As Jodie Whittaker bows out as Dr Who we talk to former Doctor Colin Baker

The path toward his career wasn’t conventional. He first wanted to train in the law, and was set on being a solicitor. Then he became involved in amateur dramatics, and enjoyed the thrill of live audiences “tremendously”. Around the same time, his father had a stroke, had severe health problems, and died, still only in his forties. “It was a time when I went through a self-assessment of what I really wanted to do with my life”, he recalls, “and I decided that acting was far more of a passion for me.”

With hindsight, does he regret taking that path?

Baker is one of those wonderfully self-effacing people who can turn anything into a bit of a chuckle. He laughs: “I think that it would be far better if you asked all the people who have watched me over the years if they had any regrets in seeing my performances”. And then he adds: “Seriously, no, not for one second. It has been a life of some wonderful ‘ups’, and a few ‘downs’, and yes, I would have been a lot more wealthy and better off had I stayed with the law, but on the other hand, I’ve travelled all over the place, I have a wonderful family, I’ve (for the most part) worked with some remarkable performers and……well, if anyone can be said to be contented, I am a pretty contented man. Lawyers retire – actors never do.

“The thing is, I truly believe that the people of my generation, and a couple of decades around it, had the best years of all. We didn’t have to suffer going through a war, the welfare state and the NHS were there to keep us healthy, and television was not only entertaining on so many levels but exploring so many new fields. I’m so truly blessed.”

His next venture is a nationwide tour of the Conan Doyle classic The Hound of the Baskervilles – probably the most famous of all the Sherlock Holmes stories. Baker admits he may be a strange choice for the role of the sleuth.

"But the lovely thing is that Martin Parsons, our adaptor – and director – has envisioned that the cast are actors engaged to perform in a radio play, and what the audiences will see is the group, in a studio setting, broadcasting to the nation. Watson will be played by Terry Molloy – who was Mike Tucker in The Archers for so many years, and we’ve worked together previous on radio versions of Dr. Who, so he is a dear old mate.

“My own perfect Sherlock? Well, with respect to everyone else who has played the part over the years, for me it must be Basil Rathbone. He had that ‘look’, and the mannerisms, and a special sort of hauteur which fitted perfectly. I’ve also got to admit that I’ve been fixated with Holmes ever since I was once given a prize at school, and it was the complete Sherlock stories in one volume. Conan Doyle was the master storyteller.”

Just as most people know their favourite Holmes, there are many Dr Who fans who can instantly name their favourite Doctor. “I know that I’m not at the top of everyone’s list – how could I be?” says Baker, who played the much-loved role from 1984 to 1986.

“That’s the delight of being just one of us actors called up to play him. People make their choices, and they are not slow in telling you to your face about their reasons. And now they can choose a female Who. By the way, I just loved Jodie Whittaker’s account, she was superb in what she brought to the series. Brilliant and innovative casting.”

Now that Covid is (hopefully and largely) behind us, Baker will be on his travels again, attending fan conventions all over the world. “I love them”, he confesses, “meeting people is such a joy – whatever their opinions might be! I also tell them that Dr Who was such a pleasure for me to do, because I was so fortunate to work with great writers and directors and fellow performers, and that it was a privilege to be in such a relaxed, yet professional environment.”

He was a pantomime stalwart for many years, and one of his favourite roles was Captain Hook, in Peter Pan. “Hook has to be taken very, very seriously. He’s not in the remotest bit amusing, he is a very real, and very nasty man. He’s evil. So, to play him as someone camp, or vaguely fun, is wrong. I once had a fellow actor as Smee, in one show, and he thought he’d get a few gags in about Hook – and I had to tell him that there had to be real fear when I was on stage, otherwise it wouldn’t work at all.

Would he like to revisit any role, or to revive a part he’s played? “No,” he says firmly, “because we all move on. I don’t think that, as a rule, re-making TV shows (in particular) serves any positive purpose. There are exceptions, and one is All Creatures Great and Small. “When I heard that was to return, I honestly groaned, and I thought ‘No, leave it alone – why even try?’. But I was wrong. It’s a whole new re-telling, perfect in every way, brilliant acting, great scenery, and whole new take on the stories. I adore it”.

So, for a player who has seldom been out of the limelight for half a century, would he care to offer advice to any potential performer?

“Well, one of our daughters, Rosie, has just left drama school, and I’ll tell everyone else what I told her, and that is that you must face reality. Only two per cent of actors in Britain earns over £20,000 a year from their craft. Think about that. Take a cool hard look at your prospects, and the fact that there’s no repertory system in theatres anymore. Or hardly any. That you don’t audition in person, but you send in tapes, and that TV doesn’t offer stand-alone plays these days. The great TV writers have gone – with the exception, perhaps, of Russell T Davis.

"But, I told her, if you really, absolutely 100 per cent want to do it, and that you have a passion for it, then do it for that reason. Not for fame or fortune. No way.”

There’s a slight pause and he adds: “I was at a theatre in Birmingham not so long ago, and I was talking to someone and mentioned the name of Sir Laurence Olivier. A young actor standing next to us said: ‘Oh, who was he?’ That, my friends, is how fleeting fame and fortune is, in this fragile theatre world of ours…..”

The Hound of the Baskervilles, Bridlington Spa, Bridlington, November 3. Box office on 01262 678258