“Is There Life Outside the Box?” with Peter Davison

I’m absolutely thrilled to be talking this week with actor Peter Davison, star of All Creatures Great and Small, Doctor Who, At Home with the Braithwaites, West End musicals like Spamalot and Gypsy, and much more. He’s also the author of a delightful memoir, Is There Life Outside the Box: An Actor Despairs, and Doctor Who fans also know him as the creator of the 50th anniversary special, The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot. Peter talks with me about many of those things, plus how he came to write his book, the “rise of the nerds,” and more.

Episode breakdown:

[00:01:10] Childhood creativity, music, becoming an actor.

[00:10:08] Taking on Doctor Who, and being unsure how to approach the character.

[00:17:03] Doctor Who, and playing unpleasant characters well.

[00:24:54] All Creatures Great and Small and the lessons learned from Robert Hardy.

[00:35:18] Actors fear of being replaced, and the difference between US and UK actors.

[00:42:13] Acting as the best job.

[00:50:28] Writing his memoir.

[00:55:34] The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.

[01:03:07] Doctor Who fandom and the “rise of the nerd.”

Please leave a review and in it, tell us about a time when a story was important to you.

Want more? Here are some handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in theatre and writing and publishing.

Button Moon theme, written and performed by Peter Davison

“Officer McKirk” is the song Peter sold to Dave Clark, who recorded it with the Dave Clark Five.

A great little scene from ACG&S with Robert Hardy

Show links

Peter’s IMDB

Subscribe!

You can subscribe to Follow Your Curiosity via the handy links at the top of the page for Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Google, and YouTube. If you enjoyed the episode, don’t forget to tell your friends!