{"id":24878,"date":"2022-10-31T18:25:35","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T17:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1730817"},"modified":"2022-10-31T18:57:30","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T17:57:30","slug":"peter-purves-reveals-idea-for-doctor-who-character-to-return-as-villain","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/peter-purves-reveals-idea-for-doctor-who-character-to-return-as-villain\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Purves reveals idea for Doctor Who character to return as villain"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 31 October 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Doctor Who fans were recently treated to the return of several ex-companions<\/a> in The Power of the Doctor<\/a>, an episode produced to mark 100 years of the BBC \u2013 and now, another former star, Peter Purves, has revealed his idea for how his character Steven Taylor could appear.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a BFI screening to mark the release of the Doctor Who: The Collection \u2013 Season 2<\/a> Blu-Ray boxset, Purves recalled the rather abrupt nature of his original departure from the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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, \u2018<\/span>I just thought I\u2019d let you know early on, we\u2019re not going to renew your contract,\u2019 so I knew I had four weeks,\u201d Purves said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was it. No reason. I did ask for a reason. I said, \u2018What have I done wrong?\u2019 and he said, \u2018No, you\u2019ve not done anything wrong, it\u2019s just policy now \u2013 we\u2019re only going to keep companions for one year.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt might\u2019ve been true, it might\u2019ve not been. I think it was a load of b****cks myself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Addressing the possibility of Steven\u2019s return to the series, Purves revealed that he liked the idea of his character having been corrupted by power and having \u201cbecome an absolute despot\u201d who comes up against his old friend many years later. \u201cThe Doctor does return and finds him there and ousts him, which I think would have been an interesting story,\u201d he suggested.<\/span><\/p>\n

Purves also admitted that he now watches Doctor Who<\/a> \u201cvery rarely\u201d, adding that he is \u201cnot madly taken\u201d with the show in its current form. \u201cIt\u2019s so clever technically, some brilliant work done, stunning work,\u201d he said. \u201c[But] I\u2019m not happy particularly with the stories I have seen in the past five or six years, I\u2019ve not madly enjoyed them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n