What is Your First Memory Of TOM?

[Marcello Cristiano]

My first memory of TOM was when I was five years old. My brother was flipping through the channels and came across PBS(Public Broadcasting Station). I was 5 years old, so this was the early 80's. What I saw on PBS was a program called Doctor Who. The episode was "The Ark In Space". I saw this tall man with his shock of curly brown hair and big,almost maniacal toothy grin. He had the longest scarf I had ever seen! I was fascinated. Then I saw him walk and speak. It must have been near that scene where the Doctor gives his famous speech about the Human race being "indomitable" I was hooked!! His voice was magic to me! From that point on I became a devout Whovian, collecting anything I could get my hands on in terms of Doctor Who memorabilia. My parents and the rest of my family would buy me Target novelisations for my birthday and Christmas. Also, I started buying Doctor Who magazine and the Doctor Who comic books at the local comic book shop. I became influenced by the way that TOM's Doctor dressed, and started dressing like him. Well, attempting anyway. I would wear long scarves during the fall and winter seasons. I still do. My first memory of TOM was over 25 years ago, and I'm still going strong as ever as a Whovian/TOM fanatic. I want to thank TOM for all the wonderful memories via Doctor Who and all his other endeavours. He has made me smile and laugh and be entertained non-stop for pretty much my whole life. THANK YOU, TOM. I LOVE YOU.

Does anyone else have a first memory of TOM to share?

TOM BAKER IS # 1

[Jedi Princess]

My first memory is of when I was 13, and I started my first DW episode, Pyramids of Mars. This guy with crazy hair and a really long scarf came on screen. I asked "Who's this guy?" my mom said that it was the Doctor. I said "Doctor Who?" My younger sister then piped up with "He's an alien!" I said he wasn't. Then my mom said he was. I was shocked. And then I fell in love.

[ivocaliban]

I was probably no more than 10, but the first distinct memory I had of Tom was the Fourth Doctor making his way down a street and entering a red phone box to place a call. This moment, I later learned, came from the second episode of The Android Invasion. In those days (the mid-80s) I'm not sure if they aired individual episodes or edited movie-length versions of the Doctor Who stories on PBS, but that image is certainly my first of both Tom and of Doctor Who in general. It puzzled me as a child because I later associated the red phone boxes and the blue police boxes with the TARDIS. When I later saw an episode or portion of a story with Jon Pertwee...I was even more confused!

[Toothy Grin]

My earlilest memory is of Tom in The Pirate Planet, in the scene where he's balancing on the end of the Captain's plank. He made an immediate impression, being so visually interesting, with his long multi-coloured scarf, mass of brown curls and staring eyes, and I think if it hadn't been for Tom I wouldn't have become a Dr Who fan at all. The opening titles to Tom's era of Dr Who are my first telly memory, and even after over 30 years, I still feel like I'm transported back to a 5 year old boy again every time I see them.

[jaybee]

I don’t have a smack-in-the-face first memory as such. I know that the first time I saw him has to have been in Robot, since I’d been watching Doctor Who from part way thru number 2’s tenure. I was in my early 30’s when I first saw him.

I didn’t really like number 1, and wasn’t overly fond of number 2; so didn’t really watch steadily until Jon Pertwee came along. Then Tom kept me watching. Unlike all of the doctors before and after him, rather than just watching, I always felt like I was on the adventure with him and his companion(s).

But it wasn’t until I was visiting England about 5 years ago and needed something to read that I found Tom’s autobiography in a nice old used book stop in a back alley in a little village in Yorkshire and from then I became a fan. So many things in his life conspired to put him on a very destructive path. But he found a way to overcome the hurdles, to accept who he is and to understand how he became that person. I think that Sue had no small hand in the process, but the ultimate direction of his life was always up to him. I have nothing but admiration for him. I also think that we are all incredibly lucky that he chose to involve us, his fans, in his life.

You’re a lovely, lovely man, Tom Baker. You’ve changed a lot of people’s lives – some in small ways, some more profoundly. Thanks.

[merlinsseer]

