Peter Purves
Encyclopedia
Peter Purves is an English television presenter and actor.
Purves was born in New Longton
, near Preston, Lancashire, and was educated at the independent Arnold School
in Blackpool
, he had originally planned to go into teaching, training at Alsager
College of Education, but began to act with the Barrow-in-Furness
Repertory
Company instead. He also attended Manchester Polytechnic.
, one of the early time-travelling companions in the programme Doctor Who
, when the Doctor was played by William Hartnell
. After leaving Doctor Who, Purves became a regular presenter on the children's magazine programme Blue Peter
from 1967 to 1978. 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 many clips from episodes which are otherwise now lost
, most notably The Daleks' Master Plan
, in which Purves himself had appeared.
and Valerie Singleton and then with Noakes and Lesley Judd
, during the programme's so called 'golden age'. After Noakes, Purves is the second longest serving male Blue Peter presenter. He was so closely associated with the programme, "the sensible one", that he found his association difficult to shake off. Purves moved on to other jobs as a presenter including Blue Peter Special Assignment
, "Stopwatch" and "We're Going Places" and then later a spell as the front man for darts events on the BBC and as presenter of the long-running BBC1 motorbike trials
series Kick Start
.
EastEnders
and sitcoms The Office
and I'm Alan Partridge
. In The Office episode "Training Day" Purves played himself in a customer care training video that David Brent
and his staff were being shown (incidentally, Purves is a qualified business trainer and a motivational speaker).
Dogs have featured in Purves's career from his Blue Peter days. He was given charge of one of the "Blue Peter Pets", Petra, a German Shepherd cross. This led to a thirty year association with television coverage of major dog show
s such as Crufts
and in 2007 his appearance as a judge on the reality TV programme The Underdog Show. Purves also writes for the dog press and regularly presents at dog award shows. On 31 July 2008 he was bitten by a West Highland terrier whilst judging a dog show at a garden centre in Norwich. Purves was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital
where he received treatment to his hand.
In the theatre, Purves is a noted pantomime
director enjoying a good working relationship with the Chuckle Brothers
. He is also an after-dinner speaker.
Purves lived for a time in Bilton
, and now lives in the Suffolk
village of Sibton
. In 2008, Valerie Singleton revealed she had had a "brief fling" with Purves.
Marking his 70th birthday, his 2009 autobiography Here's One I Wrote Earlier was released at The Kennel Club
.
Purves was born in New Longton
New Longton
New Longton is a village located to the south west of Preston, in the district of South Ribble, in the county of Lancashire, North West of England...
, near Preston, Lancashire, and was educated at the independent Arnold School
Arnold School
Arnold School is an independent school located in Blackpool, Lancashire, England on the Fylde coast. It is in the United Church Schools Trust group of schools and is a member of HMC.-History:Arnold School was founded by Frank Truswell Pennington on 4 May 1896...
in Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
, he had originally planned to go into teaching, training at Alsager
Alsager
Alsager is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, to the north-west of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and east of the railway town of Crewe...
College of Education, but began to act with the Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
Repertory
Repertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
Company instead. He also attended Manchester Polytechnic.
Doctor Who
He first became known to television audiences in the mid-1960s as Steven TaylorSteven Taylor (Doctor Who)
Steven Taylor is a fictional character played by Peter Purves in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A space pilot from Earth in the future, he was a companion of the First Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1965 to 1966.-Character history:Steven first...
, one of the early time-travelling companions in the programme Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, when the Doctor was played by William Hartnell
William Hartnell
William Henry Hartnell was an English actor. During 1963-66, he was the first actor to play the Doctor in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
. After leaving Doctor Who, Purves became a regular presenter on the children's magazine programme Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
from 1967 to 1978. 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 many clips from episodes which are otherwise now lost
Doctor Who missing episodes
The Doctor Who missing episodes are the instalments of the long-running British science-fiction television programme Doctor Who that have no known film or videotape copies. They were wiped by the BBC during the 1960s and 1970s for economic and space-saving reasons...
, most notably The Daleks' Master Plan
The Daleks' Master Plan
The Daleks' Master Plan is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The twelve episodes were aired from 13 November 1965 to 29 January 1966...
, in which Purves himself had appeared.
Blue Peter
Purves co-presented Blue Peter first with John NoakesJohn Noakes
John Noakes is a British television presenter and personality, best known for co-presenting the BBC children's magazine programme Blue Peter in the 1960s and 1970s. He remains the show's longest-serving presenter, with a stint that lasted 12 years and 6 months...
and Valerie Singleton and then with Noakes and Lesley Judd
Lesley Judd
Lesley Judd is an English dancer and TV presenter, best known as a long-serving host of the BBC children's programme Blue Peter. She was educated at the independent Royal Ballet School...
