Tom Hanks is a fan of 'Doctor Who'.

The 'Saving Mr Banks' actor first watched the long-running BBC series in California in the 60s.

He said: ''We got our first colour TV in 1968, and in California that meant meant all these extra channels nobody watched, filled with trippy Japanese cartoons - and 'Doctor Who'!

''And we always watched because the English video just looked so weird, and you had the guy with the big red hair and the bow tie [Jon Pertwee].''

''And everyone talked in English accents and there were these big salt and pepper shaker robots and we'd look at each other and say, 'Can you make any sense out of this?' But it was intriguing. And that's the root of my affection.''

The star also admits to being a fan of British TV shows 'University Challenge' and 'Mastermind'.

Tom, who plays Walt Disney in the upcoming movie 'Saving Mr Banks' about the making of 'Mary Poppins', said one of his biggest mental challenges was filming 'Forrest Gump'.

He revealed: '''Forrest Gump' was a monster. We never, ever felt we were on top of it.

''We had huge problems with the philosophy of the story, and then we'd be shooting for 27 days straight, spending our days off and on planes so that Forrest could run somewhere.

''And at one point I said to Bob [director Robert Zemeckis], 'Do you honestly think anyone is going to give a s**t?''