Tristan's new innings as The Doctor
- Publication: Express & Star
- Date: 1982-01-09
- Author: Ian Lyness
- Page:
- Language: English
Ian Lyness talks to Peter Davison about his role as the cricket-playing Doctor Who.
The new Doctor steps into the Tardis — and materialises at a Victorian cricket match, where naturally, he helps out.
THE tall, fair-haired character clambering up the rock face resembles a refugee from a cosmic cricket match as he keeps a wary eye out for hostile aliens.
His Edwardian-style frock coat with red edging flaps in the wind, revealing a V-neck cricket jumper and candy-striped trousers reaching down to a pair of battered cricket boots.
Dr Who has always been a colourful character and he looks like staying that way in the guise of Peter Davison, the latest actor to play Britain's favourite Time Lord.
The good doctor has undergone quite a transformation since Tom Baker relinquished the role. For a start, he's much younger, as Davison is 29. He's also more energetic and dashing and less of an eccentric father-figure type.
Davison, who shot to fame as the hapless Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small, says he had some qualms about taking the role in the new series, which started this week.
"I wasn't reluctant to do the part but I had doubts about coping with all that goes with the role," said Davison during a break in location filming in Sussex.
"Quite a lot of responsbility is attached to playing Dr Who. There's a phenomenal interest in the series among its fans and whoever plays the Doctor is expected to meet them at conventions and so forth.
"I don't relish that side of it but I realise it's part and parcel of the role. I've already paid a flying visit to a Doctor Who convention in America, where it's shown now in 38 states.
"When the producer of the series rang me up out of the blue and offered me the part I told him I wanted time to think about it.
"I discussed it with my wife, who had no hesitation in saying I should take it, and eventually I decided it was too good an opportunity to miss."
Davison approached the role with set ideas about how to play it, though he says he wanted to come up with something in complete contrast to Tom Baker's interpretation.
He's still cagey about giving too much away but the new Doctor will be a cricket fanatic, who, in one of his new adventures, materialises in the middle of a Victorian cricket match and promptly lends a helping hand.
Doctor Who guarantees him a massive audience but Davison is anxious not to be typecast in one role.
Hates
Davison's career has soared since All Creatures Great and Small and he recently reached the stage where he was working six days a week.
At one point, he never seemed to be off the TV screen, particularly as he had the two comedy series running side-by-side as well as a frequently-aired commercial for beer, which he reportedly hates in any form.
All the work that's currently coming his way has brought its glittering prizes, not the least of which is his brand new Porsche 924 Turbo sports car.
But Davison, whose first marriage to a teacher ended in divorce, is acutely aware of the dangers of over-exposure, though he adds that "being over-exposed is better than being under-exposed."
He is doing rather well for an actor who left school with just three O-levels and only entered the profession because he couldn't think of anything better to do.
But his workload does cut into the time he can spend with his equally busy wife, actress Sandra Dickinson, the sexy, squeaky-voiced blonde from the St Bruno ads.
Caption: Peter Davison: "I had doubts."
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- APA 6th ed.: Lyness, Ian (1982-01-09). Tristan's new innings as The Doctor. Express & Star .
- MLA 7th ed.: Lyness, Ian. "Tristan's new innings as The Doctor." Express & Star [add city] 1982-01-09. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Lyness, Ian. "Tristan's new innings as The Doctor." Express & Star, edition, sec., 1982-01-09
- Turabian: Lyness, Ian. "Tristan's new innings as The Doctor." Express & Star, 1982-01-09, section, edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Tristan's new innings as The Doctor | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Tristan%27s_new_innings_as_The_Doctor | work=Express & Star | pages= | date=1982-01-09 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=25 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Tristan's new innings as The Doctor | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Tristan%27s_new_innings_as_The_Doctor | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=25 April 2025}}</ref>
