Biddy, Benn and Buzzard

Favourite amongst all my birthday presents - a "Hot Bitch" LED fan!

Not one, but two more significant bits of my childhood are gone...

The estimable Biddy Baxter - the "Miranda Priestly" of BBC children's telly, by all accounts - who was the genius behind the longest-running children's TV show in the world, Blue Peter has departed, Hamble, Humpty, Jemima, Little Ted and Big Ted in tow, for Fabulon. Miss Baxter took over the ailing show way back in 1965 and revived its fortunes by introducing such cultural icons as the Blue Peter Badge and the Xmas charity collection (of things that kids could easily source, such as foil milk-bottle-tops, postage stamps, scrap metal/cans and so on), men as well as women doing cookery demonstrations, "how to make" crafts, gifts and toys (inevitably using the famous "sticky-backed plastic") and, famously, the show's pets.

Most of the presenters were allegedly terrified of her, and one of the most beloved of them John Noakes publicly stated that he couldn't stand her. Auntie Beeb, in her wisdom, "let her go" after twenty-three years at the helm - but her legacy lives on, as the show is still running today... [Read my post on the show's 60th anniversary.]

And, on the weekend, we lost the charming character actor Ray Brooks who, out of his long and impressive career that spanned from the gritty and shocking TV drama Cathy Come Home, through bit-parts in just about every serial on our screens in the 60s and 70s (The Avengers, Randall & Hopkirk Deceased, Z-Cars, Coronation Street and so on), a starring role in the comedy-drama Big Deal in the 80s and a late-career part in Eastenders, is most famous for one iconic role...

...he was the voice of beloved children's TV icon Mr Benn!

Mr Benn: The Gladiator

RIP, both. And my childhood.

---

Meanwhile...

...here's a little something for this Tacky Music Monday from a man who (thankfully) is very much still with us - and celebrates his 75th birthday tomorrow - Mr August Darnell, the genius behind Machine, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, and this lot:

Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band - Cherchez La Femme

Oh, I love that song!

Have a good week, dear reader.

Here's one I made earlier...

The world's longest-running children's television show Blue Peter celebrated its 60th birthday yesterday!

Pre-dating America's Sesame Street by eleven years, its whirlwind mixture of educational topics, "make-at-home" arts and crafts, pets, gardening, special guests, charity fundraising appeals, features, time capsules, and general "derring-do" adventures has been a staple diet for generations of children in the UK (including my own) - some of whom are probably grandparents today (gulp), and is (quite rightly) revered as one of the BBC's best innovations.

All but five (Simon Groom and Mark Curry gave apologies due to ill-health, Christopher Wenner, Tina Heath and Gethin Jones were not mentioned) of its surviving presenters, together with the show's founding producer Biddy Baxter, gathered for the party - and what a line-up!



So who's who among the Blue Peter presenters at the 60th anniversary party?

1. Barney Harwood, 2011-2017
2. Zoe Salmon, 2004-2008
3. Konnie Huq, 1997-2008
4. Stuart Miles, 1994-1999
5. Lesley Judd, 1972-1979
6. Tim Vincent, 1993-1997
7. Sarah Greene, 1980-1983
8. Romana D’Annunzio, 1996-1998
9. Janet Ellis, 1982-1987
10. Richard Bacon, 1997-1998
11. Valerie Singleton, 1962-1972
12. Peter Purves, 1967-1978
13. Leila Williams, 1958-1962
14. Simon Thomas, 1999-2005
15. Radzi Chinyanganya, 2013-present
16. Lindsey Russell, 2013-present
17. Peter Duncan, 1980-1984 and 1985-1986
18. John Leslie, 1989-1994
19. Anthea Turner, 1992-1994
20. Liz Barker, 2000-2006
21. Diane-Louise Jordan, 1990-1996
22. Joel Defries, 2008-2010
23. Yvette Fielding, 1987-1992
24. Ayo Akinwolere, 2006-2011
25. Katy Hill, 1995-2000
26. Anita West, 1962
27. Helen Skelton, 2008-2013

RIP (of course) John Noakes (the show's longest-serving presenter, from 1965-1977), Christopher Trace (1958-1967), Michael Sundin (1984-1985) and Caron Keating (1986-1990).

For the uninitiated, or just as a nostalgic indulgence for fans such as I, here, for your delectation - a whole hour of the best bits from the classic era of the show, the 60s and 70s:

The best of Blue Peter

All hail, Blue Peter! Here's to the next sixty years.

Read my tribute to the show on it's 50th (yes - this blog has been going a while...)

Reunited with Shep at last

Oh dear. Very sad news.

Another little bit of my childhood has slipped away - with the announcement of the death of that most iconic of children's television presenters, the lovely John Noakes.

The longest-serving presenter of the enduring classic Blue Peter - favourite TV programme of many generations of children since it began way back in 1958 - he was the friendly face that was always there for me, from toddler to teenager [he started on the show in 1965 and left in 1978]. In the world of kids' programmes - where presenters either feel the need to be zany'n'wacky, or else a bit schoolteacher-ish - he was the sort of daredevil, jolly bloke that behaved like an overgrown schoolboy; always climbing things, messing with things that go "pop", or handling creatures that were a bit scary or just out-of-control [like his pet dog/up-stager "Shep"]. The sort of person you wanted to be when you grew up.

Everybody adored him.

Two years ago, when he went missing from his home in Majorca (and was found only slightly hurt, having fallen into a ditch), it was revealed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Such was the love for the man in the British collective consciousness that his plight made the TV news headlines,and the front pages of many newspapers.

However, it is for his on-screen antics that we love him the most, including climbing Nelson's Column, jumping out of aeroplanes, baring his bruised bum after he came skidding off a bob-sled, and, of course... THAT elephant! Here are a few highlights that have been hastily put together by some kindly YouTuber:

Best TV moments of John Noakes, RIP

RIP, John Noakes (born John A. Bottomley, 6th March 1934 – 28th May 2017)

"Get Down, Shep!"

Another icon of our childhood here at Dolores Delargo Towers, daredevil adventurer, dog-lover and "genial uncle" co-host of the BBC's Blue Peter for twelve and a half years, John Noakes is 80 years old today! I feel so old.

In tribute, I couldn't resist posting his world-famous encounter with a particularly playful baby elephant...

Blue Peter - elephant

Happy birthday!

John Noakes (born 6th March 1934)

"I Love Blue Peter" page on the BBC.

Queens on children’s TV shocker

Over the years, there have been plenty of queens on Blue Peter.

However this year Her Majesty The (real) Queen has arranged a special birthday tea at Buckingham Palace to mark the 50th anniversary of the BBC's landmark children's programme.

Invited to the tea will be the current presenters, key production staff and a selection of the longest-serving presenters from each of the show's five decades.

One to watch out for, as hopefully we'll get to see John Noakes, Val Singleton, Peter Purves, Leslie Judd and Peter Duncan on our screens again. Oh happy memories...



This special extended edition of Blue Peter will be shown on Thursday 16th October 2008 at 5.15pm on BBC One.

Article in The Telegraph