doctor who quotes -8 days

Colin Baker
I’ve never been one to regard a small part as a small part. So this guy Maxil struck me as the most important person on the show . . . John Nathan-Turner said to me, “Yes, that’s fine, but . . . This isn’t about Maxil the guard, it’s about the Doctor.” And I replied, “Is it really? Good heavens, I didn’t realise that. I thought it was called The Maxil Show.”

After [The Caves of Androzani], I went home, got out of my car, opened my front door, walked into where my wife was sitting watching television, and stood there and said, “I am the Doctor.” She looked at me and said, “Oh yes? Could you take the rubbish out please.”

If you want to be an actor you want people to see your work. The more people who see your work, the better you’re doing your job. The other side of that is that people are going to want you to sign bits of paper for them. If it makes them happy, why the hell not?

. . . As long as nobody says, “This is the only Doctor,” and all the rest of it. That’s silly, because they’ve all brought something to the part.

So we used to play jokes on poor old Patrick [Troughton]. For example, setting him off in his wheelchair. I don’t mean that Patrick himself actually had a wheelchair, but there were scenes in the show where he was strapped into a wheelchair, and as soon as he was strapped into it he became very vulnerable. So we used to play chariot races with poor Patrick.

My costume was wonderful on the radio—it was a shame you couldn’t see it!

What it turned out had happened was that I had been walking through the foyer, seen [a fan] standing there wearing a huge Tom Baker scarf and said something along the lines of “Get rid of that scarf at once! How dare you wear that in my presence?”

I don’t think the world is ready for Doctor number six and Perpugilliam Brown and hanky panky! The rule is that there should be absolutely no possibility of any kind of love interest between the Doctor and his companion. The companion is there for the viewer to identify with, so young people, children, can imagine what it’s like for them to be flying in the TARDIS with the Doctor. The one thing we don’t want them imagining is . . . well . . . It’s the way the show is structured; that’s the way it is and always has been. Mind you . . . I could make an exception for Leela!

He [Patrick Troughton] calls me Miss Piggy at the moment (a reference to my weight); I call him Gonzo (which is a reference to his physical appearance)!

The first thing I think of doing when something cataclysmic happens, like I fall down the stairs, is crack a joke about it.
Do you often fall down the stairs?
Not often, no.

The Governor, played by Martin Jarvis, on screen: We must act!
Colin Baker: Too late, Martin.
--The DVD commentary to “Vengeance on Varos”

Hamlet talked about plays being “tragical-comical-historical-pastoral,” well if you add “scientifical,” you’ve got Doctor Who.

The Seventh Doctor
Time and tide melts the snowman! (Pip and Jane Baker, “Time and the Rani”)

Love has never been known for its rationality. (Malcolm Kohll, “Delta and the Bannermen”)

Josiah: You're so smug and self-satisfied, Doctor.
Doctor: I try.
(Marc Platt, “Ghost Light”)

Ace: How long have I been away?
The Doctor: You’ve been away as long as you think you have.
(Rona Munro, “Survival”)

Crush the lesser races! Conquer the galaxy! Incredible power, unlimited rice pudding, et
cetera, et cetera. (Ben Aaronovitch, “Remembrance of the Daleks”)

The Rani, pretending to be Mel: I thought you were a genius.
The Doctor: Oh yes, I remember that. (Pip and Jane Baker, “Time and the Rani”)

Oh, Ace—it’s only a trap. (Ben Aaronovitch, “Battlefield”)

Ace: People don’t just vanish.
The Doctor: You did. (“Survival”)

Think about me when you're living your life, one day after another, all in a neat pattern. Think about the homeless traveler in his old police box, his days like crazy paving. (Ian Briggs, “Dragonfire”)

There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea's asleep and the rivers dream, people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we've got work to do. (“Survival”)