Celery Stalk

The first thing I remember about the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davidson is the cricket outfit and celery stalk on the lapel of his jacket. Now, other s may have another memory and that is quite alright. Peter is not the first choice for the Fifth Doctor, Richard Griffiths was. But because he is not available Davidson is cast. One reason John Nathan-Turner cast Peter is because knew him from work on All Creatures Go (1) 

I will be honest with anyone who reads this and say that Davidson is very different from all the other actors who play the Doctor. The first thing I notice is his youth. He is much younger than his predecessors. This is something which Nathan-Turner looks for when casting the Fifth Doctor. When considering the next Doctor, there is a need to cast a totally different type actor. There is a need to for there is not any unfavorable comparisons to the popular Fourth.(2) The celery stalk will be very noticeable part of Davison’s Doctor rather that the scarf.

Another characteristic I found very likeable about the fifth Doctor is that he seems very human at time. He is rather vulnerable and caring. he shows much love for his companions. As you watch other Doctors, you can find that they are proactive and want to be in control of the situation. They want to control what is happening and do something before trouble comes. Well, the Fifth Doctor is the opposite. He reacts to the situation after it takes place. This can cause some problems, but he does as always win as all heros do.  Then the last thing to me is the cricket outfit and his aristocratic personality. This is for sure the most noticeable difference from Baker’s bohemian personality.(3)

Due some changes in the scheduling, there is a year before Davidson really begins as the Doctor. The Fifth Doctor makes his appearance in Logopolis at the end of season eighteen. What happens is Alan Hart, Controller of BBC 1, decides to make a change. The change is due to wanting to run the show twice a week on weekdays from once a week on Saturday, but also because Davidson is working on the BBC sitcom Sink or Swim. As a result, Davidson is unavailable to record enough episodes.(4)

This little change will for the short-term double the Doctor Who audience. The Black Orchid will be the only story to break the 10 million viewer mark over all. The last single episode to draw this many viewers is Time Flights first in 1982. The other changes which take place may have been when viewership begins to drop. I cannot say that for sure. There are script editor changes and then I notice that they rely heavily on old adversaries. Which leads to the Twentieth Anniversary Special The Five Doctors. To some extent as a viewer, I can see a lack of creativity in the stories. This I am sure leads to a drop in ratings and viewership.

As with his predecessors, except Baker, Davidson leaves after three seasons. This for me is such a difficult thing for Who fans. As a viewer you never really get to know the actor and he leaves. There are two reasons why Davidson decides to leave. The first is that Patrick Troughton advises him not to stay any longer than three years. The second is due to the scripts not being very good. This changes but his depart is already known and his replacement chosen.

Nathan-Turner picks Colin Baker to replace Davidson after a part in the Story Arc of Infinity. Baker will make his debut as the Sixth Doctor in The cave of Androzani, in March 1984.