• What a great thread. Tom Baker WAS "The Doctor" for the US in the early 80's when his stories were broadcast as 'films' instead of seperate episodes (a brilliant move, IMO). Then Davison took the role (and probably the best actor of the pre-reboot series). I've watched all the Doctors and can enjoy each one for their characteristics, although it never panned out for Colin Baker and Sly McCoy's series suffered from bad writing and very low budgets, which really hurt his legacy. Yes, Lalla Ward ("Vampire Circus") was the 2nd incarnation of Romana after Mary Tamm had discovered she was pregnant. And yes, she and Baker did get married for a short time. I was a big Whovian in the 80's, went to conventions, then got away from it. I was very skeptical of Eckleston (sp) and his choice for the role, but I thought he was great. I'm sorry that he didn't stay with it longer as I cannot watch David Tennant. However, I really appreciate how Russel Davies has paid homage to some of the great enemies of the Doctor: Daleks, Cybermen, etc...

• Davison's companion fuckability quotient was VERY high. Not quite Tom Baker, but still, Nyssa and Peri were hot as hell for the 80s.

• Yes, many of the previous Doctors were pimpin', especially Pertwee and Davison.

• Tom Baker will always be the most remembered classic Doctor Who portrayer of The Doctor as I've only seen Jon Pertwee & Patrick Troughton in the Five Doctors movie.

• The First Doctor serial The Aztecs is often cited as one of the earliest hints of a romantic side to the Doctor's character (romantic, not sexual), with supporters arguing that although there were solid plot reasons for the Doctor to court Cameca, as performed there appears to be real attraction between the two characters. At one point Cameca presents the Doctor with a brooch as a token; at the end of the story the Doctor, as the last to board the TARDIS, puts it down briefly then on second thought retrieves it.

• Pre-Eccleston Doctors, in order of Pimpitude: 1. Tom Baker. Sweet Companion: both/either Romana (followed closely by Leela). And yeah, Ward and Baker's interaction in these ads are pretty much just like the show. 2. Jon Perwee. What Dacshiggy said. SC: Jo Grant. 3. Colin Baker. If any Doc had a well-developed pimp-hand, it was Six. SC: Peri Brown. 4. Paul McGann. First actual onscreen kiss. SC: Grace, by default. (the list starts tailing off precipitously here...) 5. Patrick Troughton (underratedly pimpin). SC: Zoe. Seriously, she might be the cutest companion ever. 6. Sylvester McCoy. SC: ACE! McCoy might be a hobbit, but their relationship had real crackle, unlike... 7. Peter Davison. SC:...at gunpoint, Nyssa over Tegan. 8. William Hartnell. SC: Not going there. (Yeah, Susan's cute and all, but...)

• I for one have fond memories of BOTH Tom Baker AND the Prime computer, which was the first computer I got access to at the good ol' University of Kentucky.

• If you haven't watched Tom Baker as the Doctor, you're not a true Whovian. Go rent (or buy) some DVDs of him.

• Any Doulglas Adams fan should check out Tom Baker's doctor, where he worked on many episodes. My favorite is "The Pirate Planet" penned by Adams (and featuring the first Romana). Its unmistakably written in Adams style, and if you have not yet seen it, a great way to remember his writing.

• BTW - I haven't posted sine the upgrade. Nice work, it looks great.

• Don't keep your experience of the Doctor limited to these ads. Spend a couple of hours at least watching a story or two. Let me recommend 'Pyramids of Mars' or 'City of Death'. Both feature this incarnation of the Doctor, generally accepted as the most popular of the original series. For companions, 'Pyramids of Mars' features the very popular Sarah Jane Smith at her best. 'City of Death' features this version of Romana in arguably the most intimate outing for the original Doctor and a companion. These two are not necessarily my favorite episodes and Tom Baker is not necessarily my favorite Doctor. However, both are excellent examples of classic "Who" and a fine starting point for somebody that wants to sample the original series for the very first time. These are two well written stories and nobody expects you to ignore the dated costumes and effects. Hey, if you don't like it, that's cool. It's not for everyone.

• Honestly. Tom Baker is the pimpmaster deluxe.

• I'm pretty sure the sixth Doctor raped someone at some point. - And the seventh Doctor's companion lost her virginity (in story, but off-screen) to Sabalom Glitz. If you don't know who that is, suffice it to say you wouldn't want to lose your virginity to him if you were a hot teen from Perivale.

• Very true! Mary Tamm was way hotter than Lalla Ward. Oh, and what kind of self respecting nerd hasn't seen any classic Who? Was Rob too busy watching Dragon Ball Z?

• You should seek out some pre-Eccleston/Tennant Doctor Who. It will keep you regular, if nothing else.

• Tom Baker is the Doctor all others are compared to. Shame on you for not knowing about the best of the best.

• See Doctor shill. Shill Doctor shill. Seriously awesome, though :) Much love to Tom Baker.

• Funny to hear Rowan Atkinson doing the voice of the alien as well

• As TED-209, other beloved science fiction people could make AWESOME spokespeople. And so, here you are: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUEI7mm8M7Q">William Shatner tries to move some Commodore Vic-20 computers<a/> Also, I am severely humbled by my mention in this post, but do need to mention that my name is "MankaCat" not "MakaCat". Glad everyone liked the video.

