Fourth Doctor

The Fourth Doctor was the fourth incarnation of the Time Lord known as The Doctor. He was also the longest-living incarnation to date.

Independence
"Oh please, don't call me Human. Just 'Doctor' would do very nicely, thank you."

- The Doctor to the Vogans of Voga

Having regenerated for a third time, the Doctor seemed to be in a hurry to leave Earth, but was eventually persuaded to stay and help Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart deal with Think Tank and their K1 robot. Afterwards, he took Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan to travel with him in the TARDIS. (DW: Robot)

In the midst of another adventure, a Time Lord appeared to the Doctor and offered him a mission, to intervene in the creation of the Daleks: either to prevent it, or to induce the Daleks to develop into less dangerous creatures. (DW: Genesis of the Daleks)


 * This set into motion a series of events that would eventually lead to open war between Daleks and Time Lords and the destruction of Gallifrey itself.

Upon his return to Earth and the defeat of the Zygons, Harry decided to remain behind on Earth. (DW: Terror of the Zygons)

The Doctor had begun, even more so with this regeneration, to break his ties with Earth. However, despite intending to resign from UNIT (DW: Pyramids of Mars), the Doctor never formally left his position as their unpaid scientific adviser. (DW: ''The Sontaran Stratagem' ')

Return to Gallifrey
"That's monstrous! Vaporisation without representation is against the constitution!"

- The Doctor

After many adventures together, the Doctor received a telepathic summons from Gallifrey and returned Sarah to Earth (DW: The Hand of Fear), though mistakenly, not to her home in South Croydon but to Aberdeen. (DW: School Reunion)

On Gallifrey, the Doctor defeated the Master and renewed his acquaintance with his former teacher Borusa. He also re-experienced, to his disgust, the decadence of Time Lord civilization. (DW: The Deadly Assassin).


 * The Doctor travelled for an unknown period of time alone following his departure from Gallifrey.

New friends
"Now drop your weapons, or I'll kill him with this deadly jelly baby!"

- The Doctor

Visiting a nameless jungle world, he made the acquaintance of Leela of the Sevateem. (DW:The Face of Evil) The Doctor was seen to travel alone and returning to a planet he had visited centuries before. Unfortunately, during his previous visit, he had accidentally imprinted a Human colony ship's powerful computer, Xoanon, with his own mind, leaving it with multiple personalities.

On his second visit to the colony planet, the Doctor was remembered as an evil god by the descendants of the colonists, some of whom, descendants of the colonists's "survey team," had become a warrior tribe called the Sevateem. After the Doctor cured the computer, one of the Sevateem, Leela, joined him on his travels (DW:The Face of Evil). The Doctor brought the intelligent but uneducated Leela to many locations in human history, teaching her about science and her own species's past. In Victorian London, the pair encountered the magician Li Hsien Chang and his master, the self-styled Weng-Chiang(DW:The Talons of Weng-Chiang), the latter of whom was actually the criminal Magnus Greel. Later, the Doctor and Leela visited the Bi-Al Foundation medical centre, where they acquired version Mark I of the robot dog K-9(DW:The Invisible Enemy).

Lord President of Gallifrey
"Guard of honour? You're not fit to guard a jelly baby! Would you like a jelly baby?"

- The Doctor's love for jelly-babies

Returning once more to Gallifrey and, posing as vainglorious and power-mad, the Doctor sought and attained the office for Lord President as part of a scheme to save his home world from an invasion force of two separate enemies, the Vardans and the Sontarans. Leela decided to remain on Gallifrey with K-9 and Andred, a Gallifreyan in the Chancellory Guard. However, the Doctor left the Capitol with K-9, Mark II, in a crate (DW: The Invasion of Time).


 * The Doctor and K-9 Mark II spent an indeterminate period of time together. However, in the next episode, DW: The Ribos Operation, he appeared to be activating K-9 Mark II, giving the implication that no significant time had elapsed since leaving Gallifrey.

Quest for the Key to Time
"I have chosen you, Doctor."

- The White Guardian

The White Guardian summoned the Doctor to initiate a quest to locate and assemble the segments of the Key to Time. For this purpose, the White Guardian introduced him to a new companion, Romana (DW: The Ribos Operation).The Doctor and Romana located, assembled and disassembled the Key, and to escape the wrath of the White Guardian's opposite, the Black Guardian, the Doctor installed a randomiser in the TARDIS console (DW: The Armageddon Factor). Afterwards, Romana regenerated (DW: Destiny of the Daleks), and the two, along with K-9, continued to travel together.


