
| 1975 | September Tide | Evan Davies | The Forum Theatre Billingham and other locations. |
| 1977 | Let’s Do It Your Way | Unknown | The Playhouse, Weston-super-Mare, Harrogate Theatre, and other locations. |
| 1978 | Trap for a Lonely Man | The Man | Theatre Royal, York, Theatre Royal, Lincoln, and other locations. |
| The Flip Side | Theo | Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, and other locations. | |
| 1981 | The Norman Conquests | Norman | Windsor Theatre Company |
| 1982 | Relatively Speaking | Bill Kenwright | Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon, Richmond Theatre, and other locations. |
| 1987 | Corpse! | Strand Theatre, London | |
| 1988 | Deathtrap | Sidney Bruhl | Theatre Royal, Bath, Theatre Royal, Winchester, and other locations. |
| 1989 | Doctor Who: The Ultimate Adventure | Sixth Doctor | Grand Theatre, Leeds |
| 1990 | Spider's Web | Inspector Lord | Theatre Royal, Bath, Theatre Royal, Windsor, and other locations. |
| Born in the Gardens | Mo | Redgrave Theatre, Farnham | |
| 1991 | Time and Time Again | Leonard | Theatre Royal, Bath |
| 2000 | Out of Order | The Manager | Theatre Royal, Bath, Theatre Royal, Nottingham, and other locations. |
| 2004 | The Haunted Hotel | Sir Francis Westwick | Mercury Theatre, Colchester, Arts Centre, Darlington, and other locations. |
| 2007-8 | She Stoops to Conquer | Mr Hardcastle | Richmond Theatre, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and other locations. |
| 2009-10 | Jack and the Beanstalk | Festival Theatre, Malvern | |
| 2010 | House of Ghosts | Morse | Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne, Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage, and other locations. |
| 2022 | The Hound of the Baskervilles | Sherlock Holmes | Crime and Comedy Theatre Company |
| 2023 | A Christmas Carol | Ebenezer Scrooge |
Audio drama
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Doctor Who: Slipback | Sixth Doctor | 6 stories |
| 1999–2021 | Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures | 170 episodes | |
| 2006 | Gallifrey | Commander Maxil | Episode: "Appropriation" (uncredited) |
| 2009–present | Doctor Who: The Lost Stories | Sixth Doctor | 13 episodes |
| 2011–2018 | Jago & Litefoot | 8 episodes | |
| 2015–present | The Sixth Doctor Adventures | 28 episodes | |
| 2016–present | Classic Doctors, New Monsters | 4 episodes | |
| 2016 | The Diary of River Song | 2 episodes | |
| 2021 | Avalon | Bayban | Volume Two |
| Bayban the Butcher |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Destiny of the Doctors | Sixth Doctor | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2015 | Lego Dimensions | Archive sound | |
| 2024 | Fallout: London<ref>Template:Citation. Event occurs at 3:33.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Mysterious Scientist 2 | Guest role |
Web
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Template:Tooltip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | The Doctors Say Thank You | Himself |
Bibliography
- Look Who's Talking (Hirst Books), First Published December 2009. First reprint February 2010 Template:ISBN
- Second Thoughts (Hirst Books), First Published September 2010 Template:ISBN
- Gallimaufry: A Collection of Short Stories. First Published 30 September 2011. Template:ISBN.
- Sixth Sense – from the columns of the Bucks Free Press. FBS Publishing Ltd. 6 April 2017. Template:ISBN
Comics
- Doctor Who: The Age of Chaos (1994, Marvel UK)
Short stories
- "A Wee Deoch an ...?" (1991, in Doctor Who Magazine Winter Special of 1991)
- "The Deal" (1991, in Doctor Who Yearbook 1992)
- "A Tourist Invasion" (1992, in Doctor Who Yearbook 1993)
- "The Wings of a Butterfly" (2010, in Short Trips – Volume 1)
- "Interstitial Insecurity" (2019, in The Target Storybook)
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
External links
- Template:Official website
- Template:IMDb name
- Template:Screenonline name
- Archive of columns by Baker at the Bucks Free Press Template:Webarchive
- Another archive of columns by Baker
- Interview with Colin Baker on Dracula and acting for theatre
- Article in the Guardian 30 October 2007
- 1943 births
- Living people
- 20th-century English male actors
- 21st-century English male actors
- Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
- English male film actors
- English male radio actors
- English male soap opera actors
- English male stage actors
- English male television actors
- Male actors from London
- Male actors from Rochdale
- People educated at St Bede's College, Manchester