In the lead up to the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who on November 23, I shall be posting an article on each Doctor. Today, I have a look at the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker.

After previous Doctor Jon Pertwee's decision to leave the series, out-going producer Barry Letts had initially planned to cast an older actor to play the Fourth Doctor. However, after a long search to find a suitable actor, he eventually cast the relatively unknown Tom Baker, having been impressed with his performance in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. It eventually transpired that Letts made the rights decision; Baker went on to become the most popular Doctor of the entire Classic Series, and arguably the best Doctor of all time. This was mainly due to Baker's more alien interpretation of the character, giving the Doctor an eccentric, yet passionate and caring personality.

Unlike most of his previous incarnation, the Fourth Doctor spent as little time on Earth as possible, leaving the planet (and UNIT) for good almost immediately after his regeneration. The Fourth Doctor's travels took him to a wider variety of locations than ever before, from different universes (E-Space), to the genesis of the Daleks, and to his home planet, Gallifrey.

During his travels, the Fourth Doctor picked up many different companions, the most notable of which was the Time Lady, Romanadvoratrelundar, Romana for short (or Fred). The dynamic between the two Time Lords was very interesting and enjoyable to watch, and (particularly in Romana's second incarnation) could be interpreted as the series' first step into the then-taboo subject of Doctor-companion romance.

Inspired by the booming popularity in robots/droids thanks to the recently released Star Wars in 1977, the Doctor was paired with a robotic dog named (rather unimaginatively) K9. While this move was popular, especially with younger viewers, it was largely considered impractical, as the prop was prone to break downs and would only work on specific surfaces. Despite these inherent problems, K9 endured right up to the end of the Doctor's travels in E-Space, choosing to remain behind with Romana.

Early years of the Fourth Doctor's era were often famous for the amounts of horror they contained, thanks to producer Philip Hinchcliffe. This drew much criticism, especially from Mary Whitehouse, who often complained that the show was too violent for younger viewers. This did not stop the programme reaching new heights of popularity. Subsequently, the Philip Hinchcliffe era of the show is often regarded as the best ever.

After a record-breaking 7 years in the role, Tom Baker finally decided to hand over the reigns in 1981. His take on the Doctor was vastly different to those of his predecessors, making the Fourth Doctor extremely alien in both appearance and personality. Baker's portrayl cemented Doctor Who in the public consciousness, and made it certain that it would be a standout of British Television. Without Tom Baker and his Fourth Doctor, the programme simply wouldn't be where it is today.