Peter Davison
Encyclopedia
Peter Davison is a British actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriot
's All Creatures Great and Small and the fifth incarnation
of the Doctor
in Doctor Who
, which he played from 1982 to 1984.
, London, son of an electrical engineer who was originally from Guyana
. The family then moved to Knaphill
in Surrey
. Before becoming an actor, he gained three O-levels
at Winston Churchill School, St John's, Woking
, Surrey, and then had several odd jobs, including a stint as a mortuary attendant.
Davison studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama
. His first job was as an actor and assistant stage manager at the Nottingham Playhouse
. He chose the stage name
Peter Davison to avoid confusion with the actor and director Peter Moffatt
, with whom Davison later worked.
His first television work was in a 1975 episode of the children's science fiction television programme The Tomorrow People
, alongside American actress Sandra Dickinson
, whom he married on 26 December 1978. Davison portrayed an alien named "Elmer", often tortured with "tickling boots" under the control of his sister (played by Dickinson) and his mother (played by Margaret Burton
) known as "the Mama".
The couple composed and performed the theme tune to Button Moon, a children's programme broadcast in the 1980s. Davison subsequently appeared alongside Dickinson as the Dish of the Day in the television version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
(1981), whose producers considered it humorous for an actor known for playing a veterinary surgeon
to appear as a cow. The couple had a daughter, Georgia Moffett
, in 1984, and later divorced in 1994.
In 1977, Davison had a prominent role in the 13-segment TV miniseries Love for Lydia
opposite a young Jeremy Irons
. In 1978, Davison's performance as the youthfully mischievous Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small
made him a household name. Davison has said that he was mainly cast in the role because he looked as if he could be Robert Hardy
's younger brother. Davison also appeared in some British sitcom
s, including Holding the Fort
, Sink or Swim and Ain't Misbehavin'
, as well as appearing in dramatic roles.
for three years, succeeding Tom Baker
(the Fourth Doctor
) and, at age 29, was at the time the youngest actor to have played the lead role, a record he retained for nearly thirty years until Matt Smith (the Eleventh Doctor
) took the role in 2010 at age 26. 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
. Patrick Troughton
(who had played the Second Doctor
and whom Davison had watched on the programme as a teenager) had recommended to Davison that he leave the role after three years, and Davison followed his advice. The Fifth Doctor encountered many of the Doctor's best-known adversaries, including the Dalek
s (in Resurrection of the Daleks
) and the Cybermen
(in both Earthshock
and The Five Doctors
). However, 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. In 1982, Davison had lent his name to two series of short stories published by Arrow
. The two were Peter Davison's Book of Alien Monsters and Peter Davison's Book of Aliens which both featured a photograph of him on the cover.
Davison did, in fact, return to play the Fifth Doctor in the 1993 multi-doctor charity special Dimensions in Time
and in the 1997 video game Destiny of the Doctors
(audio only). 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
.
, written by Andrew Davies
. The surreal comedy-drama was revived several years later as A Very Polish Practice. Davison also played the lead in Campion
, a series based on the period whodunnits of Margery Allingham
. This, and the opportunity to play Tristan Farnon again in 1985 and 1990, kept Davison busy until the early 1990s, when he gradually faded from the public eye. He continued to appear occasionally on television, including playing the leads in Fiddlers Three
(1991) and Harnessing Peacocks (1992) and an appearance on the American show Magnum, P.I.
(in the feature-length 1985 episode "Deja Vu", set in the UK). In 1995 he presented "Heavenly Bodies" a six-part series about astronomy, broadcast on BBC1. This led to him being featured on the cover of "Practical Astronomy" magazine (Volume 1, number 5, dated March 1995). It was not until 2000 that he returned in another major role, that of David Braithwaite in At Home with the Braithwaites
.
Davison has appeared in several radio series including Change at Oglethorpe in 1995 and Minor Adjustment in 1996. In 1985 he appeared in the BBC Radio 4
comedy drama series King Street Junior
, as teacher Eric Brown, but he left after only two series and was replaced by Karl Howman
(as Philip Sims). In the 2000s, he starred in the comedy series Rigor Mortis
.
In 1994, he provided the voice of Mole in the The Wind in the Willows
animated special Mole's Christmas
. He also played a doctor in Heartbeat episode A Bird In The Hand.
In 1997, Peter Davison acted the part Buttons in the pantomime Cinderella in the Arts Theatre in Cambridge.
