Peter Davison

Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor. He came to prominence for playing veterinary surgeon Tristan Farnon in the BBC comedy drama series All Creatures Great and Small (1978–1980, 1988–1990) and achieved international recognition as the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who (1981–1984, 2007).

Davison began his career on stage, and made his television acting debut in a 1975 episode of the ITV series The Tomorrow People. Following his breakthrough role as Tristan Farnon, he starred in the sitcoms Holding the Fort (1980–1982) and Sink or Swim (1980–1982). At the age of 29, Davison was the youngest actor cast as the Doctor, a record he held until 2009. He left Doctor Who in 1984, but has regularly reprised the role in licensed audio dramas since 1999.

Subsequent leading television roles have included Dr. Stephen Daker in A Very Peculiar Practice (1986–1988), Albert Campion in Campion (1989–1990), David Braithwaite in At Home with the Braithwaites (2000–2003), Dangerous Davies in The Last Detective (2003–2007) and Henry Sharpe in Law & Order: UK (2011–2014). He has also appeared in West End stage productions of Chicago (1998–1999), Spamalot (2007–2008), Legally Blonde (2009–2012) and Gypsy (2015).

Early life and education Davison was born Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett, in Balham, London, on 13 April 1951. (Although many sources state Davison was born in Streatham, His English mother, Sheila Moffett (née Hallett), worked in intelligence during World War II before becoming a housewife.) He had three sisters.

Davison's family moved to Streatham, and then to Woking in 1961. He attended Winston Churchill School where he acted in plays and became part of the school's orchestra. Davison joined an amateur theatre company called the Byfleet Players, and aged 17 played the lead in a production of Antigone, for which he was nominated for a drama festival Best Actor award. Davison's poor GCE results "drove" him into the acting profession. Prior to applying for drama school, he worked as a mortuary attendant at Brookwood Hospital and a dry cleaner press operator. 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. Davison played Lysander in a rock musical production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, alongside actress Sandra Dickinson as Hermia; they married in 1978.

Davison appeared alongside Dickinson in his television acting debut as alien cowboy Elmer in "A Man from Emily", a 1975 episode of the ITV children's science fiction series The Tomorrow People. and co-wrote the theme for Button Moon (1980–1988) with Dickinson. 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". Davison found it difficult to abandon the character's "posh" voice in subsequent acting roles. The production team sought to deliberately distinguish the new Doctor from Tom Baker's highly popular portrayal. Davison played the part as "an old man trapped in a young man's body". He was also unhappy with the series's production values, particularly the special effects in Time-Flight (1982). alt=Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy and Baker sitting on a couch on stage at a Doctor Who convention in 2013 From left: Davison with Sylvester McCoy and Colin Baker at the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend in 2013At 30 years old, Davison was the subject of an episode of the reality documentary series This Is Your Life (1982); he was surprised by host Eamonn Andrews while participating in a Doctor Who promotional event in Trafalgar Square. Over Christmas 1982, Davison and Dickinson both appeared in Nathan-Turner's pantomime Cinderella in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Davison enjoyed his second season of Doctor Who less than his first: "I think it got just a little bit dull, and the stories a bit overcomplex. I didn’t feel that I had a lot of room to embellish the character." His tenure as the Doctor coincided with the series's 20th anniversary; he starred in the special episode "The Five Doctors", broadcast November 1983, in which his predecessors Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee reprised their roles. Between seasons, Davison appeared in All Creatures Great and Small 's 1983 Christmas special.

By the end of Davison's second season he had to decide whether to stay beyond a third season. Davison was also envious of his contemporaries who were moving between different projects. Davison has named Androzani as his favourite serial from his time on the show, owing to Robert Holmes's script and Graeme Harper's direction, Critics have noted that, in comparison to his predecessors, Davison managed to avoid typecasting after leaving the role of the Doctor.

Davison played Dr Stephen Daker, the central character in the BBC Two satirical drama series A Very Peculiar Practice (1986–1988) Daker is a naive everyman physician working at a university health centre full of surreal characters.

Davison reprised his role as Tristan Farnon in a revival of All Creatures Great and Small from 1988 and 1990. He played the titular detective in Campion (1989–1990), Davison reprised his role as the Fifth Doctor in the Doctor Who 30th anniversary charity special Dimensions in Time (1993), alongside every surviving actor to have played the Doctor. He also starred in the 1993 television film Harnessing Peacocks, based on the 1985 novel by Mary Wesley. Davison also appeared in various stage productions, such as Arsenic and Old Lace at the Chichester Festival Theatre and Arthur Miller's The Last Yankee at the Young Vic Theatre. He appeared in a 1994 stage production of An Absolute Turkey at the Globe Theatre.

Davison starred as DI Maurice Birt in the ITV television film The Stalker's Apprentice (1998) and as Joseph Lockwood in a 1998 television film adaptation of Wuthering Heights. He also guest-starred in the television series Verdict (1998), Jonathan Creek (1998) and Hope and Glory (1999). Davison appeared in Michael Winner's 1999 black comedy film Parting Shots, which was poorly reviewed. From 1998 to 1999, Davison appeared as Amos Hart in the musical Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre. thumb Davison at London Comic Con in 2016Davison co-starred with Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy in The Sirens of Time (1999), the first of Big Finish Productions' licensed Doctor Who audio dramas. Davison regularly reprised his role as the Fifth Doctor in Big Finish's Main Range series until its conclusion in March 2021, with the character's stories continuing in the ongoing series The Fifth Doctor Adventures. Davison has characterised Big Finish's writing as being better than the writing during his time on the show. In 1999, Davison appeared as himself in "The Kidnappers", a comedy sketch for BBC Two's Doctor Who Night in which he is kidnapped by Doctor Who fans (David Walliams and Mark Gatiss).

