In the final episode of Doctor Who TV serial The Chase, broadcast almost 60 years ago today on 26 June 1965, the Doctor met space pilot Steven Taylor, played by Peter Purves. Steven escaped the prison of the Mechonoids and stowed away on the TARDIS, becoming the Time Lord’s latest travelling companion. 

Now, six decades later, Steven’s adventures continue on audio for Big Finish Productions, with Purves – who cemented his status as a television icon with his eleven years presenting Blue Peter – having returned to voice the adventurous companion many times. 

To mark the anniversary, Big Finish are releasing two brand-new Short Trips audiobook adventures, read by Purves and set during Steven’s time with the Doctor. 

In the stories, which are both written by Jacqueline Rayner, Steven faces a glimpse of another life he could have, then finds himself caught in a most dangerous game. 

Short Trips: A Forest of All Seasons and The Doctor’s Gambit are both now available to download for free, exclusively here. 

Steven’s two new 40-minute tales are: 

A Forest of All Seasons 

The Doctor, Steven, and Vicki arrive in a strange forest where time seems to stand still. When Vicki disappears, Steven must confront a baffling mystery involving an alternate version of himself and the inhabitants of a village trapped in an endless cycle. 

The Doctor’s Gambit 

On an alien world, the Doctor, Steven and Dodo are drawn into a mysterious contest. With lives at stake and a hidden enemy in control, every move could be their last in the deadly game. 

Peter Purves said: “It’s always a pleasure to be able to get into a recording studio and do some of these Big Finish recordings. It’s now 60 years, almost to the day, that I first appeared in Doctor Who, and 60 years is a very long time! 

“I like both these Short Trips. It was an extremely generous idea of Jacqueline when she wrote it to explore Steven’s romantic side. It’s an aspect of Steven that hasn’t been shown before.” 

Writer Jacqueline Rayner added: “I love the character of Steven. Even when he was fitted into not-quite-Steven-shaped holes in the scripts in the 1960s, Peter Purves made him a distinctive and very human – and realistically flawed – character. I hoped to create a few places where he could show that humanity. 

“It's a great joy that Peter is still bringing Steven alive and still finding new depths in him all these years later – it's a great testament to him as an actor.” 

Short Trips: A Forest of All Seasons and The Doctor’s Gambit are both now available to download for free, exclusively here.