All Tom Baker Doctor Who Prime Computer Ads

[meadowlane37]

Lalla Ward looks very beautiful here.

[Torchwood4EverSC]

@DoctorPretorious616 Perhaps the age difference of 17 years was what caused the divorce, but yes she was really hot then

[borgduck]

Oh no! It's that reptillian leader of the Cylons! Or was it Steed? Either way, betch that scared a few kiddies in it's day!

[terriblethomas101]

This is canon, end of :P

[alphavideoproduction]

My first real computer job was operating one of these computers. Brings back memories. Also have the poster from the ad campaign.

By the way, the company and computer name was Pr1me, with a "1" instead of the "i".

[wisteela]

Superb

[dasmegabyte]

7 computer languages and 5 protocols!

[Deepdesert]

Wow, I'm surprised the BBC let them do ads as their characters!

[iloveabba100]

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!­

[JaceValm]

1:00

Right I'm sold!

[tabbykatification]

@eateroftheflame Actually I'm pretty sure it was the Fourth Doctor himself, which makes it even more ironic.

[Nacho2333]

And this is how they got married :P

[Grafferty]

Anyone else find it funny that they're advertising a computer that can't figure out apostrophes?

[SkuldChan42]

I love this ad because we had one of these computers at a community college I worked at.

[KingLofiOne]

1:47 O_o Tom and Lalla in character while being out of character.

[Torchwood4EverSC]

@KingLofiOne well, they were in love

[toborexperiment]

oh I love this...

[FlyingFish99]

I worked for Prime in the 80s when these ads were made.Those were fun times in the computer business. Primes weren't supercomputers, but were referred to as "super minis", a category of 32-bit machines with timesharing OSs that was just below mainframes and which also included boxes from DEC and Data General, amongst others. Minis – and then super minis – put serious computing power in the hands of businesses that couldn't afford the big iron.

Sic transit gloria mundi

[bmw328driver]

4 daleks signed in to rate this....

[80sMetalForever]

that bird is a hot piece of arse

[imamadmad1]

it would b so funny if the current doctor goes into the past and sees one of these computers and says something really negative about its low computing power like maybe (to his companion) "your slow little mobile phone has a million times the processing power of that big old lump of junk"

[moosie6666]

@imamadmad1 And then you'd see good ol' Tom giving him a REALLY dirty look.

[lowcomedy]

Tom Baker totally taped that.

[moosie6666]

@lowcomedy He did in fact tape that.

[lowcomedy]

@moosie6666 I hate it when I make spelling mistakes.

[eateroftheflame]

I believe it was the third doctor who called computers "sophisticated idiots", yet here's his successor trying to sell them,

[chewie211171]

I remember seeing these ad's as a kid, they were done for Australian TV.

[SCRebelMetalHead1]

"I've seen them on Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous..."

Um, yeah, so would have Romana. She's a Time Lord, too...

#geeez

Stupid advertisers... :P

[SCRebelMetalHead1]

Tom Baker is awesome. That is all...

[bluejeckett]

The ads were actually for Australia, thats just how popular Doc Who and indeed Tom Baker was in Australia

[girlstorm09]

I thought by the 80s they had personal computers. Was this there "super computer" then?

[gmodman1701]

PRIME COMPUTER

never heard of it

HAHAHAHA

[punk3sophia]

annoying advert

[zprodigy]

The Doctor's gettin some tonight!

[Dougy1998]

Lalla and Tom are great for Prime adverts, they should do PC World these days!

[DoctorPretorious616]

Damn, Lalla Ward was cute and sexy back then! No wonder Tom Baker married her(They later divorced, but oh well).

[spacehelmetforacow]

@DoctorPretorious616 They're still friends though. (As they put it, they still like each other, they just weren't really cut out for a romantic relationship...)

[websuspect]

I have aspergers and I know everything about computers and i never heard of a prime. lol. Must be a british model.

[wonkeaux]

@websuspect I think the ads were made for the Australian market. saw these at a world sci fi con decades ago, along with some outtakes including one where Tom accidentally bumps Lalla's chest with his elbow and says "I just touched your tit" lol.

[richwutang]

@websuspect. No they were american...