In 2000, Davison re-established his image as a television leading man with his role as David Braithwaite in At Home with the Braithwaites (2000–2003), an ITV comedy drama series about a dysfunctional family which wins the lottery. In 2001, Davison played Dr Moulineaux in Under the Doctor at the Comedy Theatre in the West End.

Following his role as David Braithwaite, Davison took various leading roles in ITV drama series. He played Robert Lewis in Too Good to Be True (2003), starred as Dangerous Davies in The Last Detective (2003–2007), played Dr Bill Shore in Distant Shores (2005–2008) He also appeared as a fictionalised version of himself in a 2004 episode of the ITV sitcom Hardware. Davison also took part in BBC radio series: he played Dr Anthony Webster in the comedy series Rigor Mortis (2003, 2006), and made a guest appearance in the science fiction comedy series Nebulous (2006).

Davison starred as Martin Chadwick in the BBC Two comedy series Fear, Stress and Anger (2007); Martin's daughter was played by Davison's real-life daughter Georgia. For his role, Davison was awarded the Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy at the Monte Carlo Television Festival. He guest-starred in the Agatha Christie's Marple episode "At Bertram's Hotel" (2007). Davison briefly returned to Doctor Who in "Time Crash" (2007), a charity minisode for Children in Need in which the Fifth Doctor meets the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant). He guest-starred in the detective series Midsomer Murders (2008) and played Simon Draycott in a 2008 radio adaptation of Douglas Adams's 1988 book The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. Davison appeared in Unforgiven (2009), an ITV drama serial starring Suranne Jones and written by Sally Wainwright. He guest-starred in the sitcom Miranda (2009), and had a small role in Micro Men (2009), a drama about the rise of the British home computer market. He played Denis Thatcher in the Channel 4 drama serial The Queen (2009), opposite Lesley Manville as Margaret Thatcher.

In 2011, Davison joined the fifth season of Law and Order: UK as Henry Sharpe, the Director of the London Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). From 2009 to 2012, Davison played Professor Callahan in the West End production of Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre. He guest-starred in the drama series New Tricks (2011). From 2012 to 2014, he played Richard Lyons in the BBC Radio 2 comedy series Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully. The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot was released on the BBC Red Button service after the broadcast of "The Day of the Doctor" on 23 November 2013, and was nominated for the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. left Davison at the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular in Leeds, 2015Davison guest-starred in the series Death in Paradise (2014) and played a fictionalised version of himself in the sitcom Toast of London (2014–2015). He played Oliver Lucas in a 2014 production David Hare's play The Vertical Hour at the Park Theatre. In 2015, Davison joined the cast of Gypsy in its West End transfer to the Savoy Theatre in London, playing the role of Herbie, alongside Imelda Staunton as Rose and Lara Pulver as Louise. Davison made a cameo appearance in Daisy Aitkens' 2017 film You, Me and Him. He guest-starred as solicitor Geoff Towler in the third series of Grantchester (2017), which saw him wearing cricket whites, which drew parallels to his Doctor Who costume.

After Jodie Whittaker was cast as the Thirteenth Doctor in July 2017, Davison called her a "terrific actress" but argued that her casting resulted in "the loss of a role model for boys". Davison had previously said he had "a slight problem" with a female incarnation of the Doctor, which he compared to having "a female James Bond", adding that "if you have an uncertain, fallible female Doctor with a really strong male companion, you've got more of a stereotype than anything else". Davison closed his Twitter account following the online backlash to his comments, saying the "toxicity" from the series's viewers on both sides of the dispute had been "sobering".

Davison appeared in the 2018 comedy films Patrick and Say My Name. He played William Priestley, a cousin of Anne Lister, in the historical drama series Gentleman Jack (2019–2022). Davison and Christopher Timothy appeared in the travel programme Great British Car Journeys (2018). The series was recommissioned for a second series. Davison narrated the tenth season of Channel 5's documentary series, The Yorkshire Vet, which follows a number of veterinarians working in Wetherby, Kirkbymoorside and Huddersfield. Christopher Timothy had been the programme's narrator since the start of the series, but due to production difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, Davison took over the role. Davison played Lord Avery in the 2020 sports comedy drama film Dream Horse.

In the 2022 Doctor Who special "The Power of the Doctor", Davison returned for a cameo appearance alongside Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann as a manifestation of the Thirteenth Doctor's subconscious. Davison reprised his role as the Fifth Doctor in Tales of the TARDIS (2023) to mark Doctor Who 's 60th anniversary. In 2024, Davison joined the cast of the musical Kiss Me, Kate at the Barbican Theatre, playing the part of the General. Davison and Janet Fielding reprised their roles as the Fifth Doctor and Tegan Jovanka in the Doctor Who mini-episode "Destination: Daleks", released in December 2025.

In June 2026, it was announced that Davison was joining the cast of season 4 of the crime drama series The Good Ship Murder.

Personal life

Davison has been married three times. He married Diane Russell in 1973; they divorced in 1975.

Davison met his third wife, actress and writer Elizabeth Morton, while working on At Home with The Braithwaites. The couple married in 2003 and have two sons, Louis and Joel, both actors. In the election campaign, he narrated one of Labour's election broadcasts. He was also one of 48 celebrities who signed a letter warning voters against Conservative Party policy towards the BBC.

Davison publicly supported the UK's membership of the European Union in the 2016 EU referendum, describing Brexit supporters as "mad old farts who want to return the country to an age that never existed".

Davison is a patron of the Down's Syndrome Association and the Williams Syndrome Foundation.