picks up jaybees gauntlet
I'm not sure how old I was , but I was an evil and sullen child. Spent most of my days being bullied, and withdrawing until one final attack actually put a crack in my skull - not a happy memory. I withdrew even further, considered death very often and watched a lot of television while reading books, ignoring the world.
One fateful day the program I normally watched was off the air and enraged ( as was normal in those days with anything that upset me ) I stood up and began furiously flipping channels.Nothing,nothing,wait ! what's this? Nope, just a bad robot killing some stupid guard , nothing, oh, some dead guy with white hair, ruffles and a weepy girl-ugh- moving on,nothing- oh, there's that weepy girl again , she seems to have gotten over the dead guy pretty quickly and found herself some mustached army man.......WHO IS THAT ?
The WHO in question was creeping around a hallway in a nightshirt and I was struck by the way he moved , the only thing that kept coming into mind was ....an alley cat, one of those long , lean, light footed strays that we sometimes run across that somehow manage to survive year after year and have developed their own personal style and grace. I know that sounds crazy and maybe sort of insulting- but there it is. I have a fondness for those stray tom cats and admire their pluck.
And then I saw his face- what absolute joy ! He was so thrilled to be where he was,doing what he was doing and it was so totally genuine that you couldn't help be be infected with it. His eyes, his smile and all those expressions, I found it all so fascinating and realized that my palm was itchy -a sign that I wanted to draw that face , but he wouldn't be still long enough to do anything about that. Then he opened his mouth and spoke. That was it , that was the moment that Mr. Tom Baker completely sank his curly hooks into me.
I watched that whole episode standing up, book in one hand and the remote in the other , arguing with myself , " This is nonsense , I'm watching a children's show !! Go away stupid robot , where's that guy ? What is wrong with me ? OH !! HE'S BACK !!! " and wondering who this man was that somehow had the power to completely render my remote control finger useless.
Then came the credits , ' Tom Baker ', who the #@&^%* is Tom Baker ? I spent the next several months having a beautiful LOVE / HATE relationship with Tom Baker and we argued -A LOT.
I was unhappy , didn't know how to be happy and had become very comfortable in this state of mind , but HE wasn't going to let me get away with that. Every episode that I watched this arguement was running in the background of my thoughts: "Come on, you know you want to do this ." ," No I don't , go away and leave me alone Tom Baker ."," Oh pooh, just relax and be silly . it's fun and you might like it. " ," No I won't , your silly and your show is silly and i don't know why i watch you ."
At this point he would begin marching back and forth in front of me ( on the television screen of course, not in my living room . I was sullen not delusional )" You watch me because I'm fun and deep down you want to be silly and have fun too ! Besides, this scarf and floppy hat make me look rather dashing, don't you think ?" I'd peek at him over the top of my book and admire the view." Yes, yes, you're a silly, sexy beast in a floppy hat . Now off with you , your thirty minutes are up and i have to go be sullen."
" Fine., but I'LL be back tomorrow, same time , same place ."
" Of course you will , you silly man and I'll be right here watching you because you have put some sort of spell on me ."
Crazy ? YES ! Did it work ? Yes, about the second run through of those three seasons that PBS had to show , I suddenly and very unexpectedly burst out laughing at ( of all things)" Had a hard day in the catacombs, have we? " from "The Masque of Mandragora". That was probaly the first time in almost two years that I had laughed out loud and it felt pretty damn good. Tom Baker had won the arguement and I gladly bent to the will of my new found prince , I haven't stopped seeking silly fun, never again considered death an option and am a much better person for having done so. I still owe Mr. Baker and have no clue how to repay him.
After all this time of thinking that " robot " was my first Tom Baker sighting, I now know that it wasn't. It was in fact " Frankenstein: The True Story ". I remember that sea captain, even after all this time-MORE than thirty years later . I remember being very unhappy that he died and I was only about 8 or 9 years old when it aired over here on televiision. i haven't seen it since but i remember. That was the first curly hook.
OK-I FOUND an old copy of Frankenstein and stand corrected- He jumped ship and left it to the monster for some reason my childs brain thought the monster killed him and tossed him overboard-WRONG GUY !!!

[Tush]

My first memory of Tom was from his first adventure, Robot.

I would have been around 4 years old and thanks to the BBC classic website I can also pin it down further to 18/01/1975 17:30, or rather it must have been around 17:50 because my memory is of Tom hurtling along in a classic yellow car (bessie of course) and throwing a bucket of red liquid onto a gigantic robot.

Well, after that I was hooked . . . and who wouldn't be ay

[bcm77]

I've only become a fan of the show in the last 3 years or so but I have some misty memories as a 3-4 year old of being present when my parents or sisters were watching must have been Tom's final series as I distinctly remember the burgundy color of his coat.

Little did I know that 25 years later I'd decide to try "Genesis of the Daleks" as my first Classic story as a grown up fan and after that one story would become hooked on Tom's era.

[pattie anne]

PBS-TV - out of Arkansas - very early 1980s. "Underworld." The show featured a TIME machine ... a robot dog ... sweets ... and this incredibly long-shanked man, with an even 'moore' incredibly long scarf. And I was forever afterwards, hooked-lined-sinkered-and drawn in, all in about 20 minutes of air TIME. And for me, the ride has not yet ended, nor does it seem that it will, in any near TIME in the future. God bless the BBC; God bless Dr Who; and God bless TOM BAKER! Forever and ever, amen!

[paradoxFox]

PBS.

This in the 1970's

That would be Public broadcasting stations. An island filled with the monsters of Doctor Morou at times, and of things beautiful and wondrous as well-this on the other side of the Island. It contained, for example, Dr. Who. A few brief episodes of the Pertwee years and then, suddenly, the introduction of Tom Baker as the Doctor.

...and what a wonderful thing that was. Funny, smart, engaging. I was enthralled, and remained so. I recall sitting in a biology lecture and doodling in my notebook, (I was an art major and drew often in those days) this of Tom, and my instructor stopping what he was saying and suddenly speaking of the doctor. Adapting his lecture to the topic. I suppose to engage me, and others, more fully.

...as nothing really did but the doctor in those days.

What a wonderful surprise Tom was, and still is as I re watch those episodes on DVD. What a wonderful experience to experience his work.

Thank you, Tom.