50 Years of Who - Always The Perfect Guests

After seven years in the role, Tom Baker gave up being the Doctor, and the mantle passed to Peter Davison. Davison was only 29 when he was cast, and he had an incredibly difficult job ahead of him. He was succeeding a man who simply was the Doctor, who embodied the programme in the minds of the viewers. That's a big challenge, one that could only be met by playing the role so completely differently that comparison would be impossible. Thankfully, Davison was canny enough to do exactly that.

His Fifth Doctor was more vulnerable, more excitable and far less remote and alien. He was moody and easily frustrated. Like the Second Doctor, he was more affected by the events around him. He was like a favourite teacher, travelling on an extended school trip with a few favourite pupils. And still there was a touch of the "old man" that lurked beneath the surface of his portrayal. In this clip, he confronts an old enemy, the Cybermen, who had been absent from the series for seven years:





 

 

 

 

See you soon for more Classic Doctor Who!