- 6/11/2025
Meet the Fifth Doctor—young, brave, and full of heart—played by Peter Davison. Taking over the TARDIS in the early 1980s, Davison brought a fresh vulnerability and human touch to the role. This video explores how the Fifth Doctor’s cricket gear, celery stalk, and calm demeanor offered a new take on the Time Lord, while facing off against classic foes like the Master, Cybermen, and Daleks. With unforgettable companions like Tegan, Nyssa, and Adric, and emotional stories like Earthshock and The Caves of Androzani, Davison’s era is one of growth, sacrifice, and timeless sci-fi adventure.
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00:00The Doctor. He's a mysterious alien with many lives, traveling through eternity in a blue box.
00:23It might not look like much, but the TARDIS is capable of going anywhere in space and time.
00:29He's been from the big bang to the end of the universe. Wherever the Doctor goes, he makes friends, fights monsters and saves planets.
00:38But he doesn't do it alone. He's taken his companions through history and into distant dimensions.
00:44One mystery remains. Who is the Doctor? Well, you're about to find out.
00:50My Doctor was younger than the previous Doctors. I think that was the main thing he had going for him.
00:58So it was quite a change for Doctor Who to have this younger man. And I think he brought so many new qualities to it.
01:07The 1980s saw many radical changes. An actor in the White House, a female Prime Minister of Britain.
01:15But would humanity be able to accept that the Fifth Doctor was now a quick-witted cricketer who is young and actually rather dashing?
01:26It was announced that the Fifth Doctor was to be Peter Davison, who at the time was, well, he still is, but he was already a very well-known actor.
01:37So he seemed a very unlikely choice. He was very fresh-faced, very youthful, very young.
01:44I was probably the first Doctor, almost certainly the first Doctor, who'd actually watched the series when he was growing up.
01:51And I loved it. And to me, I suppose William Horton and Patrick Troughton were my two Doctors.
01:56So the idea of someone like me playing the part was a bit appalling at first.
02:01But I was encouraged to do so by the producer.
02:04He had a much, this young, fresh face, this much more innocent or this shot of youth came through.
02:13He was more of a dashing young man. And you thought, is he going to be able to cope with the universe?
02:18But of course, he's still got the same DNA and that wisdom of the universe.
02:22He's instantly lovable and commanding and plays it with a kind of truthfulness that was fairly new to Doctor.
02:31The Doctor is, by nature, a fairly eccentric character and cricket seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
02:39And I was a very keen cricket fan.
02:52Peter was quite lucky in that his costume was a bit of a classic.
02:55I got a rather designer's idea of what a Victorian cricket outfit might have been, but it was very cultural.
03:04I love the bit in the clip where he's deciding on what to wear and he's putting on the coat.
03:16I didn't have a say in she choosing the costume itself, but I did suggest the idea that he might have a cricketing outfit.
03:31Well, I suppose I'll get used to it in time.
03:34I don't quite understand the celery. I'm sure someone will be able to tell you about that.
03:38All I know is Peter Davison hates celery, so it's a very odd thing that he's wearing it on his collar.
03:43There was this strange thing, a stick of celery in your lapel, which, let's face it, would go off every day, wouldn't it?
03:49But I think Peter looked very dapper in his outfit and he had his hat and everything.
03:54I think it was a nice look, very easy on the eye, really.
03:59The fifth Doctor may have been young and good-looking, but he was still an ancient Time Lord, more than able to hold his own in any situation.
04:09How could I ever let you go? The sight of beauty is so important to me. And the stimulus of a mind nearly equal to my own.
04:25I've missed so much of life these last lonely years, but your arrival has changed all that.
04:32I think the question of age when it comes to the Doctor is that he's always an old soul.
04:39We shall become the best of companions.
04:41What do you say, Perry? We can go on nature walks, have picnics and jolly evenings around the campfire.
04:45Don't mock me, Doctor.
04:49But that wisdom and the eccentricity is always there, and I think Peter, you know, still played that very strongly.
04:58Beauty I must have, but you are dispensable. Thank you.
05:05You've got the mouth of a prattling jaconates, but your eyes relate on a different story.
05:13The fifth Doctor was much more direct, I think. He was less self-consciously eccentric.
