IN the 26 years he was on our TV screens, he duelled with daleks in various different guises. But he has never yet been a she.

However Colin Baker, one of the actors who helped make the role of Doctor Who one of the most famous in television history, believes the next incarnation of the travelling time lord should be female.

"My vote would go to Dawn French," he muses, as he considers the popular sci-fi series' return to the BBC.

"But I doubt they'll have the courage to do it. In a programme that's returning to TV after all this time, they'd probably feel it was counter productive."

But Colin clearly believes it's effective to make a come-back that confounds expectations.

For in his latest role in stage, he's appearing as Sir Joseph Porter KCB in Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore.

So during all that time jumping in and out of the tardis, was Colin secretly hankering after appearing in an operetta?

"Not really," he admits. "This came completely out of the blue. I hadn't done any Gilbert and Sullivan since I was at school. When I was 11 I was the soprano lead in Iolanthe. Clearly I wasn't going to be offered that sort of role now!"

Colin had done one stint in musical theatre, as Magwitch in Great Expectations - The Musical, but singing on stage isn't something he's made a habit of. In fact, the somewhat surprising casting of Colin in HMS Pinafore came as a result of his association with Doctor Who.

"Every month I record a new Doctor Who story on CD," he said. "One of them was a kind of pastiche of Gilbert and Sullivan and somebody from the Carl Rosa Opera Company had obviously heard it.

"I think they were looking for an actor who could sing, rather than an opera singer.

"So I suppose they really had the folly or the imagination to offer me this part without really having an inkling whether I could do it."

Colin, though, is one of those actors who made their name in repertory theatre where, as he said, "we did everything - singing, dancing, sword-fighting. It was a requirement for an actor to get as much into their armoury as they could.

"You could play parts you were totally unsuited to and get away with it."

From repertory theatre, Colin moved into television, managing to land roles in two of the most popular BBC dramas - The Brothers - in which he played Paul Merroney - and Doctor Who.

He remains grateful for the opportunity to play two such well known characters.

"Apart from a handful of actors like David Jason and John Thaw who can move effortlessly from one role to another, for most of us it's enough to get one bite at the cherry, never mind two.

"In the 1970s, The Brothers was a hugely popular programme. It was the celebrity jungle of its day.

"Then, 10 years later I got to play what's arguably one of the most famous roles on television - Doctor Who.

"I always say it's a part almost anybody could play. Each generation of the doctor can be as different or as similar as they choose to the one before.

"It's like being in a relay race - you get to play a brief part in British cultural history."

Catch Colin in HMS Pinafore at the Blackpool Grand between Monday, February 23 and Saturday, February 28. For tickets call (01253) 290190.