The following obituary by Biddy Baxter and Edward Barnes appeared in The Guardian,
Rosemary Gill, who has died aged 80, was part of the team that redefined the popular BBC children's television series Blue Peter in the 1960s. The programme had a weekly postbag of around 8,000 letters, which, as well as competition entries, included countless ideas from children about what they wanted from the programmes being made for them. These inspired the Saturday-morning show that Rose produced in the following decade, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.
Rose knew how much children enjoyed swapping things. The TV programme Z-Shed, an experimental phone-in series inviting viewers to talk to experts about matters such as bullying, homework and pocket money, had proved how good children were on the phone – they were far less waffly than many adults. That show's presenter, Noel Edmonds, was a young, long-haired DJ from Radio 1 with minimal TV experience.
Edward Barnes, the Z-Shed producer, was convinced that Noel was the best choice for Swap Shop. A lunch was arranged for Rose to meet Noel. It was a tentative first encounter, but there was a glimpse of a shared eccentricity and sense of the ridiculous. "I don't believe she had an ego," Noel remembered. "Rose was the silent shadow drifting behind the cameras, stepping over cables and whispering words of encouragement to a studio crew who all knew that in Swap Shop we were creating something very special."
Part of the magic was the show's wide-ranging content. Boy bands, rock stars and famous personalities were all in the mix, but among the candyfloss there was an equal proportion of grit. Much of this was provided by the Newsround team, including John Craven, who presented segments on topical issues. Rose reminded John of "a very, very friendly headmistress. She had all these amazing guests in the studio, and children too, and she handled it beautifully. She had everything absolutely under control, making sure, for example, that famous comedians didn't make blue jokes that would have been wholly inappropriate for the Saturday-morning audience. We all knew Rose's rules!"
Rose was born in London. Her father was a schoolteacher and her mother had been a nurse during the first world war. After attending St Paul's girls school, Rose joined BBC Radio as a teenage secretary in 1948. She worked on women's programmes, and was eventually transferred to Alexandra Palace to join the nascent television service. There she became a secretary to various producers, including Cliff Michelmore.
In 1955, she successfully applied for one of the newly created posts of assistant floor manager, and worked on the programme Music for You, major ballet productions and children's programmes. She was spotted by Edward, a floor manager who became production assistant on Blue Peter. He was instrumental in getting Rose a secondment to Blue Peter when the producer, Biddy Baxter, was summoned for jury service in 1963.
When Biddy's jury service ended, Owen Reed, the head of children's programmes, was persuaded that Rose should be allowed to stay on as research assistant for an additional two months. Fortunately for us, she stayed with Blue Peter for another 13 years. When the show went bi-weekly in 1964, Rose and Edward became producers. Rose later became deputy editor when Edward was appointed deputy head of children's programmes.
The early 60s was a time of crisis in children's programmes at the BBC. Its drama and entertainment programmes had migrated to different departments, and the remnants, including Blue Peter, were combined with programmes for women and called "family programmes". It was this backs-to-the-wall situation that determined the three of us to make a programme that would be worthy of the neglected audience we served. Rose's contribution to Blue Peter was immense. She had a deep nostalgia for her wartime childhood, the happiest time of her life. One of her greatest talents was her skill as a writer. She knew exactly how to inform the Blue Peter audience, which had a huge age-range, without gushing or appearing to be condescending.
After the long slog of two live transmissions each week, the presenters began what was ironically called "the summer break" by travelling the world on filming expeditions. Rose worked on several of these with John Adcock, the senior Blue Peter director, and they always turned up trumps.
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| Swap Shop - the last show |
Rose produced Swap Shop from 1976 until 1982, when Noel decided it was time to move on and the series came to an end. The show launched the television careers of Keith Chegwin and Maggie Philbin: Maggie named her daughter after Rose, describing her as "a brilliantly intelligent and wickedly rebellious woman who was completely self-effacing, refusing to take credit for her sheer genius in putting together the first truly interactive television show". Delia Smith, who also appeared on Swap Shop, said: "I always use Rose's name when explaining to people that everything works if the person at the top is good. I will never forget how calm and reassuring she was while coping with three hours of live television."
Swap Shop's replacement, Saturday Superstore, was based on Rose's happy childhood memories of playing shops with her older sister, Hazel, and their childhood excursions to Harrods and Selfridges. The studio was designed as a sort of department store, with presenter Mike Reid playing the manager. Rose set up the show, which first aired in 1982.
By the time Saturday Superstore ended, in 1987, Rose had retired early from the BBC. She and Hazel, who was head of the Blue Peter correspondence unit, travelled extensively, and it was a devastating blow when Hazel died of cancer in 2001.
Rose was engaged in her late teens, but her fiance was killed in a submarine accident while serving with the Royal Navy.
• Rosemary Ffolkes Gill, television producer, born 17 December 1930; died 22 February 2011
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