In 1998, he guest starred in the sixth episode of the crime drama Jonathan Creek
as the son-in-law of a horror writer who was shot dead on Halloween.
In 1999, he appeared as the outgoing head teacher in the television series Hope and Glory
, and had the recurring role of Inspector Christmas in several episodes of the 1999 series of Diana Rigg
's Mrs Bradley Mysteries
.
He has also starred in the television series as Dangerous Davies
in The Last Detective
(2003–2007) and Distant Shores (2005), both for ITV
, in the latter of which he also played a doctor. In 2006 he appeared as Professor George Huntley in The Complete Guide to Parenting
. He has also appeared on the TV series Hardware
as himself.
Davison made a guest appearance in the first episode of the second series of the BBC Radio 4
science fiction comedy series Nebulous
, broadcast in April 2006.
Davison also worked on the stage. In 1984, he appeared in Neil Simon
's Barefoot in the Park
at the Apollo Theatre
alongside his then wife, Sandra Dickinson. In 1991, he appeared in Arsenic and Old Lace
at the Chichester Festival Theatre
. Further theatre appearances include: The Last Yankee
, by Arthur Miller
at the Young Vic Theatre and later the Duke of York's Theatre
, London in 1993, and Vatelin in An Absolute Turkey, by Georges Feydeau
, at the Gielgud Theatre
in 1994. In 1996 he played the role of Tony Wendice in the theatrical production of Dial M for Murder
, the play on which the movie by Alfred Hitchcock
was based. He also appeared as Amos Hart in Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre
in 1999, and as Dr Jean-Pierre Moulineaux, in Under the Doctor at the Churchill Theatre
, Bromley
and later at the Comedy Theatre, London in 2001.
In early 2007, Davison appeared in a BBC comedy Fear, Stress and Anger, which also starred his daughter Georgia Moffett
. Davison plays one-half of an overworked couple with two irresponsible daughters and his senile mother at home.
Davison performed as King Arthur
in the London production of Spamalot
. He first appeared in the role on 23 July 2007 and his final performance was 1 March 2008.
He appeared in the popular television show Al Murray's Happy Hour
in March 2008, and in January 2009 appeared in Unforgiven
, an ITV1
drama starring Suranne Jones
. Davison played John Ingrams, a lawyer who helps Jones' character, Ruth Slater, find her sister after her release from prison.
Recently, Davison made television appearances in an episode of Midsomer Murders
, in July 2009, and a guest appearance in Miranda Hart
's sitcom, Miranda
, on BBC 2 in Autumn 2009.
In October 2009, Davison was seen in a small but memorable role as a bank manager in Micro Men
, a drama about the rise of the British home computer market in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In December 2009, he played Denis Thatcher
in The Queen, a docu-drama on Channel 4
.
Throughout 2010, he appeared as Professor Callahan in the West End production of Legally Blonde
, which opened at the Savoy Theatre
.
In November 2010 it was announced that Davison would be joining the regular cast of the UK version of Law and Order as Henry Sharpe, the Director of the London Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Davison's debut in the role will be from the beginning of the series' fifth season, alongside fellow Doctor Who
actress Freema Agyeman
.
In July 2011 he appeared in an episode of the police comedy/drama New Tricks
.
policy towards the BBC
.
On 21 April 2010 Davison appeared in a party election broadcast on behalf of the UK Labour Party, following in the footsteps of fellow Doctor Who actor David Tennant
, and Jon Pertwee's son Sean Pertwee
. Quoted in The Guardian
, Davison said: "I'll be voting Labour
without a doubt. I tremble at the idea we might put a Tory
government back into power. I think back to the last time a Conservative government was running the country and can't believe we might do it. I'm also a big Brown
fan; he might not have that slick charm that we seem to buy into these days, as we did with Blair
, which turned into a big mistake, and as we seem to be doing with Cameron
. With Brown, it's substance over style; he's a career politician, who has spent his life working to help people. I like that he isn't slick, unlike Cameron, who's only been in politics for a few years."
Davison supported BBC presenter Jonathan Ross
following the Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row
and criticised BBC director general Mark Thompson
's decision to punish Ross, stating: "I thought Ross’s suspension, in particular, was utterly ludicrous. Why punish all the people who enjoy tuning into his programmes?"
