Doctor Who’s Peter Purves on “pleasure” of lost episodes being recovered
This article appears in the new issue of Radio Times magazine. In thrilling news for Doctor Who fans, two episodes once thought lost for ever have been returned to the BBC Archives. Starring William Hartnell as the first Doctor – and last seen in 1965 – these are the first and third instalments of a gritty 12-part epic, The Daleks’ Master Plan. The original videotapes were erased long ago by the BBC, but film copies were preserved by a private collector, who died recently. His estate has requested anonymity, while generously passing his collection to Film Is Fabulous, a charitable trust run by cinema lovers and vintage-TV enthusiasts. “We’re lucky these 16mm films are in excellent condition,” Peter Purves tells Radio Times. Two years before joining Blue Peter, he co-starred as the Doctor’s travelling companion, Steven Taylor. Now 87, and one of the few surviving cast members of this story, he was invited to a surprise screening in Leicester a few weeks ago. “I was blown away by both episodes, not only because they’d been …
