The day of the Doctor approaches...

With just 18 days to go until Doctor Who reaches its 50th anniversary milestone, Digital Spy and other press spoke to an actor who led the show into the early '80s and went out in a blaze of glory in one of the show's finest ever stories...

Below, Peter Davison talks Doctor Who's long-lasting appeal, his single biggest regret about his tenure, 'hanky panky in the TARDIS' and his exit from the show in 1984.

> Doctor Who anniversary: Tom Baker talks the 50th and fandom

Peter Davison on... why Doctor Who has lasted 50 years

"I suppose the biggest reason is the fact that it regenerates itself. When Doctor Who came back, it came back under the control of people who had grown up watching the classic Doctors all those years ago, and being inspired to write, direct and act, and wanting to do Doctor Who - that's the biggest thing. So in a way it was self-perpetuating."

Peter Davison on... his biggest Doctor Who regret - 1982's 'Time-Flight'

BBC

"There is nothing wrong with the story, it's just that we did not do it justice. We had no money and we had to do exteriors inside Studio 8 at the BBC with a little model of Concorde and a ludicrous set... the monsters were bits of polystyrene.

"I have to say we had a fantastic cast, we laughed through an awful lot of it. So it was not that we didn't enjoy making it, it's just that we didn't do it justice.

"It's a shame to have to make a programme like that, when you have to make it with two and sixpence. So that was one of my only regrets about Doctor Who.

"Again, it wasn't the story. The story by Peter Grimwade was quite good, and it makes a much better novelisation than it did a programme."

Peter Davison on... Doctor Who repeats on the BBC

"They get terribly afraid of things like 4:3. They don't want to show anything that's 4:3 on a 16:9 television, in case people think it's boring. I remember that day when the BBC decided they weren't going to show any black-and-white films in the evening because people wanted colour - I'm not sure that's right...

"If people really want to watch something iconic - and let's face it, this year is a very special year for Doctor Who - people will put up with that. It's fine."

Peter Davison on... hanky panky in the TARDIS and female companions

"I think the idea that there's frisson in the TARDIS is absolutely fine and works very well. I'm rather envious of the number of times that the Doctor gets to kiss girls now!

"I don't know why [in my era] they were so obsessive that there should be no flirtation and I think it was part of the reason why they never quite mastered the whole companion idea.

"They were struggling for many years to make the companions more rounded characters and... they never once thought it was a good idea to put any frisson or sexual tension - even in its most innocent form - between the Doctor and companion. I think it would make it easier to write a better character.

"All I know is they've struggled for many years to write a good companion's part. I don't think they've ever really managed it till Rose (Billie Piper), when the series came back."

Peter Davison on... his Doctor Who family and son-in-law David Tennant

"Doctor Who is never far away from the conversation [but] we don't go into intricacies about storylines and who was best!

"My two sons are addicted to Doctor Who, and they have a rivalry in that one is a David Tennant fan and one is a Matt Smith fan - neither of them are my fan!

"I loved the new series when it came back. I thought David's performance in it was fantastic. I'd have loved to have had a crack at it - if only they made computers 50 years before they did, and then the digital technology would have been there to do those sorts of effects.

"I'm very flattered by the fact he grew up watching me and then gave that performance. That's all I can claim credit for."

Peter Davison on... his Doctor Who exit

"I think I left at the right time. There was a moment in that third season when I'd already made the decision. I think I had a last chance to change my mind and go on for a fourth. And I thought about it for about a day.

"I will always be the fifth Doctor but I didn't have a problem getting another job. I got another job almost immediately. And because of that I felt I never needed to run and hide from the series at all. I'm very happy with the way it worked out."

Doctor Who returns to BBC One for 50th anniversary special 'The Day of the Doctor' on Saturday, November 23.

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