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Peter Purves

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Peter Purves
Purves in 2010
Born
Peter John Purves

(1939-02-10) 10 February 1939 (age 85)
New Longton, Lancashire, England
Occupation(s)Television presenter, actor
Years active1965–present
Notable workSteven Taylor in Doctor Who (1965–1966)
Blue Peter Presenter (1967–1978)
Spouses
  • Gilly Fraser
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1962; div. 1982)​
  • ​
    (m. 1982)​
Children2
Websitewww.peterpurves.net

Peter John Purves (/ˈpɜːrvɪs/; born 10 February 1939) is an English television presenter and actor. Beginning his career as an actor, he joined Doctor Who to play Steven Taylor, a companion of the First Doctor, which he played from 1965 until 1966. In 1967, he became a presenter on the children's programme Blue Peter, where he remained for eleven years. He has continued to make regular television appearances, including coverage of the Crufts dog show.

Early life

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Purves was born in New Longton, near Preston, Lancashire. His father was a tailor who also ran a hotel in Blackpool for a short period. He was educated at the independent Arnold School in Blackpool and in the sixth form at Barrow-in-Furness Grammar School for Boys for a year, where he took A-levels and gained a pass in mathematics.[1] He originally planned to go into teaching, training at Alsager College of Education, but began to act with the Barrow-in-Furness Repertory Company instead.

Doctor Who

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At 26 years old in 1965, Purves first appeared in Doctor Who in the role of Morton Dill, an American tourist, in The Chase after being cast by director Richard Martin.[2]

Purves then appeared later in the same story as space pilot Steven Taylor, and became well known to television audiences in that role, as one of the early time-travelling companions in the programme, when the Doctor was played by William Hartnell.[3] He has provided DVD commentaries for many of the surviving Doctor Who episodes he appeared in and documents the making of each of his Doctor Who stories in his autobiography, Here's One I Wrote Earlier. He was also a good friend of the actor Jon Pertwee, who played the Third Doctor.[4]

Purves has said that he prefers the historical stories on the show, such as The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve and The Myth Makers.[5]

In 2007, he returned to the role of Steven Taylor in the audio drama Mother Russia and has portrayed him in several additional audio dramas in the years since.

In 2023, he reprised his role as Steven in the series Tales of the TARDIS.[6]

Blue Peter

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Purves in 1976, while covering the White City Rebels for Blue Peter

After leaving Doctor Who, Purves became a regular presenter on the children's magazine programme Blue Peter from 1967 to 1978.[7] He co-presented Blue Peter first with John Noakes and Valerie Singleton, and then with Noakes and Lesley Judd, during the programme's perceived golden age. After Noakes, Purves is the longest-serving male Blue Peter presenter.

Purves maintained his connection to Doctor Who throughout his time on Blue Peter, often hosting special features on the programme and interviewing the actors. These included clips from episodes which are otherwise now lost, including The Daleks' Master Plan, in which Purves himself had appeared.

Dogs have featured in Purves's career since his Blue Peter days when he was given charge of one of the "Blue Peter Pets", Petra, a German Shepherd cross. Purves also presented the spin-off Blue Peter Special Assignment.

Later television appearances

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Purves at The Television and Movie Store in Norwich in March 2009

After leaving Blue Peter, Purves presented Stopwatch and We're Going Places, then had spells as the front man for darts events on the BBC[4] and as presenter of the long-running BBC1 motorcycle trials series Kick Start.[8]

Purves's later TV career has included cameo appearances in episodes of the soap opera EastEnders and sitcom The Office. In The Office episode "Training Day" Purves played himself in a customer care training video that David Brent and his staff were being shown (Purves is in fact a qualified business trainer and a motivational speaker).

Purves has had a 40-year association with television coverage of major dog shows such as Crufts and his 2007 appearance as a judge on the reality TV programme The Underdog Show. He also writes for the dog press and regularly presents at dog award shows. Marking his 70th birthday, his 2009 autobiography Here's One I Wrote Earlier was released at The Kennel Club.

Theatre

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Purves has worked as a pantomime director and has directed over 30 pantomime productions.[8] In December 2012, he portrayed Alderman Fitzwarren in Dick Whittington at Harpenden Public Halls: this was the first time he performed in pantomime since 1985. He is also an after-dinner speaker.[8]

Personal life

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Purves lived for a time in the Bilton area of Rugby, Warwickshire,[9] and then Northamptonshire. He now lives in the Suffolk village of Sibton with his wife, the West End actress Kathryn Evans.[10] He was previously married from 1962 to 1982 to a Leeds-born playwright, Gilly Fraser (actual name Gillian Emmett).[11] In 2008, Valerie Singleton revealed she had enjoyed a "brief fling" with Purves when he was "between marriages".[12]

Purves is an atheist.[13]

In December 2022 Purves received an honorary fellowship from the University of Central Lancashire. A university spokesman said his "inspirational career" had shown "a significant contribution in services to television, in acting and presenting".[14]

