(13/04/1951)
Fifty-nine years ago today, Peter Davison was born in Streatham in London. He would go on to become a famous English actor, most widely known in his role as the fifth incarnation of the Doctor, in the long running British science-fiction television series ‘Doctor Who’, which he played from 1982 to 1984.
In 1981, Davison signed a contract to play the Doctor for three years, succeeding Tom Baker, who had been in the role for seven years. At the age of twenty-nine, he was the youngest actor of the time to have been cast as the lead role. Having an already well-known actor meant that the show received high ratings, despite it being shown in a midweek slot.
Peter Davison decided not to renew his contract, due to the fear of being typecast. Patrick Troughton had recommended to Davison that he should leave the role after three years, and Davison followed his advice. The fifth Doctor encountered many of the Doctor’s best-known enemies, including the Daleks, the Cybermen and the Master.
Peter Davison has since 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. Davison returned to play the fifth Doctor in the 1993 multi-doctor charity special ‘Dimensions in Time’. He continues to reprise the role in a series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions, and returned once again in ‘Time Crash’, a Children in Need special episode written by Steven Moffat, where the fifth and tenth Doctors collide in the TARDIS.
Please comment and rate below.
No comments:
Post a Comment