Tom Baker remains one of Britain’s most recognizable television actors, celebrated for portraying the Fourth Doctor in the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who from 1974 to 1981. His distinctive voice, eccentric performances, and memorable television appearances have secured his place in British entertainment history.
Alongside his celebrated career, Sue Jerrard, a British television director and producer, became his third wife on April 1, 1986.
Although she is often identified through her marriage, Jerrard built her own television career, working on programs including Not for Women Only, Highway, and Just Who on Earth Is… Tom Baker.
Their relationship began through a professional connection to Doctor Who and developed into a marriage spanning four decades.
This article explores Sue Jerrard’s television career, marriage to Tom Baker, family connections, personal interests, and life away from widespread publicity, drawing on documented facts rather than speculation.
Profile Summary
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Susan Jerrard |
| Professional Name | Sue Jerrard / Sue Jerrard Baker |
| Nationality | British |
| Profession | Television director and producer |
| Birth | May 1946, according to IMDb |
| Age | 80 as of November 2026, based on IMDb’s birth listing |
| Husband | Tom Baker |
| Marriage Date | April 1, 1986 |
| Marriage Location | Maidstone Register Office, Kent |
| Known Television Work | Not for Women Only, Highway |
| Documentary Credit | Just Who on Earth Is… Tom Baker (1991) |
| Connection to Doctor Who | Assistant film editor on Horror of Fang Rock (1977) |
| Residence | Publicly associated with Kent, France, and East Sussex |
| Children | No children together are identified in established public biographies |
| Known Interests | Gardening and countryside living |
| Philanthropy | No specific charitable initiative independently established |
| Social Media | No authenticated personal account established |
Who Is Sue Jerrard?
Sue Jerrard is a British television professional best known for her directing and producing credits and her marriage to actor Tom Baker.
Her connection to British television predates their wedding. In 1977, she worked as an assistant film editor on Horror of Fang Rock, a four-part Doctor Who serial starring Baker.
Her subsequent television credits demonstrate that she was not simply someone associated with the entertainment industry through marriage. She participated in program production, taking on responsibilities that generally stayed out of public view.
Jerrard and Baker married in Kent in 1986 and subsequently shared homes in England and France.
Their life together appears in Baker’s interviews, his official biography, and photographs published on his official website.
These materials provide a meaningful, if selective, record of Jerrard’s personal and professional life.
The Private Life of Sue Jerrard
Sue Jerrard’s life has been substantially less public than her husband’s, despite her professional connection to television.
Her public appearances and documented activities are largely connected to Baker’s career, their shared homes, and their personal interests.
Photographs on Baker’s official website show the couple in their French garden and record their affection for countryside living and animals.
Gardening is one particularly well-documented interest. Captions accompanying the photographs identify Jerrard as a gardener and describe Baker’s appreciation of gardens.
These details offer a more grounded portrait than the dramatic descriptions sometimes used in celebrity biographies.
Rather than suggesting that Jerrard maintains an entirely separate world from entertainment, the evidence shows a combination of professional involvement, occasional public appearances, and a largely domestic life.
Early Life and Background of Sue Jerrard
IMDb identifies her birth name as Susan Jerrard and lists May 1946 as her birth month.
Her biography becomes clearer through her professional television career, particularly through surviving production credits and accounts of her involvement with Doctor Who.
By 1977, she was working in television post-production as an assistant film editor.
Film editing was essential to television production long before digital editing became standard. Editors and their assistants worked with recorded material to help shape the continuity, pacing, and presentation of programs.
Jerrard’s documented role on Horror of Fang Rock therefore places her within the technical production process of a major BBC series.
Her later directing and producing work indicates experience beyond that initial editing credit. However, the surviving records should not be treated as a complete account of her education or early professional development.
Sue Jerrard’s Television Career
Sue Jerrard’s professional history is important to her biography because it establishes her identity independently of Tom Baker.
