Peter John Purves

We are absolutely thrilled to reveal that Peter Purves is our first guest announcement SPALDING COMICON 2026!

Peter Purves is a successful English television presenter and actor. He played Steven Taylor in Doctor Who and later became a presenter on the BBC children's programme, Blue Peter, a position he held for 11 years.

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).

Doctor Who

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.

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.

Blue Peter

After leaving Doctor Who, Purves became a regular presenter on the children's magazine programme Blue Peter from 1967 to 1978. He co-presented Blue Peter first with John Noakes and Valerie Singleton which created the "Val, John and Pete" line up.

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.