Peter Davison (2) (1951–)

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Peter Davison's Book of Alien Planets (1983), on the other hand, contains eight stories, only two of which are original – one by the editor, and one by Mary Gentle, who at that time was still a newcomer with just one novel, A Hawk in Silver, to her name; this seems to be her first published short fiction, but she had two more stories published in Asimov's that year (1983), and of course has never looked back. The others are all classics by the likes of Edmond Hamilton, Ray Bradbury and two by Arthur C. Clarke, "The Star" and "History Lesson". From Davison's foreword, it appears that these were very much chosen by him as personal favourites. Most of them have a grim twist at the end. It is the more solid of the two anthologies, but you are more likely to already have most of the stories in it.… (more)

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/peter-davisons-book-of-alien-monsters-and-peter-....

Peter Davison's Book of Alien Monsters (1982) includes nine stories, eight of which are original and were presumably commissioned for this book (the exception is "Beyond Lies the Wub", by Philip K. Dick). But most of the other eight are by major British authors – Robert Holdstock, Dave Langford, Michael Scott Rohan, Christopher Evans and one woman, Dyan Sheldon (her first SF publication, according to ISFDB, and last for several years as well; she is better known as a YA writer). They are decent enough, but only the Garry Kilworth story has been subsequently published elsewhere.… (more)

Peter Davison’s memoir, Is There Life Outside the Box? An Actor Despairs, examines his family life, his tenure as the fifth Doctor on Doctor Who, and his feelings of struggling in his career following his departure from Doctor Who. He addresses all of his material with self-deprecating humor, alternating between recounting events of the past and discussing the process of writing the memoir and gathering information in the present. For example, when contrasting his interest in Carol Burnett’s comedy with his youthful interest in music, Davison writes, “…she attributed her success, at least in part, to ‘seeing’ herself as a success. It was the same for me but I ‘saw’ myself as a songwriting sensation, and that never happened. That’s the truth for most positive thinking” (pg. 65). From there, Davison discusses his youthful relationships, his struggles in school and to become an actor, before detailing his first big break in All Creatures Great and Small.

Discussing his time on Doctor Who, Davison begins with the costume. He writes, “I don’t like celery, but I had no objection to wearing it on my lapel… My only stipulation was that [John Nathan-Turner] explained the reason for the decorative vegetable (obviously I used a less decorative description) before I left the series. Then I went away and forgot about it for the three years” (pg. 167). He also addresses Adric’s death, writing, “I thought, no one dies in Doctor Who… and yet every week lives of the Doctor and his companions are threatened… If for once, one of us did, we’d raise the jeopardy factor sky high… So we traumatised millions of children, and I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to them all, even though I would like to point out… IT WAS ABSOLUTELY NOT MY IDEA TO KILL ADRIC” (pg. 174). Finally, he discusses the frustrations that led to his departure. Davison writes, “It was January 1984, the end of three exciting but frustrating years. I felt, along with many others, that Doctor Who was underfunded, unappreciated and would only get more problematic as time went on… I heard an interview with Colin Baker talking excitedly about his plans for the show… He’d find out soon enough, his wriggle-room was non-existent, and his great notions would come to nothing” (pg. 189).

Davison discusses the interesting times during the lean years of the 1990s, when he appeared alongside Prince Charles in Grime Goes Green (pg. 222-225) and met David Tennant at a pub next to the Young Vic in 1993 (pg. 246). He describes meeting Tennant, writing, “A young man came up and enthusiastically engaged me in conversation about Doctor Who, which he knew far more about than I had forgotten” (pg. 246). Davison’s discussion of conventions is particularly heartwarming, especially as a fan to hear an honest account of the other side of these orchestrated events from one of the celebrity guests (303-319). Through it all, Davison’s humor and self-deprecating wit make this one of the most delightful memoirs by a former Doctor and well-worth reading for his fans.… (more)