Fifth Doctor
| The Doctor | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| The Fifth Doctor | |
| Portrayed by | Peter Davison |
| Tenure | 1981–1984 |
| First appearance | Logopolis (Part 4) |
| Last appearance | The Caves of Androzani (regular) Dimensions In Time (charity special) |
| Number of series | 3 |
| Appearances | 20 stories (69 episodes) |
| Companions | on television: Adric, Nyssa, Tegan, Turlough, Kamelion,
Peri in spin-offs: Sir Justin, Gus, Erimem |
| Chronology | |
| Preceding | Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) |
| Succeeding | Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) |
| Series | |
The Fifth Doctor is the name given to the fifth incarnation of the fictional character known as the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Peter Davison.
Overview
After the famous and popular Fourth Doctor (as played by Tom Baker), the decision was taken for the next Doctor to be played by someone who presented something of a physical contrast to Baker and by an actor who was already firmly established in the British public's mind. Peter Davison was chosen, due in no small part to his popular and critically acclaimed role as Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small, a BBC series based on the books of James Herriot.
The Fifth Doctor's era was notable for a "back to basics" attitude, in which "silly" humour (and, to an extent, horror) was kept to a minimum, and more scientific accuracy was encouraged by the producer, John Nathan-Turner. It was also notable for the reintroduction of many of the Time Lord's enemies; such as the Master, Cybermen, Omega (a founding-father of Gallifrey), the Black and White Guardians, the Sea Devils, and the Silurians.
Biography
The Fourth Doctor's regeneration into the Fifth was a problematic one, and nearly failed, with the Doctor briefly taking on personality aspects from his four previous incarnations. After recovering in the fictional city Castrovalva, he continued his travels with Tegan Jovanka, Nyssa of Traken and Adric. After trips to the future and the past encountering villains such as Monarch and the Mara, the Fifth Doctor was confronted with tragedy when Adric died trying to stop a space freighter from crashing into prehistoric Earth (Earthshock).
When the Doctor met a new companion, an alien boy stranded on Earth by the name of Vislor Turlough, he did not know that Turlough had been commissioned by the Black Guardian to kill him. Soon after, Nyssa left to help cure Lazar's Disease on the space station Terminus. After meeting the entities known as Eternals racing in yacht-like spacecraft for the prize of "Enlightenment", Turlough broke free from the Black Guardian's influence, and continued to travel with the Doctor and Tegan. The Doctor met three of his previous incarnations when they were summoned to the Death Zone on Gallifrey by President Borusa, who was attempting to gain Rassilon's secret of immortality.
After further adventures in which the Doctor re-encountered old foes including the Silurians and the Sea Devils both Tegan and Turlough left the TARDIS. Tegan would find the death and violence they encountered on their travels too much to bear (Resurrection of the Daleks), and Turlough returned to his home planet of Trion.
Ultimately, the Fifth Doctor and his last companion Peri Brown were exposed to the drug spectrox in its deadly toxic raw form on Androzani Minor. With only one dose of the antidote available, he nobly sacrificed his own existence to save Peri, regenerating into the Sixth Doctor having expressed doubt (for the first time) that regeneration might be possible.
A sketch of the Fifth Doctor is seen in John Smith's book in the new series episode "Human Nature".
Personality
The Fifth Doctor was far more vulnerable, sensitive and reserved than his previous incarnations, and would often react to situations rather than initiate them. Unlike his more authoritative predecessors, he would treat his young companions as parts of a team, and would often willingly participate in situations under the leadership of someone else who had the strong command presence that he apparently lacked. However, the Fifth Doctor's boyish appearance, nervous energy and charm all hid the fact that he was a Time Lord of great age, compassion and experience.
This Doctor greatly abhorred violence and would often hesitate about taking matters into his own hands. For the first time indecision weighed seriously on the character, and it had its consequences. But this Doctor was also one of the most courageous of his incarnations. It was perhaps the awful realisation that his very existence begat violence, and the weight of companion Adric's death on his conscience, that led him to sacrifice his own existence to save his last companion, Peri.
The Fifth Doctor's chosen mode of dress was a variation of an Edwardian cricketer's uniform, and he was even seen to carry a cricket ball in one of his pockets (which saved his life in one adventure). He wore a cream-coloured frock coat, striped trousers and plimsoll shoes. On his lapel, this Doctor wore a celery stalk; he claimed in The Caves of Androzani that the celery would turn purple in the presence of certain gases in the "Praxis" range to which he was allergic, although this allergy was not mentioned by any incarnations before or since. He said that if that happened, he would then eat the celery (explaining, "If nothing else, I'm sure it's good for my teeth"). In the same story, while attempting to revive a feverish Peri from Spectrox Toxemia, he had noted that celery was an "excellent restorative from where he was from", but that "the human olfactory was comparatively feeble". He also displayed an unusually acute sense of taste in "Planet of Fire", similar to Tenth Doctor. Peter Davison stated in an interview on the DVD of Castrovalva, that he thought the clothes he wore were far too "designed" and that he would have still kept them, but wanted to add some individual flair to them, as other actors portraying the Doctor have done in the past.