05:30I think it was a really clever decision for the fifth Doctor to go in a way that made him more human,
05:35a softer portrayal, slightly more fallible. It was great to give jeopardy to the storytelling.
05:42You didn't know if he was going to have all the resources, all the ideas to fix it.
05:47And he drew his companions into it much more. You empathise with the companions.
05:52There was clearly a decision to show him as much more emotionally engaged,
05:58and therefore he is bound to be more vulnerable.
06:03Why do you always have some incomprehensible answer?
06:05And as you know, the TARDIS isn't always, uh, reliable.
06:10Call yourself a Time Lord.
06:12It's interesting that you can be assertive without being smart,
06:15and I think that works very well as a character.
06:19The Doctor's been saving the universe on our screens for 50 years.
06:28A mysterious alien wandering the stars in a time-travelling blue box.
06:33But he doesn't travel alone.
06:38At the time I was in the TARDIS, the TARDIS was quite crowded, really.
06:42The fifth Doctor's ship had a large crew,
06:46each bringing a unique dimension to the TARDIS team's dynamic.
06:52Some were orphans, some were assassins,
06:55and one just didn't want to be there.
06:58Well, I inherited, I think, more companions than any other Doctor.
07:02Three, I had. Two girls and a boy.
07:07The poor Doctor had to manage this one character
07:11who'd lost her planet, lost her father, lost everything,
07:14so he was sort of looking after her.
07:16She got Adric, the young boy,
07:18and then she'd got Tegan, who had accidentally come onto the TARDIS,
07:21so he was having to manage this little family, as it were,
07:25whilst organising the universe as well and fixing problems.
07:28So the TARDIS had a very busy feel to it.
07:31It was a new element, actually. We'd never really seen that before.
07:34We'd never really seen characters within the TARDIS team
07:38interacting in that way.
07:40The fifth Doctor of TARDIS is full of life and colour and energy,
07:43and these are people who like each other
07:46and they're fond of each other, but there's also friction.
07:48They're people who've been thrown together.
07:50They're not necessarily natural friends.
07:52The year is 2,526 in the timescale you call Anno Domini.
07:58Why have we materialised underground?
08:01Why not? Adric wants to use the computer.
08:03I want to go for a walk.
08:05Why not help Adric?
08:07I don't need his help, thank you very much.
08:09You see?
08:10Please Doctor, it's gone far enough.
08:11Do you know, I think since his regeneration,
08:13he's become decidedly immature.
08:15I'm going outside now. I might be gone sometime.
08:25Peter's Doctor was very protective of the three of us in the TARDIS,
08:30and I think particularly so of Nyssa because she had lost everything
08:34and she really had nowhere else to go.
08:36There was nowhere he could take her back to even if he wanted to.
08:39And they developed quite a strong relationship.
08:42Nyssa was a privileged woman from the planet Traken
08:47who lost everything when it was destroyed by the evil master.
08:51Gentle and with keen scientific skills,
08:55she developed a close bond with the Doctor.
08:58Nyssa was probably the most typical companion.
09:02He was, you know, nice and friendly, supportive of the Doctor.
09:05Over here, Doctor.
09:06No, Nyssa. I will not have blood spilt to save my life.
09:09Nyssa of Tarkin, I command you to lay aside that weapon.
09:12Doctor, quickly!
09:13Obey the Lord President or you two will die.
09:15You cannot escape, girl.
09:17Don't you understand? The Doctor was betrayed.
09:20His bio-scan was extracted from the Matrix.
09:23Doctor, tell them!
09:25They're right, Nyssa. We cannot escape.
09:29But we're ready to leave!
09:32Please. You must obey the Lord President.
09:34I know what I'm doing.
09:37The weapon, please.
09:42She'd definitely stand up for the Doctor.
09:44She wouldn't let him be threatened in any way.
09:48She would stand up for him.
09:49I think they all would.
09:50All the assistants wouldn't.
09:51I think that's true of every single Doctor, actually.
09:53The relationship is such that the assistants would throw themselves on the line for their Doctor.
09:58The 1980s was the era of the power-dressing career woman.
10:04Tegan Jovanka was the living embodiment of this.
10:07Sometimes she was saving the universe.
10:09Sometimes she was shouting at it.
10:11But one thing was certain.
