Happy 50th birthday Blue Peter
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Mark Curry, Caron Keating & Yvette Fielding with Bonnie, 1988, courtesy of BBC
It might not look a day over 21 but iconic children\'s TV show Blue Peter actually has a pretty big birthday this year (on 16 October, to be precise). Yes, for 50 years, presenters have been taking ridiculous risks and urging kids to use up any excess energy by fashioning over-ambitious projects using double-sided sticky tape. So to celebrate this special occasion, here\'s one we made earlier (sorry, couldn\'t resist!): 10 moments from the last half century that deserve to be remembered (for a whole host of reasons)...
Mark Curry, Caron Keating & Yvette Fielding with Bonnie, 1988, courtesy of BBC
Lulu the elephant
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John Noakes with Nativity Scene, 1975, courtesy of BBC
Ah yes, the classic. Whether you remember watching it live back in 1969 or you\'ve just seen the video clip one of the approximately three million times it\'s been shown since then, it\'s become the thing Blue Peter is best remembered for. We don\'t know who thought it would be a good idea to bring a baby elephant called Lulu into the studio, but they were quickly disabused of that notion as she knocked over everything she could find (including her keeper), stamped on John Noakes\' foot, and just to make sure she really got her point across, left a rather messy "gift" as a memento of the occasion. Which John Noakes then stood in. Nice.
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John Noakes with Nativity Scene, 1975, courtesy of BBC
Tracy Island
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Peter Duncan, Valerie Singleton, Anthea Turner & Stuart Miles, 1998, courtesy of BBC
Less a craft project, more a way of life, the most famous and ambitious "make" of all time showed Anthea Turner demonstrate how to re-create the secret base of Thunderbirds International Rescue using plant pots, matchboxes and sheer force of will. The programme was simply trying to fulfil the demand for Tracy Island toys after shops sold out in 1992 leaving parents around the country with glue-smeared fingers, sawdust-covered carpets and a new found hatred of sticky-backed plastic.
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Peter Duncan, Valerie Singleton, Anthea Turner & Stuart Miles, 1998, courtesy of BBC
Doctor Who dog drama
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John Noakes with his on-screen companion Shep, c.1975, courtesy of BBC
Blue Peter has been obsessed with Doctor Who ever since it started and even filmed an episode on the Doctor Who set in 1974. But one day in 1977 showed the questionable wisdom of mixing Blue Peter pets with their robot counterparts, as Shep the dog took umbrage when faced with K9 the robot and tried to bite off its tail. Shep\'s constant companion John Noakes had to intervene, giving him the chance to use his famous catchphrase: "Get down, Shep!" No wonder the pair were immortalised in wax by Madame Tussaud\'s later that year: it was the only way John could get Shep to sit still.
John Noakes with his on-screen companion Shep, c.1975, courtesy of BBC
Mr Bean messes up
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Connie Huq, Simon Thomas, Liz Barker & Matt Baker promote the Welcome Home Appeal, 2004
Konnie Huq was given the task of teaching the audience to make an Easter basket. But what should have been a straightforward task was complicated by the unwelcome involvement of Mr Bean, who told Konnie off for stealing his basket before using his craft materials to dress up as an elf and proclaim the virtues of having bendy ears. But it takes more than that to keep the longest-serving female Blue Peter presenter down. With a firm hand and without losing her temper, she triumphed in the end. Hooray!
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Connie Huq, Simon Thomas, Liz Barker & Matt Baker promote the Welcome Home Appeal, 2004
The Totaliser
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Peter Purves, Valerie Singleton, Lesley Judd & John Noakes with the Treasure Hunt Appeal Totaliser
Blue Peter has always been obsessed with getting us to collect things, from milk bottle tops to CDs, stamps to scrap metal. In fact, if it has been used, worn, looked at or listened to, Blue Peter will find a way to transform it into hard cold cash. In addition, they had a generation of children organising jumble sales barely before they could walk, just so they could rejoice in the thrill of seeing the almighty Totaliser light up as more and more money was raised. (Oh, and to do something nice for charity too, of course.)
