Tuesday 15 March 2011

Dr Who: Colin Baker - the Sixth Doctor Who - has materialised on Twitter under the clever code-name of SawbonesHex.

Welcome, Colin Baker
to the world of Dr Who Twitter.

Tweeting under the cheeky nom de plume of @SawbonesHex, the Sixth Dr Who has joined the twittering thousands of Doctor Who fans on Twitter and has already built up a large number of followers.

In his Twitter profile, Colin describes himself as: "Actor, columnist, writer, husband, father, Wycombe Wanderers fan, grumpy old man."


dr who colin baker sawboneshex sixth doctor who
Colin Baker - The Sixth Dr Who
So what can we expect from a real Doctor Who in his forthcoming Tweets?

If his first few offerings are anything to go by - and knowing Colin's comical nature - we are in for a treat of Tweets, as the following early epigrams prove:

"Woken to find I have 3260 followers! Quick Colin - do something interesting... erm - er ...boiled egg and soldiers perhaps while I think."
14 Mar 2011

"Am sitting with Derek in the Ideal Home Exhibition being told by a strange lady that she can't stand Dr Who - sigh!"
12 Mar 2011

As Colin has not been on Twitter too long - his first Tweet was only four days ago - it is too soon to really judge what 140 character long insights and pearls of wisdom he will shower us with. But, he has - in the past - been one of the more vocal of the Eleven Doctors on speaking about and supporting the show and the character. So, to welcome Colin to Twitter, here are a few of our favourite Baker's Treats from his time on the show ...

COLIN on HIMSELF, THE DOCTOR AND THE TV SHOW
On previously appearing as Commander Maxil in 'Arc of Infinity' (1983) - "In one episode I actually shot Peter Davison, but this was in no way an attempt on my part to get his job."

"It is everybody's dream to play their hero, whether it is Lancelot or Biggles or Doctor Who, because they are characters in modern mythology."

dr who colin baker sawboneshex sixth doctor who twitter
@SawBonesHex - Big Outfit & Big Hair
"It was John Nathan-Turner's edict for me to have big hair. He thought that short-back-and-sides was not the Doctor."

"Doctor Who is special, it's a huge part in the British public's consciousness."

"The good thing about Doctor Who is that it does carry messages. Behind every story, if you look for it, it is usually making some other point. The tolerance of violence on television goes with swings of the pendulum, and we have to go with whatever is publically acceptable."

"We were told there is one Golden Rule: no hanky-panky in the TARDIS."

On the BBC's decision to temporarily postpone the series in 1985 - "I'm astounded that the BBC sees fit to axe its most popular product. The programme is part of the British way of life. If I were an ordinary member of the public I would express my rage."

On news of the 2005 reboot - "Fantastic! The backs of sofas, which haven't been visited by children much in the last 15 years, are going to be busy, We're moving ours away from the wall in readiness. A whole new generation have their own Doctor about to happen."

"I don't know if it's a prompted memory, but people still say, 'I used to hide behind the sofa.' If Doctor Who came back, think of all those backs of sofas that have been lonely for so long they are suddenly going to have children behind them again."

"I have four daughters aged 15 to 22 and as far as they were concerned, Doctor Who was like listening to the radio in the Fifties, it was a thing of the past. But now they are all hooked on the New Series and because they liked the new one they went back and got my old episodes to watch and suddenly it's made me a hero in my own home."

On the possibility of making a reappearance in the New Series - "I take every job on its merits. I'm not not keen, nor am I sitting here waiting for the call. It's so unlikely to happen that I don't spend much time thinking about it. I don't look the same. I started playing the part 25 years ago! Peter Davison does still look pretty much like he did then, but not me. I suspect I could play a part in the New Series without you even knowing it was me."

On the 11th Doctor - "As if David Tennant hadn't already proved the visibly beneficial power of time-travel on the genes, the new one, Matt Smith is so young that he is likely to be asked for ID if he tries to purchase an intergalactic gargle blaster in licensed premises either side of the Atlantic."


OTHERS on COLIN

On his pre-Doctor role as Commander Maxil in Arc of Infinity - "I cast Colin because I liked him as an actor, and as a person he has a tremendous sense of humour. He’s a very intelligent guy and he’s bringing a lot of himself to the part, especially in the form of this dry wit."
Ron Jones - Dr. Who director

"Colin Baker, a decent-enough actor who got stuck with the least-appealing personality of any Doctor, and the worst costume in the entire history of television itself."
Christopher Bahn on AVClub.com (2010)

"It would certainly be gratifying to witness the resurfacing of the character's old disdain and distance, which manifested itself to a greater or lesser extent in each incarnation from William Hartnell's irascible professor to Sylvester McCoy's scatterbrained yet ruthless game-player, peaking with the blisteringly arrogant and vainglorious Sixth Doctor, performed with camp abandon by Colin Baker in the mid-80s."
Joe Stannard on TheQuietus.com (2008)

"Colin always was a damn fine actor and a damned fine Doctor. He plays the role with care, consummate professional skill and you would have to be blind as an exceptionally short-sighted bat not to notice that he is having the time of his life doing it."  
Michael Angus in The Celestial Toymaker (1992)

"Though dressed in the most ungodly attire ever seen on television, the sheer awfulness of Season 23 left Colin the much maligned innocent pleading for decorum while the panto rages around him. Under these circumstances, even Billy Hartnell would have appeared to have been playing it deadpan."
Michael Haslett in Skaro 6 (1992)

"Despite Colin Baker giving a grandiose theatrical performance that the micro-budgeted show just can't take, he occasionally delivers moments of quiet angst and subtlety."
Jonathan Wilkins on TotalSciFiOnline.com (2009)

"Colin tried his best to raise scripts literally written on horse s**t with cow-pie pencils to something watchable, but even Anthony Hopkins couldn't have saved Colin's Doctor stories."
Penny Sautereau-Fife on Cracked.com (2009)

"It's harder to take this Doctor seriously than it was with any other Doctor. I don't blame Colin Baker: I blame that he was given so little to work with. He was saddled with a steep uphill clownishness that it would have been hard for any actor to get over."
MaryAnn Johanson on FlickFilosopher.com (2010)


For more on Colin Baker, click here to visit his Official Website.




All the above quotes can also be found in the Blue Eyed Books' publications The Quotable Doctor Who: Volume One and Volume Two.
Click here for more information on both volumes.

Click here to follow the 'Quotable Doctor Who' on Twitter for more Dr Who quotes and quotations.


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