10:13This air hostess really just wanted to get back to her job.
10:19Tegan, who was brusque Australian, didn't really want to be there and was rather angry every time they ended up in some fantastical planet or, you know, going back 400 years in time, she was just playing cross.
10:32Tegan, an Australian air hostess, who, of all Doctor Who companions, may be the one who comes aboard the TARDIS and most immediately wants to leave.
10:43The minute she's a member of the TARDIS, because she's obsessed with getting back to Heathrow, she's got a plane to catch.
10:50I know I have always been the best of companions.
10:54I'll miss you.
10:55And as a viewer, I always thought, you know, why? Why do you want to leave the TARDIS?
10:59Because you're going to have more fun here than you're ever going to have back in Heathrow.
11:04Oh, no.
11:08Is that supposed to be Heathrow?
11:10It is.
11:12Well, they've certainly let the grass grow since I was last there.
11:16Well, actually, they haven't built the airport yet. We're about 300 years early.
11:20That's great. If I can go out, find a claim on the land. When I get round to inventing the aircraft, I'll make a fortune.
11:28She was quite vociferous and she was quite argumentative and assertive, although not particularly smart.
11:40A small error has been made.
11:43You call 300 years a small error?
11:45It's probably due to nothing more than a temperamental solenoid on the lateral balance cones.
11:50The doctor exasperated her.
11:52Why do you always have some incomprehensible answer?
11:54And as you know, the TARDIS isn't always, uh, reliable.
11:59Call yourself a time lord.
12:02A broken clock keeps better time than you do.
12:04At least it's accurate twice a day.
12:07Which is more than you ever are.
12:11It's interesting that you can be one without the other.
12:14You can be assertive without being smart.
12:16And I think that works very well as a character.
12:21Adric was a boy genius from the planet Alzarius.
12:25Self-assured and confident, his time on the TARDIS was marked by one of the most dramatic departures in the series of any companion to date.
12:33Adric was a kind of interesting character because a great story was set about his intelligence, his mathematical skills.
12:41But obviously you're putting him next to the doctor who is a level of, you know, magnitude more intelligent than anybody else.
12:47But it was nice that some of that storytelling exposition was, you know, was taken off the doctor and given to Adric.
12:54Ah, the boy who got his sums wrong.
12:58No, I didn't. I'm a mathematician.
13:01Mathematician, eh? Well, what do you understand by E equals MC squared?
13:05Doctor. Come along, Adric, explain the formula.
13:08I think the doctor sees something of himself as a boy in that boy.
13:15Doctor Wesneser. Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.
13:20You grasp the theory of relativity.
13:22Doesn't everyone?
13:23I think it's probably credible to think that the doctor wasn't the easiest child that you've ever encountered, I think.
13:30And I think it's also quite possible to imagine Adric growing up into that rather high-handed, rather supercilious first doctor.
13:37I think it's perfectly easy to imagine.
13:39So I've always thought that the doctor sees something of himself in that boy.
13:43So there's a great sweetness and warmth between them.
13:46He's from the high echelons of his planet, an elite, albeit he sort of rejects that idea.
13:52But he is a part of the elite and this badge of mathematical excellence marks him as an intellectual elite.
13:59As time went on, it just really became obvious we had too many people, too many companions in the TARDIS.
14:07And so one of them had to go at least, and it was decided that Adric was to leave.
14:15The death of Adric was a big surprise.
14:17You probably wouldn't be able to get away with it nowadays when newspapers preview things and the internet exists.
14:22But, again, my sense as a child, I would have been ten or eleven, I think, was utter shock that a companion died.
14:33Really, the one thing that's really stuck in my mind is the episode and scene where, of course, Adric dies.
14:39And that traumatised me as a young six-year-old.
14:45Adric is trapped in a spaceship which has been loaded up with bombs and is being thrown at planet Earth to wipe out humanity.
14:53Please hurry, Doctor! We must get Adric off the freighter!
14:56The console's damaged!
14:58We must save Adric for so little time!
14:59It's very, very unusual for an assistant to die, and it was made a big thing of at the time.
15:05He died saving the Earth, basically, diverting the Cyberman's invasion and consequently actually killing off the dinosaurs and giving human beings a chance to inhabit the planet.
