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

Davison's other main 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 Law & Order: UK (2011–2014).

Early life and education

Davison was born Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett in Balham, London, on April 13, 1951. His father, Claude Moffett, was born in British Guiana (now known as Guyana). He worked as a radio engineer and later opened a grocery store. His mother, Sheila Moffett (born Hallett), worked in intelligence during World War II before becoming a homemaker. Davison mentioned that his mixed heritage was not widely known because he looks very English. He had three sisters: Shirley, Pamela, and Barbara.

Davison’s family moved to Streatham and then to Woking in 1961. He attended Winston Churchill School, where he acted in plays and joined the school’s orchestra. He became part of an amateur theatre group called the Byfleet Players. At age 17, he played the lead role in a production of Antigone and was nominated for a drama festival Best Actor award. His poor GCE results led him to pursue acting as a career. Before applying to drama school, he worked as a mortuary attendant at Brookwood Hospital and as a press operator at a dry cleaner.

Davison studied at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama from 1969 to 1972. His first television appearance was as an audience member at a 1970 performance by The Dave Clark Five on Top of the Pops (Dave Clark was Davison’s classmate). Davison played the guitar and piano and briefly considered becoming a recording artist. In 2025, he said he has many unreleased self-produced music recordings.

Career

After graduating, he joined the Nottingham Playhouse as an actor and assistant stage manager. He earned his Equity card while working there and chose the stage name Peter Davison to avoid confusion with the actor and director Peter Moffatt. In 1973, Davison joined the Lyceum Young Theatre Group at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, where he performed in productions of Hamlet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Davison played Lysander in a rock musical version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, alongside Sandra Dickinson as Hermia; they married in 1978.

Davison appeared with 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. He felt comfortable working in television and left his theatre career to focus on television work. Because of difficulty finding acting jobs, he spent 18 months working in a tax office in Twickenham. His acting opportunity came with a major role in the ITV romantic period serial Love for Lydia (1977).

Davison, who was taking himself seriously as a songwriter, wrote and recorded the theme music for the television series Mixed Blessings and Button Moon. EMI was impressed by Davison's demo tape and offered him a songwriting contract, which he declined—"it was a bad deal and the money was rubbish."

Davison had his breakthrough role as the mischievous junior veterinarian Tristan Farnon in the BBC period comedy drama series All Creatures Great and Small (1978–1980, 1988–1990), based on the books by veterinary surgeon James Herriot about his life in 1930s Yorkshire. Tristan was based on Herriot's colleague Brian Sinclair. Davison met Sinclair while 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 stop using the character's "posh" voice in later acting roles.

Tristan was not intended to be a major character, but Robert Hardy, who played Tristan's brother Siegfried, enjoyed the dynamic between the brothers and asked for Davison to have more screen time. All Creatures Great and Small attracted 19 million viewers at its height, making Davison a household name. Outside the series, Davison appeared in the ITV Playhouse episode "Print Out" (1979) and hosted the children's series Once Upon a Time (1979–1982) for its first three years.

Davison was in high demand as an actor after All Creatures Great and Small's third series ended in 1980. He took leading parts in the sitcoms Holding the Fort (1980–82) and Sink or Swim (1980–82). Davison appeared with Dickinson as the Dish of the Day in the comedy science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981).

John Nathan-Turner, producer of the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, was a production unit manager on All Creatures Great and Small and had a photograph of Davison at an All Creatures charity cricket match on his office wall. When Tom Baker told Nathan-Turner he was leaving the lead role of the Doctor in 1980, Nathan-Turner decided to cast Davison as the series' fifth lead actor. Davison initially refused the role but later agreed after a lunch with Nathan-Turner, as he felt he couldn't watch another actor take the part. He made his debut as the Fifth Doctor in the final scene of Logopolis (1981).

At 29, Davison was the youngest actor to play the lead role, a record he held until 26-year-old Matt Smith was cast in 2009. Davison was also the first actor in the role who had grown up watching the series. He portrayed the Doctor as more innocent and vulnerable than his older predecessors. This was a deliberate choice to make the new Doctor different from Tom Baker's popular portrayal. Davison's fame helped increase interest in Doctor Who. Viewership for season 19, his first season in the role, more than doubled from season 18. Davison criticized the production quality during his time on the series, especially the special effects in Time-Flight (1982).

At 30, Davison was the subject of an episode of the reality documentary series This Is Your Life (1982); he was surprised by host Eamonn Andrews during 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 time 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 was asked if he would stay for a third year. He followed advice from Troughton—who he met by chance in a BBC car park shortly after taking the role—to stay only three years. Davison also felt envious of his peers who worked on different projects. The final serial of Davison's tenure, The Caves of Androzani (1984), is considered by Doctor Who fans to be one of the series's best. Davison named Androzani as his favorite serial from his time on the show, owing to Robert Holmes's script and Graeme Harper's filmic directing. He stated in 2016 that if Androzani had been produced a year earlier, he may have stayed

Personal life

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

In 1978, Davison married Sandra Dickinson, an actress born in the United States. The couple married in Maryland on December 26, 1978. They had a daughter named Georgia Moffett in 1984 and got divorced in 1994. In 2011, Georgia married actor David Tennant, who played the Tenth Doctor and the Fourteenth Doctor in television shows.

Davison met his third wife, Elizabeth Morton, an actress and writer, while working on the television show At Home with The Braithwaites. The couple married in 2003 and have two sons, Louis and Joel, who are both actors.

In 2016, Davison wrote a book about his life titled Is There Life Outside the Box?: An Actor Despairs.

In April 2010, Davison said he supported the Labour Party during that year’s general election. During the election campaign, Davison spoke in one of Labour’s election broadcasts. He also signed a letter with 47 other celebrities to warn voters about the Conservative Party’s plans for the BBC.

In 2016, Davison supported the United Kingdom’s membership in the European Union during the referendum on leaving the EU. He called people who supported leaving the EU “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.