• The Doctors previous personas were very different which is why everyone has their favorite Doctors 1st Doctor: Crotchety cosmic Curmudgeon 2nd: Devious Cosmic Buffoon 3rd: Dandy Kickass actionman 4th: Childlike Bohemian with a huge scarf 5th: Cricket playing Gentleman 6th: Condescendingly Bi-polar grouch 7th: Manipulative tactician in older gentleman guise 8th: Byronesque romantic with a penchant for namedropping historical figures 9th: Survivor guilt ridden maniac 10th: Foppish

• Looks a bit like a seedy, older Rod Stewart to me.

• scary how seeing that video made me almost want to know more about prime comptuers and nice to see tom baker and his then lover as roma again. as for why the doctor till tom never had any romance because he does not want the pain of out living them being a time lord who never ages

• Technically speaking since Pimp derives from "<a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimp#Etymology>pimpernel</a>" Pertwee was both. :-B

• There were two actresses who played Romana on the show, and this is the more popular of the two. It took me a long time to decide which of the two I preferred...until I realized that one is not in fact obligated to like EITHER of them. Yeah, I know: boo hiss, insufferable blasphemy.

• Only a PRIME computer would know the trolling words to invoke our collective nerd rage!

• impossible! haven't seen any episodes of Doctor Who and the Incredibly Bad Special Effects? this was a lovely little waltz back through time I wasn't even aware existed. if only he'd offered someone jelly babies...

• After watching the above clips, I watched the 'TOM BAKER THIS IS YOUR LIFE' related video. Apparently, before becoming an actor, he spent some time studying to become a monk. Lets all take a moment to reflect upon this and what he would look like with a shaved crown.

• Two points: 1. Agreed on the hotness of Lalla Ward. Although dressing her up like a French schoolgirl during City of Death was a bit much. 2. TECHNICALLY, the character actually was "Doctor Who" during the Baker years, since that's what he was credited as. It was changed to "The Doctor" for Peter Davison onward until the new series started and screwed it up for the first season) (...and then in a moment that forever endeared him to me, David Tennant apparently demanded that he be credited as "The Doctor" when he joined the show, because THAT'S HOW DAVISON WAS CREDITED, DAMMIT! God, I'm going to miss having such a dedicated Who geek actually playing the character.)

• Wow; talk about nostalga! Lalla Ward's Romana was my all time favorite DW companion. Even at age 8 I knew how damned cute she was. These commercials made my Friday! And I must say, Romana NEVER got THAT touchy-feely on the show. I'll be in my bunk. :) Doc

• My friend who got me into Doctor Who made the comment, "Look at how they behave with each other in 'City of Death' and tell me they're not fuckin'!"

• Would the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) count as pimp-like, or was he just too much of a dandy?

• Those commercials were friggin cool. And while all the Doctors were in their own ways pimps, the pimp daddy of them all was Jon Pertwee. Velvet cloaks, frilly shirts, and pimpmobile all included. Not to forget his little sex kitten Jo Grant. Meow!

• Okay, so mentioning that it's Tom Baker as the Doctor (THE The Doctor as far as I'm concerned) is certainly important (E-Space much?) but why TR did not deem it fit to mention that the spots also feature sexy hot blonde Romana... well the reason for this this just seems to be beyond even PRIME COMPUTER's ability to compute.

• Before 9, the Doctor had no romantic interest in the vast majority of his companions because they were either a) male, or b) human. Romana was a Time Lord like him, and though it was never stated outright in the show, most of my fellow fans that I've talked to about it agree that the characters were probably romantically involved in those incarnations. The fact that Tom and Lalla were a couple in real life only helped to cement the idea to me.

• Pat Stewart has been flogging the Nintendo DS and lending his voice to some horrible, lifestyle-peddling car ads. Picard has no shame.

• Baker was *the* Doctor when I was growing up. Rob, I can't believe you've never seen original Who.

• "On the other hand, negative points awarded to the Prime Computer for addressing The Doctor as "Doctor Who." " GASP! It was WOTAN!

• How come we don't have other beloved science fiction icons peddling current products? I'd probably buy an iPhone if Spock told me to buy one.

• Especially that Patrick Troughton. Boy, did he get around. And you could just tell as soon as you looked at Sylvester McCoy - the coat, the hat, the cane.... and a leather-clad 'assistant'.

• Gotta appreciate that Baker and Ward were able to make fun of themselves. On the other hand, negative points awarded to the Prime Computer for addressing The Doctor as "Doctor Who." And, yes, Tom Baker and all the Doctors before Eccleston were, as a matter of fact, pimps.

• Tom Baker and Lalla Ward really were fucking each other through time and relative dimensions in space. Nowadays, Lalla's married to evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, who she was introduced to through Douglas Adams. It's like a geek orgy!

• Goddamn, you've NEVER seen original Doctor Who? Pfft, and you call yourself a nerd. You're not fit to edit this site, Bricken, now hang your head in SHAME! Then do it AGAIN because of the FFF!

• Yes, you are correct. She was his companion, Romana, in her second regeneration. Tom Baker is probably the best known Doctor, he played the part the longest, and his run was heavily run in the US in the 70's.

• That's Lalla Ward... If I'm not mistaken, her and Tom were married at the time.

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