Patrick Troughton had a week off and so did not appear in The Web of Fear Part Two, which made its debut today in 1968.
In 1973, Carnival of Monsters reached its third episode.
Finally, The Armageddon Factor delivered its fourth instalment, in 1979.
He played companion Steven Taylor from The Chase in 1965 through to The Savages in 1966.
He first auditioned to be a Menoptra in The Web Planet, but director Richard Martin didn't select him. Instead, he recalled him when casting The Chase, in which there was a country bumpkin character from Alabama, named Morton Dill. Purves was given this role. He got on well with the main cast, and when they were looking for someone to play the new companion at the end of the serial - only three weeks later - Martin, Maureen O'Brien and William Hartnell all suggested Purves.
With an increase in holidays / sick days for Hartnell, Purves was often given the leading role in the series - such as in The Massacre, one of his favourite stories.
On leaving Doctor Who, he was unemployed for some time. Thinking that the Trilogic Game prop (kept by him from The Celestial Toymaker) was bad luck, he threw it out and was offered a job the next day.
He had started out as a dancer in West End shows, and his acting career proved to be relatively brief, as he soon found himself presenting Blue Peter. Along with Valerie Singleton and John Noakes, Purves became part of its most fondly remembered presentation triumvirate. Presenting pretty much dominated the rest of his career. Sadly his era was badly hit as far as gaps in the archives are concerned, but what does exist on DVD usually has Purves contributing to the commentaries and making-of documentaries. He makes for a good commentary moderator as well.
Purves shares his birthday with Michael Keating, who appeared in The Sun Makers just before he was cast as Vila in Blake's 7. He's 75 today. Another birthday is that of the writer of 2005's Dalek, Robert Shearman. He turns 52.
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