Why Every Lead Actor Left Doctor Who

9. Peter Davison

Fifth Doctor Tardis Peter Davison
BBC Studios

As previously mentioned, Peter Davison wanted to stick to a three-year stint after listening to Patrick Troughton's advice about not being typecast. So that's exactly what he did!

However, there may be a little bit more to the story than that.

Though Davison was happy with his final season in 1984, he found the middle part of his run rather frustrating, clashing with Nathan-Turner over various creative decisions. Davison wished to bring more levity to his Doctor, which his superior consistently shot down.

Davison had also noted how long Tom Baker stayed in the role, and was concerned that staying any longer than three years might affect his future job opportunities.

And so, the Fifth Doctor regenerated on 16 March 1984, almost three years to the day since his first appearance at the end of Logopolis.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!