James Herriot
James Herriot was the pen name of James Alfred Wight, OBE, FRCVS also known as Alf Wight , an English veterinary surgeon and writer, who used his many years of experiences as a veterinarian to write a series of books of stories about animals and their owners...
's All Creatures Great and Small and the fifth incarnation
Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
of the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
in Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, which he played from 1982 to 1984.
Early life
Davison was born Peter Moffett in StreathamStreatham
Streatham is a district in Surrey, England, located in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, London, son of an electrical engineer who was originally from Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
. The family then moved to Knaphill
Knaphill
Knaphill is an urban village in Surrey, UK. To the east is Woking, to the west, eventually, is Aldershot, while to the south and north on the A322 – which forms its effective western border – are Brookwood, and Bisley, respectively. Some of the village is set on a hill, hence the...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. Before becoming an actor, he gained three O-levels
General Certificate of Education
The General Certificate of Education or GCE is an academic qualification that examination boards in the United Kingdom and a few of the Commonwealth countries, notably Sri Lanka, confer to students. The GCE traditionally comprised two levels: the Ordinary Level and the Advanced Level...
at Winston Churchill School, St John's, Woking
Woking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
, Surrey, and then had several odd jobs, including a stint as a mortuary attendant.
Davison studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Central School of Speech and Drama was founded in London in 1906 by Elsie Fogerty to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students...
. His first job was as an actor and assistant stage manager at the Nottingham Playhouse
Nottingham Playhouse
The Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in the 1950s when it operated from a former cinema. Directors during this period included Val May and Frank Dunlop.-The building:...
. He chose the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Peter Davison to avoid confusion with the actor and director Peter Moffatt
Peter Moffatt
Peter Moffatt was a British television director.His work includes Crane , All Creatures Great and Small and The Gentle Touch...
, with whom Davison later worked.
His first television work was in a 1975 episode of the children's science fiction television programme The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran between 1973 and 1979. The series was re-imagined in 1992, Roger Price acting as executive producer...
, alongside American actress Sandra Dickinson
Sandra Dickinson
Sandra Dickinson is an American-British actress. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She has often played a dumb blonde with a high-pitched voice in the UK – notably commencing in the St...
, whom he married on 26 December 1978. Davison portrayed an alien named "Elmer", often tortured with "tickling boots" under the control of his sister (played by Dickinson) and his mother (played by Margaret Burton
Margaret Burton
Margaret Burton may refer to:* Margaret E. Burton, American missionary in China and Japan* Margaret Burton , fictional character from the anime series Madlax* Margaret Burton, a British actress...
) known as "the Mama".
The couple composed and performed the theme tune to Button Moon, a children's programme broadcast in the 1980s. Davison subsequently appeared alongside Dickinson as the Dish of the Day in the television version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is a BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy broadcast in January and February 1981 on BBC Two...
(1981), whose producers considered it humorous for an actor known for playing a veterinary surgeon
Veterinary surgeon
Veterinary surgeon is a term used to describe:*The full title of a vet, who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals, in the United Kingdom and several Commonwealth countries**See also Veterinary medicine in the United Kingdom...
to appear as a cow. The couple had a daughter, Georgia Moffett
Georgia Moffett
Georgia Elizabeth Moffett is a British actress. Moffett was born in West London, the daughter of actors Peter Davison and Sandra Dickinson....
, in 1984, and later divorced in 1994.
In 1977, Davison had a prominent role in the 13-segment TV miniseries Love for Lydia
Love for Lydia
Love for Lydia is a semi-autobiographical novel written by British author H. E. Bates, first published in 1952.-Plot:Lydia Aspen, a seemingly shy girl from a wealthy but isolated background, is encouraged by her aunts, her new carers, to discover the delights of growing up...
opposite a young Jeremy Irons
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
. In 1978, Davison's performance as the youthfully mischievous Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small
All Creatures Great and Small (TV serial)
All Creatures Great and Small is a popular British television series, based on the books of the British veterinary surgeon Alf Wight, who wrote under the pseudonym James Herriot.-Background:...
made him a household name. Davison has said that he was mainly cast in the role because he looked as if he could be Robert Hardy
Robert Hardy
Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy, CBE, FSA is an English actor with a long career in the theatre, film and television. He is also an acknowledged expert on the longbow.-Early life:...
