Who makes you laugh?

[Mark]

Dear Tom

I have been a fan of yours since seeing you in The City Of Death when I was a wee nipper. One of the things that really appeals to me about your Doctor is the sense of humour that you brought to the role. I really enjoyed your autobiography which in places made me laugh out loud.

I was wondering who makes you laugh?

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question.

All the best
From Mark in Exeter.

[Tom Baker]

Dear Mark in Exeter.

So many things make me laugh now that I am old. Old anxieties and serious pieces of literature that once seemed VERY serious now make me chortle. I was reading King Lear the other day: how I laughed at the old fool King, not the old fool Fool. And sometimes the poetry that moved me so deeply when I was young seems to me not so important. "Grow old along with me" by Robert Browning is another poem that no longer does it for me, though once I thought it sublime. The Bible convulses me a lot. I was toying with re-writing the book of genesis recently to use it as a piece of stand-up comedy. And just the other day I saw a film called Lourdes, a German film, I think. Lordy, Lordy, I thought it funny in parts.

Toodle ooh

Tom