Peter Purves, who played First Doctor companion Steven Taylor, has admitted that he’s “furious” that the BBC wiped so many episodes of Doctor Who.

The actor said:

“The closest thing I feel is anger. I’m furious the BBC were so profligate and unthinking. They didn’t even archive the telecine copies. How stupid is that?!”

He likely reflects how many fans feel, seeing as we cannot properly experience stories featuring the First and Second Doctors (William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton, respectively).

When questioned if there were any serials he thought fans were particularly missing out on, Peter reflected:

“It’s a great shame The Massacre [of St Bartholomew’s Eve] has gone. I’d like to see The Myth Makers again. I think the fans want The Daleks’ Master Plan. Not a chance! I doubt it’ll ever turn up.”

The Myth Makers, of course, is the last story with Vicki (Maureen O’Brien), while The Massacre‘s conclusion introduced new companion, Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane).

And that’s another thing we have to remember: we might be cross that we can’t see these TV tales, but for Purves, these are stories with his friends in; they would be a chance to see some glory days, to see Hartnell on screen again, somewhat fresh again after so many years.

But while it seems Purves has given up hope, missing episodes of all sorts of TV programmes do turn up. Sue Malden, the BBC’s first archive selector, has previously stated:

“We do know fairly certainly that there are episodes missing in private collections.”

So yes, we will see more classic Doctor Who again.

The question is when.

Never give up hope.