 * The Doctor, Romana and K-9 Mark II spent an indeterminate period of time together, potentially quite long given the Doctor and Romana's longevity as Time Lords.

E-Space
"Well, you can't fight Time Lords, Romana."

- The Doctor

The Doctor spent some time trapped in a pocket universe called E-Space (DW: Full Circle), during which he obtained a new companion, Adric (DW: Full Circle). The Doctor eventually found a way to leave E-Space, however Romana and K-9 chose to stay behind (DW: Warriors' Gate).

Romana's departure left the Doctor increasingly morose and of dark mood (DW: The Keeper of Traken), a state of mind that remained for the remainder of this incarnation.

Regeneration
"The Master's already at work on Logopolis. I'm going to stop him if it's the last thing I do."

- The Doctor

The Doctor entered into battle against the Master, who had reconstituted himself. During the battle he picked up two companions, Tegan Jovanka and Nyssa of Traken. While struggling with his enemy, the Doctor fell off the Pharos Project radio telescope down to the ground hundreds of feet below. The mysterious entity known as the Watcher, which had been tracking him through time and space, then merged with him and he regenerated. (DW: Logopolis)




 * For a list of Fourth Doctor stories in the order in which he experienced them, see Fourth Doctor - Timeline.

Companions
As with previous incarnations, the Doctor traveled with a number of companions. These included Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Sullivan, Leela, K-9 (later he built K-9 Mark II), Romana (sent to assist the Doctor by the White Guardian), Adric, Nyssa of Traken, and Tegan Jovanka. Others who have aided him in his adventures included Borusa, the Brigadier, John Benton and Rodan.

Sarah Jane Smith
"Bye, Doctor. You know, travel really does broaden the mind."

- Sarah Jane Smith

The Doctor, in his new incarnation, had less interest in Earth, yet he seemed to have a closer relationship with Sarah Jane, leading him to call her his "best friend." After many adventures, the Doctor's companionship with Sarah Jane ended when he received a telepathic summons to Gallifrey, as humans were not then allowed on the planet. The Doctor did not forget Sarah, as he sent her K-9 Mark III as a companion and keepsake, which she unpacked and activated shortly before Christmas, 1981. Later, she reunited with the Tenth Doctor and aided him against the Krylitanes which allowed her to finally move on with her life like she wasn't able to before. Sarah Jane also indicated that she'd had feelings for the Doctor after reuniting with his tenth incarnation. Sarah Jane later went on to protect the Earth herself and aided the Doctor a few more times with threats.

Leela
"I will miss you!"

- Leela's farewell to the Fourth Doctor

At the point that he met Leela, the Doctor was content to travel alone. Leela barged into the TARDIS, and continued to accompany the Doctor on his journeys. The Doctor's relationship with Leela was much like a teacher to student one as he made attempts at "civilizing" her.

Leela trusted the Doctor enough that, when the Doctor, appearing to have gone power-mad, returned to Gallifrey and applied successfully for the position of Lord President of the High Council of Time Lords, Leela still trusted him. She eventually, however, left him (accompanied by K-9) when she fell in love with Andred of the Chancellory Guard.

Romana I
"I do wish you'd stop treating me like a child, Doctor. I'm nearly a hundred and forty, you know."

- Romana

The Doctor first met Romana I inside the TARDIS, when she was sent by the White Guardian to assist him. As a new recruit from the Time Lord Academy on Gallifrey, Romana was inexperienced, though believes herself just as capable as the Doctor, who would rather work alone. (DW: The Ribos Operation)

Romana was initially haughty and somewhat arrogant, looking down on the Doctor (whom she considered to be her academic inferior; she obtained a triple first at the Academy, while the Doctor passed with only 51 percent, on his second try) and responding to his initial resentment at her presence with icy put-downs. However, she soon gained an appreciation for the Doctor's experience and sense of adventure, and began to respect him as a teacher.

Romana II
"Doctor, I don't want to spend the rest of my life on Gallifrey - after all this!"

- Romana

Romana in her new regeneration enjoyed a more intimate relationship with the Doctor than her predecessor. In many ways, she was the companion most alike her Doctor - besides being of the same race and comparable intelligence, she occasionally mimiced his sense of style, wielding her own sonic screwdriver and could occasionally get the better of him in moments of banter and more practical situations. She eventually left the Doctor to voyage through the Gateway with them and help the Tharils. The Doctor gave her K9, who was restored beyond the Gateway, though he could never return to the normal universe.

