Peter Davison didn't think he'd get another TV break after '80s success
The former Doctor Who star opened up in an exclusive interview.
Peter Davison has revealed that he didn't think he would get another big break in television after his considerable success in the late 1970s and '80s.
The actor rose to fame playing rebellious Tristan Farnon in the original All Creatures Great and Small, while his tenure as the Fifth Doctor in sci-fi drama Doctor Who won him even more fans.
However, acting is a tricky business to sustain, and he told RadioTimes.com there was "a period in the '90s" where he found himself in financial trouble as major opportunities dried up.
"I did get into debt, quite a lot of debt, which I slowly whittled away and eventually got on top of. But that was a very worrying period because I thought, at that point, that was it – I wouldn't have another break in television," explained Davison.
The actor was reflecting on his short-lived 2007 sitcom Fear, Stress & Anger for an exhaustive retrospective, which is available to read now exclusively on RadioTimes.com.
Read more: Fear, Stress & Anger: Peter Davison and Georgia Tennant's lost sitcom
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For that series, he stepped into the role of advertising executive Martin Chadwick, who also experiences money woes after being slapped with a major demotion at work.
Davison continued: "I was doing theatre and the odd TV job in the '90s, but I remember thinking: 'That's it. I've had my great time – which were really the late '70s and '80s – and that's as much as you can expect as an actor. And now I would be just doing odd little jobs here and there for the rest of my life.'"
This difficult experience helped him to empathise with Martin's plight all the more. He added: "Fortunately, it didn't work out like that for me, but I know what it's like to have that feeling of, 'How am I going to pay next year's tax?'"
Davison's later successes include At Home with the Braithwaites, The Last Detective, Law & Order: UK and Gentleman Jack, while he recently took a guest role in Prime Video's fantasy favourite Good Omens.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
