Doctor Who fans were recently treated to the return of several ex-companions in The Power of the Doctor, an episode produced to mark 100 years of the BBC – and now, another former star, Peter Purves, has revealed his idea for how his character Steven Taylor could appear.
Steven acted as companion to the First Doctor (William Hartnell) for 46 episodes between 1965 and 1966, eventually parting ways with the Time Lord to serve as leader to an alien civilisation.
Speaking at a BFI screening to mark the release of the Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 2 Blu-Ray boxset, Purves recalled the rather abrupt nature of his original departure from the series.
“We were just about to start [1966 story] The Savages and Innes Lloyd came in as producer, introduced himself to me, and the following day he took me to one side and said, ‘I just thought I’d let you know early on, we’re not going to renew your contract,’ so I knew I had four weeks,” Purves said.
“That was it. No reason. I did ask for a reason. I said, ‘What have I done wrong?’ and he said, ‘No, you’ve not done anything wrong, it’s just policy now – we’re only going to keep companions for one year.’
“It might’ve been true, it might’ve not been. I think it was a load of b****cks myself.”
Addressing the possibility of Steven’s return to the series, Purves revealed that he liked the idea of his character having been corrupted by power and having “become an absolute despot” who comes up against his old friend many years later. “The Doctor does return and finds him there and ousts him, which I think would have been an interesting story,” he suggested.
Purves also admitted that he now watches Doctor Who “very rarely”, adding that he is “not madly taken” with the show in its current form. “It’s so clever technically, some brilliant work done, stunning work,” he said. “[But] I’m not happy particularly with the stories I have seen in the past five or six years, I’ve not madly enjoyed them.”
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/08/doctor-who-collection-packshot-be42e68.jpg?quality=90&resize=336%2C413" "\"\"")
The actor and TV host suggested that the BBC sci-fi series was, by necessity, more “story-led” during his tenure in the 1960s, a time in which “making television was difficult” since multiple takes on a TV drama shoot were discouraged due to cost.
“There were some very, very good scripts,” he said. “It’s a lot easier now. The editing and everything is so spectacularly clever, and the effects and everything can be so clever. But it’s not quite as difficult as a director having to sit down with a script and work out what it’s going to look like and create it live.
“That’s what they did. I thought that was a stunning skill. And I was glad to be part of that era.”
Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 2 is available to pre-order now from Amazon.
Read more about Doctor Who:
- Doctor Who companions in order: From Susan Foreman to Donna Noble (again!)
- Doctor Who is coming to Fall Guys – dress up as your favourite Doctor
- Peter Capaldi says Ncuti Gatwa will bring “depth” to Doctor Who: “It’s a joy to play”
- ‘Doctor Who is critical to the BBC’, says boss Charlotte Moore
- How we made the Doctor Who TV movie: “It really was a magical experience”
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now – subscribe now and get the next 12 issues for only £1. or more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast.