Doctor Who star Peter Davison joins cast for The Windsors coronation special

Peter Davison was a beloved Doctor Who who will be time-travelling towards his next role in The Windsors coronation episode.

The former time lord will play the ghost of King William IV, in the one-off special on Channel 4 on Sunday, April 30, at 9pm.

In 1831, the 64-year-old William became the oldest-ever monarch to take the crown alongside QueenAdelaide in a famously paltry ceremony. Charles III will dethrone his achievement when he is crowned at 73.

Channel 4 has said Davison’s William will meet with his modern-day namesake, Prince Wills, who is played by Fleabag’s Hugh Skinner.

The Windsors has provided a satire on the Royal Family since 2016, with Harry Enfield portraying a self-absorbed and overconfident Charles. It spawned the stage play The Windsors: Endgame, which ran in the West End in 2021.

The coronation special will see the couple planning the event as a lavish celebration despite objections from Prince Wills, the most publicly attune Royal, who is concerned as to how it could look amid a cost-of-living crisis.

It is one of several special events being held around the coronation day of May 6, which will also include a concert, which Katy Perry has been confirmed for.

Davison said in a statement: “I’m very pleased to be asked to appear in the coronation special, even if I am only an apparition.

“After many years going from playing vets, to doctors, to policemen, to vicars, and then barristers, I can see I’ve now reached the ‘ghost’ phase of my career — this is not necessarily a good sign, but it was a joy to do it.”

The actor was one of the most popular to wield the sonic screwdriver and could be back as the Doctor for the series’ 60th anniversary. David Tennant, who is Davison’s real-life son-in-law, has also confirmed he will be back for the BBC special later this year.

Davison, who was the fifth Doctor, said: “I was very envious of the special effects. We didn’t have a lot — we were mainly down to green screens and rather cumbersome rubber monsters.”