Peter Davison

Early career (1973–1978)

After graduating, he joined the Nottingham Playhouse as an actor and assistant stage manager. He gained his Equity card while working at Nottingham and chose the stage name Peter Davison to avoid confusion with the actor and director Peter Moffatt.^[7][1][b] In 1973, Davison joined the Lyceum Young Theatre Group at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, where he appeared in productions of Hamlet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.^[1] He played Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream; Hermia was played by actress Sandra Dickinson, whom he married in 1978.^[16]

Davison appeared alongside Dickinson in his television acting debut as alien cowboy Elmer in "A Man from Emily", an episode of the ITV children's science fiction series The Tomorrow People (1975).^[17][3] Davison "felt at home" working in television and left his theatre career to pursue work in the medium.^[18] Due to difficulty finding work, he subsequently spent 18 months working in a tax office in Twickenham. His acting break came with a major role in the ITV romantic period serial Love for Lydia (1977).^[17][3]

Davison, who "was taking [himself] quite seriously as a songwriter", wrote and recorded the theme music for the television series Mixed Blessings and Button Moon. EMI were impressed by Davison's demo tape and offered him a songwriting contract, which he declined—"it was a bad deal and the money was rubbish".^[7][19]

All Creatures Great and Small and breakthrough (1978–1980)

Davison had his breakthrough role as the mischievous junior veterinarian Tristan Farnon in the period comedy drama series All Creatures Great and Small (1978–1980; 1988–1990),^[20][3] based on the books written by veterinary surgeon James Herriot about his life in 1930s Yorkshire. Tristan was based on Herriot's colleague Brian Sinclair.^[21][22] Davison met Sinclair whilst rehearsing for the first season, which "was useful because I'd worried about how to make my Tristan endearing even though he behaved appallingly".^[23]

Tristan was not intended to be a major character, but Robert Hardy, who played Tristan's brother Siegfried, enjoyed the dynamic between the brothers and asked for Davison to be given more screen time.^[24] All Creatures Great and Small attracted 19 million viewers at its height, making Davison a household name.^[20][3]

Davison was an in-demand actor after All Creatures Great and Small's third series concluded in 1980.^[3][25] He appeared in several British sitcoms, including Holding the Fort (1980–82) and Sink or Swim (1980–82), as well as appearing in dramatic roles.^[3] He appeared in the ITV Playhouse episode "Print Out" (1979) and the children's series Once Upon a Time (1979–1982).^[25]

From 1988 to 1990, Davison appeared in a second run of All Creatures Great and Small.^[20][3] He appeared in 65 of the series' 90 episodes.^[25]

Doctor Who (1981–1984)

In 1980, Davison signed a contract to play the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who for three years,^[26][27] succeeding Tom Baker and, at age 29, was at the time the youngest actor to have played the lead role,^[28] a record he retained for nearly thirty years until Matt Smith (the Eleventh Doctor) took the role in 2009 at age 26.^[29] Attracting such a high-profile actor as Davison was as much of a coup for the programme as getting the role was for him, but he did not renew his contract because he feared being typecast.^[30] Patrick Troughton (who had played the Second Doctor and whom Davison had watched on the programme as a teenager) recommended to Davison that he leave the role after three years, and Davison followed his advice.^[31][32] The Fifth Doctor encountered many of the Doctor's best-known adversaries, including the Cybermen in Earthshock (1982) and the Daleks and Davros in Resurrection of the Daleks (1984). In the 1983 serial Arc of Infinity, in addition to portraying the Fifth Doctor, Davison portrayed the human form of Omega, sharing the role with Ian Collier.^{[nb 1]} According to Davison, "If we’ve had more stories like The Caves Of Androzani, written by some of the classic writers, I would have been sorely tempted to stay on [for a fourth season]. I left really because I was still quite young, and I was frankly envious of contemporaries of mine, who were leaving the rehearsal rooms and then coming back doing another part. And I was still there doing Doctor Who."^[19][33]

Subsequent involvement

Since 1999, Davison has reprised his role as the Fifth Doctor in numerous Doctor Who audio dramas for Big Finish Productions; he also reprised the role of Omega in an audio drama of the same name, again sharing the role with Collier. He returned to the TV series in "Time Crash", a special episode written by Steven Moffat for Children in Need; in the episode (2007) the Fifth Doctor met the Tenth Doctor, played by Davison's future son-in-law David Tennant.^[34][33]

