davison

Peter Davison

Born Peter Moffett

April 13, 1951 (1951-04-13) (age 56)

London, England

Peter Davison (born Peter Moffett 13 April 1951) is an English actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small and as the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1981 to 1984 and reprised in 2007.

Doctor Who (1981–1984 2007)

In 1981, Davison signed a contract to play the Doctor for three years, succeeding Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor) and, at age 29, still the youngest actor to assume the lead role. Attracting such a high-profile actor as Davison 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 and whom Davison had watched on the programme as a child) had recommended to Davison that he leave the role after three years, and Davison followed his advice. However, Peter Davison has been stated that he also felt too young for the role, and if given the chance at the role now he would have made a better doctor. This chance was indeed - briefly - granted to him in the 2007 Children In Need special.

He had encountered the Daleks in "Resurrection of the Daleks" and the Cybermen in both "Earthshock" and "The Five Doctors". He had also encountered the Silurians and The Sea Devils in the story "Warriors of the Deep".

Davison returned to play the Doctor in the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time. He continues to reprise the role in a series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions. He returned once again in "Time Crash", a special episode written by Steven Moffat for Children in Need; in the episode, which aired on 16 November 2007, the Fifth Doctor met the Tenth Doctor, played by David Tennant. [2]