15:19So, in fact, it was a fantastically heroic death.
15:24That's it!
15:25What he's trying to do is break the computer codes so that he can reprogram the navigation systems of the ship.
15:50I'll never know if I was right.
15:51It was certainly, you know, a major shock, and they treated it, I thought, rather well.
15:56Look!
15:59Adric!
16:00Adric!
16:19Everybody was really shocked. It was all we talked about at the playground the next day. He really made an impact.
16:23I think, for the character of the Doctor, across his entire 50 years, it's a key moment.
16:30I think that was the first time I really faced or understood death, and it's stuck with me ever since.
16:39The return of this legendary, hardly ever seen alien was really thrilling.
16:45I didn't know it was coming, and I was thrilled to bits.
16:52For 50 years, the Doctor has been fighting evil in the darkest corners of the universe, and he's made some truly monstrous enemies.
17:03I'd always been a very big fan of Cybermen. I think probably they were my favourite Doctor Who enemy, even over the Daleks.
17:14The Cybermen had once been ordinary creatures of flesh and blood. Gradually, they replaced almost every part of themselves.
17:21In the process, they became ruthless, emotionless, and unstoppable.
17:29For me, the Cybermen were always the scariest villains. They just seemed the most relentless.
17:34I know Daleks are obviously the most famous, and Daleks are the ones that most people are, you know, in awe of and stuff.
17:41But when you're a kid, you kind of go, yeah, they can't catch me. You know, but Cybermen could march, and they could go anywhere.
17:45They were just a merciless army, and for me, they were always the scariest ones.
17:51The Cybermen, there is absolutely no emotion there at all. They are just...
17:57They are non-sentient beings, actually.
18:00That's not true in the future, but the foreseeable future.
18:08The return of this legendary, hardly ever seen alien was really thrilling for anybody familiar with the series.
18:19It was a big surprise. We didn't know it was coming.
18:21and we like I knew anyone else who was watching the show I was just me sitting
18:26in my front room
18:27but I didn't know was coming and I was thrilled to bits
18:30they were brought back and redesigned
18:38mine and I thought actually they did a brilliant job
18:42I think they're my favorite my I'm biased obviously cause I was the doctor but
18:45I am they're my favorite Cybermen design
18:49to this day they were just very menacing you could see
18:52behind the sort of plastic faces just a hint of the face
18:56which is what they meant to be it's meant to be sort of a humanoid kind
19:00big aliens who are in a life support
19:04system I see the time lords have emotional feelings
19:07of sorts surely a great weakness in one so powerful
19:11emotions have their uses they restrict and curtail the intellect
19:15and logic the mind they also enhance life when did you last have the pleasure of
19:19smelling a flower watching a sunset eating a well-prepared meal these things are irrelevant
19:24for some people small beautiful events is what life is all about
19:28scene in Earthshock where the doctor confronts the cyber leader I think he's it strikes
19:33right to the heart of the character and that betrayal he's talking about the value of emotion
19:37the small things the things that make up that you know human life experienced talking about the
19:42things assignment have lost you have perfection for this woman she's a friend and you do not
19:48I do not kill her
19:55no
20:00such a reaction is not a disadvantage
20:06no I love you
20:09I love you
20:11I love you
20:13the Cybermen I loved them before but I loved them even more when they came back in my time
20:20the legacy of the fifth doctor was a time lord who was honourable who cared about everyone he was kind
20:27huge hearted very honourable man who always wants to do the right thing
20:33I think the fifth doctor has a very special place in the public consciousness I think he's one of the ones that
20:42the people hold very dear
20:45I mean I did think when I became an actor oh it would be nice to get a part in Doctor Who
20:49maybe a couple of lines or a nice little featured character for a story but I never dreamt that I would end up playing the doctor
20:57Saturday
20:59Saturday
21:00a new Doctor
21:01are we going there?
21:03into darkness
21:04a new series
21:06Immy where are you?
21:07and an old friend
21:09don't miss the season premiere of Doctor Who and BBC America's new original series
21:14Intruders followed by After Who Live hosted by Chris Hardwick
21:18it all begins with the Doctor Who pre-show at 8
21:21Saturday
21:22on BBC America
21:24television
21:25from the other side
21:27oh
21:28yes
21:29Doctor Who
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