At last, someone famous who doesn't find themselves brilliant
Disadvantages:
Rather stiff and formal in tone
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Along with many of my generation, Tom Baker was "my" Doctor Who. By this, I mean that he was the first Doctor I knew about and will always be the person I first think of as playing the role, despite Christopher Ecclestone's best efforts recently. Whilst those slightly older than I may recall William Hartnell and Jon Pertwee, they were before my time and I didn't enjoy anyone's roles as the Doctor as much after Tom Baker as I did his.
I may not be alone in this remembrance of Tom Baker's Doctor Who, either. After all, he played the Doctor for a lot longer than anyone else did, thereby giving him access to a wider audience than those before or since. Plus, he was playing the role at a time when the series was really rather popular and so had a potentially larger audience than many.
What I'd never really stopped to wonder was what Tom Baker had done before he was Doctor Who and what he might have done since. There must be a fair amount of this "other" life, as Baker is now seventy years old and he was only Doctor Who for seven of those years. So what has been going on with the other ninety per cent of Baker's time on earth?
Baker's early life was never really set up for him to be an actor. Indeed, his first ambition was to be an orphan as, growing up in Liverpool during the Second World War, he would get more presents that way. The harshness of life during the war and the strictness of his Catholic upbringing seem to be the main points from Baker's early life that he remembers most vividly.
This resulted in his first going to a monastery to be trained as a priest and then spending a period in the Army. It was during this time that he discovered his talent for entertaining people, although he was to spend some time in a rather unhappy marriage being bullied by his mother-in-law, which resulted in two children and a suicide attempt.
From here, the Tom Baker that we know as an actor began. He followed a long and particularly undistinguished career that proved to be nothing of a success, apart from the odd triumph, until he landed the role of Doctor Who. This was the be a brief shining period in the darkness of Baker's life and life after "Doctor Who" would prove to be no more of a success story than life before.
Unusually for an autobiography, this is not a story of success after success and a chance for the author to boast about how well things have gone and how good they are. If anything, Baker seems to revel in his lack of success, being completely open about his shortcomings and not giving much room to the show that made him a star, of sorts.
The style the book is written in is pretty interesting as well. Like the man himself, the writing is somehow quite stiff and almost seems impersonal at times, as if Baker isn't entirely happy with talking about himself. It's not a book that easily lends itself to being read for pleasure as it does seem quite stilted. Whilst the life it describes is fascinating, leading as it does from the austerity of the monastery to the hedonism of being an actor with a major television role, it isn't a pleasurable journey to be on.
The other major concern I would have with this book is that it seems to be aimed towards fans of his work as Doctor Who. The title of the book itself, the type face used for the title and the cover picture, showing Baker wearing his famous scarf all trade on that role. Whilst that may have been the major and most successful part of his life, it isn't a part that gets undue attention paid to it in this book. Indeed, the seven years of his life as Doctor Who seem to be less prominent that his six year period in the monastery, for example. The whole marketing of the book based on that part of his career does strike me as being slightly misleading.
However, the general approach of the book does offset that. It's sometimes difficult reading, but this isn't that surprising when you come to realise that it's a recollection of a sometimes difficult life. It's tremendously worthwhile if for no other reason than that it is not a chance for Tom Baker to boast or gloat or settle scores. He hasn't always been the great and the good in any of his attempted careers and he doesn't make himself out to be. There is a little of the somewhat traditional name dropping involved, but without the feeling that there is jealousy of the success of others or delight in their failures. For the first time in any autobiography I can remember reading, the failures the author seems to delight in most are his own.
If you're a fan of "Doctor Who", you may be a little disappointed by how little of that there is in here. If you're a fan of autobiographies, however, you may find yourself delighted by the subtle difference between this and many others. Whilst it is a difficult read, it is one worth persevering with, for the unique style and insight it provides.
Disappointingly, this book seems to be out of print at present. However, there are copies to be found at the Amazon Marketplace, with prices seen in the past from £3.00 or from eBay, with prices from 99 pence. It's certainly worth a look at a price like this. You may not find yourself with a decent answer to the question posed by the book's title, but you'll know plenty about Tom Baker by the time you're done.
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