Adric


"Adric, if I knew everything that was going to happen, where would the fun be?"

- Adric to the Fourth Doctor

The Doctor and Adric first met when he stumbleb across and found refuge in the TARDIS, which had been drawn into E-Space via a wormhole-like phenomenon known as a Charged Vacuum Emboitment. He stowed away when the Doctor and Romana and K-9 Mark II left Alzarius and so accompanying them on the rest of their adventures in E-Space. He remained with the Doctor when Romana and K-9 Mark II left tjhe doctor and the TARDIS found its way back into the normal universe universe.

Adric also desperately seeked validation from the Doctor as well as those around him, and was often hurt and resentful if he felt he was being sidelined or unable to contribute.

Adric was present when the Fourth Doctor fell from the Pharos Project radio telescope and regenerated into his fifth incarnation.

Nyssa
"That's us!"

- Nyssa

Nyssa first met the Doctor in his fourth incarnation when he was traveling with Adric in Traken. (DW: The Keeper of Traken)

Not long after, the Watcher transported Nyssa to the planet Logopolis in the Doctor's TARDIS. When she again met the Doctor, he had been mortally wounded in his successful battle to stop the Master. She witnessed his regeneration, without ever having travelled with his incarnation in the TARDIS. (DW: Logopolis)

Tegan
"But you shouldn't be here at the same time, with him."

- Tegan

Tegan first met the The Fourth Doctor when she stowed away on the TARDIS.

Later the TARDIS crew discovered that they had an accidental passenger. However, returning her to her rightful time and place became a secondary concern, once the Doctor became aware that the Master was attempting to create instability in the universe by manipulating Logopolis. Tegan became further embroiled in the Doctor's cause once she discovered that the Master had in fact killed her aunt.

Nevertheless, when she became stranded on a crumbling Logopolis with the Doctor, she became one of the few companions to travel in the Master's TARDIS. The trio journeyed to Earth's Pharos Project, which could stop the rampant entropy the Master had unleashed upon the universe. Once there, she witnessed the Doctor's fatal fall from the Project's radio telescope, and his subsequent regeneration. (DW: Logopolis)

His appearance
"Madame Nostradamus made it for me. A witty little knitter."

- The Doctor on his scarf

In stark contrast to the elegant and refined but somewhat flamboyant figure of his third incarnation, the Fourth Doctor was an unkempt, awkward-looking figure, dressed in battered clothing and an impossibly long multi-coloured scarf, which had originally been knitted for him by Madame Nostradamus. (DW: Robot). His dark curly hair was often partially hidden by a large floppy hat. His appearance is arguably the most famous of any of the Doctor's incarnations, and some have described it as "Bohemian." Professor Marius remarked that the Doctor looked like a "space vagrant". DW: The Invisible Enemy The Fourth Doctor is also notable for being the first incarnation to wear clothing with question mark motifs, a fashion choice also made by his fifth, Sixth and seventh incarnations

His pockets sometimes seem to be as Dimensionally transcendental as the TARDIS itself, and the array of items he carries include a galactic passport (DW: Robot), a cricket ball (DW: The Ark in Space, The Hand of Fear), a yo-yo (which, with a sheepish grin, he would explain was useful for taking gravity readings), a selection of books, including his 500 Year Diary (DW: The Sontaran Experiment), Oolon Caluphid's Origins of the Universe and a Tibetan language handbook (DW: The Creature from the Pit: apparently his ability to understand Tibetan was lost when he regenerated from his previous form, but then, as he stated in "Planet of the Spiders," he could only speak a little Tibetan), a magnifying glass, gemstones, handcuffs, an etheric beam locator (which also detects ion-charged emissions: (DW: Genesis of the Daleks), a picklock (DW: Pyramids of Mars), a football rattle, a magician's cane (DW: The Hand of Fear), a clockwork egg-timer (DW: The Face of Evil), a breathing tube, a barrister's wig, and an instant camera (DW: City of Death). On one occasion (DW: The Power of Kroll), he even drops a cup containing a hot beverage into his pocket. He also carries a seemingly endless supply of Jelly babies.

His age
"I'm only 749. Used to be even younger."

- The Doctor to Moberly

Whilst on Earth the Doctor stated his age to be 749 years. (DW: The Seeds of Doom) It has not yet been stated what age he was when he regenerated.

His personality
"I'm a very dangerous fellow when I don't know what I'm doing."

