Dr HP

 

As a childhood Doctor Who fan the fifth doctor took some getting used to. It's hard to imagine these days when the Doctors generally struggle to last two seasons, but back in the 70's and early 80's the Doctor simply was Tom Baker. I knew of no other, being too young to remember the first three incarnations. Baker portrayed the Time Lord for seven consecutive seasons, still by far the longest ever tenure. The fifth doctor was very different, a much younger man with blond hair and was usually dressed in cricket whites and a cream blazer. He had question marks on his collar to emphasize the enigmatic nature of the central character, along with a Panama hat. He took some getting used to, but eventually he won the hearts and minds of the fans. It amazes me that I've only just discovered that the actor who played him, Peter Davison, was also a HP. A friend of mine has discovered Davison's back-story where it clearly states that he did a number of jobs in his youth while starting out in drama part-time. One of those was a hospital porter. He was also an attendant in "Rose Cottage", a bit of a dead end job, as we used to say. As you can see from his bio in the above illustration, he dislikes rude people. I'm not surprised considering his occupational experience. He will know too much about that! Peter Davison entered civilian life permanently when he accepted the role of Tristan in All Creatures Great and Small, the TV adaptation of James Herriot's famous books about being a veterinarian in rural Yorkshire. Source: https://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/All_creatures_great_for_the_new_Dr_Who. Doctor Who has changed enormously in recent years, completely for the worse. The idea of a portrayal of the central character winning any hearts and minds, of what few fans the series has left, is laughable. The travesties cast post-David Tennant have caused me to boycott the franchise altogether. Peter Davison is a nostalgic reminder of the golden age of Who, the time when quality on TV was still a thing; when thespians, writers and directors actually did their job well. Luckily, thanks to home media, all the gems of the previous Doctor Who catalogue are available to enjoy. Even if the BBC bans them... which is quite possible... they will be bootlegged. I'm proud that a HP was involved with that glorious historical artistic creation. I salute MEP&DBP Peter Davison.