Davison has been critical of some aspects of Doctor Who's original run, and has expressed great admiration for the 21st century revival. In 2008, he spoke unfavourably of some of the writing for the series during his tenure, saying some of the scripts had been "suspect" and "knocked off" by authors who had not been science fiction fans, which he contrasted with the revived series and Big Finish audio productions.^[35] In 2013, he also praised the frisson between the Doctor and companions in the revived series, and argued that the previous series had struggled to "write a good companion's part" because "they never once thought it was a good idea to put any frisson or sexual tension – even in its most innocent form – between the Doctor and companion". Davison said the series had failed to write a good companion's part until Rose, when the series came back.^[36] Interviewed in 2013, Davison stated that The Caves of Androzani, The Visitation and Earthshock were his favourite serials from his time on the series, and that Time-Flight was the biggest disappointment because of a lack of budget.^[37]

In 2013 he wrote and directed The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, a comedy short film commemorating Doctor Who's 50th anniversary. Davison plays a fictionalised version of himself who becomes disgruntled after not being invited to appear in the 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor, and so schemes with Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy to trespass onto the set.^[38][39]

In 2013, Davison said he had a "slight problem" with a female Doctor, which he compared to having "a female James Bond".^[40] In July 2017, Davison reacted positively to the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor, but said he was sad about "the loss of a role model for boys".^[41] Davison closed his Twitter account following the backlash to his comments, saying the "toxicity" from the series’ viewers on both sides of the dispute had been "sobering".^[42]

In 2022, Davison returned to portray the Doctor on television again in "The Power of the Doctor".^[43] He reprised the role again in Tales of the TARDIS.^[44][45]

1984–present

After Davison left Doctor Who in 1984, he took a role in Anna of the Five Towns, a period drama. In 1985, he appeared in an All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special, and a feature-length episode of the American show Magnum, P.I. ("Deja Vu"), set in the UK. Davison played Dr Stephen Daker, the central character in A Very Peculiar Practice (1986–88). Written by Andrew Davies, it concerns a university's health centre; Daker is the centre's only effective physician. The black comedy-drama ran for two series and had a sequel with A Very Polish Practice in 1992, a television film mainly set in a post-communist Polish hospital. In 1986 he appeared as Lance Fortescue in an episode of the BBC's Miss Marple ("A Pocketful of Rye").

Davison appeared alongside Dickinson as the Dish of the Day in the television version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in 1981.^{[citation needed]} Davison believed that casting directors felt he had been over-exposed on television.^[7] Davison reprised his role as Tristan Farnon in four more series of All Creatures Great and Small between 1988 and 1990, although he was absent from 24 episodes of the final three to play the lead in Campion, a series based on the period whodunnits of Margery Allingham. He appeared in the sitcoms Fiddlers Three for ITV in 1991, and Ain't Misbehavin' in 1993 and 1995. He played Jim Huxtable in the 1993 TV movie Harnessing Peacocks, based on the novel by Mary Wesley.

In 1994, Davison provided the voice of Mole in The Wind in the Willows animated special Mole's Christmas. He also appeared as a doctor in Heartbeat episode "A Bird in the Hand", and played Squire Gordon in the 1994 film of Black Beauty.^[46] Davison presented Heavenly Bodies, a six-part series about astronomy (1995).^{[nb 2][47]} Davison guest starred in the sixth episode of the crime drama Jonathan Creek in 1998 as the son-in-law of a horror writer who was shot dead on Halloween. The following year he played the outgoing head teacher in the television series Hope and Glory, and appeared in Parting Shots, the last film to be directed by Michael Winner.^[46]

In 2000, Davison returned to another major role as David Braithwaite in At Home with the Braithwaites. During convention appearances in 2013, Davison cited this as his favourite among the roles he has played. Also in 2000, he appeared in the recurring role of Inspector Christmas in several episodes of Diana Rigg's Mrs Bradley Mysteries. The first episode, Death at the Opera, saw Davison appear with his future son-in-law (and future Doctor Who actor), David Tennant.^[48] Davison starred as Dangerous Davies in the television series The Last Detective (2003–2007) and as Dr Bill Shore in Distant Shores (2005–2008), both for ITV. In 2006, he appeared as Professor George Huntley in The Complete Guide to Parenting, and appeared as himself in the TV series Hardware. Davison starred as Martin Chadwick, one half of an overworked couple coping with two irresponsible daughters and his senile mother at home, in the BBC Two comedy Fear, Stress and Anger (2007). The show also starred his daughter Georgia Tennant. Later in 2007, he played Hubert Curtain in an episode of ITV's Agatha Christie's Marple ("At Bertram's Hotel").