[TheLegacyofHitchcock]

Tom Baker's face at the end of the third ad as he quickly looks at Lalla Ward is priceless. Wether this is canon or not, you can't deny the Doctor and Romana's chemistry in several episodes, even if it was mostly from Tom and Lalla being in love. Asexual? Yeah right, I heard Lalla once said something to the effect that she and Tom fell in love because the Doctor and Romana were.

[vampricyoda]

I lol'd for days after seeing these.

[anamarvelo]

i know were he saw the prime computers on his home planet he saw them in the time lord museum of aceint history

[thisholidaygirl]

@anamarvelo Accurate comment is accurate!

[DoctorWhoIV]

We just want to buy one.

[RorkesDrft]

"I've seen them on Gallifrey in the Constellation of Kasterberous." "It's terribly interactive."

This is prime stuff (hee hee, pun intended). Lalla was so beautiful, and then we get her in the pink coat from DESTINY OF THE DALEKS (one of my favorite of her costumes).

[pandaKrusher]

They have a computer the size of a house but still don't notice the half dozen typos in the commercial?

[jaxhogan]

Good Grief. I used to sell these!

[AlmightyPearHater]

The invasion of the retro computers....

[Thoughtland]

@AlmightyPearHater Aye its from the time of wooden computers with clockwork processors.

[davidls11]

I still prefer K-9.

[SecondlifeTARDIS]

Lepragopolis?

more like logopolis

[KosmiskRevolution]

Haha! These are incredibly cheesy, and incredibly funny! :D

[atomickarma]

hah! he said "Kasterborous!" - So did she!

[captainstatic1]

I just found the clip and and it really takes me back (I used to work for Pr1me Computers in Australia) - shed a tear for the good ol' days.

[ninjamastercat]

Lepragopolis? giant butterflies?

[circeannumber6]

Just when I think I've seen it all....

[SuperSmasher1]

No wonder the marriage never worked, he was ignoring the beauty to play with his computer.

[Tardisius]

Most commercials are perfect examples of the inverse ratio between the size of the mouth and the size of the brain, however, these are 'fantastic'!

[ReskellLaifGreyl]

@Tardisius Yeah pretty epic dude I agree <3

[hickups1012]

oh thats funny!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SuperSmasher1]

And theirs a girl I know his is a spitting image of Lala. I thought it was her.

[SuperSmasher1]

Best Tardis Team.

[death2utubenow]

I'm surprised that the BBC allowed them to do this as the BBC was rather strict back then when it came to their copywrite as well as with their actors.

It's a great selection of adverts.

I assume these are business computers rather than home ones.

[KakumeiKochou]

So that was like the best three minutes of my life.

[xSeRosiSx]

So the Doctor marries Romana...

[Stuporstar0]

@xSeRosiSx

Well, Tom Baker did marry Lalla Ward. It didn't last long though.

[stegatops]

Anyone for a Prime Computer? LOL! All 800 kilobytes worth! Time has not been kind. Mind you the commercials were great.........pity about the tech. This was from 1980...........during Tom Bakers last series. When did these go off the market..........they were a very short phased brand. I think Apple swallowed them up eventually.

[1701Tex]

Just pause it at 1:02, and gaze into the eyes of the Goddess!

[greekdrwho]

oh my god i really love those ads

i think that no one in our days could think of doing something like this.

one more point goes to the 80's

P.S. I'd forgotten how beautiful Lalla Ward was

[GTAIVFan17]

Interactive. Is she talking about her self? Cos i wouldn't mind testing her. lol

[StormsongK]

@GTAIVFan17 I'm with you. Rowr!

[TemporalSpleen]

Only one bad thing: an apostrophe in '80s'!

[DaibloDBZ]

0:50 I don't know why but that shot of Romana scares the piss outta me

[MagicKirin]

Which one? The one where she has the look that says I am smarter than you.

[DaibloDBZ]

Dammit! I Meant 0:59 My bad

[dim432]

The 4th Doctor he always been like this for 7 years thinking he would be like this.

[LorChan1919]

... Damn. I love you, eighties, for you are too awkward.

But since 4/Romana is my OTP, it makes me happy. This is actually the advert that got me to research Lalla Ward. She's fantastic, even off screen!

