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Stop Press
I shall be the commentator for a National Trust Dog Fun Day at Dunwich Heath on the coast of Suffolk on Saturday June 7th.
The show will feature Dog Agility and several fun classes for any dog
owner to enter. It should be a really lovely day. And the weather
forecast is good.
I also had a wonderful time at the excellent Fun Day organised by Dogs for the Disabled charity at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire last Saturday, May 31st.
My thanks to Peter Corbing and his wonderful staff for their
hospitality on a day which saw an impressive 12 to 1500 members of the
public enjoy some exciting and enjoyable events and demonstrations.
2 more Doctor Who events for your diary. I shall be appearing at the Doctor Who event in Herne Bay, Kent on Sunday, June 15th. The event starts at 10.30am.
And I am also one of a Galaxy of former Doctor Who Companions at the all-weekend event in Middlesbrough on August 23/24th. That looks like being a major event. I hope to meet many of you there at these events.
2014
Good Lord! Is it that time already?
In March I completed my 36th year as Presenter and commentator at
Crufts, the World’s Greatest Dog Show. And this year it proved itself
again to be just that. As usual, my co-commentators were Dr. Jessica Holm and Frank Kane, and this year, as well as Graham Partridge providing additional background and colour for the Agility and Flyball, Jim Rosenthall joined the ranks. It was a pleasure to meet and work with him. A true professional. Also, as usual, Clare Balding
held it all together in the studio. Sunset and Vine provide3d the
pictures for More 4 and Channel 4, and my thanks to David Stranks, Sue
butler, Diane Keen and the entire team for the brilliant all-day/
every-day coverage.
It was a fascinating show this year – attendance was up over the four
days to almost 160,000, and the |Best in Show line-up was as good as I
can remember. Incredibly, two of the dogs in the final seven , Ricky
the Standard Poodle, (and eventual winner) and Pearl, the American
Cocker Spaniel, were bred by the same kennel – Mike Gadsby and Jason
Lynn’s Afterglow kennel in Blackpool. What a fantastic achievement for
them.
I had the pleasure also, of presenting a short feature on Obedience
for the first time since the 1990’s – a real omission from the TV
schedules I think. I also made another special for You Tube and a
further piece on Dachshunds which can be found in the video section on Youtube.com/crufts.
And for those who want to know who won the Obedience championship this
year, there is my full commentary on a demonstration from the main
Arena on the Saturday night.
The fast-growing Radio station in the Southampton area, Jack fm has just recorded a new venture, the Peter Purves Advice Service
for transmission later in the year. I had a lot of fun with Steve Simms
and James from the station when we recorded many pages of what we all
hope is an amusing and entertaining idea. I would be pleased to have
any feedback from Jack fm listeners in the area once the transmissions get under way. And further recordings are planned for later in the year.
The excitement of last year’s 50th anniversary celebration for Doctor Who gave me some enjoyable moments too. I attended the convention in Los Angeles
(quite an eye-opener for me ) where the Americans really have taken to
the whole experience of the show. The interest in the early days of the
show has meant that I get quite a reception whenever I attend any of
these events. The actual 50th celebrations at the Excel in London’s
Docklands was really a splendid event., and one that kept me and my
many colleagues from the show, extremely busy. Though, I think we could
have all done without the appalling “live” TV show on the Saturday
night, which was an embarrassment to say the very least. The redeeming
feature was the Mark Gatiss’ special TV film celebrating Verity Lambert and William Hartnell. What a performance by David Bradley as Bill – it was absolute perfection, and accurately portrayed the sense of the 1960’s.
I have been engaged to make two more Doctor Who original audio plays
for Big Finish later in the year. The portfolio of my character, Steven Taylor, continues to grow. This is how it currently looks:
Mother Russia (with Tony Millan). Oct 2007
The Suffering, (with Maureen O'Brien) 2010
The Perpetual Bond Feb 2011. }
The Cold Equations June 2011. }. Trilogy with Tom Allen
The First Wave Nov. 2011. }
Tales from the Vault 2011
The 5 Companions ( with Jean Marsh and Peter Davison) Dec 2011
The Anachronauts (with Jean Marsh) 2012
The Return of the Rocket Men (with Tim Trelour). 2012
Upstairs (with Maureen O'Brien) 2013
The War to end all Wars. 2014
The Light at The End 2014 (with 5 Doctors)
The Bounty of Ceres. To be released November 2014
An Ordinary Life (with Jean Marsh). To be released Dec 2014
Two as yet untitled productions to be recorded and released in 2015
In addition, The BBC Audio collection has the original BBC soundtracks of all Peter 's Doctor Who serials with additional new commentary by Peter.(see Doctor Who Page)
One interesting spin-off from Doctor Who was being asked to take part in Celebrity Antiques Road Trip for the BBC, with Sixth Doctor Colin Baker,
on a Doctor Who themed edition of the show. I have known Colin for
years – I even directed him in Pantomime way back in the late 1980’s at
Hayes in Middlesex. He is such a lovely guy and we had a really
enjoyable time in the antique shops of Malvern and Leominster. The
auction was a disappointment – Colin won!!!
I worked with my old mate John Noakes on Pointless Celebrities, also for the BBC, which was repeated recently, and where we won a nail-biting second round over Christopher Biggins and Janet Street Porter, only to lose the head-to-head by knowing very little history!!!. I made a second appearance on the show, this time with Yvette Fielding on a Blue Peter themed episode, which also involved former colleagues Janet Ellis and Simon Groom. We lost in the second round through not thoroughly understanding the rules. That’s my excuse anyway!
My Cruise ship talks continue. The next one will be in June when I join the Cunard Queen Elizabeth in Rome, for a cruise round the Adriatic and the Aegean. Last year I sailed on the final world cruise of the Saga Ruby, from Rio, via Montevideo, Buenos Aires, The Falklands, and Tristan da Cuhna, before disembarking in Capetown. and . Most enjoyable. Other commitments prevented me from joining a Fred Olsen cruise and another with P&O. So maybe some more later in the year.
My book "Here's One I Wrote Earlier"
which launched in February 2009 continues to sell through Amazon, and I
keep on getting nice emails and comments about it from people who are
still catching up with it. So thanks to all of you who bought it, and
who have been so kind. Thanks also to all who have bought it when I
give talks at a number of different venues during the year.
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Me, and my wife Kathryn,
together with two of our
Pekingese dogs, Holly and Tillie, at the event. |
Me with my birthday cake before the launch. |
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I remain President of the Canine Supporters Charity, am a vice-patron of Dogs for the Disabled and The Bella Moss foundation and am an Advisor to Dog Theft Action. I was a founder member of the board of the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich,
and as a board we were responsible for getting the theatre up and
running again after a disastrous collapse of the previous company in
1998. During my two-year chairmanship we were able to get a new roof on
the building and various upgrades have continued. I stood down from the
board in 2006, but the current board continue to help the theatre make
great strides forward under the brilliant supervision of CE Sarah Holmes, and Artistic Director Peter Rowe. Its success continues, and I trust that Government cuts will not halt its progress.
There is a full updated chronology of my work from the fifties to the present day on another page of this site.
My Agent remains my friend Wendy Downes.
Should you have any enquiries about my availability, please contact
Downes presenters
55 Montgomery Road,
South Darenth,
Kent DA4 9BH.
info@presentersagency.com
www.presentersagency.com
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