Former Doctor Who actor, Peter Davison, spoke of his love for Edinburgh – as the city where he said his career started.
Davison, 73, played the fifth Time Lord, appearing on TV screens from 1981-84.
Speaking at the tenth Capital Sci-Fi Con at the O2 in Edinburgh, organised by the charity CHAS, he went back in time to a happy period in the Scottish capital.
He said: “I like coming to Edinburgh because this is where I started my career. I was a member of the Edinburgh Young Lyceum Company in 1972 and 1973.
“I was about 21 years old and had just left drama school. I lived up here quite a lot of the time in those early years so I have a great kinship with Edinburgh.
“We took part in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe including a mad rock opera version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was a good start for me because I was doing plays and working with bigger names, which was great.
“I miss the smell of the breweries in Edinburgh from those days.”
He added: “It’s very nice for the ego coming to these events. It’s nice to interact with the fans.”
Davison joked that David Tennant was his only “second favourite” Doctor Who – despite the Scot being his son-in-law.
Tennant took over the Tardis as the tenth incarnation in 2005 and married Davison’s daughter, actress Georgia, in 2011.
Davison said he was a fan of his son-in-law’s Doctor but insisted his all-time favourite remains the late Patrick Troughton, whom he credited with keeping the sci-fi series going in its early years.
He said: “I was 12 years old when Doctor Who started and I watched avidly.
“William Hartnell was the first Doctor I remember, followed by Patrick Troughton. William Hartnell was too ill to carry on and they brought in Patrick.
“I remember watching his first episode thinking this is going to be terrible and by the end he’d won everyone over. Then they came up with this idea of regeneration.
“If you ask me who my favourite Doctor is, I’d say Patrick Troughton because without him the series would not have continued.
“I’d say David comes second. He was such a fan of the show and brought this effervescent quality and enjoyment, just having great fun.
“David was very good. I’d tried to brainwash my sons with my Doctor and I’d succeeded to a certain extent – my son when he watched me on the telly would call me Doctor Daddy.
“Then Doctor Who came back with Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant and my children abandoned me entirely.
“I say (to David) without me you wouldn’t be here.”
He joked: “I think I was his Doctor… He was a huge fan so I always like to imagine he married my daughter to get closer to me.”
The annual Sci-Fi convention in Edinburgh has raised over £430,000 for CHAS since 2016.
Laura Campbell, Head of Community Fundraising and Retail at CHAS, said: “We’re delighted to have welcomed Peter Davison, Graham McTavish and all the other stars to our special tenth anniversary Capital Sci-Fi Con at the O2.
“It is a hugely popular event which helps CHAS raise vital funds to support children with life-shortening conditions and their families right across Scotland. Thank you to everyone for their amazing support.”
