WOULD YOU LIKE A JELLY BABY? 'DOCTOR WHO - THE FOURTH DOCTOR TIME CAPSULE' MATERIALIZES ON DVD

Dalek Enemy Number One: Tom Baker as the world's greatest incarnation of DOCTOR WHO. Images: BBC.

For seven momentous and enjoyable years from 1974 to 1981 there was no one else quite like Tom Baker on our TV screens. In his portrayal of the uniquely British Time Lord and sci-fi folk hero DOCTOR WHO he was the ultimate primer for classic seventies television viewing on Saturday nights, as he fought enemies on Earth and outer space in the most iconic and endearing ways possible for family audiences, especially adored by children, wearing his trusty multi-coloured flowing scarf, offering seemingly endless supply of Jelly Babies confectionery, and possessing a beaming face, radiating intelligence and a wide and happy grin that could make the world that bit more of a nice place to live in for the twenty-five minutes each week in which our hero appeared. DOCTOR WHO, with Baker's dedicated presence, was a TV series series at the peak of its power and imagination, as it weaved its adventuresome tales with horror, comedy and all-round style, often towering above all-too inadequate BBC funding, and helping to make it a ratings smash which most of today's show producers would kill to have (peaking at twelve million several times) and carving its future destiny as a worldwide success, particularly with the fickle American market.

Underneath Loch Ness, the Doctor encounters the Terror of the Zygons.

In this mighty and quite astonishing fifty-year anniversary of the shows longevity, Tom Baker and the era of the Fourth Doctor are getting a much welcome, much deserved time capsule box set honour that fans will surely lap up, out today in a sumptuous and mysterious Time Lord civilisation box design from BBC WORLDWIDE. Limited to just 5,000 copies, this unique collectible includes the first appearance on DVD of the classic 1975 adventure which launched Baker's second season, the horror story of alien infiltration in Scotland by the shape-changing Zygons, in Robert Banks Stewart's much-loved Terror of the Zygons, showing the star and companions Elisabeth Sladen and Ian Marter, as Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan, in equal prime alongside him. It's also the last full story to feature the UNIT set-up which had previously aided Jon Pertwee, and boasts the impressive titular creatures, soon to re-appear in the shows upcoming, so far untitled Fiftieth Anniversary story this November, created with unsettling and mind-lingering execution by later Oscar winning designer James Acheson. Directed with style by the late, always great Douglas Camfield, Terror is the story that fans have been waiting a long time for, and its picture and sound restoration is terrific.

Then and Now! Tom Baker talks all things WHO.

Equally important alongside the release is a lovely second disc featuring a sadly all-too short (25 mins) modern interview with Baker, who talks candidly, refreshingly, and, most of all, so entertainingly, about his time working on the series- how he was cast, being with his companions, the behind the scenes team he worked with but often battled against (all for the continuing good of the series and to prevent creative stagnation), and the whole general aura of his seven-year reign in the seventies, when DOCTOR WHO was such a big part of his life and for TV audiences.

The contents of the Fourth Doctor Time Capsule.

Rounding off this once in a lifetime set, for fans of soon-to-be rare merchandise, there's an exclusive post-regenerative Fourth Doctor action figure of high quality (beat my old Denys Fisher figure of Tom B. from back in the day!), wearing Jon Pertwee's trademark frilly shirt and velvet coat, an equally fine replica Fourth Doctor sonic screwdriver (but don't try and use it on Gallifrey!), an audio version of the classic Baker adventure Genesis of the Daleks (which works extremely well-totally atmospheric in the format), an original novel- Tomb of Valdemar by Simon Messingham (set during the Fourth Doctor's quest for the Key to Time- a 1978 season-long challenge much regarded by fans), a batch of nostalgic art/photo cards featuring all of the eras companions in their heroic best, and finally, a charming and heartfelt personal letter/dedication to fans from Tom Baker himself. All in all, it's a lovely package and a supreme anniversary treat. But where was the free bag of Jelly Babies?

Get hold of the Fourth Doctor Time Capsule here: Doctor Who: The 4th Doctor Time Capsule [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Tom Baker: Film & TV