Peter Davison

**Peter Davison** (born 13 April 1951 as **Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett**) played the Fifth Doctor from 1981 to 1984, beginning with an appearance at the conclusion of *Logopolis*, continuing from *Castrovalva* to *The Caves of Androzani*.

He reprised the role for the 30th anniversary special *Destiny*.

Outside of *Who*, Davison is also well-known for his role as Tristan Farnon in *All Creatures Great and Small*.

## Profile

Davison was born Peter Moffett in London. His father was originally from Guyana. He studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama and appeared in several stage productions and some minor television roles before he got his big break in 1978. His performance as the ne'er-do-well Tristan Farnon in *All Creatures Great and Small* made him a household name. He married American actress Sandra Dickinson in the same year, but they divorced in 1994. He and Dickinson had previously appeared together in the three-part story *A Man For Emily* in the ITV Sci-Fi series *The Tomorrow People* (1975) and together composed and performed the theme tune to ITV's *Button Moon*, a lunchtime children's programme broadcast in the 1980s.

Davison made a cameo appearance alongside Dickinson as the Dish of the Day in the BBC television version of *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy* (1981), whose producers considered it humorous for an actor known for playing a veterinary surgeon to appear as a cow. Davison also appeared in some British sitcoms, including *Holding the Fort* and *Sink or Swim* during his time as *Doctor Who* and later *Fiddlers Three* and *Ain't Misbehavin*, as well as appearing in dramatic roles.

### *Doctor Who* career

In 1981, Davison signed a contract to play the Fifth Doctor for three years, succeeding Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor). Twenty-nine at the time of his first appearance in the series, Davison was the youngest actor to have played the Doctor in the series or in any BBC-sanctioned *Doctor Who* production.

Coincidentally, several of Davison's stories were directed by Peter Moffatt (only a slight variation of Davison's birth name, Peter Moff*e*tt), and, on the 2008 DVD release of *The Five Doctors*, Davison recalls friends thinking he not only starred in the show but directed it as well.

Attracting such a high-profile actor was as much of a coup for the programme's producers as getting the role was for him, but he did not renew his contract because he feared being typecast. Reportedly, Patrick Troughton (who had played the Second Doctor) had recommended to Davison that he leave the role after three years, and Davison followed his advice.

In 2013, Davison also wrote, directed, and starred in *The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot*, a comical film released on the Red Button in which he, alongside Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, attempts to appear in the 50th anniversary *Doctor Who* episode.

### After *Doctor Who*

After leaving *Doctor Who*, he continued to appear occasionally on television, including an appearance on the American show *Magnum, P.I.* (following the lead of Tom Baker who similarly made a high-profile US TV appearance in *Remington Steele* after leaving the series).

It was not until 1986 that Davison worked on another very popular series. He played Dr Stephen Daker, the ingenuous hero of *A Very Peculiar Practice*, written by Andrew Davies. The surreal comedy-drama was revived several years later as a one-off TV film *A Very Polish Practice*. Davison also played the lead in another BBC production, *Campion*, a series based on the period whodunnits of Margery Allingham. This, and the opportunity to play Tristan Farnon again in 1985 and 1990 in the revived series of All Creatures Great and Small kept Davison busy until the early 1990s. In 1993, he briefly returned to the role of the Doctor for the 30th anniversary special, *Destiny*. In 1999 he appeared as the outgoing headteacher in *Hope And Glory*. He appeared with Mark Gatiss in *Doctor Who* spoof, *The Kidnappers*, in which he appeared as himself (this skit was later included in The Beginning DVD box set).

In 1995 he presented *Heavenly Bodies* a six-part series about astronomy, broadcast on BBC1. This led to him being featured on the cover of *Practical Astronomy* magazine (Volume 1, number 5, dated March 1995).

It was not until 2000 that he returned in another major role, that of David Braithwaite in *At Home with the Braithwaites*, which ran for four seasons on ITV.

More recently, he starred in the television series *The Last Detective* (based on the Dangerous Davies novels by Leslie Thomas) (2003-2007) and *Distant Shores* (2005) for ITV, the latter where he coincidentally also played a doctor. In 2011, he took a major recurring role on *Law & Order: UK*.

His daughter with Dickinson, Georgia Moffett, had a child while still in her teens, making Davison a young grandfather.

Davison was also a regular in the BBC Radio 4 comedy series *Rigor Mortis*.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s Davison married Elizabeth Morton and had two more sons, Louis and Joel James Davison, both of whom also played themselves in *The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot*.

## In fiction

Davison also filmed a skit for an Australian news station depicting Davison and the Fifth Doctor being interviewed about the cast change from Tom Baker.

## Credits

### *Doctor Who*

* *Logopolis*
* *Castrovalva*
* *Four to Doomsday*
* *Kinda*
* *The Visitation*
* *Black Orchid*
* *Earthshock*
* *Time-Flight*
* *Arc of Infinity* (also as Omega)
* *Snakedance*
* *Mawdryn Undead*
* *Terminus*
* *Enlightenment*
* *The King's Demons*
* *The Five Doctors*
* *Warriors of the Deep*
* *The Awakening*
* *Frontios*
* *Resurrection of the Daleks*
* *Planet of Fire*
* *The Caves of Androzani*
* *Destiny*