About time…

If one of the best things about the Seventies and early Eighties was Tom Baker as the Time Lord in Doctor Who, some of the worst things were the endless strikes – which in 1980 stopped filming of the story “Shada”. Now, thanks to the magic of animation, Mr Baker has completed the six-part serial, bringing Douglas Adams’s script back to life.

Mr Baker, famous for his floppy hat and long scarf, defined the role for a generation. He once knocked on a random house door as an episode was about to air. Mr Baker asked the occupant: “Do you watch Doctor Who in this house, by any chance?” The fellow looked puzzled, but then smiled and said: “Come in, Doctor.”

The show’s appearance back then was notoriously low-budget, but it had plenty of heart. It was, in a sense, bigger on the inside than out.