For some time now I've been writing Classic Who Catch Up, a blog where I watch every classic Doctor Who story. I eventually got to a point where I watched all the existing stories and am currently going back and watching reconstructions etc of the stories that are mostly or entirely missing.
In this process, I found a new hero. Steven Taylor. There are plenty of Doctor Who companions that have a high status in the eyes of most fans, like Ace, Sarah-Jane and Jamie. There are others which are almost universally disliked. And then there's Steven Taylor, one of hardly gets talked about.
The trouble is most of Steven's stories were in season three, which is mostly missing. The two Steven stories that exist in their entirety from season three are The Ark and The Gunfighters. The Ark is not great and Steven spends most of it barely conscious due to illness. And The Gunfighters is just awful. Most of the missing stories are understandably less well-known that the existing ones and I fear that poor Steven Taylor is one of the many victims of the BBC's policy of throwing away old TV shows.
Poor Steven first appears as a prisoner in the closing stages of The Chase. He does his best to survive in a warzone and is nearly killed by the daleks destroying the Mechanoid City. Few companions have had such a dramatic life prior to meeting the Doctor and the fact he is still around at this point is pretty impressive.
He quickly adapts to life with the Doctor and has lots of fun. There's a wonderful line from him in The Time Meddler: "That rock over there looks just like a blue box". In Galaxy 4 he makes a real stand against the deadly Drahvins and is very nearly killed when they remove the air from an air lock he is trapped in. He shows real bravery in trying to escape the Drahvins and nearly suffers the ultimate price for it.
In The Myth Makers Steven becomes the legendary Greek Diomede. In the Illiad Diomede is said to be one of the best Greek warriors, behind only the great Achilles. It's unclear where Steven gets his expertise with a sword from but it seems he was really rather good. Maybe he was just a natural.
Steven showed much more than brawn though. He endures the horrific events of The Dalek's Master Plan as three of his allies are violently killed. He questions the Doctor whether the loss of all the lives was worth it to defeat the Daleks. And then in the next story Steven becomes really angry when the Doctor doesn't save anyone from the events of The Massacre and very nearly walks out on the Doctor forever over it.
He's not needlessly sentimental though. Whilst Dodo treat The Celestial Toymaker's creations as real living things, Steven sees them for what they are- a figment of the Toymaker's imagination and something stood between him and freedom.
Steven's journey comes to an end when he is the only man suitable to lead a society that needs reforming in The Savages. The First Doctor was not exactly known for his kind words but not only does he express that he will miss Steven but he also says that is his proud of him. Few companions are given such a noble exit and we can only assume that Steven would have thrived as the leader of a new civilisation.
In my mind Steven showed all the best qualities of the Doctor's companions. He could fight when he needed too but like the Doctor, and even more so at times, really believed in the sanctity of life and would stand up to something if he believed it was wrong.
We all hope that more missing episodes will be found and I really hope for more Steven Taylor episodes to be found. Steven is a great character, wonderfully portrayed by Peter Purves, and I think more people ought to see that.
It may sound silly but you can't go far wrong in life if you think "what would Steven Taylor do?"...
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