Her IMDb credits include the 1982 television documentary series Not for Women Only, on which she is listed as a director.
She also has directing and producing credits associated with Highway, the British television series that began in 1983. IMDb specifically identifies a 1991 episode among her credited work.
Another significant production was the 1991 video documentary Just Who on Earth Is… Tom Baker.
Jerrard directed this approximately 50-minute production, which featured Baker appearing as himself and playing with the distinction between the performer and his public identity.
This project is especially relevant because it connects Jerrard’s production expertise with her husband’s distinctive approach to entertainment.
Baker’s official biography also identifies her as a producer/director at Television South (TVS), the regional ITV broadcaster, around the time they established their home in Kent.
Taken together, these credits establish a career spanning editing, program direction, and television production.
Marriage and Partnership with Tom Baker
Sue Jerrard and Tom Baker first met in 1977 when she was working on Doctor Who.
According to Baker’s official biography, the two renewed their relationship in the early 1980s, after he departs from the program.
They married on April 1, 1986, at Maidstone Register Office in Kent.
Baker had previously married Anna Wheatcroft and actress Lalla Ward, making Jerrard his third wife.
Their wedding marked the beginning of a long-term partnership that continued through significant changes in Baker’s professional and personal circumstances.
In 1986, they established their home at The Bell House, a converted Victorian school building in the Kent countryside.
They subsequently moved to southwest France in 2002, purchasing a property near Toulouse.
A particularly personal moment occurred in 2004 when Jerrard organized a surprise celebration for Baker’s 70th birthday at the Château de Garrevaques, near Revel.
Photographs from the occasion appear on his official website and document a gathering involving friends from England and France.
The couple returned to England in November 2006, initially settling in Tunbridge Wells before moving back to the countryside.
Sue Jerrard’s Role Behind the Scenes
Jerrard’s relationship with Baker has included a professional dimension alongside their marriage.
Her work on the 1991 documentary about Baker provides a clear example of direct collaboration.
More recently, Baker discussed their shared involvement in recording his audio work.
In an October 2026 interview with Radio Times, he explained that some of his Doctor Who audio recordings had been completed at home with Sue rather than entirely in a studio.
This clearly shows Jerrard’s ongoing connection to the practical realities of his work.
The couple’s time in France also illustrated their shared involvement in major decisions. When Baker returned temporarily to Britain to film Monarch of the Glen, Jerrard remained based in France and continued work on their property renovation.
These documented experiences offer a clearer understanding of their partnership than unsupported claims that she secretly controlled or managed his career.
Family Life: Raising the Next Generation
The couple’s family history needs to be distinguished from Baker’s earlier marriages.
Tom Baker had two sons, Piers and Daniel, from his first marriage to Anna Wheatcroft.
His family relationships have occasionally appeared in interviews and autobiographical accounts.
However, publicly established sources do not identify Sue Jerrard and Tom Baker as having children together.
It would therefore be misleading to describe Jerrard as having raised a particular group of children without evidence.
Their documented household life has instead featured their shared interest in animals, gardens, and countryside surroundings.
Baker’s interviews and official photo collections describe the cats they kept and their later dog, Poppy.
These details reveal a longstanding domestic partnership while keeping the distinction between recorded family history and undocumented assumptions.
Philanthropy and Community Engagement
Sue Jerrard’s publicly documented activities include social gatherings and involvement with the communities surrounding the couple’s homes.
The most prominent example is Baker’s 70th birthday celebration in France, which brought together British and French friends.
Baker’s official biography also described their decision to live near Toulouse as an effort to experience French culture rather than remain solely within an expatriate community.
This provides evidence of social engagement, although it should not be confused with organized charitable activity.
No particular foundation, fundraising campaign, or philanthropic organization can be confidently attributed to Jerrard through the established sources used for this biography.
Her public record therefore supports discussion of friendships, community connections, and cultural interests, but not claims of a charitable legacy that has not been documented.
