Peter Purves joined the TARDIS as Space Pilot Steven Taylor in 1965 as still plays the role 60 years on.
After the departure of original companions Ian and Barbara, the next addition to Doctor Who‘s ever-changing line-up was Steven Taylor.
Played by Peter Purves, Steven was a space pilot from Earth’s future who joined the show after stowing away on the TARDIS. Alongside William Hartnell’s original Doctor, he heroically fought Daleks and endured the horrors of human history.
Since 2007, Peter Purves has regularly reprised his role for Big Finish Productions in official Doctor Who audio adventures. He also appeared again on screen as Steven, with Maureen O’Brien’s Vicki, as part of the show’s 60th Anniversary celebrations, for an edition of ‘Tales of the TARDIS’ remembering ‘The Time Meddler’.
To celebrate the actor’s six decades in the role, today the audio producers are releasing ‘A Feast of Steven’ – two new stories performed by Peter Purves. This ties in with the star’s appearance at today’s Big Finish Day convention.
The two new 40-minute tales, both from writer Jacqueline Rayner, are:
‘A Forest of All Seasons’
The Doctor, Steven, and Vicki arrive in a strange forest where time seems to stand still. When Vicki disappears, Steven must confront a baffling mystery involving an alternate version of himself and the inhabitants of a village trapped in an endless cycle.
‘The Doctor’s Gambit’
On an alien world, the Doctor, Steven and Dodo are drawn into a mysterious contest. With lives at stake and a hidden enemy in control, every move could be their last in the deadly game.
Peter Purves said:
“It’s always a pleasure to be able to get into a recording studio and do some of these Big Finish recordings. It’s now 60 years, almost to the day, that I first appeared in Doctor Who, and 60 years is a very long time!
“I like both these Short Trips. It was an extremely generous idea of Jacqueline when she wrote it to explore Steven’s romantic side. It’s an aspect of Steven that hasn’t been shown before.”
Writer Jacqueline Rayner added:
“I love the character of Steven. Even when he was fitted into not-quite-Steven-shaped holes in the scripts in the 1960s, Peter Purves made him a distinctive and very human – and realistically flawed – character. I hoped to create a few places where he could show that humanity.
“It’s a great joy that Peter is still bringing Steven alive and still finding new depths in him all these years later – it’s a great testament to him as an actor.”
Doctor Who – Short Trips: A Feast of Steven is out now containing both stories. It’s available to download for free, exclusively from Big Finish.
The company is also running a flash sale on Peter Purves appearances until June 23rd, 2025.