Doctor Who: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Toymaker
6. The Trilogic Game Cursed Peter Purves
The Celestial Toymaker was one of Peter Purves' last serials as companion Steven Taylor. After it finished filming, the actor came into possession of the Trilogic Game prop – the challenge set by the Toymaker to test the First Doctor, which played a key role in the serial.
With Hartnell invisible for most of the story, it was down to Purves to lead it. This was good news for the actor, as he felt that Steven had often been sidelined during his time on Doctor Who. But unfortunately for Purves, he was further sidelined when he left the show a few serials later.
He didn't work for a year-and-a-half after his last day on Doctor Who, and he came to blame the Toymaker's cursed game for his bad luck. A day after disposing of the Trilogic prop, Purves was offered a job on Z-Cars, and then the presenter role on Blue Peter.
While it's surely a cosmic coincidence, this sudden change of fate was enough to convince Purves that the Trilogic Game was cursed.