Blue Peter is 50 today. I remember being a fervent watcher from roughly 1968 to 1972, the reign of Valerie Singleton, John Noakes and Peter Purves.
Some moments stick in the mind, like the time Noaksey took us up Big Ben, or when Peter’s dog Petra died, the imitation log fire caught fire at the Christmas Carol service, or when Lulu the elephant ran amok in the studio. It was live in those days other than the location footage so anything could happen but it was mostly calm and well ordered, or it looked it. I made advent candle calenders out of coat hangers, collected milk bottle foil tops for the appeals, made pen holders out of washing up liquid bottles and useless objects covered in sticky-back plastic.
My favourite Blue Peter Book was the book of Television and I always got a Blue Peter Annual of Father Christmas. (I particularly liked Bleep and Booster).
One year, I was surprised (and delighted) to get an envelope with the BBC logo on it. Inside was a letter from Biddy Baxter, congratulating me for doing so well in the Annual competition. The prize was a…
Blue Peter Competition winner badge!
(I don’t have it any more.)
One day, Peter Purves came to Newcastle, visiting a bookstore. I managed to get him to sign my Blue Peter annual, on a photo of him and John Noakes wearing the trousers of Britain’s biggest man. I realised all was not perfect in Blue Peter land when Peter offered to sign all over Noakesey’s face!
This takes me back,,,
