Biografie

He is the father-in-law to David Tennant. Davison was the Fifth Doctor and Tennant was the Tenth. Tennant has always been very open about the fact that Davison was his favorite Doctor and he presented the documentary Come in Number Five (2011), which covered the production of the Davison era of the series and featured as an extra on the Special Edition DVD release of Resurrection of the Daleks: Part One (1984).

He is the father, with Sandra Dickinson, of actress Georgia Tennant. He is the grandfather to Tyler Peter Moffett (b. May 2002) and Olive Tennant (b. March 2011). He is also the father, with Elizabeth Heery, of sons, Louis Davison and Joel James Davison.

He became the youngest actor to be cast as the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963) in 1981, aged just 29 when he made his first appearance in the role. When he reprised the role of the Doctor in 2007 at the age of 56, he was older than William Hartnell was when Hartnell originated the role at the age of 55. His record as the youngest Doctor was broken in 2009 when 26-year-old Matt Smith was cast for the role in Doctor Who (2005).

When it was announced in 1980 that Davison was to play the Fifth Doctor, Patrick Troughton, who played the Second Doctor, advised the 29-year-old actor to limit his time on the series to three years, as he had done, in order to avoid being typecast. Davison followed this advice. In March 1987, Davison advised Sylvester McCoy, who had been announced as the Seventh Doctor that month, to do likewise. However, the advice proved academic as the series was canceled in 1989 by Peter Cregeen, the BBC's new Head of Series.

On 8 August 2001, in Belsize Park, London, he made a citizen's arrest after a 15-year-old youth allegedly stole a video camera from his car. Davison gave chase and then restrained the youth for 10 minutes before police arrived.

I followed Tom Baker, I was cast to be different from Tom Baker. So I was my own Doctor, no doubt about that.

I couldn't turn down the possibility of being the Doctor, I had to accept the part. You just think all the time: 'Am I ever going to work again? I am now playing a 750-year-old Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, who is going to cast me in anything serious?'

[on Christopher Eccleston's decision to leave Doctor Who (2005) after just one series] I feel sorry for the fans, as I feel they've been rather let down. What it really needed, after all the effort and dedication of the fans over the years to get the show back on air, would be to have someone committed enough to stay with the role for two or three years. As it is, the fans must be disappointed and left feeling up in the air a bit.

I must admit I'm a bit old-fashioned and just wait for things to turn up. I really love getting offered a job - although I don't believe it's true until the costume designer rings me up.

A drama student is a fantastic thing to be because you can prance around in a long coat, carrying a script under your arm. Then a brutal thing happens - you leave, and realise you are at the bottom of the heap.