- The Doctor.

The Doctor's fourth incarnation was most definitely not Human, and he stood apart from others, even most of his own people. (DW: The Deadly Assassin, The Invasion of Time)

When Sarah upbraided him over his callousness at the sight of Laurence Scarman killed by the animate corpse of his own brother, the Doctor reminded her of the larger issue of stopping Sutekh. (DW: Pyramids of Mars). His mind was often leaps ahead of anyone, including himself. He delighted in keeping both friends and foes alike off guard with oddball humour and curious pranks, as in his second incarnation. Although generally peace-loving and kind-hearted, as per most of his other incarnations, the Doctor could also react with sudden violence when necessary; he was also not against taking a life in extreme circumstances (DW: The Brain of Morbius, The Ribos Operation).

He could judge character keenly, almost instantly whether knowing who to trust or seeing through Unstoffe's false guilelessness (DW: The Ribos Operation). Out of all the Doctor's selves, this incarnation had perhaps the most consistently anti-authoritarian attitude, having little tolerance for religious dogma (DW: The Brain of Morbius, Underworld, The Stones of Blood, The Power of Kroll) or nationalism (DW: Robot, The Armageddon Factor). The Doctor often played the fool to lull his opponents, such as Count Scarlioni, into underestimating him, though it did not work in Count Scarlioni's specific case. (DW: City of Death)

Despite his charm and offbeat humour, the Doctor is arguably more aloof and sombre than his previous incarnations. He could become intensely brooding, serious and even callous, and would keenly scrutinise his surroundings even when playing the fool. He could also be furious with those he saw as stupid, frivolous, misguided or evil. When taking charge, he could be considered authoritative to the point of egocentricity, but as it is, he is usually the only one capable of solving the situations he finds himself in. He generally maintained his distance from the Time Lords even after they had lifted his exile, and resented that they were now capable of re-entering his life when they deemed it necessary. Not only did he seem more inclined toward a solitary existence (DW: The Deadly Assassin), he also emphasised his distance from humanity, although he stated on more than one occasion that he found mankind to be his favourite species.

Unlike his third incarnation, this Doctor did not have a close working relationship with UNIT or The Brigadier, reacting with anger when UNIT recalled him to Earth (DW: Terror of the Zygons). Except for this and a handful of other occasions, the Doctor kept his distance from UNIT (even at the expense of abandoning his predecessor's beloved roadster, Bessie), and later incarnations have never reestablished the same rapport that existed between the Doctor and UNIT before his fourth incarnation although his ninth incarnation and tenth incarnation assisted UNIT a few times, mostly after being called in to help.

As the youngest-appearing incarnation at the time, the Doctor found himself drawing closer to some of his companions than he might have previously, in particular with Sarah Jane Smith, whom it was later implied (though never stated) may have fallen in love with him (DW: School Reunion). If any of his other female companions felt the same way, the Doctor through intent or quirk of personality, did not appear to notice, and he likewise tended not to display such feelings himself, not even when accompanied by the often scantily clad Leela, although during one adventure he acknowledged the fact that Romana was attractive (DW: The Pirate Planet), although he was more likely to make remarks such as telling Countess Scarlioni, "You're a beautiful woman ... probably." (DW: City of Death)

His Habits and His Quirks
"There's no point being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes."

- The Doctor Souvenirs from many different worlds littered his pockets. (DW: Robot, Genesis of the Daleks). He would sometimes relax by playing with a yo-yo and liked to drink ginger beer (DW: The Android Invasion).

He would often have with him and offer jelly babies as a greeting, and while past and future incarnations would also show occasional fondness for the sweet, it is most closely associated with this version of the Doctor. In his later life he developed a great fondness for tinkering about in his TARDIS. He relied upon his sonic screwdriver at least as much as in his previous incarnation.

He was also not adverse to winding up his companions on occasion; such as once fooling Leela into standing and playing with a yo-yo for an extended period of time, with her believing it was an experiment. (DW: The Robots of Death) On another occasion, he caused Romana to nearly panic when he pretended to become possessed by the Black Guardian (DW: The Armageddon Factor).

