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Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor. He played Tristan Farnon in the 1978 BBC television adaptation of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small stories, and starred as the Fifth Doctor in Doctor Who (1981–1984), at the time the youngest actor to play the role.
Davison's other starring roles included the sitcoms Holding the Fort (1980–1982) and Sink or Swim (1980–1982), Dr. Stephen Daker in A Very Peculiar Practice (1986–1988), and Albert Campion in Campion (1989–1990). He also played David Braithwaite in At Home with the Braithwaites (2000–2003), "Dangerous" Davies in The Last Detective (2003–2007), and Henry Sharpe in (2011–2014).
While in Streatham, he attended Granton Primary School. The family then moved to Knaphill in Surrey. During this time, Davison was a member of an amateur theatre company called the Byfleet Players.
Davison attended at Winston Churchill School, St John's, Woking, Surrey. Out of the five GCE
Davison studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama until 1972. 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. He only uses "Davison" professionally.
In the mid-1970s, during a lull in his acting career, Davison spent 18 months working in a tax office in Twickenham. In 1976, Davison was offered a prominent role in the 13-part TV series Love for Lydia opposite Jeremy Irons; the series was broadcast on ITV the following year. Davison went to his local secondhand bookshop and found a first edition of the 1952 novel by H. E. Bates. One of the producers of the television adaptation was Bates's son, Richard, whom Davison gave the book to.
Davison has also appeared in several British sitcoms, including Holding the Fort (1980–82) and Sink or Swim (1980–82), as well as appearing in dramatic roles.
Davison has been critical of some aspects of Doctor Whos original run, and has expressed great admiration for the 21st century revival. In 2008, he spoke unfavourably of some of the writing for the series during his tenure, saying some of the scripts had been "suspect" and "knocked off" by authors who had not been science fiction fans, which he contrasted with the revived series and Big Finish audio productions. In 2013, he also praised the frisson between the Doctor and companions in the revived series, and argued that the previous series had struggled to "write a good companion's part" because "they never once thought it was a good idea to put any frisson or sexual tension – even in its most innocent form – between the Doctor and companion". Davison said the series had failed to write a good companion's part until Rose Tyler, when the series came back. Interviewed in 2013, Davison stated that The Caves of Androzani, The Visitation and Earthshock were his favourite serials from his time on the series, and that Time-Flight was the biggest disappointment because of a lack of budget.
In 2013 he wrote and directed The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, a comedy short film commemorating Doctor Who
In 2013, Davison said he had a "slight problem" with a female Doctor, which he compared to having "a female James Bond". In July 2017, Davison reacted positively to the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor, but said he was sad about "the loss of a role model for boys". Davison closed his Twitter account following the backlash to his comments, saying the "toxicity" from the series’ viewers on both sides of the dispute had been "sobering".
In 2022, Davison returned to portray the Doctor on television again in "The Power of the Doctor". He reprised the role again in Tales of the TARDIS.
Davison reprised his role as Tristan Farnon in four more series of All Creatures Great and Small between 1988 and 1990, although he was absent from 24 episodes of the final three to play the lead in Campion, a series based on the period whodunnits of Margery Allingham. He appeared in the sitcoms Fiddlers Three for ITV in 1991, and Ain't Misbehavin'
In 1994, Davison provided the voice of Mole in The Wind in the Willows animated special Mole's Christmas. He also appeared as a doctor in Heartbeat episode "A Bird in the Hand", and played Squire Gordon in the 1994 film of Black Beauty. Dr Who: films of Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy Den of Geek Davison presented Heavenly Bodies, a six-part series about astronomy (1995).This led to him being featured on the cover of Practical Astronomy magazine. Practical Astronomy, Volume 1, number 5, dated March 1995 Davison guest starred in the sixth episode of the crime drama Jonathan Creek in 1998 as the son-in-law of a horror writer who was shot dead on Halloween. The following year he played the outgoing head teacher in the television series Hope and Glory, and appeared in Parting Shots, the last film to be directed by Michael Winner.