[starmedic]

Fabulous! Thanks for the memories!!!

[NyeTunes]

Nice to see ones that weren't in "More Than 30 Years In The TARDIS"!

[gerjaison]

Oh Tom Baker, my Doctor!!

[wiccankitten13]

The Doctor marrying Romana is weird, yet intruigingly interesting. That might have been a good idea for the show. Personaly I loved them thogether.

[StormsongK]

It probably would have worked better on the show than it did in real life.

All kidding aside, Tom and Lalla had excellent chemistry.  You only have to watch "City of Death". It's one big date. Four and Romana is part of my personal canon.

[TheLittleDevil]

@wiccankitten13 The Doctor never married Romana but Tom Baker DID marry Lala Ward the woman who plays Romana. The marriage lasted only 16 months.

[wiccankitten13]

@TheLittleDevil I found that out the day after I posted that.

[wisteela]

Fantastic to see them all together. Anybody know the price of one of those machines at the time?

[tredlow]

What the... What...?

Did it just call The Doctor "Doctor Who"?

[NyeTunes]

It did. It pulled a WOTAN and said "Doctor Who".

[SCRebelMetalHead1]

@tredlow: Yes. *hangs head sadly* Yes, it did...

[pupbenny]

I got these adverts on the DVD of Destiny Of The Daleks.

[CanynJmper]

Hello lovely Tardisgirlfrance...this is foxy from pa's forum. Loving the Lalla/Tom computer adverts...you've been tweeted about by an american voice actor over here...or at least your youtube account has been. Love it as always and despite my being a Christian I still think the fact that Dawkins married Ms. Ward shows that he is a man of excellent taste.

[exclusiveforus]

I'm a Christian to.I live in the uk,were do u live

[CanynJmper]

In America...In Ohio.

[exclusiveforus]

ok.cool

[pumpkinofdoom]

hhooookay when Romana gets real close to the camera and gets this suggestive face on and says 'it's terribly interactive' makes me LAWL. EVERY TIME.

[SnakeOnAPlane]

Romana: Do you like it?

Doctor: Do I like it!? What have you done to my TARDIS! You've changed the desktop theme, haven't you!? What's this one, blank!?

Also, gotta love Tom's expression after 2:03

[ueberRegenbogen]

LMAO! Nice Tennant/Davison sideslip! :D

[SCRebelMetalHead1]

@SnakeOnAPlane: Sorry, that sounds more like the Fifth Doctor than the Fourth... :P

[ueberRegenbogen]

"Marry the girl". Hahahah. I wonder if that was before or after he did (brief as it was).

[ScaryGuy255]

Yeah, Dawkins is a lucky man.

[randomdave30]

Lalla Ward...

[bookmoviesnob]

Oh my gosh, this is hilarious! I think my favorite is the "Doctor Meets His Match" HAHAHA!! I am SO spoofing these!

[DrakeTimbershaft]

Clever Pr1me...

[MatKumiko1981]

OMG!! That was hilarious! XD

[sword4thelord]

Wow Optimus sure came from humble beginnings ;-)

[codyw1]

I'm starting a petition to have these declared canon. LOL

[bbqplatypus318]

@codyw1 They already ARE canon, in my heart.

[LargeSingingMoose]

@codyw1 Where can I sign? :)

[cerberus144]

@codyw1 Lol, I'd sign it!

[andrewdafoe]

@codyw1 feh i'll throw my signature on that

[LaraElSupergirl]

@codyw1 LOL... and the Moff might just be crazy enough to do it, too.

[wonkeaux]

@codyw1 they ARE canon.

[annoianoid]

hatstand!

[coldfusion1970]

How did the BBC allow one if their properties to be used for advertising a private product?

[sweavo]

good question. maybe they couldn't do anything about it because there's no proof that's really doctor who, and you probably can't trademark the word "doctor"

[coldfusion1970]

They should have a clause in the actors contract where he cant wear 'Dr Who style clothes' in another film/tv show/advert. Like MGM do with Daniel Craig and James Bond.

[ScaryGuy255]

Although they did say Gallifrey which is probably trademarked somewhere, and there is a little blue box with a big room inside.

[einhorn303]

Money.

[NyeTunes]

To be fair, I think there were quite a few Doctor Who commercials.

