A review by kmg365
Is There Life Outside the Box?: An Actor Despairs by Peter Davison

4.0

I've been a fan of Peter's since I first saw him on tv. Can't remember the year, but it was whenever my local PBS station started airing All Creatures Great and Small. In pre-internet days, it was difficult to be in the US, and a fan of an actor who only worked in the UK, believe me. Not only was there no IMDb, there wasn't even Entertainment Tonight until the fall of 1981. I can't remember when or how I found out that he'd been cast as the 5th Doctor, but I do remember waiting and waiting (and waiting) for the Tom Baker episodes to be done airing (also on PBS) so I could finally, FINALLY see Peter in the role. I still haven't seen a good chunk of his TV work-- only some of A Very Peculiar Practice, a bit of Fear, Stress and Anger, and none of Distant Shores. I stumbled upon the complete series of At Home with the Braithwaites only a couple of weeks ago on a free streaming channel, and rejoiced-- BBC America started airing it shortly after it aired in the UK, but did not air the entire series. That was something they were notorious for-- they stopped airing Law and Order UK pretty soon after Peter joined the cast. I'm still searching for the second series of Great British Car Journeys.

The biggest question I am left with after finishing the audio book is: Why in the name of all that is holy did Peter not read the audio book? I mean, for a guy who has made a career of accepting pretty much every job he's offered, and is perpetually worried about continuing to get work, did he not think about getting two paychecks from one project?

Since Peter is pretty much at the top of my favorite actor list, it's sad that I'll always remember this book as the one I was listening to when I found out that a dear (but far away) friend had passed away unexpectedly. Peter seems like a nice guy, so I don't think he'll mind if I ignore him for a few paragraphs and talk about my friend Dawn.

Goodreads is a perfect place to talk about her, since she was the most voracious reader I've ever known. She loved to read material that most people would find challenging. She went hunting for, and found, a Great Books book group in her home town, hoping to find people with which to discuss the writings of Greek philosophers. Her favorite book was Proust's In Search of Lost Time.

We met in the nerdiest of fashions, on a message board for a small tv-related fandom. We forged a fast friendship despite living 1,500 miles apart, and despite significant differences. She was a self-professed gun nut; I was raised as a Quaker. We were on opposite ends of the political spectrum. I was east, she was west. But our mutual love of books, reading, a few old tv shows, and nature were enough to drive a 20+ year friendship, including two trips to Yellowstone National Park, and a jaunt to Michigan to see one of her favorite actors in a stage performance. She got to meet him because she'd flown so far to attend, and the people running the theater at the tiny college were so impressed that they arranged it.

The details of her death were sad, and in other circumstances, it could probably have been avoided. It's going to be awhile before I can remember her with joy in my heart, rather than grief and guilt that I wasn't closer and able to help. If she was ever going to believe in an afterlife, it would have been The Rainbow Bridge, where all the cats she rescued, fostered, helped at spay/neuter clinics, and welcomed into her home would greet her. Rest easy, friend, with a kitty snuggled nearby, and a book in your hands.

Thanks, Pete, for your patience. For heaven's sake, someone give that man an award. Preferably one that doesn't fall apart immediately.