Why I love cricket: Peter Davison's love of the game formed a key part of his portrayal of the fifth Doctor Who

PETER DAVISON: I was unveiled as the Doctor in a park near Television Centre. The TARDIS had a wicket painted on it and people threw balls at me. I had a Duncan Fearnley bat

My father was from Guyana, so he had a great love of cricket, although he always got confused: he supported England but when West Indies were here he was torn. I recall a trip to The Oval, in the days where you could sit on the grass, right up to the boundary. It was fantastic.

I thought cricket was a sport, but not a sport. Now it has changed. You couldn’t imagine Colin Cowdrey racing off to the boundary at great speed. When I saw a Test cricketer then, they looked like ordinary people. Now they are lean athletes. That’s fine… although I quite liked the idea of people ambling around.

I used to listen to Test Match Special on the radio at my house in Woking, in the garden, about the time of Peter May’s captaincy. It didn’t seem to be on TV much. It would start at 11, then they would go to the news at noon, then there would be horse racing, and I couldn’t bear it.

I didn’t play much until secondary school. We had a teacher called Mr Verney who put a team together, and I wasn’t very good at football. I wasn’t bad at cricket. I was a leg-spinner and a batsman you couldn’t get out easily. I found it easier to bowl googlies. I wasn’t that accurate, but I had my moments. My standout memory was taking two wickets in an over, and batting for an enormous length of time for two runs.

I played for the Vic Lewis XI for three or four seasons. David English also played: he would make us laugh so much. There was Christopher Blake (That’s my Boy) and a few guys from the Fenn Street Gang. I think Phil Tufnell played for us (or we played against him)!

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I remember facing a Derbyshire XI, which was truly terrifying. I faced Geoff Miller. I’d seen him play for England. Now in my terms a spinner is a slow bowler, but I didn’t see it. I just heard it fizz past me. That’s when I realised there was a gulf between the kind of cricket we were playing and the professional game.

All Creatures Great and Small was filmed in Yorkshire and we played a charity game at Hawes. The Doctor Who producer, John Nathan-Turner, also worked on All Creatures, and he said he saw a picture of me in cricket whites from that game.

He wanted something youthful and eccentric for my costume, so that fitted the bill (although I am a pretty sure it was my idea!). As it happened, the costume didn’t really look authentic, whereas I wanted something more off the peg. It was comfortable, though. 

I was unveiled as the Doctor in a park near Television Centre. The TARDIS had a wicket painted on it and people threw balls at me. I had a Duncan Fearnley bat. In my first story, Castrovalva, the TARDIS is shown to have its own cricket room. 

My proudest moment was in the story, Black Orchid, which involved a match in the 1920s. I bowled a batsman out. If anybody says, “Are you actually any good at cricket?”, I say, “Look at Black Orchid”. I was bowling seam not leg-spin – I thought that was more macho as the Doctor.

^{Peter Davison became the fifth actor to play the role of Doctor Who}

I also played cricket in Midsomer Murders, which was frustrating. I was meant to be a terrible cricketer, and the guy who played the murderer was meant to be good, but had clearly never picked up a bat. I just wanted to say, “Hold the bat in the right way!” In Grantchester I played the captain of a team, Geoff Towler, but didn’t get to actually play cricket. I portrayed a racist (in the 1950s), and I got cross with an immigrant player.

I recall the 2005 Ashes vividly, especially Edgbaston. Australia needed about 100 to win. I watched it until it seemed inevitable. I turned the telly off with five to win, disgusted. I drove to location four hours away and didn’t turn the radio on as I couldn’t bear to hear the reports. I didn’t find out we’d won until the next day. I couldn’t believe it. To this day I believe we only won because I turned off the telly. 

Sir Ian Botham wrote off one of my cars! Saab used to give celebs cars. I had one, and Ian had one. I remember when Ian lost the captaincy (Lord’s, 1981) and Saab were excited when he got photographed driving away in it.

Two or three weeks later I was meant to attend a race meeting at Thruxton that Saab organised. Ian drove his off the road. I couldn’t get there, so rather than give up, he got in my car and smashed that up as well – in one day! 

I enjoy watching Jos Buttler. He’s just so instinctive and entertaining. I saw a masterclass with Adam Gilchrist on Sky and when they asked him about technique, he couldn’t give any answers. We seem to be looking out for someone with perfect technique.

I also loved watching Kevin Pietersen. If someone is so good, we have to make allowances for them. I liked his bravado – I suppose because I’m not like that…

Interview by Huw Turbervill

This article was published in the October 2017 edition of The Cricketer - the home of the best cricket analysis and commentary, covering the international, county, women's and amateur game

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