Steven Taylor (Doctor Who)

Doctorwhocharacter


caption = Steven in "The Time Meddler".
name=Steven
series=Doctor Who
affiliation=First Doctor
race=Human
planet=Earth
era=Unspecified future
start= The Chase
finish= The Savages
portrayed=Peter Purves

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 appears in the serial "The Chase", when the Doctor and his companions, Ian, Barbara and Vicki, find him on the planet Mechanus where he crash-landed two years before. He joins the Doctor and Vicki as a companion in the following serial, "The Time Meddler", when they discover that he stowed-away in the TARDIS after having escaped the burning Mechanoid city unbeknownst to them. Steven is a strong-willed individual, who is more capable when there is something physical to do than when there is thinking to be done. He has a finely developed sense of right and wrong, and places a high value on human life.

Steven follows the Doctor through "The Daleks' Master Plan", a dark and dangerous adventure that takes the lives of Sara Kingdom and Katarina. He argues with the Doctor when he refuses to prevent the events of "The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve". Steven is ready to part company with the Doctor over the deaths that happened, in particular that of a woman named Anne Chaplet. He rejoins the Doctor, however, at the same time that they acquired a new travelling companion, a young woman by the name of Dorothea "Dodo" Chaplet, who is apparently a descendant of Anne's.

Steven's journey eventually ends during the "The Savages", when he decides to accept the responsibility of leading the combined society of Savages and Elders that is attempting a lasting peace. His life beyond that is not explored in the series.

The exact time period that Steven originally came from is not specified in the television series. However, in "The Daleks' Master Plan", set in the year 4000, Steven states that he comes from "thousands of years" before that period. The Past Doctor Adventures novel "Salvation" by Steve Lyons states that he comes from the mid-23rd century. The Virgin Missing Adventures novel "The Empire of Glass" by Andy Lane states that Steven was raised in a Hiveblock on Earth. As with the other spin-off media, the canonicity of the novels is uncertain.

Steven Moffat, a "Doctor Who" fan and writer of several episodes of the revived series, named the lead character in his sitcom "Coupling" (BBC Two, 2000–04) "Steve Taylor", although this was apparently a coincidence. Moffat later explained that although he was aware of the "Doctor Who" companion, the "Steve" was chosen because the character was based upon himself, and the "Taylor" to suggest a thematic link to the character of Mark Taylor in his earlier sitcom "Joking Apart". [cite web|url=http://www.gallifreyone.net/forum/showpost.php?p=76193&postcount=67|title="Coupling Season 4" (requires free registation to view)|first=Steven|last=Moffat|authorlink=Steven Moffat|publisher=Outpost Gallifrey|date=2004-06-08|accessdate=2006-11-12]

List of appearances

Television

;Season 2
*"The Chase"
*"The Time Meddler";Season 3
*"Galaxy 4"
*"The Myth Makers"
*"The Daleks' Master Plan"
*"The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve"
*"The Ark"
*"The Celestial Toymaker"
*"The Gunfighters"
*"The Savages"

Audio dramas

*"Mother Russia" (an adventure related by Purves in the character of Steven)

Novels

;Virgin Missing Adventures
*"The Empire of Glass" by Andy Lane

;Past Doctor Adventures
*"Salvation" by Steve Lyons
*"Bunker Soldiers" by Martin Day

hort stories

*"The Golden Door" by David Auger ("Decalog")
*"64 Carlysle Street" by Gary Russell ("More Short Trips")
*"Planet of the Bunnoids" by Harriet Green ("Short Trips and Sidesteps")
*"The Little Drummer Boy" by Eddie Robson ("")
*"Ash" by Trevor Baxendale ("")
*"The Glass Princess" by Justin Richards ("")
*"Corridors of Power" by Matthew Griffiths ("")
*"Scribbles in Chalk" by Gareth Wigmore ("")
*"The Schoolboy's Story" by Trey Korte ("")
*"Making History" by Trevor Baxendale ("")
*"Waiting for Jeremy" by Richard Salter ("Short Trips: A Day in the Life")
*"Mars" by Trevor Baxendale ("")
*"Snowman in Manhattan" by John Binns ("")

Comics

*"Are You Listening?" by Warwick Gray and Colin Andrew ("Doctor Who Summer Special 1994")

References

External links

* [http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Steven_Taylor Steven Taylor] at [http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/ "The TARDIS Index File" website]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/companions/page5.shtml Steven Taylor on the BBC's "Doctor Who" website]