“I just wanted to wish you a happy Doctor Who Day here, from Tom Baker,” the Fourth Doctor declares with a smile.

Tom Baker, who is currently helping bring “lost” episode Shada back to life by voicing his own animated character, dropped by the official Doctor Who YouTube channel to celebrate the sci-fi show’s 54th birthday.

“I think of myself as the happiest of all the Doctor Whos,” he adds, chuckling. “They might not agree with that, but then – pfft – let them disagree!”

It was on 23rd November 1963 that we first met this “mysterious exile from another world”, played by William Hartnell.

The Doctor made his debut at 5.15pm on BBC1. Baker came along more than a decade later to star as the Fourth Doctor, beginning in 1974 and staying in the role all the way through until 1981.

But once a Doctor, always a Doctor…