Being fifth a charm for Peter Davison on Doctor Who’s 60th
Troy Bramston talks to Peter Davison, who portrayed the youthful and cerebral Fifth Doctor in Doctor Who, for the iconic sci-fi program’s 60th anniversary.
When Peter Davison was cast as the fifth Doctor, the enigmatic time traveller with many faces who saves planets and civilisations from destruction, he followed the legendary Tom Baker, who had defined the role and made Doctor Who a global phenomenon.
“I was, I suppose, a bit daunted by the fact that Tom had done it for seven years and therefore there would be a lot of people who had not known another Doctor,” Davison, 72, tells Life & Times in an interview to mark Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary.
“I was the first doctor who grew up watching the program. I was 12 when it started and watched it avidly. I was more daunted following William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton. When you are cast as a Doctor you are cast to be different. There was no way I could play Tom Baker, so I put that idea to one side. And, on a fundamental level, I knew I could run faster than any of the other Doctors.”
Clad in Victorian cricket attire with a stick of celery fixed to his lapel, Davison was the youngest actor to play the part and he conveyed authority and wisdom beyond his years with warmth and compassion that showed the heart of the character. Well, two Time Lord hearts. He was blond-haired, dashing and heroic, and showed his vulnerability.
Over three seasons, from 1981 to 1984, Davison brought a new sensibility and style to the Doctor who journeys through space and time in a blue police box, wrestles with moral questions that probe human and non-human existence, and battles Daleks, Cybermen and the Master.
“When I first started watching, the Doctor was slightly grumpy, slightly irascible, and Patrick brought an extraordinary empathy and vulnerability to the part,” Davison reflects.
“Although Tom was great, he was bizarre, he was extraordinary, I felt the show had lost a little personal touch. I wanted to bring that back.”
Doctor Who premiered on the BBC in November 1963. When Hartnell departed due to declining health, the character was “regenerated”. Troughton (1966-69) played the second Doctor and Jon Pertwee the third (1970-74), before Baker’s long stint as the fourth (1974-81). Davison was an accomplished and well-known actor from his time on All Creatures Great and Small (1978-90) when he took on the role.
The Tardis was a busy place during the fifth Doctor’s tenure, inheriting three companions – Adric (Matthew Waterhouse), Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), Australian air hostess Tegan (Janet Fielding) – and later joined by Turlough (Mark Strickson) and Peri (Nicola Bryant). The death of Adric was dramatic and challenging for younger viewers, and marked a darker tone.
“I liked the idea of having two companions but three, I think, proved too much,” Davison says. “We were an ensemble cast and I like to think that I encouraged every companion to have their own space to define their character. I thought the shortcoming was writing for companions – they didn’t do a good job, really.
“I thought the death of Adric was quite a splendid idea but Matthew didn’t really think so,” he laughs. “I said, ‘Well, it is a spectacular way to go – you’re attempting to save Earth’. However, over the years I’ve met many people who have been traumatised by the death of Adric.”
During the show’s 20th anniversary in 1983, Davison was joined by Troughton and Pertwee for a multi-doctor adventure with Richard Hurndall as the first Doctor. Baker declined to appear but unused footage from a previous story, Shada, was included. Davison laments there were few scenes with other doctors, drawn from different time streams to combat a deadly enemy.
“It was a fantastic experience,” Davison recalls. “We got on very well. Jon was the most assertive about the fact that he was the Doctor. Patrick did a good job of deflating his ego when it got out of hand.”
Baker is not eager to be around other doctors and recently said he is “mildly contemptuous” of his other selves. “It has been tricky dealing with him,” Davison acknowledges. “He found it a bit difficult to move on. So, I understand him not wanting to reprise it. But I don’t really understand his attitude to the rest of us because the rest of us get along.”
In 2007, Davison donned the cricketing kit and Panama hat for a charming mini-episode, Time Crash, where he met David Tennant’s 10th Doctor (2005-10). Tennant loved Davison’s portrayal of the Time Lord from Gallifrey 25 years earlier. Tennant later married Davison’s daughter, Georgia, who appeared in a 2008 episode. So, do father-in-law and son-in-law talk about Doctor Who?
“We talk about how Doctor Who affects our ordinary life, rather than talk about Doctor Who,” Davison explains. “Probably every girl David came in contact with was slightly daunted by him, and Georgia wasn’t at all because she just basically said, ‘Well, my dad was a Doctor, so what?’. And I think he kind of liked that.”
Davison also returned for an episode during Jodie Whittaker’s tenure as the 13th Doctor (2018-22) and a mini-episode for the 60th anniversary. He has voiced audio dramas for Big Finish and made the satirical The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, about classic doctors eager to be part of the 50th anniversary.
In its 60th year, Doctor Who continues to draw large audiences, there are new audio dramas and novelisations, games and toys, retrospective books and documentaries, and conventions. Davison’s fifth Doctor is a key part of this legacy and he is proud to have contributed to it.
“Deep down, I’m a fan of the show, although I’m not as big a fan as some of the people I know – David Tennant, for example,” he jokes. “I do love the show but I also love slightly sending it up. The Doctor is not your classic superhero but he is a beacon for everyone to admire. And the possibilities of time travel mean that the stories are limitless; your only limit is your imagination.”