Credits

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TV career

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Audio dramas

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Year Title Role
2007 Doctor Who: Mother Russia[17] Steven Taylor
2010 Doctor Who: The Suffering[18]
2011 Doctor Who: The Perpetual Bond[19]
Doctor Who: The Cold Equations[20]
Doctor Who: Tales from the Vault[21]
Doctor Who: The First Wave[22]
Doctor Who: The Five Companions[23]
2012 Doctor Who: The Anachronauts[24]
Doctor Who: The Burning Prince[25]
Doctor Who: Return of the Rocket Men[26]
2013 Doctor Who: Upstairs[27]
Doctor Who: The Light at the End[28]
2014 Doctor Who: The War To End All Wars[29]
Doctor Who: The Bounty of Ceres[30]
Doctor Who: An Ordinary Life[31]
2015 Doctor Who: Flywheel Revolution[32]
Doctor Who: The Secret History[33]
Doctor Who: The First Doctor Volume One[34]
Doctor Who: Etheria[35]
2016 Doctor Who: This Sporting Life[36]
Doctor Who: The Ravelli Conspiracy[37]
Doctor Who: The Sontarans[38]
2017 Doctor Who: The First Doctor Volume Two[39]
Doctor Who: Short Trips: O Tannenbaum[40]
2018 Doctor Who: The Dalek Occupation of Winter[41]
Doctor Who: An Ideal World[42]
Doctor Who: Entanglement[43]
Doctor Who: The Crash of the UK-201[44]
2019 Doctor Who: The First Doctor Volume 03[45]
Doctor Who: Daughter of the Gods[46]
Doctor Who: Peace in Our Time[47]
2020 Doctor Who: Out of the Deep[48]
2021 Doctor Who: The Secrets of Det-Sen[49]

References

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  1. ^ Peter Purves (10 February 2009). Here's One I Wrote Earlier. Green Umbrella Publishing. ISBN 978-1-906635-34-3.
  2. ^ The Original Series: Peter appeared in 44 episodes of Doctor Who - all with the original Doctor, William Hartnell peterpurves.net/old_site, accessed 25 October 2020.
  3. ^ Peter Purves Interview - Interviews - Doctor Who - Online Magazine & Fan Site[usurped]
  4. ^ a b "Peter Purves - Doctor Who Interview Archive". wordpress.com.
  5. ^ The Original Series: Peter appeared in 44 episodes of Doctor Who - all with the original Doctor, William Hartnell peterpurves.net, accessed 25 October 2020
  6. ^ "Doctor Who: Welcome to The Whoniverse where every Doctor, every companion and hundreds of terrifying monsters live". BBC Media Centre. BBC. 30 October 2023.
  7. ^ "Where's Steven now? - Dr Who companions - where are they now? - Pictures - Tvradio - Virgin Media". virginmedia.com.
  8. ^ a b c Ben Dowell. "Blue Peter presenters ... where are they now?". Radio Times.
  9. ^ "30 celebrities you probably didn't know were from Warwickshire". Coventry Telegraph. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Blue Peter star's fire drama". BBC News Online. 16 January 2004. Retrieved 17 August 2006.
  11. ^ Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy, eds, The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present, London: Batsford, 1990, p. 395.
  12. ^ "Singleton reveals Purves 'fling'". BBC News. 23 June 2008.
  13. ^ "Peter Purves interview". Archived from the original on 31 May 2008.
  14. ^ "Peter Purves: Blue Peter legend Peter receives university fellowship". BBC News. 13 December 2022.
  15. ^ Stopwatch TV Series (1978–1982) www.imdb.com, accessed 25 October 2020
  16. ^ We're Going Places TV Series (1978–) www.imdb.com, accessed 25 October 2020
  17. ^ "2.1. Mother Russia". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  18. ^ "4.07. The Suffering". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  19. ^ "5.08. The Perpetual Bond". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  20. ^ "5.12. The Cold Equations". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  21. ^ "6.01. Tales From the Vault". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  22. ^ "6.05. The First Wave". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  23. ^ "x. The Five Companions (subscription exclusive)". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  24. ^ "6.07. The Anachronauts". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  25. ^ "165. The Burning Prince". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  26. ^ "7.05. Return of the Rocket Men". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  27. ^ "8.03. Upstairs". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  28. ^ "x. The Light at the End (Special Releases)". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  29. ^ "8.10. The War To End All Wars". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  30. ^ "1.3. The Bounty of Ceres". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  31. ^ "1.4. An Ordinary Life". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  32. ^ "5.1. Flywheel Revolution". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  33. ^ "200. The Secret History". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  34. ^ "9.0. The First Doctor Volume 01". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  35. ^ "5.9. Etheria". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  36. ^ "6.5. This Sporting Life". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  37. ^ "3.3. The Ravelli Conspiracy". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  38. ^ "3.4. The Sontarans". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  39. ^ "11.0. The First Doctor Volume 02". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  40. ^ "7.12. Short Trips: O Tannenbaum". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  41. ^ "5.1. The Dalek Occupation of Winter". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  42. ^ "5.2. An Ideal World". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  43. ^ "5.3. Entanglement". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  44. ^ "5.4. The Crash of the UK-201". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  45. ^ "13. The First Doctor Volume 03". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  46. ^ "6.2. Daughter of the Gods". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  47. ^ "9.12. Peace in Our Time". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  48. ^ "10.6. Out of the Deep". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  49. ^ "7.2. The Secrets of Det-Sen". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
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