In 2009, Davison appeared in Unforgiven, an ITV1 drama starring Suranne Jones. Davison played John Ingrams, a lawyer who helps Jones' character, Ruth Slater, find her sister after her release from prison.^[49] In July 2009, he appeared in an episode of Midsomer Murders,^[50] and made a guest appearance as a teacher in the sitcom Miranda (2009).^[51] In 2009, Davison had a small role as a bank manager in Micro Men, a drama about the rise of the British home computer market in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 2009, he played Denis Thatcher in The Queen, a docudrama on Channel 4.^[4]

In 2010, Davison was announced as joining the regular cast of the UK version of Law and Order as Henry Sharpe, the Director of the London Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Davison appeared from the beginning of the series' fifth season, alongside fellow Doctor Who actress Freema Agyeman. He appeared in an episode of the police comedy-drama New Tricks (2011), and in 2013 he played divorcee Michael in the comedy series Pat and Cabbage, as well as appearing in an episode of the ITV detective series Lewis.

Davison had been lined up to appear in writer/director Daisy Aitkens' first feature-length film You, Me and Him(2016). However, due to a scheduling clash, Davison was forced to pull out of the film. The film stars his son-in-law David Tennant, and is co-produced by Davison's daughter, Georgia.^[52] In 2017, Davison appeared in an episode of the third series of Grantchester, playing a cricket-loving solicitor.^[53]

Davison appeared with Christopher Timothy in the three-part series Great British Car Journeys(2018)^[54][55] (known internationally as Vintage Roads Great & Small) for More4. In the first series the pair travelled in a Morgan 4/4 on three trips from London to Land's End, from Loch Ness to The Isle of Skye and from Cardiff to Snowdonia.^[56][57] The series was recommissioned by Channel 4 for a second series on More4 (2019).^[54][58] He narrated the tenth season of Channel 5's documentary series, The Yorkshire Vet, which follows a number of veterinarians working in Weatherby, Kirkbymoorside and Huddersfield.^[68]

Radio

Davison has appeared in several radio series, including the BBC Radio 4 comedy drama series King Street Junior (1985). He appeared in Change at Oglethorpe (1995), and the following year he played Richard Stubbs in a six-part comedy Minor Adjustment. Davison played Dr Anthony Webster in the comedy series Rigor Mortis on Radio 4 in 2003 and 2006, and made a guest appearance in the first episode of the second series of the BBC Radio 4 science fiction comedy series Nebulous (2006). In 2008, Davison voiced Simon Draycott in the radio adaptation of The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, and between 2012 and 2013 he played Richard Lyons in the BBC Radio 2 comedy Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully.

Theatre roles

Davison appeared in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park (at the Apollo Theatre alongside his then wife, Sandra Dickinson (1984). In 1991, he appeared in Arsenic and Old Lace at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Further theatre appearances during the 1990s include: The Last Yankee, by Arthur Miller at the Young Vic Theatre and later the Duke of York's Theatre, London in 1993, and Vatelin in An Absolute Turkey, by Georges Feydeau, at the Gielgud Theatre in 1994. In 1996 he played the role of Tony Wendice in the theatrical production of Dial M for Murder. Davison appeared as Amos Hart in Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre in 1999, and played Dr Jean-Pierre Moulineaux, in Under the Doctor at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley and later at the Comedy Theatre, London (2001).

Between July 2007 and March 2008, Davison performed as King Arthur in the London production of Spamalot.^[4] Throughout 2010 and 2011, Davison appeared as Professor Callahan in the West End production of Legally Blonde, which opened at the Savoy Theatre.^[69]

Davison played the part of Oliver Lucas in David Hare's play The Vertical Hour at the Park Theatre, London (2014).^[70] In 2015, Davison joined the cast of Gypsy in its West End transfer to the Savoy Theatre in London, playing the role of Herbie,^[4] alongside Imelda Staunton as Rose.

In 2024 Davison joined the cast of the musical Kiss Me, Kate at the Barbican Theatre, playing the part of the General.^[71]

Other work

Davison was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1982 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews while filming a promotional piece for Doctor Who in Trafalgar Square in London.^[72]

Davison lent his name to be used to endorse two science-fiction anthology books published by Hutchinson: Peter Davison's Book of Alien Monsters released in 1982^[73] and Peter Davison's Book of Alien Planets released in 1983.^[74]