85 lines
4.6 KiB
Plaintext
85 lines
4.6 KiB
Plaintext
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I THOUGHT I WAS TOO YOUNG
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TO PLAY THE DOCTOR!
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by Peter
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Davison
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I was a fan of the Doctor Who Programme for the start and it had a
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very big impact on me. Along with millions of other children I used
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to hide behind the sofa every Saturday evening. The stories used to
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terrify me and even now I can still vividly remember certain parts, in
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particular, the Hartnell-Troughton eras. For about five or six years
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I watched it absolutely avidly.
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You can imagine, then, that when I was offered the part of the Doctor
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my reaction was one of disbelief! At first I didn't know what to think,
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the idea seemed crazy. But gradually it grew on me.
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I think it was because I was the first young actor to be asked to play
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the part that I was so taken aback. It seemed to me I was too young for
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the role - that the character of the Doctor, as a kind of professor-type,
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was just not me. It also meant that I was much close in age to the fans.
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So I knew there would be special problems I would have to face.
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I have a starting point, of course. I could draw a little from each of
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my predecessors. So I watched old episodes of all the Doctors to see how
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they had played the part.
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I also soon realised that as Tom Baker had played the Doctor for seven
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years there would be some young viewers who had never known anyone in the
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part but him. So I had to set out to create a character who was quite
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different - and this I hope I have achieved.
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I see my Doctor as well-meaning - although he doesn't always act for
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the best. But his overriding consideration is still to sort out whatever
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problem he is faced with as best he can. He may even endanger his companions
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in doing this. And he always starts out being polite, but usually gets less
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and less so as disaster looms!
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Funny things happen all the time when we are making Doctor Who. For
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instance, I remember an incident when we were filming Arc of Infinity
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in Amsterdamn. I was playing two parts, you may recall - the other being
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Omega who was trying to turn himself into the Doctor. Once he turned into
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me, he started to decay.
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In one of the scenes I had to cross Dam Square, which is in the middle
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of Amsterdam, wearing horrific make-up - a mixture of rice crispies and
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glue and all sorts of things fixed down one side of my face.
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Anyhow, I had to run through the square - which is rather like out
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Trafalgar Square, full of people and pigeons. It must have been quite
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terrifying to those people - who, of course, had no idea we were making a
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film. They just couldn't believe their eyes as I ran by! It wasn't easy for
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me, either, having to dodge the trams and cars as well.
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Getting that scene done was really hard work. We had to do it four
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times and after all that it was decided it was too horrific and cut from
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the story!
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My total view of Doctor Who is that I am playing a part. However, I
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realise that there is a lot more to it than just acting on the screen. You
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somehow take on the mantle of the Doctor and a kind of instant charisma
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goes with the job. You have a responsibility - it is important to be always
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polite and cheery in public. Fortunately, I'm not a rebel rouse in my
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private life!
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It is really no surprise to me that the programme has been going for
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such a long time. It is unstoppable now, I think, and has a vast following
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that just goes on increasing all the time.
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Peter Davison
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Janurary 1983
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