's younger brother. Davison also appeared in some British sitcom
British sitcom
A British sitcom tends, as it does in most other countries, to be based on a family, workplace or other institution, where the same group of contrasting characters is brought together in each episode. Unlike American sitcoms, where twenty or more episodes in a season is the norm, British sitcoms...
s, including Holding the Fort
Holding the Fort
Holding the Fort was an ITV situation comedy starring Peter Davison, Patricia Hodge and Matthew Kelly. It was an early product of the writing team of Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. Three series were recorded, a total of twenty episodes, first aired between 1980 and 1982, concurrent with Davison...
, Sink or Swim and Ain't Misbehavin'
Ain't Misbehavin' (TV series)
Ain't Misbehavin' is a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1994 to 1995. It stars Peter Davison and Nicola Pagett and was written by Roy Clarke, the writer of Last of the Summer Wine and Keeping Up Appearances.-Cast:...
, as well as appearing in dramatic roles.
Doctor Who (1982–1984 and later revivals)
In 1981, Davison signed a contract to play the DoctorDoctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
for three years, succeeding Tom Baker
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
(the Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
) and, at age 29, was at the time the youngest actor to have played the lead role, a record he retained for nearly thirty years until Matt Smith (the Eleventh Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
) took the role in 2010 at age 26. 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
Typecasting (acting)
In TV, film, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character; one or more particular roles; or, characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ethnic groups...
. Patrick Troughton
Patrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton was an English actor most widely known for his roles in fantasy, science fiction and horror films, particularly in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 to 1969,...
(who had played the Second Doctor
Second Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....
and whom Davison had watched on the programme as a teenager) had recommended to Davison that he leave the role after three years, and Davison followed his advice. The Fifth Doctor encountered many of the Doctor's best-known adversaries, including the Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
s (in Resurrection of the Daleks
Resurrection of the Daleks
Resurrection of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts between 8 February and 15 February 1984...
) and the Cybermen
Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
(in both Earthshock
Earthshock
Earthshock is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 8 March to 16 March 1982...
and The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
). However, 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. In 1982, Davison had lent his name to two series of short stories published by Arrow
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
. The two were Peter Davison's Book of Alien Monsters and Peter Davison's Book of Aliens which both featured a photograph of him on the cover.
Davison did, in fact, return to play the Fifth Doctor in the 1993 multi-doctor charity special Dimensions in Time
Dimensions in Time
Dimensions in Time is a charity special crossover between the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and the soap opera EastEnders that ran in two parts on 26 and 27 November 1993. It was filmed on the EastEnders Albert Square set, and features several of the stars of that programme...
and in the 1997 video game Destiny of the Doctors
Destiny of the Doctors
Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctors is a PC computer game based on the British science fiction television series Doctor Who; released on 5 December 1997 by BBC Multimedia.- Overview :...
(audio only). He continues to reprise the role in a series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
. He returned once again in "Time Crash
Time Crash
"Time Crash" is a mini-episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on 16 November 2007, as part of the BBC One telethon for the children's charity Children in Need...
", a special episode written by Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
for Children in Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
; in the episode, which aired on 16 November 2007, the Fifth Doctor met the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
, played by David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
.
After Doctor Who
After Davison left Doctor Who in 1984, he did not work on another popular series until 1986, when he played Dr Stephen Daker, the ingenuous hero of A Very Peculiar PracticeA Very Peculiar Practice
A Very Peculiar Practice is a BBC comedy-drama series, which ran for two series in 1986 and 1988. It was the first major success for screenwriter Andrew Davies, and was inspired by his experiences as a lecturer at the University of Warwick.- Storyline :...
, written by Andrew Davies
Andrew Davies (writer)
Andrew Wynford Davies is a British author and screenwriter. He was made a Fellow of BAFTA in 2002.-Education and early career:...
. The surreal comedy-drama was revived several years later as A Very Polish Practice. Davison also played the lead in Campion
Campion (TV series)
Campion is a television show made by the BBC, adapting the Albert Campion mystery novels written by Margery Allingham. Two seasons were made, in 1989 and 1990, starring Peter Davison as Campion, Brian Glover as his manservant Magersfontein Lugg and Andrew Burt as his policeman friend Stanislaus...
, a series based on the period whodunnits of Margery Allingham
Margery Allingham
Margery Louise Allingham was an English crime writer, best remembered for her detective stories featuring gentleman sleuth Albert Campion.- Childhood and schooling :...