Unrecorded adventures
the Doctor was caught up in the events of Omega trying to merge with him (DW:Treachary.)
 * At some point before the events of either Plastic Treachary or The Face Of Evil
 * Presumably by himself, the Doctor visited Leela's home planet, encountered the supercomputer Xoanon and inadvertently installed in him a copy of his own personality (DW: The Face of Evil). We do not know at what time in the Fourth Doctor's life this event occurred, nor the reason why he would later fail to initially remember his adventure. One theory for the amnesia has this adventure as happening very early in his life, when he still suffered from post-regenerative trauma - possibly during the time he enters the TARDIS and is seen trying to leave very shortly after his regeneration.


 * After his regeneration the Doctor was delirious and placed in a UNIT sickbay. He escaped to the TARDIS, which he is seen to activate. It appears, however, that he never actually dematerialises.


 * There are conflicting accounts surrounding some of the Doctor's activities circa 1979 involving Professor Chronotis, due to an incomplete surviving record of the events (DW: Shada) which may have been due in part to the Doctor being briefly abducted by Borusa's timescoop at around the same time (DW: The Five Doctors). Whether these events actually occurred, in a different timestream, or in fact occurred to a later incarnation remain unknown(WC: Shada).


 * There are at least three occasions in which extensive gaps may exist in the "historical record" of the fourth incarnation's adventures: between his first defeat of the Master on Gallifrey (DW: The Deadly Assassin) and Leela joining (DW: The Face of Evil); between the defeat of the Sontaran invasion of Gallifrey (DW: The Invasion of Time) and his encounter with the White Guardian (DW: The Ribos Operation) - athough the implication is that there was not a significant amount of time between these two stories; and between the defeat of Soldeed (DW: The Horns of Nimon) and the TARDIS arriving at Brighton Beach (DW: The Leisure Hive). Shada, along with the Doctor's abduction to the Death Zone on Gallifrey. (DW: The Five Doctors, may have occurred during this period.) A fourth gap may also exist between the conclusion of the Key to Time mission (DW: The Armageddon Factor) and Romana's regeneration (DW: Destiny of the Daleks) as it's unclear how soon after the mission ended that Romana actually regenerated, given accounts of further adventures in the interim (CC: The Stealers from Saiph, et al).

Key Life Events

 * The Doctor regenerates. (DW: Planet of the Spiders, Robot)
 * Gains a new companion in Harry Sullivan and drives Bessie for the last time until his seventh incarnation. (DW: Robot)
 * The Doctor tries to prevent the creation of the Daleks and first encounters Davros. (DW: Genesis of the Daleks).
 * The Doctor and the Brigadier work together for the last time before the Brigadier's retirement. (DW: Terror of the Zygons). Soon after, he discontinues his active involvement with UNIT (DW: The Android Invasion and DW: The Seeds of Doom)
 * Harry Sullivan departs and returns to UNIT (DW: Terror of the Zygons) though he briefly reunites with the Doctor soon after (DW: The Android Invasion).
 * Sarah Jane Smith leaves (DW: The Hand of Fear)
 * Returns to Gallifrey, where he defeats the Master. Afterwards, he travels alone for a time. (DW: The Deadly Assassin)
 * Gains a new companion in Leela and sets out to be Professor Henry Higgins to her Eliza Doolittle (DW: The Face of Evil).
 * Obtains his first robotic companion, K-9. (DW: The Invisible Enemy).
 * Assumes the office of Lord President on Gallifrey, fights back two invasions. Afterwards, Leela and K-9 choose to stay on Gallifrey; the Doctor begins assembling a second K-9. (DW: The Invasion of Time)
 * The White Guardian puts the Doctor on his quest to find the Key to Time and introduces him to Romana, who is assigned to him as a new companion. (DW: The Ribos Operation) Once defeated, the Black Guardian swears revenge. (DW: The Armageddon Factor).
 * Temporarily installs a randomizer into the TARDIS, intentionally making the vehicle's travels unpredictable. (DW: The Armageddon Factor)
 * En route to Gallifrey the TARDIS crew find themselves in E-Space where they find a new companion, Adric (DW: Full Circle).
 * Romana and K-9 leave the Doctor before he returns to N-Space. (DW: Warriors' Gate)
 * After gaining two new companions, Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka, the Doctor regenerates into his fifth incarnation while saving the universe from a new incarnation of the Master. (DW: Logopolis)
 * He ends up using violence and even (presumbably) kills Omega with a "Matter" gun. More violence has been used (DW: The Masque Of Mandragora,Plastic Trechary and DW:Treachary.)

Casting
Actors considered for the role of the Fourth Doctor included Michael Bentine, Bernard Cribbins, Graham Crowden and Fulton Mackay. Tom Baker was cast based on his role as the villain Koura in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.