The Fifth Doctor was the last to use the original sonic screwdriver, which is destroyed during The Visitation, although the Seventh and subsequent Doctors were later seen using new versions of the tool.
Appearances
The Fifth Doctor was first seen on television in the last episode of Logopolis, broadcast on 21 March 1981. Davison played the role through the 19th and 20th seasons of Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors. Patrick Troughton, who played the Second Doctor, advised Davison to stay in the role for three years, and acting on this advice Davison informed producer John Nathan-Turner that he would leave the role after the 21st season. In a break from recent tradition, Nathan-Turner decided to regenerate the Doctor in the season's penultimate story, in order to introduce the Sixth Doctor to audiences before the seasonal hiatus. Davison's last regular appearance as the Fifth Doctor was in the last episode of The Caves of Androzani, broadcast on 16 March 1984.
Davison returned to the role briefly in the 1993 charity special Dimensions in
Time. Beginning in 1999, he recorded a series of Doctor Who audio plays
for Big Finish Productions. In 2007, The
Sun claimed that Davison would appear alongside Tenth Doctor David Tennant in a Doctor Who special for Children in
Need, written by
The Fifth Doctor has also appeared in officially licensed novels, short stories and comics.
Non-television appearances
Novels
Virgin Missing Adventures
- Goth Opera by Paul Cornell
- The Crystal Bucephalus by Craig Hinton
- Lords of the Storm by David A. McIntee
- The Sands of Time by Justin Richards
- Cold Fusion by Lance Parkin
Past Doctor Adventures
- The Ultimate Treasure by Christopher Bulis
- Zeta Major by Simon Messingham
- Deep Blue by Mark Morris
- Divided Loyalties by Gary Russell
- Imperial Moon by Christopher Bulis
- The King of Terror by Keith Topping
- Superior Beings by Nick Walters
- Warmonger by Terrance Dicks
- Fear of the Dark by Trevor Baxendale
- Empire of Death by David Bishop
Eighth Doctor Adventures
- The Eight Doctors by Terrance Dicks
- Seen in the TARDIS mirror in Camera Obscura
Telos Doctor Who novellas
- Blood and Hope by Iain McLaughlin
Comics
Doctor Who Magazine
- The Tides of Time
- Stars Fell on Stockbridge
- The Stockbridge Horror
- Lunar Lagoon
- 4-Dimensional Vistas
- The Moderator
- The Lunar Strangers
- The Curse of the Scarab
Doctor Who Yearbook
- Blood Invocation
Audio
| Fifth Doctor audio dramas |
|---|
| The Sirens of Time • Phantasmagoria • The Land of the Dead • Red Dawn • Winter for the Adept • The Mutant Phase • Loups-Garoux • The Eye of the Scorpion • Primeval • Excelis Dawns • Spare Parts • The Church and the Crown • No Place Like Home • Nekromanteia • Creatures of Beauty • Omega • Zagreus • The Axis of Insanity • The Roof of the World • The Game • Three's a Crowd • The Council of Nicaea • Singularity • The Kingmaker • The Gathering • Circular Time • Renaissance of the Daleks • Exotron & Urban Myths • Son of the Dragon • The Mind's Eye • The Bride of Peladon • The Haunting of Thomas Brewster |
References
- ^ Nathan, Sara. "Dr Peter is back in the Tardis", The Sun, 2007-08-21. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
External links
- The Fifth Doctor on the BBC's Doctor Who website
- Fifth Doctor's theme music
- Fifth Doctor title sequence
- Alan Kistler's Profile on the Fifth Doctor
| The Doctors | |
|---|---|
| First Doctor (William Hartnell) | Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) |
| Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) | Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) |
| Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) | Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) |
| Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) | Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) |
| Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) | Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) |
| Other Doctors | |
| Dr. Who (Peter Cushing) | The Watcher (Adrian Gibbs) |
| The Valeyard (Michael Jayston) | Shalka Doctor (Richard E. Grant) |
| Companions of the Fifth Doctor | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 |
| ← Tegan | Tegan | Peri → | ||||||||||||||||||
| ← Nyssa | Kamelion | |||||||||||||||||||
| ← Adric | Turlough | |||||||||||||||||||
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