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Steven
Taylor
(1965 - 1966) |
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Peter
Purves |
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| Born
in 1939 Peter Purves become an actor first with
the Barrow-in-Furness Repertory Company and then
with the Wimbledon Theatre Company. His first appearance
on television was in Z Cars. He was auditioned
for the part of a Menoptera in the 1964 Doctor
Who story "The Web Planet" but was
turned down. He was later cast as an American Hillbilly
in "The Chase" and this led him to play
the part of Steven. After Doctor Who he became
a presenter in the children's programme Blue
Peter. More presenting work followed mainly
in sports programmes and the annual dog show Crufts. |
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 Initially
appearing simply as a space pilot from the future, Steven Taylor’s
history was only elaborated on in later novel "Salvation".
Having become a pilot to effect social change, Steven found
himself flying a fighter based on modified Dalek designs in
various wars between Earth, its colonies and other alien species,
culminating in him witnessing another soldier beat a woman to
death on the colony of Royalus Prime because she wouldn’t
move fast enough. Having sacrificed his career due to his determination
to see the soldier punished for his actions, Steven was reduced
to flying pointless patrols in distant parts of the galaxy,
culminating in him crash-landing on the planet Mechanus and
had been imprisoned by The
Mechanoids who are robots that were
developed to prepare the planet for colonisation. Mistaking
Steven for one of the colonists he has been kept in the city
ever since. Steven however, is not aware of this, as the Mechanoids
have no method of communicating, and so Steven felt that he
was a prisoner.
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| The Chase |
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In
trying to escape from the Daleks,
who have been chasing them in a captured time capsule, The
Doctor with Ian, Barbara and Vicki also
find themselves on the planet Mechanus. They to are captured
by the Mechanoids and find themselves placed in the same
room as Steven. When the Mechanoid's city is attacked by
the Daleks Steven escapes by following The Doctor and manages
to board the TARDIS unnoticed
("The
Chase").
After
seeing Barbara and Ian depart in the Daleks' time capsule it was
not until the next story that The Doctor and Vicki realise that
Steven has stowed aboard the TARDIS. Like the companions before
him Steven is obviously surprised and incredulous about the size
of the inside of the TARDIS. It took him some time to come to terms
with the fact that the blue box he had stumbled into could actually
travel in time and space. Initially he certainly made life for The
Doctor and Vicki very difficult when they landed in Northumbria
in 1066. He became very obstinate and refused to believe The Doctor's
claims that they had travelled in time as well as in space. This
was his way of coming to terms with what was happening to him. Even
after hearing Vicki's explanation and the use of the TARDIS' acronym
'Time And Relative Dimensions In Space' he replies with one of his
own 'IDBI - I Don't Believe It' ("The
Time Meddler").
Once
over his initial incredibility Steven very quickly settles
down to the life of being a space and time traveller, demonstrating
a fascination with the possibilities and concepts presented
by his new existence, such as contemplating the consequences
of The
Meddling Monk’s attempts to change history by altering
the outcome of the Battle of Hastings. However, he never
really felt in full control during his time in the TARDIS.
Despite being an astronaut from the twenty-fifth century
- as well as surviving at least two confrontations with
the Daleks - he was mostly out of his depth. This was more
pronounced in "The Celestial Toymaker", when he
was separated from The Doctor and found that he could relate
to very little within the Toymaker's realm, although he
and fellow companion Dodo still came through in the end.
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| Galaxy 4 |
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For
all his faults, Steven was a brave, dynamic and motivated
character. He was always ready to leap into action and help
when his friends found themselves in trouble. He was single
minded, cynical and very brash who had a tendency to leap
before he looked. Even so he was a very heroic companion
and did look out for The Doctor, on one particular occasion
risking his life to save The Doctor from the Daleks’ time
destructor when it nearly aged The Doctor to death ("The
Daleks’ Master Plan"). He also cared a lot
for Vicki and later, Dodo,
accompanying her in playing the Toymaker’s deadly
games to recover the TARDIS and escape his realm ("The
Celestial Toymaker").
Despite
having moments of brilliance he was for the most part always
struggling to keep up with The Doctor. Being a stubborn,
argumentative and a very strong willed companion he did
have frequent arguments with The Doctor. In one story, "The
Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve", Steven even left The Doctor temporarily
because he was disgusted with The Doctor's detached and
alien response to the deaths they had recently witnessed,
subsequently joining a group who worshipped a race of god-like
beings in 1965 New York ("Salvation"). However,
his time with this group ended when he learned their true
nature as essentially blank slates, shaped by the desires
and thoughts of those who witnessed them, and acknowledged
that mankind was not mature enough to ‘control’ beings
of such power at this time. Although Steven regretted and
resented his inability to save everyone he met in the TARDIS
- prompting him to briefly leave The Doctor after he refused
to help save Steven’s new friend Anne Chaplet from
the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre - he found peace
in the moments when he was able to make a difference, such
as saving some honourable soldiers and young lovers from
dangerous alien technology during the Mongol invasion of
Russia ("Bunker
Soldiers").
His
time in the TARDIS came to an end when, after playing a
pivotal role in the sorting out the problems on a seemingly
idyllic world he decides to stay behind. It was clear that
he didn't seem sure that this was the right decision to
make. But in the end he decides to leave the TARDIS to set
about reuniting a divided culture and become the leader
of a more humane society, finally making the kind of difference
he had always desired to accomplish. ("The
Savages")
(Although it was implied that The Doctor slightly encouraged
Steven to leave so that he would be alone when he regenerated,
as he was aware that his first body did not have long left
to live ("The
Man in the Velvet Mask")). During
the Game of Rassilon ("The
Five Doctors"), Steven
was reunited with The Doctor when he was abducted along
with prior companion Ian
Chesterton, the 'resurrected' Sara
Kingdom, Polly Wright and Nyssa ("The
Five Companions") and trapped in an alternative Death Zone, where they were
caught up in a conflict between the Daleks and the Sontarans.
Using his own knowledge from a previous conflict between
his world and the Sontarans, Steven was able to instruct
his fellow companions on how to defeat the Sontarans by
striking the probic vents on the back of their necks before
The Doctor was recovered by the Time Lords and the others
were returned to their own times. |
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