Appearance
According to the creators of the show and Baker, the character's look was originally based on paintings and posters by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec of his friend, Aristide Bruant, a singer and nightclub owner whose trademark was a black cloak and long red scarf.

When John-Nathan Turner became the show's producer in Baker's last year, the Fourth Doctor was the first to sport an item of clothing adorned with red question marks as a motif, in this case above the points on his shirt collars. His coat and scarf were changed to a burgundy color scheme.

Fan Speculation
Since the Fourth Doctor was the youngest yet and, as such, closer in age to his companions, the Tom Baker era was the first in which concern was expressed of possible "hanky panky in the TARDIS" (a term often used in the tabloid press to suggest the impression of off-screen dalliances between the various Doctors and their young, female companions).

Perhaps to address this, according to the Information Text commentary on the 2007 DVD release of The Stones of Blood, Baker tried to emphasize the asexuality of the character or at least his version of the character, given that William Hartnell's Doctor actually entered into a brief romance with another character in The Aztecs, while Jon Pertwee's Doctor exhibited romantic tension (not to be confused with sexual tension) with companions Jo Grant and Sarah Jane Smith, the latter carrying over into Baker's era.

Despite this, Baker was not above tossing in occasional visual jokes that suggested sexual tension. For example, in The Stones of Blood the Doctor and Romana have to huddle close in order to be within the confines of a transporter beam and enter what would, in normal circumstances, be seen as a romantic clinch, but neither character appears to recognise this.

In popular culture
The Fourth Doctor's distinctive appearance and manner have made him a target for affectionate parody. The character has appeared several times on The Simpsons and twice on Robot Chicken. Even once in "Hugo 2 : Whodunnit?", a computer game where the player's character can save Tom Baker's Doctor from a Dalek and in return he gives you his infamous screwdriver.

He is frequently impersonated by impressionist Jon Culshaw on the radio and television series Dead Ringers. Even Barney Miller had an episode featuring an eccentric man claiming to be a time-traveller, and wearing a long striped scarf. Archival footage of the Fourth Doctor's first title sequence was also used in the Family Guy episode "Blue Harvest" to represent and parody Star Wars hyperspace.

Tom Baker, as the narrator of the series Little Britain, has referenced Doctor Who. He also appears in Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday — a stage play that opened two weeks before Baker began his tenure as the Doctor. In the play, Trevor Martin plays an alternative version of the Fourth Doctor.

In the book "Return of the Bunny Suicides", a there is a scene in which a bunny sits on top of the TARDIS with a noose around its neck as the Fourth Doctor runs into it, being chased by a Dalek.

Peter Jackson wore a similar costume to the Fourth Doctor's costume when he played Derek in his film Bad Taste.

Reprising the role
Unlike his predecessor Jon Pertwee, and his successors Peter Davison, Colin Baker (no relation), Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann, Tom Baker was notoriously hesitant to reprise the role of the Fourth Doctor. Originally intended as a major player in the 20th-anniversary DW: The Five Doctors special, Baker pulled out before production began, forcing the production to make use of unbroadcast footage from DW: Shada and a Madame Tussauds wax mannequin to keep the "five Doctors" concept afloat.

In 1993, Baker agreed to reprise the role for the opening scenes of the charity special DW: Dimensions in Time, but the Fourth Doctor did not otherwise interact with any of the other Doctors or companions in the piece. Baker had also considered playing the Doctor again for a 30th anniversary special, The Dark Dimension, which was cancelled before filming began. Around this time, he also introduced a VHS reconstruction of Shada, though not apparently in character as the Doctor.

Despite his hesitancy to play the role again, Baker made frequent appearances on DVD releases of his stories, recording audio commentaries for many and conducting on-camera interviews for others.

In the 2000s, Baker made a tentative step towards reprising the role by agreeing to record audio books for BBC Audio, reading the texts from several Target novelisations from his era. Finally, in 2009, Baker agreed to return to the role of the Fourth Doctor in a dramatic context, performing the five-part BBCR: Hornets' Nest story arc, again for BBC Audio, in which he was paired up with Richard Franklin, reprising the Pertwee-era companion Mike Yates.

In March 2010, Baker announced on his official website that he was in discussions with Big Finish Productions to record Doctor Who audio dramas for the company ; Big Finish confirmed this on 3rd June 2010. A few days later it was also confirmed that Baker would be doing additional stories for BBC Audio, BBCR: Demon Quest, to be released towards the end of 2010.