. This, and the opportunity to play Tristan Farnon again in 1985 and 1990, kept Davison busy until the early 1990s, when he gradually faded from the public eye. He continued to appear occasionally on television, including playing the leads in Fiddlers Three
Fiddlers Three
The fiddlers three are characters featured in the English nursery rhyme "Old King Cole".Fiddlers Three may also refer to:*Fiddlers Three , a 1918 Broadway production that ran for 87 performances...
(1991) and Harnessing Peacocks (1992) and an appearance on the American show Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....
(in the feature-length 1985 episode "Deja Vu", set in the UK). In 1995 he presented "Heavenly Bodies" a six-part series about astronomy, broadcast on BBC1. This led to him being featured on the cover of "Practical Astronomy" magazine (Volume 1, number 5, dated March 1995). It was not until 2000 that he returned in another major role, that of David Braithwaite in At Home with the Braithwaites
At Home with the Braithwaites
At Home with the Braithwaites is a British comedy-drama television series, created and written by Sally Wainwright . The storyline follows a suburban family from Leeds, whose life is turned upside down when the mother of the family wins 38 million pounds on the lottery...
.
Davison has appeared in several radio series including Change at Oglethorpe in 1995 and Minor Adjustment in 1996. In 1985 he appeared in the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
comedy drama series King Street Junior
King Street Junior
King Street Junior was a Radio Comedy about a junior school aired by the BBC from March 1985 to November 1998. A continuation of the series renamed King Street Junior Revisited started in 2002 and continued until 2005...
, as teacher Eric Brown, but he left after only two series and was replaced by Karl Howman
Karl Howman
Karl Howman is an English actor and also a British voice-over artist.He is well known but notable to many television viewers for his work as Jacko in the mid-1980's and early-90's BBC TV sitcom Esmonde and Larbey's Brush Strokes and as the title character in the series Mulberry .However Howman first...
(as Philip Sims). In the 2000s, he starred in the comedy series Rigor Mortis
Rigor Mortis (radio)
Rigor Mortis is a BBC Radio 4 black comedy set in the pathology department at an NHS hospital. It centers around the working lives of the pathologists and attendant staff who work in the department.-Themes:...
.
In 1994, he provided the voice of Mole in the The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows is a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters in a pastoral version of England...
animated special Mole's Christmas
Mole's Christmas
Mole's Christmas is a 30 minute animated film shot in 1994. Its main stars are Richard Briers , Peter Davison and Ellie Beaven with Imelda Staunton...
. He also played a doctor in Heartbeat episode A Bird In The Hand.
In 1997, Peter Davison acted the part Buttons in the pantomime Cinderella in the Arts Theatre in Cambridge.
In 1998, he guest starred in the sixth episode of the crime drama Jonathan Creek
Jonathan Creek
Jonathan Creek is a British mystery series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. Primarily a crime drama, the show is also peppered with broadly comic touches...
as the son-in-law of a horror writer who was shot dead on Halloween.
In 1999, he appeared as the outgoing head teacher in the television series Hope and Glory
Hope and Glory (TV series)
Hope and Glory is a BBC television drama about a comprehensive school struggling with financial, staffing and disciplinary problems, and faced with closure...
, and had the recurring role of Inspector Christmas in several episodes of the 1999 series of Diana Rigg
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....
's Mrs Bradley Mysteries
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries is a British television drama series, produced in-house by the BBC for broadcast on the BBC One channel, based on the character created by detective writer Gladys Mitchell...
.
He has also starred in the television series as Dangerous Davies
Dangerous Davies
Detective Constable "Dangerous" Davies is the central character in a series of comic novels by Leslie Thomas and a TV series, The Last Detective made for ITV. The first novel in the series was also made into a film for television in 1981.- Profile :...
in The Last Detective
The Last Detective
The Last Detective is an ITV drama starring Peter Davison as Dangerous Davies. The first series aired in 2003 with three more seasons succeeding this...
(2003–2007) and Distant Shores (2005), both for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, in the latter of which he also played a doctor. In 2006 he appeared as Professor George Huntley in The Complete Guide to Parenting
The Complete Guide to Parenting
The Complete Guide to Parenting is an ITV comedy drama, starring Peter Davison as George Huntley, Professor of Child Psychology at London University, best-selling author of Hey Mum & Dad, Get Your Act Together and LBC resident parenting guru. He finds his so-called parenting expertise put to the...
