9 was my gateway to true fandom, but Tom Baker is definitely a favorite.

An old boyfriend was one of the first VJ's in the country, showing vintage Doctor Who on WQEX in Pittsburgh. I'd watch his set at 12:30am and then we'd chat on the phone for at least an hour per 30 minute episode!

So, my first doctor was really 9. That other doctor was Colin Baker?

Colin Baker was the Sixth Doctor back in the classic series, his tenure being 1984-1986. It's probably the least popular era of Doctor Who.

There've been a ridiculous number of Bakers involved in the program. The immensely popular Fourth Doctor was played by Tom Baker. One of the longer-running writing duos for the show were the Bristol Boys, Dave Martin and Bob Baker. They were the ones who created the Doctor's dog, K-9. Baker also co-wrote the Oscar-winning The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. And then there's Pip and Jane Baker, who wrote four of the worst adventures in Doctor Who history - three of them for the Sixth Doctor, and the one where he gets written out.

I believe Sunday nights on PBS in the 70s and 80s were her drug.

For me it was every night from Monday to Thursday, when the ABC showed an episode of Doctor Who virtually every week of my childhood. Mostly the Third and Fourth Doctors. Truly it was a Golden Age.

There were a total of 158 adventures in the Classic Series. 140 are available on DVD, the others lost to the BBC's archiving policy (namely, "don't"). I own precisely 100 of them, which I use to drive Biyi spare by watching at least an episode or two most nights. I've just finished rewatching The Tenth Planet, in honour of the current season's finale.

It's probably the least popular era of Doctor Who.

I was just having this conversation the other day!

I can't quite decide, of the many things that were awful about it, which is the most-bad element of C. Baker's tenure.

In the end, I just don't much like the actor, which I know isn't fair, but sheesh. He was/is a job of work.

I can only take Sylvester McCoy in small doses (I have a low slapstick threshold), but really quite admire all the other Doctors' secret identities.

There were a total of 158 adventures in the Classic Series. 140 are available on DVD, the others lost to the BBC's archiving policy (namely, "don't"). I own precisely 100 of them, which I use to drive Biyi spare by watching at least an episode or two most nights. I've just finished rewatching The Tenth Planet, in honour of the current season's finale.

I bow to your fan-aticism, billytea!

That other doctor was Colin Baker?

If you mean the other Doctor that appeared at the end of this season's finale, that was David Bradley (Game of Thrones, Harry Potter movies) playing the first doctor, William Hartnell.

If you mean the other Doctor that appeared at the end of this season's finale, that was David Bradley (Game of Thrones, Harry Potter movies) playing the first doctor, William Hartnell.

David Bradley also played William Hartnell in the 2013 drama, An Adventure in Space and Time (about the creation of Doctor Who and Hartnell's tenure as the Doctor). With his appearance in "The Doctor Falls", he's now the third actor to play the First Doctor. Aside from Hartnell, Richard Hurndall played the First Doctor in the 20th Anniversary special, "The Five Doctors".

So well that apparently Hartnell's co-star, Carole Ann Ford, found the resemblance eerie.

the others lost to the BBC's archiving policy (namely, "don't")

The version of the story I heard when I worked there was the BBC let the lease expire on the building where they were storing the original tapes, and they were subsequently bulldozed by the new owners. (Another version had the building abandoned and subsequently sinking into a swamp, which is equally plausible.)

I'm wondering if they will cast any other First Doctor era lookalikes for the Christmas special. (That photo of Susan on Twelve's desk in the season premiere was some pretty on the nose foreshadowing.)

The version of the story I heard when I worked there was the BBC let the lease expire on the building where they were storing the original tapes, and they were subsequently bulldozed by the new owners. (Another version had the building abandoned and subsequently sinking into a swamp, which is equally plausible.)

I like that story, especially the swamp version ("Kroll! Kroll! Kroll!"); however, as I understand it, the deletion of old Doctor Who adventures (and other shows, which generally had it worse) was an ongoing process rather than a one-off event. ("The Highlanders" was wiped in 1967, only months after it aired; "Fury from the Deep" was the last '60s serial to go, getting the chop in 1974.) The Beeb finally changed its archiving policy in 1978 (namely, "do").

I'm wondering if they will cast any other First Doctor era lookalikes for the Christmas special. (That photo of Susan on Twelve's desk in the season premiere was some pretty on the nose foreshadowing.)

I'm starting to develop a notion that this is indirect foreshadowing for the First Doctor. My reasoning: the picture of Susan appearaed alongside a picture of River Song, whose story of course came to an end in the Christmas special, "The Husbands of River Song". The Twelfth Doctor, this season, is more or less in a position of still grieving her loss. Meanwhile, Susan's absence relates most directly to the First Doctor. I can see them in the Christmas special coming to terms both with their impending regenerations and the people they've lost on the way.

If that's so, then it would make sense for neither River nor Susan to appear in person, the emotional arc being driven by their absence. (Alternatively, the First Doctor may wind up asking the Twelfth Doctor finally to fulfil his promise to come back to Susan. That could work. It might start to push him into Tenth Doctor Farewell Tour territory, though.)