In 2000, Davison returned to another major role as David Braithwaite in At Home with the Braithwaites. During convention appearances in 2013, Davison cited this as his favourite among the roles he has played. Also in 2000, he appeared in the recurring role of Inspector Christmas in several episodes of Diana Rigg's Mrs Bradley Mysteries. The first episode, Death at the Opera, saw Davison appear with his future son-in-law (and future Doctor Who actor), David Tennant. Davison starred as Dangerous Davies in the television series The Last Detective (2003–2007) and as Dr Bill Shore in Distant Shores (2005–2008), both for ITV. In 2006, he appeared as Professor George Huntley in The Complete Guide to Parenting, and appeared as himself in the TV series Hardware. Davison starred as Martin Chadwick, one half of an overworked couple coping with two irresponsible daughters and his senile mother at home, in the BBC Two comedy Fear, Stress and Anger (2007). The show also starred his daughter Georgia Tennant. Later in 2007, he played Hubert Curtain in an episode of ITV's Agatha Christie's Marple ("At Bertram's Hotel"). In 2009, Davison 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. In July 2009, he appeared in an episode of Midsomer Murders, and made a guest appearance as a teacher in the sitcom Miranda (2009). In 2009, Davison had a small 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 2009, he played Denis Thatcher in The Queen, a docudrama on Channel 4.
In 2010, Davison was announced as joining the regular cast of the UK version of as Henry Sharpe, the Director of the London Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Davison appeared from the beginning of the series' fifth season, alongside fellow Doctor Who actress Freema Agyeman. He appeared in an episode of the police comedy-drama New Tricks (2011), and in 2013 he played divorcee Michael in the comedy series Pat and Cabbage, as well as appearing in an episode of the ITV detective series Lewis.
Davison had been lined up to appear in writer/director Daisy Aitkens' first feature-length film You, Me and Him(2016). However, due to a scheduling clash, Davison was forced to pull out of the film. The film stars his son-in-law David Tennant, and is co-produced by Davison's daughter, Georgia. In 2017, Davison appeared in an episode of the third series of Grantchester, playing a cricket-loving solicitor.
Davison appeared with Christopher Timothy in the three-part series Great British Car Journeys(2018) (known internationally as Vintage Roads Great & Small) for More4. In the first series the pair travelled in a Morgan 4/4 on three trips from London to Land's End, from Loch Ness to The Isle of Skye and from Cardiff to Snowdonia. The series was recommissioned by Channel 4 for a second series on More4 (2019). He narrated the tenth season of Channel 5's documentary series, The Yorkshire Vet, which follows a number of veterinarians working in Julian Norton, Kirkbymoorside and Huddersfield.
Davison played the part of Oliver Lucas in David Hare's play The Vertical Hour at the Park Theatre, London (2014). 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.
In 2024 Davison joined the cast of the musical Kiss Me, Kate at the Barbican Theatre, playing the part of the General.
Davison was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1982 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews while filming a promotional piece for Doctor Who in Trafalgar Square in London.
Davison lent his name to be used to endorse two science-fiction anthology books published by Hutchinson: Peter Davison's Book of Alien Monsters released in 1982 and Peter Davison's Book of Alien Planets released in 1983.
On 26 December 1978, Davison married American-British actress Sandra Dickinson in Maryland. The couple divorced in 1994. Davison and Dickinson's daughter is actress Georgia Tennant (born 1984). In 2011 she married actor David Tennant, who played the Tenth Doctor and later the Fourteenth Doctor.
Davison married his third wife, actress and writer Elizabeth Morton, in 2003. The couple have two sons, Louis (born 1999) and Joel (born 2001). They both appeared in The Five(ish) Doctors playing themselves. Louis Moffett made his professional theatrical acting debut aged 14, playing Prince Edward in the 2014 Trafalgar Studios stage production of Richard III, credited as Louis Davison, having adopted his father's stage name as his own. His brother Joel also made his theatrical debut aged 13 in the summer of 2014, playing Jack in The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond. Louis Davison plays the part of Victor in Tim Burton's film, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children released in 2016, and Joel Davison played Lord Heybrook in French Without Tears at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond. Louis appeared as Parker Whitfield in BBC One's Holby City, and as King Edmund Ironside in Netflix's .
Davison's autobiography, Is There Life Outside the Box?: An Actor Despairs, was published in 2016.
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".
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