. He has also appeared on the TV series Hardware
Hardware (TV series)
Hardware is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 2003 to 2004. Starring Martin Freeman, it was written and created by Simon Nye, the creator of Men Behaving Badly.The show's opening theme was A Taste of Honey by Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass....
as himself.
Davison made a guest appearance in the first episode of the second series of the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
science fiction comedy series Nebulous
Nebulous
Nebulous is a post apocalyptic science fiction comedy radio show written by Graham Duff and produced by Ted Dowd from Baby Cow Productions; it is directed by Nicholas Briggs. The series premiered in the United Kingdom on BBC Radio 4...
, broadcast in April 2006.
Davison also worked on the stage. In 1984, he appeared in Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
's Barefoot in the Park
Barefoot in the Park
This article is about the Broadway production. For the film adaptation see Barefoot in the Park .Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The original Broadway production, directed by Mike Nichols, opened October 23, 1963, with the four lead roles taken by actors Elizabeth Ashley ,...
at the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
alongside his then wife, Sandra Dickinson. In 1991, he appeared in Arsenic and Old Lace
Arsenic and Old Lace (play)
Arsenic and Old Lace is a play by American playwright Joseph Kesselring, written in 1939. It has become best known through the film adaptation starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra. The play was directed by Bretaigne Windust, and opened on January 10, 1941. On September 25, 1943, the...
at the Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
. Further theatre appearances include: The Last Yankee
The Last Yankee
The Last Yankee is a play by Arthur Miller, which premiered on January 05, 1993 at the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City. The cast included Tom Aldredge as John Frick, Frances Conroy as Patricia Hamilton, Rose Gregorio as Karen Frick, John Heard as Leroy Hamilton, and Charlotte Maier as the...
, by Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
at the Young Vic Theatre and later the Duke of York's Theatre
Duke of York's Theatre
The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End Theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre, until her death in 1935. It opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, with Wedding...
, London in 1993, and Vatelin in An Absolute Turkey, by Georges Feydeau
Georges Feydeau
Georges Feydeau was a French playwright of the era known as the Belle Époque. He is remembered for his many lively farces.-Biography:Georges Feydeau was born in Paris, the son of novelist Ernest-Aimé Feydeau and Léocadie Bogaslawa Zalewska. At the age of twenty, Feydeau wrote his first comic...
, at the Gielgud Theatre
Gielgud Theatre
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has 889 seats on three levels.-History:...
in 1994. In 1996 he played the role of Tony Wendice in the theatrical production of Dial M for Murder
Dial M for Murder
Dial M for Murder is a 1954 American thriller film adapted from a successful stage play by Frederick Knott, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, and Robert Cummings. The movie was released by the Warner Bros...
, the play on which the movie by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
was based. He also appeared as Amos Hart in Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
in 1999, and as Dr Jean-Pierre Moulineaux, in Under the Doctor at the Churchill Theatre
Churchill Theatre
The Churchill Theatre in Bromley, south east London was built by the London Borough of Bromley to designs by its borough architect's department.It is carefully integrated into the central library complex overlooking Church House Gardens and Library Gardens...
, Bromley
Bromley
Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1963 was in the county of Kent and formed the administrative centre of the Municipal Borough of Bromley...
and later at the Comedy Theatre, London in 2001.
In early 2007, Davison appeared in a BBC comedy Fear, Stress and Anger, which also starred his daughter Georgia Moffett
Georgia Moffett
Georgia Elizabeth Moffett is a British actress. Moffett was born in West London, the daughter of actors Peter Davison and Sandra Dickinson....
. Davison plays one-half of an overworked couple with two irresponsible daughters and his senile mother at home.
Davison performed as King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
in the London production of Spamalot
Spamalot
Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre...
. He first appeared in the role on 23 July 2007 and his final performance was 1 March 2008.
He appeared in the popular television show Al Murray's Happy Hour
Al Murray's Happy Hour
Al Murray's Happy Hour was a chat show presented by comedian Al Murray and produced by Avalon TV. The first series aired in early 2007. It is broadcast on the British terrestrial TV network, ITV, and the first series was broadcast on Saturday nights at 10pm. The second series aired on Fridays at 10pm...
in March 2008, and in January 2009 appeared in Unforgiven
Unforgiven (TV series)
Unforgiven was a three-part British television drama series written by Sally Wainwright which was first broadcast on ITV in January 2009...