Peter Purves, Valerie Singleton, Lesley Judd & John Noakes with the Treasure Hunt Appeal Totaliser
Diane Louise Jordan joins up
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Diane Louise Jordan, John Leslie and Anthea Turner, 1993, courtesy of BBC
In 1990, the irrepressibly sunny Diane Louise added a little diversity when she became the first black woman to ever present the show. She stayed on for six years, making her the fourth longest-serving female presenter. She also adopted her niece after the untimely death of her sister, suffered a skiing accident and became a presenter on Songs Of Praise - but nothing stopped her smiling. She now works as a motivational speaker and life coach. Naturally.
Diane Louise Jordan, John Leslie and Anthea Turner, 1993, courtesy of BBC
Monkey-ing around
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Lesley Judd Blue Peter
Throughout the \'70s, the very well-spoken Lesley Judd always seemed to draw the short straw: she was left making bracelets and dancing round the studio while Joan Noakes and Peter Purves climbed mountains and threw themselves out of planes. When she did do something outdoorsy, it was often fated to fail, as when she travelled by boat and rope to Bishop Rock lighthouse and her harness broke. But her most memorable moment came when she was a gorilla keeper for the day and found herself being attacked by an over-amorous new simian friend, who wanted to steal a sliver of her jumper. Left lying on the ground, panting, it was all Lesley could do to exclaim, with typical BP enthusiasm, that she "wouldn\'t have missed that for the world!" Atta, girl.
A Royal appointment
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The Queen visits Blue Peter
As part of her Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002, The Queen made her first (and so far only) visit to the Blue Peter studios, where she was presented with a gold badge, the highest Blue Peter honour. Thanks to the badge, she now has permission to enter the Tower of London and some sections of Buckingham Palace for free. Of course she could do all of that already, on account of the fact that she\'s the Queen, but it\'s the thought that counts.
Door knocker double entendre
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Peter Duncan & Simon Groom washing Goldie, 1983, courtesy of BBC
Simon Groom, a presenter from 1980-1986, became known for inserting inappropriate innuendos wherever he could get away with it. Following a piece about a replacement door at Durham Cathedral, he commented, "Mmm, what a beautiful pair of knockers." While it was played down as an innocent mistake, Groom later admitted the double entrendre was done on purpose. This was the man who also remarked while dressed in a suit of armour, "Once a king always a king, but once a (k)night is enough." Tee hee.
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Peter Duncan & Simon Groom washing Goldie, 1983, courtesy of BBC
Gorgeous Gethin shakes his thang
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Blue Peter Gethin Jones Strictly Come Dancing
Last year, lovely \'Geth\' got grown women watching Blue Peter again as he set the dance floor alight during his star turn on Strictly Come Dancing. He may have taken a while to warm up, but once he got the hang of thrusting his hips, it was hard to get him to stop. Not that anyone was asking him to, least of all his dance partner Camilla Dallerup. Sadly for the Welshman and his army of female fans, he just missed out on a place in the final, but he was a winner in people\'s hearts, and that\'s what really matters...
Thank you Blue Peter
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Peter Purves, Valerie Singleton and John Noakes in the Blue Peter studio with Jason, Petra, Patch and Barney, 1969, courtesy of BBC
And there we have it: 50 years of daredevil feats, re-purposed yoghurt pots and out of control animals. And all thanks to a TV executive called Owen Read, who just wanted someone to make a little show for young kids, and the eccentrically-named editor Biddy Baxter, who made the show what it is today: a national institution that changed the way we felt about double-sided tape forever. What on earth will the next 50 years bring? We don\'t know, but we can\'t wait to find out.
Photographs supplied by the National Media Museum as part of its free exhibition "Here\'s One We Made Earlier..." 50 Years of Blue Peter www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk
Peter Purves, Valerie Singleton and John Noakes in the Blue Peter studio with Jason, Petra, Patch and Barney, 1969, courtesy of BBC