[sugaxshyxtype]

"Only one computer in the universe could know that. Now we know you have one."

*SMACK* "Damn." Not your fault, Doctor.

Mistakes happen to everyone.

[pierstheoneandonly]

I'd forgotten how sexy Lalla Ward was.

[nilus2k]

It talks to other computers? Thats Madness

[edmund184]

And see how PRIME computers became such a legendary part of our cultural history!!!

[matt2house]

"the name doctor"

"it's a prime...prime computer from the planet earth"

"just tell me why"

"We just want to buy one"

LOL

[sugaxshyxtype]

Oh gosh, these are hilarious! XD

[JoelandtheBots]

Why does the TARDIS interior resemble E-Space? Did they like it there that much?

[RomanaXx80ND]

Its when i watch thesse ads that i realise how far comupter tec has come in the past few decades.

Is it just me or does anyone else find Tom Baker sexy?

[sugaxshyxtype]

No, you're not. It's somthing in his voice...

[amazing763]

These adverts (for the Australian market, if I remember correctly) were immensely popular within the Prime Computer engineering group in Natick. Although they soaked up the time we spent viewing them (over and over!), I think they helped keep Prime on target as it ignored Unix, the Mac and the 286 (and 386) until the last possible moment. Prime, DG, DEC, Wang, the greats of the 1980s, now all gone.

[RandoRoller]

Fantastic! :P

[wulfae]

0:59 makes me jump *every time*. I think they had a new director for the second ad, the cuts are not as good as the other ones. ESPECIALLY Romana's 'it's terribly interactive' line. O_____O

All in all, these are AMAZING. I wish I had a prime computer.

[andromedasfolly]

Gratuitous Doctor/Romana and claims that the 80's is the height of technology.

These are made of WIN.

[doctorbanana1]

Haha brilliant, I love Prime Computers and 4 and Romana, brilliant!

[crazypenguin09]

that is about the best ad ever, well ad's

i am glad someone put all these together

go the 80's!!!!

[bardlover6]

Oh my goodness. In about 30 years, computers have come a long way. The Doctor probably thinks that "fantastic/brilliant/etc".

[EnglishUmbreon13]

Somebody really wanted people to know what constellation Gallifrey was in!

So much Doctor/Romana...*brain asplodes*

[Kinemacolour]

"At last I'm up-to-date!"

Best computer ads I've seen in a while.

[yamara34]

I'm watching this on a Mac

If my ex gets kidnapped I'll tell them to Google it

[sweavo]

yah but in 1980 you'd have had to wait 17 years to be able to do that. Or use your tardis of course.

[wrathofmarcie]

I thought she'd had a new kitchen put in.

[iMandie]

Me too

[edelweissblue]

Brilliant, well done.  Good to see this is still around.

[fauxutubeuser]

XD! I think my Doctor/Romana shipping heart exploded. Love it!

[BlueAngelxJBx]

ROFL! wow, now i want a prime computer! :)

[Fattyrat]

lol and i watch this on my nice PC which has colour and youtube and pictures and all kinds of stuff which wasn't around 20 years ago... lol hand!

... plus it's ten times smaller, or is that twenty?

[ueberRegenbogen]

More like a hundredth the size. And more like 30 years ago. (Colour, pictures, even video were around on computers in 1989.) ☺

[Fattyrat]

lol despite the fact that looking at Tom, this isn't 1989, but more like 1981-2. :)

[ueberRegenbogen]

Yeah; i know when it was. But you said 20 years (which may have just been a typo) and gave a really conservative scale comparison; so my inner geek went off. ;)

It still boggles my mind how far things have come in even just the few decades that i've been paying attention. The Sansa in my pocket has more computing power than that cabinet full of equipment. :o

[Fattyrat]

20 years ago was just a generalisation number I think ? (twas a whiel ago I'd wrote that - *reads 1 year ago*) In other words at the time I wasn't bothered enough to actually work out the number before I said it. What I'd actually meant was the time of this vid, sorry, I'm terrible at maths.

lol yep

[taffinator]

And we're watching this on our laptops of today which are soooo much smaller!

[LadyEdgar]

Spectacular! I watched every one with a look of happiness on my face.