Peter Davison

This, and the opportunity to play Tristan Farnon again in 1985 and 1990, kept Davison busy until the early 1990s, when he gradually faded from the public eye. McGinley received critical acclaim for his starring role in Dean Koontz's suspense drama, Intensity (1997). Davison also played the lead in Campion, a series based on the period whodunnits of Margery Allingham. He worked almost continually throughout the 1990s on a swathe of movies, most notably in David Fincher's Seven (1995), and perhaps least notably in the widely disparaged Highlander II: The Quickening (1991). The surreal comedy-drama was revived several years later as A Very Polish Practice. McGinley showcased his screenwriting talents with 1990's Suffering Bastards, in which he also co-starred. He played Dr Stephen Daker, the ingenuous hero of A Very Peculiar Practice, written by Andrew Davies. That was followed the next year with Wall Street (1987), and again the next with Talk Radio (1988).

It was not until 1986 that Davison worked on another really popular series. While working as John Turturro's understudy in John Patrick Shanley's 1984 production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea he was noticed by a casting scout, which led to an audition for the role of Sergeant Red O'Neill in the Oscar winning Platoon, although his first movie role was Alan Alda's Sweet Liberty (1986). Reportedly, Patrick Troughton (who had played the Second Doctor) had recommended to Davison that he leave the role after three years, and Davison followed his advice. Upon completing his education, McGinley did a variety of different work, including on- and off-Broadway productions, and a two year stint on the soap opera Another World. Attracting such a high-profile actor was as much of a coup for the programme's producers as getting the role was for him, but he did not renew his contract because he feared being typecast. McGinley studied acting at Syracuse University, and later at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Davison appeared in some British sitcoms before signing a contract to play the Doctor for three years, succeeding Tom Baker. He owns a stake in one of Billy Gilroy's New York SoHo bistros along with fellow actor Willem Dafoe.

He and Dickinson appeared together in an episode of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. McGinley is known for his cynical, wacky, sometimes sinister character portayals. He married American actress Sandra Dickinson in the same year, but they divorced in 1994. He came to fame in Oliver Stone's Platoon in 1986, and went on to work on no less than four other Stone productions. His performance as the ne'er-do-well Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small made him a household name. McGinley, sometimes credited as John McGinley, has had a most prolific career, primarily as a supporting character actor. He studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and appeared in several stage productions and some minor television roles before he got his big break in 1978. John C.

Davison was born Peter Moffett in London, his father being originally from Guyana. McGinley (born August 3, 1959 in New York) is an American actor, producer, and writer. Davison's departure was regarded by many as the kiss of death for the programme, though it survived several more years with other actors in the role. John C. Peter Davison (born April 13, 1951) is a popular British actor, most commonly associated with the leading role in Doctor Who, which he played from 1981 to 1984 (see List of Doctor Who serials).