, an ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
drama starring Suranne Jones
Suranne Jones
Suranne Jones is an English actress. She first rose to prominence playing the role of Karen McDonald in ITV1's soap opera Coronation Street over a period of four years...
. Davison played John Ingrams, a lawyer who helps Jones' character, Ruth Slater, find her sister after her release from prison.
Recently, Davison made television appearances in an episode of Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
, in July 2009, and a guest appearance in Miranda Hart
Miranda Hart
Miranda Katharine Hart Dyke , known professionally as Miranda Hart, is an English actress, writer and stand-up comedienne. She writes and stars in the BBC sitcom Miranda...
's sitcom, Miranda
Miranda (TV series)
Miranda is a BBC television series co-written by and starring comedienne Miranda Hart, which first aired on BBC Two on 9 November 2009. The situation comedy also features Sarah Hadland, Tom Ellis, Patricia Hodge, James Holmes and Sally Phillips...
, on BBC 2 in Autumn 2009.
In October 2009, Davison was seen in a small but memorable role as a bank manager in Micro Men
Micro Men
Micro Men is a one-off BBC drama television show set in the late 1970s and 1980s, about the rise of the British home computer market, particularly the rivalry between Sir Clive Sinclair who developed the ZX Spectrum, and Chris Curry - the man behind the BBC Micro; played by Alexander Armstrong and...
, a drama about the rise of the British home computer market in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In December 2009, he played Denis Thatcher
Denis Thatcher
Major Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet, MBE, TD was a British businessman, and the husband of the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. He was born in Lewisham, London, the elder child of a New Zealand-born British businessman, Thomas Herbert Thatcher, and his wife Kathleen, née Bird...
in The Queen, a docu-drama on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
.
Throughout 2010, he appeared as Professor Callahan in the West End production of Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde (musical)
Legally Blonde is a musical with music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach. The story is based on the novel Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown and the 2001 film of the same name. It tells the story of Elle Woods, a sorority girl who enrolls at Harvard Law School to...
, which opened at the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
.
In November 2010 it was announced that Davison would be joining the regular cast of the UK version of Law and Order as Henry Sharpe, the Director of the London Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Davison's debut in the role will be from the beginning of the series' fifth season, alongside fellow Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
actress Freema Agyeman
Freema Agyeman
Freema Agyeman is a British actress who is best known for playing Martha Jones, former companion of the Tenth Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and itsspin-off series Torchwood...
.
In July 2011 he appeared in an episode of the police comedy/drama New Tricks
New Tricks
New Tricks is a BBC television drama series which follows the work of the Metropolitan Police Service's Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad . Led by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, it is made up of retired police officers who have been recruited to reinvestigate unsolved crimes...
.
Views and advocacy
In 2010, Davison was one of 48 celebrities who signed a letter warning voters against Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
policy towards the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
On 21 April 2010 Davison appeared in a party election broadcast on behalf of the UK Labour Party, following in the footsteps of fellow Doctor Who actor David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
, and Jon Pertwee's son Sean Pertwee
Sean Pertwee
Sean Pertwee is an English actor known for his television, film and voice-over work.-Career:In the early 80s, he auditioned for a place at the Surrey County Youth Theatre where he was cast as Captain Fitzpatrick in the play Tom Jones, based on the novel by Henry Fielding...
. Quoted in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Davison said: "I'll be voting Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
without a doubt. I tremble at the idea we might put a Tory
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
government back into power. I think back to the last time a Conservative government was running the country and can't believe we might do it. I'm also a big Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
fan; he might not have that slick charm that we seem to buy into these days, as we did with Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, which turned into a big mistake, and as we seem to be doing with Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
. With Brown, it's substance over style; he's a career politician, who has spent his life working to help people. I like that he isn't slick, unlike Cameron, who's only been in politics for a few years."
Davison supported BBC presenter Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross may refer to:* Jonathan Ross , English television and radio personality* Jonathan Ross , United States Senator, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court* Jonathon Ross , former Australian rules footballer...
following the Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row
Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row
The Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row concerned a series of voice messages that English entertainers Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross left on the answering machine of actor Andrew Sachs, which were labelled obscene by many media commentators and politicians...
and criticised BBC director general Mark Thompson
Mark Thompson
Mark John Thompson is Director-General of the BBC, a post he has held since 2004, and a former chief executive of Channel 4...
's decision to punish Ross, stating: "I thought Ross’s suspension, in particular, was utterly ludicrous. Why punish all the people who enjoy tuning into his programmes?"