, during the programme's so called 'golden age'. After Noakes, Purves is the second longest serving male Blue Peter presenter. He was so closely associated with the programme, "the sensible one", that he found his association difficult to shake off. Purves moved on to other jobs as a presenter including Blue Peter Special Assignment
Blue Peter Special Assignment
Blue Peter Special Assignment was a factual BBC TV series broadcast in the 1970s and early 1980s, the first spin-off from the long running BBC series Blue Peter. It ran regularly from 1973 until 1981, usually at weekends on BBC1, and was heavily promoted on Blue Peter itself...
, "Stopwatch" and "We're Going Places" and then later a spell as the front man for darts events on the BBC and as presenter of the long-running BBC1 motorbike trials
Motorcycle Trials
Motorcycle trials, also termed observed trials, is a non-speed event on specialized motorcycles. The sport is most popular in the United Kingdom and Spain, though there are participants around the globe....
series Kick Start
Kick Start (TV series)
Kick Start was a popular series on BBC television screened between 1979 and 1988. The show began originally as a summer replacement to fill in the slot vacated by Nationwide for the summer and was hosted by Dave Lee Travis....
.
Other television appearances
His recent TV career has included cameo appearances in episodes of the soap operaSoap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
and sitcoms The Office
The Office (UK TV series)
The Office is a British sitcom television series that was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme is about the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictitious...
and I'm Alan Partridge
I'm Alan Partridge
I'm Alan Partridge is a BBC situation comedy starring Steve Coogan, of which two series of six episodes each were produced — the first in 1997 and the second in 2002...
. In The Office episode "Training Day" Purves played himself in a customer care training video that David Brent
David Brent
David Brent is a fictional character in the BBC television mockumentary The Office, as well as a recurring character in the NBC series of the same name, portrayed by co-writer and director Ricky Gervais. Brent is a white-collar office middle-manager and the principal character of the BBC series...
and his staff were being shown (incidentally, Purves is a qualified business trainer and a motivational speaker).
Dogs have featured in Purves's career from his Blue Peter days. He was given charge of one of the "Blue Peter Pets", Petra, a German Shepherd cross. This led to a thirty year association with television coverage of major dog show
Conformation show
Conformation shows, also referred to as breed shows, are a kind of dog show in which a judge familiar with a specific dog breed evaluates individual purebred dogs for how well the dogs conform to the established breed type for their breed, as described in a breed's individual breed standard.A...
s such as Crufts
Crufts
Crufts is an annual international Championship conformation show for dogs organised and hosted by the Kennel Club, currently held every March at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England. It is the largest annual dog show in the world, as declared by Guinness World Records, and lasts...
and in 2007 his appearance as a judge on the reality TV programme The Underdog Show. Purves also writes for the dog press and regularly presents at dog award shows. On 31 July 2008 he was bitten by a West Highland terrier whilst judging a dog show at a garden centre in Norwich. Purves was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital
The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital is a National Health Service academic teaching hospital located on the off the A11 road and the Watton Road on the southern outskirts of Norwich, England....
where he received treatment to his hand.
In the theatre, Purves is a noted pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
director enjoying a good working relationship with the Chuckle Brothers
Chuckle Brothers
Barry Elliott and Paul Elliott , better known as the Chuckle Brothers, are British comedians. They are best known for their work on their BBC show ChuckleVision, which celebrated its 21st anniversary in March 2010 with a tour called An Audience with the Chuckle Brothers, which started in January...
. He is also an after-dinner speaker.
Purves lived for a time in Bilton
Bilton, Warwickshire
Bilton is an area of Rugby in Warwickshire and a ward of the Borough of Rugby. It comprises much of the western half of the town.Historically a village in its own right , Bilton's name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Beolatun , and it was mentioned in the Domesday Book as both Beltone and...
, and now lives in the Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
village of Sibton
Sibton
Sibton is a village and a civil parish on the A1120 road, in the Suffolk Coastal District, in the English county of Suffolk. It is near the towns of Saxmundham and Halesworth, the village of Peasenhall and the hamlet of Sibton Green...
. In 2008, Valerie Singleton revealed she had had a "brief fling" with Purves.
Marking his 70th birthday, his 2009 autobiography Here's One I Wrote Earlier was released at The Kennel Club
The Kennel Club
The Kennel Club is a kennel club based in London and Aylesbury, United Kingdom.The Kennel Club registration system divides dogs into seven breed groups. The Kennel Club Groups are: Hound, Working, Terrier, Gundog, Pastoral, Utility and Toy...
.
External links
- Official Site
- Peter Purves BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Blue PeterBlue PeterBlue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...