The Power of Privacy: Influence Without Publicity
Jerrard presents an interesting contrast to the culture surrounding celebrity relationships.
Baker’s performances have attracted attention for decades, while public records of Jerrard concentrate on her television credits and a limited selection of personal experiences.
This contrast does not establish why she has maintained a lower public profile. Assigning a personal philosophy or specific motivation would be speculative without a direct statement.
What can be observed is that she has participated in public events and shared selected aspects of her life without becoming a prominent celebrity personality herself.
For example, she appeared on Baker’s episode of This Is Your Life, helping keep the surprise television appearance secret.
Her involvement demonstrates that a comparatively private individual can still have an identifiable presence within public entertainment history.
Public Curiosity and Misconceptions About Sue Jerrard
One common misconception is that Sue Jerrard became connected to television only after marrying Tom Baker.
Her 1977 editing work and later production credits show otherwise.
Another potential misunderstanding concerns the couple’s relationship with Doctor Who.
Jerrard was not an actress playing a companion to the Doctor. She worked behind the camera, while Baker appeared on screen as the Fourth Doctor.
Confusion can also arise over their marriage date. Baker’s official biography and IMDb agree on April 1, 1986.
Their residential history is similarly more detailed than descriptions suggesting they lived permanently in France.
The couple moved there in the early 2000s but returned to England in 2006.
Accurate reporting requires separating these facts from details repeated without reliable attribution.
Legacy and Future
Sue Jerrard’s professional legacy includes her contribution to British television production during an important period of the industry’s development.
Her work on Doctor Who, Not for Women Only, Highway, and the 1991 Tom Baker documentary provides identifiable evidence of her involvement in television editing, directing, and production.
Her personal history is also connected with one of British television’s most recognizable actors.
The marriage has endured through Baker’s changing career, overseas relocation, and continued involvement with the Doctor Who franchise.
The October 2026 account of their home audio recordings shows that her connection to his professional activities has extended well beyond their earliest years together.
Whatever the future holds, her existing television credits and documented partnership already provide substantial reasons to recognize her within Baker’s wider story.
Conclusion
Sue Jerrard’s story is more substantial than the description frequently attached to her name: Tom Baker’s wife.
She entered television production before their marriage, worked on the Doctor Who serial that brought them together, and later accumulated directing and producing credits of her own.
Their wedding on April 1, 1986, began a partnership that has lasted more than 40 years as of 2026.
Throughout that period, they have shared homes in Kent, southwest France, and the English countryside, as well as documented professional and personal experiences.
Jerrard has remained comparatively private, but her contributions are visible through production records, Baker’s interviews, and photographs preserved on his official website.
Her biography shows that someone can have a meaningful connection to British entertainment without seeking the same public recognition as the stars on screen.
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(FAQs)
1. Who is Sue Jerrard?
Sue Jerrard is a British television director and producer who is married to Doctor Who actor Tom Baker.
2. When did Sue Jerrard marry Tom Baker?
The couple married on April 1, 1986, at Maidstone Register Office in Kent, England.
3. How did Sue Jerrard and Tom Baker meet?
They met in 1977 when Jerrard was working as an assistant film editor on the Doctor Who serial Horror of Fang Rock.
4. What television programs did Sue Jerrard work on?
Her documented credits include Not for Women Only, Highway, and Just Who on Earth Is… Tom Baker.
5. How old is Sue Jerrard?
IMDb lists her birth month as May 1946, making her 80 years old in November 2026 if that listing is accurate.
6. Do Sue Jerrard and Tom Baker have children together?
Established public biographies do not identify children from their marriage. Baker has two sons from his first marriage.
7. Where have Sue Jerrard and Tom Baker lived?
They have lived in Kent, southwest France near Toulouse, and East Sussex, according to Baker’s official biographical accounts.
8. Is Sue Jerrard still married to Tom Baker?
Yes. Their marriage was still described as ongoing in public records and Baker’s interviews in 2026.
