Doctor Who icon Peter Purves reveals "pleasure" as fans can finally see more of missing companion in newly discovered episodes
"I was blown away by both episodes."
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 found, but because it was good to see how well they had been directed. Douglas Camfield was one of the finest BBC directors. His camerawork was superb.
“It was also great to be able to see a little more of my own acting work, and mates like Brian Cant performing.”
Already known for hosting Play School, Cant appears as a space security agent who has a nasty encounter with a Dalek. These episodes also feature the Doctor Who debut of Nicholas Courtney as agent Bret Vyon – three years before he became the long-running Brigadier.
Someone who vividly recalls watching The Daleks’ Master Plan in the 60s is Jan Vincent-Rudzki, who founded the Doctor Who Appreciation Society in 1976. He was 10 when it aired on BBC One.
“This is certainly my all-time favourite story. It ran across 12 weeks, and for a child that was like two summer holidays. It seemed to go on and on, but it was riveting all the way through.”
He recorded the soundtrack from his TV set during the broadcast, so the serial has remained fresh in his mind. “The Daleks are at their most devious and intelligent, and it’s quite a vicious storyline because for the first time the Doctor’s companions die.”
One of the intriguing aspects of these two episodes will be a chance to see more of Katarina, a Trojan handmaiden who had just been introduced as a new, short-lived friend for the Doctor.
In April 1986, almost exactly 40 years ago, the actor Adrienne Hill gave me a rare interview for Doctor Who Magazine and revealed she’d been “over the moon” to land the role in 1965. “It was a super show and something we all watched avidly. I phoned people up and said, ‘Guess what I’ve got a part in…’ I was delighted.”
By the 1980s, she’d paused her acting career to raise a family and teach drama in schools. “I’d forgotten all about Doctor Who. I never realised it was so big! I must admit I feel a bit of a fraud, having only been in five episodes. Now of course it’s all been wiped. It’s a tragedy!”
Since Hill’s death in 1997, three of her episodes have been recovered. However, the dramatic fourth part of Master Plan, in which Katarina suffocates in the vacuum of space, is still missing from the archives.
While aficionados live in hope of that being found one day, Purves says, “It’s a pleasure to see more of Adrienne’s excellent performance. I’m thrilled that these episodes have now seen the light of day, and I know they’ll be watched by huge numbers of fans.”
The latest issue of Radio Times is out on Tuesday – subscribe here.
The recovered episodes of The Daleks’ Master Plan will be available on BBC iPlayer soon. To find out more about Film Is Fabulous, visit filmisfabulous.org.uk.
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