115 Quotes by Tom Baker

I was playing Rasputin and what was motivating him was crumpet really, and I was extremely keen on crumpet so I was really rather good as Rasputin. And my next catastrophic failure was Macbeth, who I played in the style of a crumpet-lover, and then when Doctor Who came along, I embraced this lunacy, this cloud-cuckoo-land where people had to be convinced by absolute nonsense. I came from a very religious background, so it was easy for me to believe in something I knew nothing about.

By late 1978, we had Douglas Adams as our script editor and he was full of energy. He had just written the first part of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and his first story for Doctor Who, 'The Pirate Planet'. It was something to do with a planet that could hop about the Universe and suck out the energy of the other planets. The earth was threatened and that's where I came in.

Plenty of clever children have to pretend to be not clever or else they get bullied by the thick.

I'm obsessive about the kind of melodrama of getting through the days and trying to make them good and funny and a happy experience. But my feeling towards the fans is that they delivered me from darkness.

I have no regrets about being 'Doctor Who'. It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.

My capacity as a monk was to passionately believe utter nonsense, and when you're an actor you have to do the same thing. Also, Christianity used to have a lot to do with self-loathing and an acceptance of criticism and things like that which is terribly important for actors.

Well, I think if more people had more applause, it would make them feel better. I often give my wife a round of applause. If the meal is very good I give her a standing ovation.

I was never really happy until I became 'Doctor Who'.

Not only don't I know who I am, but I'm very suspicious of people who do know who they are. I am sometimes ten or twelve people a day, and sometimes four or five people an hour!