Greetings to everyone out there in cyberspace. I’m Tom Baker, and if you’re over thirty and enjoy science fantasy, then I was your Doctor Who. Having failed to regenerate I’m a little older now, and possibly wiser, though I wouldn’t want to bet any money on it. To celebrate the release of an interactive DVD I appear in called Tom Baker’s Ultimate Sci Fi Quiz, I’ve been invited to write a month of blogs, whatever they are, here at Blockbuster.co.uk. Here I go then. Wish me luck…

Journalists who grew up watching me always jump at the chance to meet me, as they know old Tom will talk a lot of amusing guff! There’s really not enough amusing nonsense in the world, and I’ve always tried my best to redress the balance. When you’re a beloved old figure, as I am, the extraordinary thing is that, when I’m with fans of the programme, as long as I’m being friendly and nice and informative, it doesn’t matter how silly I’m being. The fans are amused by it. It’s the kind of meandering, free-association of a beloved uncle or a beloved father figure, now a beloved grandfather figure. As long as I don’t wound their feelings or disappoint them by being ungrateful, they’re happy, and I’m just as happy to have had a rapport with them that has lasted all these years.

An interviewer asked me last month if I regretted playing Doctor Who. It was a very odd question, I thought. I replied that it was like asking me if I regretted being loved. ‘No I don’t,’ I said. The guy then explained that he’d met a very famous actor, one who was rather bloody minded about a very famous part he’d done, and when the journalist asked him about it, the actor said, ‘Oh, don’t talk to me about that, I’ve done plenty of other things’. Me, I’m always happy to talk about Doctor Who. When you’ve had a good life, you’ve got a few Euros in your pocket, and people are still interested in you, I think you owe them a smile. I’m not one of those ungrateful old farts who doesn’t know how lucky he’s been!

Someone asked me a while ago if I got the sci fi quiz job because of my part in Doctor Who, and I had to tell him that quite honestly it’s only because of Dr Who that I get anything. If it wasn’t for that programme, who would remember me? I’m employed now by the children who watched me on TV, then grew up and hired me because they still love me.

The boys in Little Britain could have gotten anybody to narrate their show. There are plenty of more gifted actors than me, but they wanted me because they love me. They watched me as children, and once they were in power, they said, ‘Let’s get Tom!’ I suppose I was right for it, and Matt guided me. He’s very acute. Sometimes I have no idea what the words he gives me to say actually mean, though, and when I ask him, he always replies, ‘Never mind what it means. The fact that you don’t know makes it funny.’ And he’s right. Certainly people seem to like it when I use words like funky, or say ‘bring it on!’ And if I can make people laugh, even if I don’t exactly know why, I’m satisfied.

I hope you’ll join me then, next week and all this month, for more amusing nonsense. I’ll share my thoughts on life, the universe, and everything. On science fiction and love, oysters and pirates, fan worship, France and God. Then anything else that takes my fancy!

Goodbye!