Tom Baker is on the cover of next week's edition of Radio Times, albeit in his new role in the series "Monarch of the Glen".

In an interview with today's Daily Record, Tom Baker goes on record of wanting to go "over to the dark side on Dr Who. Says the Record, the 71-year-old actor says he'd love to get one over on the character, which made him a household name in the Seventies and Eighties, by returning to the show as the Doctor's arch-enemy The Master. "If the BBC were brave enough, which they're not, then what they really should do would be to make me The Master," Baker says. "That would be really witty. Heroes always need villains. Superman can't exist without evil and vice versa. So it would be very clever to have this person who was once the hero become the villain, because within life, as well as fiction, we are nowhere without villains. Without them there'd be no newspapers, no film industry, no literature. You absolutely need the dark side." Baker goes on to note that "Doctor Who was the best job I ever had, so there's no way I'd be satisfied with anything like a bit part in the new series. That would bore me to death because then it would be all about this walk-on appearance from the old Doctor Who." Tom also mentions that he's relieved the Daleks have been cleared to return to the show. "They'd have been mad not to bring them back, bloody crazy. 'They can do without his robotic dog K-9, I think. But the Daleks were so important to the story. How many millions of children have been influenced by the Daleks? They couldn't even begin to think about bringing it back without them." You can read the full interview here. (Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Graham Brown)

The BBC Press Office has published a new press release about the new series of "Monarch of the Glen" and the appearance in the series of Tom Baker, including an interview. Tom's usually witty repartee is in good form, too. "When you get to my age it's a shame not to take advantage of the fact you can be riotously batty and get away with it," Tom tells the Press Office. "You do get to see me in a kilt and I have marvellous legs. Absolutely marvellous legs. I'm very fond of my legs, they've been very good to me - they've never let me down you know. I thought of naming them but I thought that might be a bit silly." You can read more of the interview by clicking the link. (Thanks to Graham Kibble-White)

Little Britain comes Stateside; the comedy premieres on BBC America this Sunday at 9:40pm and features Tom Baker as the narrator (with Anthony Stewart Head as the Prime Minister).

Tom Baker had a few words in Radio Times for new Doc Christopher Eccleston, according to a report at BBC News. "I'm afraid I've never heard of him," Baker told the Radio Times, "though I hope he has great success." The report goes on to say that Baker, who will appear in Monarch of the Glen, says he still gets stopped in the street by fans wanting to talk about Doctor Who. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

Tom Baker spoke to this week's Radio Times about his life, Doctor Who and the future of the show. Said the Radio Times about the fourth Doctor: "The hair may be greyer and the girth slightly wider, but the face is unmistakeably that of Tom Baker. And the much-loved actor is due to rematerialise on our screens this autumn, not as Doctor Who, but as Donald McDonald - a long-lost son from Monarch of the Glen's Glenbogle." The article mentions that Baker, 70, lives with his wife in France, so he'll be renting a flat in Kinguisee until "Glen" filming ends in September. But, says the article, self-catering isn't one of his talents. "I have a girl who comes in, but I can't ask her to cook for me. So the evenings tend to be a microwaved snack and a cold, strong beer." He also offered good wishes to new Doc Christopher Eccleston (seereport on TV news page). (Thanks to Paul Hayes)

I've never heard of him, Tom Baker told the Sunday Mail, "but I wish him well." According to the report in the Mail, Baker admitted "I thought I was the only Dr Who but there again I never watched it, even when I was in it." You can read the article by clicking here.

According to press from the BBC, Tom Baker will be seen in the forthcoming season of the BBC series "Monarch of the Glen". Tom will appear as Donald McDonald, uncle to the current Laird of Glenbogle and younger brother of the late Hector McDonald (who was played by Richard Briers of "Paradise Towers"). "Tom's character returns to Glenbogle after 40 years and causes trouble. He's an ex-racing driver who still races too much and the police place him in the custody of his family with orders to keep him out of trouble." The implication is that he would be in all 10 episodes of the season, which will air this fall in the UK on BBC One, and hopefully later on BBC America and BBC Canada and other outlets. (Thanks to Benjamin Elliott)

The January 12 edition of the Express newspaper mentioned the possibility of Tom Baker taking a role in the next series of the UK drama Monarch of the Glen. "Baker, 69 - famed for his striped scarf and poodle hair as the Doctor," says the article, "is in talks to become a regular on hugely popular BBC Scottish-set drama... The feelgood Highland series stars Susan Hampshire and Hamish Clark and has attracted a staggering 50 million viewers around the world. The larger-than-life Baker is seen as a suitably high-profile name to fill the gap left by Good Life actor Briers. 'Tom Baker would fit into the mould of an eccentric Highland character brilliantly,' says our source. 'He was initially reluctant to do the series because of the large amount of filming which takes place in Scotland, but now is very interested.'" (Thanks to Mark Askren)

In a new interview in the Radio Times with Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor comments about how different the new series should be. "They do have to move on and make it funny and wry. Will there be sexual chemistry between the Doctor and the companion? Will they make the Doctor gay? black? or a woman?" Baker says he wouldn't play the role of the Doctor again... "but if they did bring back the TARDIS they could have me in a glass cage, just moving my eyes... [the new Doctor] could turn to it and say 'What would you do I wonder?' Perhaps I could go back as the Master". Meanwhile, a new interview in today's issue of "The Scotsman" with Baker asks about him hosting an "imaginary dinner party". Says Baker: "IÆd like to go back in time and invite Anthony Hopkins and his then wife Jennie, because he and I were great friends when we worked together at the National Theatre in the 1960s. They only divorced in the last couple of years and heÆs now remarried. They were very kind to me... He was very strange and had a marvellous imagination which made him compelling. ItÆs a quality stars have. I havenÆt seen him since 1972. Maybe heÆs changed a bit.ö What kind of food would he serve? Italian, with 13 1/2 percent red wine. "None of this 12 per cent stuff. ItÆs amazing the difference in impact between 12 and 13 and a half per cent. It sounds so little. It was lovely to get squiffy with Hopkins.ö It goes on from there. Visit the website to read the interview. (Thanks to Steve Tribe and Planet Who)