Peter Davison Biography

Peter Davison (born Peter Moffett) was born in 1951 and grew up in Surrey. He left school when he was sixteen with only a few qualifications and as a result decided to become an actor. He managed to gain a place on a course at the Central School of Speech and Drama and trained to become a professional actor.  He came to public attention as a result of his casting as Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small. This role brought Davison to the attention of Doctor Who Producer John Nathan Turner, who was on the look out for an established television actor to replace Tom Baker after his seven years as the Doctor. Although Davison was initially unwilling to take on the role as he considered himself unsuitable for the part, he was eventually won round.

He began his work on Doctor Who in April 1981 when he was thirty years old. This meant that at the time, he was the youngest actor to play the part of the Doctor, only beaten by Matt Smith in 2010, who was twenty six when he was cast.  

After leaving Doctor Who in 1983 after three seasons in the part, Davison went on to appear in a variety of other television roles. He resumed his part as the Fifth Doctor in a variety of Big Finish audio plays, as well as the Children in Need special “Dimensions in Time”. He also appeared alongside Tenth Doctor David Tennant in the multi Doctor mini episode “Time Crash”. His daughter Georgia Moffett would later appear in Doctor Who in the 2008 episode “The Doctor’s Daughter” and in the animated Doctor Who series “Dreamland” in 2009. And whatever all the wild theories on Twitter would tell you, she most certainly isn’t Oswin just because they sat in a similar chair.