In a fairly typical example of the blog almost-not-quite timing things properly, the last update (marking the history of Blue Peter after I reveal it as the sixthmost broadcast BBC programme of all-time) happened to appear a few days shy of Blue Peter’s 65th anniversary. Of course, if I’d planned things properly, I would have waited until the day itself. But since when has planning things in a proper and timely fashion ever helped anyone?
Oh. Ah.
ANYWAY, to help mark things a little better, he’s some extra Blue Peter gold to mark the occasion, with huge thanks to Paul R Jackson for providing some extra-excellent knowledge.
WHAT DID THE BBC DO TO MARK BLUE PETER’S SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY?
There was a special programme. Well, kind of. On 16 October 2018, BBC Four broadcast a special documentary on the history of the programme, going out under the search-term-thwarting title BP Confidential. This aimed to reveal the “true character of those working behind and in front of the camera on Britain’s longest continuously running children’s programme”. The programme blurb suggests it covered much that is already known about the programme (at least if you’re me, and you’ve just spent ages reading through published histories of the series), but it’s nice to see that it took the time to mark the work of Anita Ward, the previously-forgotten BP presenter.
This was just the opening act on a midweek BP tribute night, followed by Blue Peter: It’s a Dog’s Life (“the story of Blue Peter’s fondly remembered canines”), Blue Peter Flies the World: Morocco (a repeat of an international jaunt from 1968) and The Biddy Baxter Story, a profile of BP’s redoubtable editor.
WHAT ABOUT THE FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY?
Now you’re talking. Of course, the BBC being the BBC, BP Confidential wasn’t a new programme put together to mark the 60th – it had originally aired on Saturday 10 October 1998 on BBC Two, to mark the 50th anniversary, before being repeated on 9 December 2017 (also on BBC Two).
The 1998 celebration was part of a much higher-profile Blue Peter retrospective, with an entire evening of BBC Two celebrating the series. Ah, theme nights. I can’t be alone in really wishing BBC Two would run a theme night celebrating theme nights of the 1990s.
This kicked off at 6pm with Hello Again!, where former hosts John Noakes, Peter Purves and Valerie Singleton introduced themselves as our hosts for the evening. This was followed at 6.05pm by Carry On Blue Peter, a compendium of cock-ups from the programme, hosted by Richard Bacon, Katy Hill, Konnie Huq and Stuart Miles.
It being the late-90s, no programme could go long without having a phone poll, and Blue Peter Night was no exception – a poll being ran at around 6.30pm where you could spend 10p a minute voting for your favourite Blue Peter decade: 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s. The first hour was rounded off by It’s a Dog’s Life (as above, “the story of Blue Peter’s fondly remembered canines”).
But, as Brian Butterworth would say, that’s still not all. Following a break for news, sport, Chris Patten’s East and West, What the Papers Say and a documentary about the Cold War called, erm, Cold War, we were back at 8.55pm, with a rare excursion across the watershed for the Blue Peter ship. The late evening saw Spoof Peter at 9pm, a collection of BP pisstakes, featuring (it’s safe to say) Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Not the Nine O’Clock News. That was followed at 9.20pm by BP Confidential (see above), then at 10,15pm A Right Royal Reunion, where Princess Anne (Britain’s rural royal) recalled moments from her 1971 trip to Kenya, as catalogued by the series at the time.
Then, completely and brilliantly unsuitably, the ‘Murder at Tea Time’ episode of Murder Most Horrid that definitely shared a few similarities with the good ship. Then phone poll results, and bedtime.
A cracking evening’s telly, and no doubt.
[EDIT: And only slightly spoiled by the News of the Screws posting a certain exclusive about presenter Richard Bacon just eight days later, leading to an episode of Blue Peter memorable for all the wrong reasons. Thanks to Simon Tyers on BlueSky for reminding me of that near-coincidence.]
WHEN WAS THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE BLUE PETER BADGE?
On 17 June 1963, as famously designed by Tony Hart. Hart himself appeared as contributor to the series between 26 March 1959 and 15 July 1963, and presented the programme on at least one occasion (on 13 November 1959).
WHAT OTHER NON-CANON GUEST BLUE PETER PRESENTERS WERE THERE?
Aside from Tony Hart, there was Ann Taylor (alongside Christopher Trace on 17 September 1959), Sandra Michaels (who replaced a holidaying Val Singleton between 20 and 27 April 1964), 11-year-old competition winner Ryan Gilpin (on 15 October 2003), Angellica Bell as stand-in host for Barney (for three months in 2016), Lauren Layfield on 27 May 2022 and YouTuber/TikTokker Joel Magician in August 2022.
WHICH FORMER BLUE PETER PRESENTERS WERE AWARDED A GOLD BADGE?
Twenty of the forty former BP presenters have been handed coveted Blue Peter Gold Badges. And they are, with names in bold where badges were awarded after they left the programme:
Valerie Singleton (in 1994), John Noakes & Peter Purves (on 7 Jan 2000), Simon Thomas (on 25 April 05), Liz Barker (10 April 06), Matt Baker (26 Jun 06), Peter Duncan (20 Feb 07), Konnie Huq (22 Jan 08), Gethin Jones & Zöe Salmon (25 Jun 08), Andy Akinwolere (28 Jun 11), Helen Skelton (26 Sept 13), Barney Harwood (14 Sept 17), Janet Ellis (11 Nov 17, on an episode of BBC Breakfast), Radzi Chinyanganya (18 April 19), Lindsey Russell (15 July 21), Adam Beales (15 July 22), Lesley Judd (19 Oct 22), Richie Driss (3 March 23) & Mwaka Mudenda (29 Sept 23).
AND WHICH ONES WEREN’T?
There are nine notable omissions to the list: Leila Williams, Simon Groom, Sarah Greene, Mark Curry, Yvette Fielding, Diane-Louise Jordan, Tim Vincent, Stuart Miles and Katy Hill
Seven others have yet to be awarded a golden gong: Anita West, Tina Heath, John Leslie, Anthea Turner, Romana D’Annunzio, Richard Bacon and Joel Defries.
Four gold-badgeless Blue Peter presenters have since died: Christopher Trace, Christopher Wenner, Michael Sundin and Caron Keating.
Paul has been in touch with current Blue Peter editor Ellen Evans, who reported that she was aware of those omissions, so hopefully at least Leila Williams might yet get some welcome recognition for spell on the BP gangplank. Fingers crossed, anyway.
Again, a (purely notional) Broken TV Gold Badge to one-man fact mine Paul R Jackson for those splendid nuggets of knowledge. Next update to the BBC 100 list soon!
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