16 Blue Peter

First  watched : Uncertain

Blue  Peter  returned  from  a  summer  break  , some  of  which  the  presenters  spent  in  what  was then  Ceylon  , on  Monday  15th  September  1969. I've  no  idea  whether  I  actually  watched  that episode  but  I  do  recall  a  period  when  Patch  was  one of  the  dogs  and  he  died  in  1971  so  it's  possible.

I  was  never  really  fond  of  Blue  Peter  despite  being  one  of  the  fortunate  generation  that  was  watching  when  John  Noakes  was  on  the  show  and  hurling  himself  into  dangerous  challenges. With  his  untamed  Halifax  accent  ( a  dream  for  countless  crap  impressionists  like  Eddie  Large ) and  slightly  unkempt  appearance  he  was  a  welcome  contrast  to  stuffed  shirt  Peter  Purves  ( who'd  been  in  Dr  Who  for  a  while,  though  from  the  ones  I've  seen  he  was  a  terrible  actor )  and  Valerie  Singleton  who  was  like  an  awful  po-faced  schoolteacher  although  by  the  time  I  was  tuning  in  she  was  trying  to  re-position  herself  as  a  serious  news  journalist  and  may  have  been  more  fun  earlier  on  in  her  stint. While  I  wasn't  bowled  over  by  her  jolly  replacement  Lesley  Judd  , she  was  a  definite  improvement.

Besides  the  great  Noakes  stunts  the  things  I  most  remember  are  Uri  Geller's  first  appearance  on  TV, the  pets, the  appeals   and  the   endless  models  that  always  required  "sticky-back  plastic", something  we  never  had  in  the  house. I  remember  when  we  did  acquire  a  couple  of  leftover  rolls  from  a  decorating  job  on  the  cellar  it  was  very  exciting  but  I  can't  remember  if  we  actually  used  it.

My  sister  loved  it  uncritically  and  I  remember  we  had  a  battle  royal  in  1975  when  I  wanted  to  watch  The  Tomorrow  People    instead  of  the  Monday  edition.  Our  mum  eventually  decided  in  my  favour  ( hooray ! )  which  drove  the  first  nail  into  the  coffin  as  far  as  I  was  concerned. ( Ironically  Helen  soon  became  an  equally  fierce  devotee  of  the  mutant  kids  instead ). I  think  I  did  finally  go  with  Noakes  in  1978.  I  don't  remember  Janet  Ellis, the  garden  being  vandalised  or  the  fake  donation   except  through  schoolmates  discussing  them  at  the  time.

It  is  of  course  still  going  and  at  56,  is  the  longest  running  children's  TV  show  in  the  world.