About Colin Baker
Born in London - on Waterloo Bridge, Colin was raised and educated in Rochdale and Manchester. He studied law for five years, training as a solicitor before becoming an actor. He theatrical debut was at the Cambridge Arts Theatre in Plaintiff In A Pretty Hat followed by The Other House at the Mermaid Theatre in London. Repertory seasons followed in Guildford, Liverpool, Canterbury, Harrogate and the Chichester Festival.
In London he has appeared in Run For Your Wife at the Criterion Theatre, The Price of Justice at the Mermaid, Traitors at the Hampstead Theatre and in 1987 as the twins in Corpse! at the Strand Theatre (with Jack Watling playing the Major). In 1996 he starred as Magwitch in the musical version of Great Expectations at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham followed by a tour of major dates.
Colin's other theatrical appearances on tour include Private Lives, Time And Time Again, Privates On Parade, Born In The Gardens, Spider's Web, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Death And The Maiden, Why Me ?, a 2003 return to Corpse! this time playing the Major, Strangers On A Train, Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre production of She Stoops To Conquer and most recently as drunken ham actor Selsdon Mowbray in the major national tour of Michael Frayn's award-winning comedy Noises Off.
In 1998 he played the entire D'Ascoyne family in Kind Hearts And Coronets - the world premiere of the stage version of the famous 1949 film.
His pantomime appearances have been as diverse as Dick in Dick Whittington, Buttons, Captain Hook, Sarah The Cook and Widow Twankey. Credits as a director include The Oz Trials at Liverpool Playhouse, The Mousetrap in Stockholm and Oslo (in English!) and Bazaar and Rummage at the Duke of Cambridge.
His television career, commencing with Sartre's Roads To Freedom, includes Cousin Bette, War and Peace in which he played Prince Anatol Kuragin, The Edwardians, A Fall Of Eagles, The Citadel, Swallows And Amazons Forever, The Famous Five, Hollyoaks, Jonathan Creek, A Dance To The Music Of Time, The Bill, Casualty, Dangerfield and The Knock. He is however principally known for very contrasting roles in two of the BBC's most popular programmes: The Brothers in which he was universally loathed as Paul Merroney, the prototype yuppie and Doctor Who, in which he was universally loved as the flamboyant sixth incarnation of The Doctor, a role he successfully reprised in the stage version Doctor Who: The Ultimate Adventure. Colin has also played the Sixth Doctor in an extensive range of popular Doctor Who audio stories for Big Finish Productions.
His most recent television appearances have been in Doctors, Jonathan Creek, Sunburn, Hollyoaks, Little Britain , as the head of MI6 in the spy thriller The Waiting Time with the late John Thaw and Kingdom for ITV.
Films include Dangerous Davies, The Airzone Solution, The Zero Imperative, The Harpist, Soul's Ark and most recently, a horror film, The Asylum.
Colin has written a weekly column for the Bucks Free Press since 1995 - to mark the 15th anniversary of these popular features, Colin has published a book - 'Look Who's Talking' - containing a selection. He is also a busy book reviewer and lyric writer. His children's musical Scrooge - A Ghost Of A Chance, written with composer Sheila Wilson, has been performed in hundreds of schools countrywide.
Colin is married to actress Marion Wyatt. They live in Buckinghamshire with their four daughters, two goats, three cats, three dogs, two horses, thirteen guinea pigs, two degus and a hamster. He says they keep him young - and working !
Watch videos of Colin
© Hirst Publishing 2010
'Look Who's Talking'
To many, Colin Baker is the sixth Doctor Who; to some, he is the villainous Paul Merroney in the classic BBC drama The Brothers. But to the residents of South Buckinghamshire he is a weekly voice of sanity in a world that seems intent on confounding him. Marking the 15th anniversary of his regular feature in the Bucks Free Press, this compilation includes over 100 of his most entertaining columns, from 1995 to 2009, complete with new linking material. With fierce intelligence and a wicked sense of humour, Colin tackles everything from the absurdities of political correctness to the joys of being an actor, slipping in vivid childhood memories, international adventures and current affairs in a relentless rollercoaster of reflections, gripes and anecdotes. Pulling no punches, taking no prisoners and sparing no detail, the ups and downs of Colin life are shared with panache, honesty and clarity, and they are every bit as entertaining and surreal as his trips in that famous police box... for a world that is bewildering, surprising and wondrous, one need look no further than modern Britain, and Colin Baker is here to help you make sense of it all, and to give you a good laugh along the way.
£9.99 plus postage & packing - available now.
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Colin Baker - Three books, and a brief biography.
'Gallimaufry'
Colin Baker is a prolific writer. Here, for the first time, is a collection of his short stories which deal in subjects as diverse as murder, mystery, true love, ingenuity, despair and farcical misunderstandings, with a hint of horror here and there as well as some insight into the minds of some unusual people. If you like your stories with a twist there are some surprises and shocks to be found.
Without Due Care
A car thief gets more than exoected when he steals the most beautiful car he has ever seen.
Rosita
For Ramon and Rosita, it is a special day for which the whole of their lives as devout Catholics have been a preparation.
Carter's First Case
When Carter Battersby told the Job Centre he wanted to be a Private Detective he thought that would succesfully protect him from the inconvenience of employment for the forseeable future. He was wrong.
Poison Pen
Jeffery Marsh was a drama critic - a job he executed with savage relish to the detriment of many a career until his untimely demise. Motives to kill Jeffery abounded - but opportunity? That was a different matter.
Ill Gotten Gains
After serving a twelve year stretch for Robbery with Violence, Barney McAteer is released and seems determined to put his criminal past behind him Others however make it difficult for him to go straight.
A Likely Story
A smug and implacably harsh magistrate finds himself in a situation where he has to radically re-appraise his former attitudes.
Hamlet's Ghost
It was perhaps not a good idea to stage two amateur productions in adjacent halls on the same night - particularly when those productions were Hamlet and Jack and the Beanstalk.
A Matter of Form
Martin didn't want to work in the solicitors' office - but his father decided otherwise. However Martin's first day proved more interesting than he had expected.
This is a truly diverse collection of short stories - something for everyone. There are 10 original stories, and a further 3 about the sixth incarnation of Doctor Who - as played by Colin in the mid-eighties, including a key moment in the life of his old friend Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart and a deft piece of negotiation by the Doctor with a very welcome result for the planet Earth.
£7.99 plus postage & packing
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Due for release in September 2010. By pre-ordering this book you help to fund the publication and to show our gratitude your name will be listed at the back of the book, and you will receive a signed, dedicated copy before the book hits the shelves. All books are paperbacks unless otherwise stated.
'Second Thoughts'
A further helping of Colin's excellent weekly columns, dating from 1995 to 2010.
£9.99 plus postage & packing
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Due for release in December 2010. By pre-ordering this book you help to fund the publication and to show our gratitude your name will be listed at the back of the book, and you will receive a signed, dedicated copy before the book hits the shelves. All books are paperbacks unless otherwise stated.
