Blue Peter Book Seven

Blue Peter burst into the new decade with the publication of book number 7. The front cover was symbolic of the 1970s, being bright and colourful, perhaps reflecting the fact that the programme itself was first transmitted in colour on 14th September that same year. The front cover also featured the whole of the dream team (Singleton, Noakes and Purves) filming an outdoor action scene with action man John seated in an autogyro.

By now the format of the annual books was very well established, a mix of makes, puzzles, history items and interest stories from the Blue Peter programmes of 1970. Education was certainly the underlying purpose, with the Blue Peter book providing a wealth of general knowledge for the younger generation. If these days children have Google and Wikipedia to instantly answer their homework questions, back in the seventies we relied on Blue Peter to tell us about the life of Henri Dunant, the man who conceived the Red Cross and keep us informed on the best way to track Roe Deer with helpful advice from the aptly named Grahame Dangerfield.

Pets, especially dogs remained high on the agenda for Blue Peter in 1970, but it was John Noakes who was sent to Cruft's that year not as one might imagine Peter Purves. Purves later became known as the voice of Cruft's Dog Show coverage on television, though in fairness both men are still instantly associated with their canine counterparts in the public consciousness.

Back in 1970 Valerie still ruled as 'Queen of the Makes' and in book 7 she was making celebration cakes, an explorer's kit for Action Man as well as an amazing box farm which possibly got us all in practice for BP's classic Thunderbird Island which followed many years later.

By 1970 Blue Peter's ITV rival Magpie had been going for two years, offering a more hip version of the same magazine format, a bit like comparing the Woodcraft Folk with the Scouts and Guides. If one might have expected this development to have put Blue Peter editors under pressure to become a bit less 'Aunty Beeb' in the scope and style of the programme, it was not apparent in the annual book which firmly maintained the old school formula rooted in the dolls and train sets of Hunter Blair but turned into a veritable institution by Biddy Baxter et al.

In the same year that Jimi Hendrix was playing the Isle of Wright, Black Sabbath were inventing Heavy Metal and John Lennon brought out Working Class Hero, Blue Peter had John Noakes taking ballroom dance lessons from Peggy Spencer and Valerie Singleton learning how the Queen's scribe produced Letters Patent. There can be no argument that BP's editorial content in 1970 was dictated by a BBC elite rather than being inspired by the grass-roots masses, a case of Biddy deciding what was good for us.  

But for the moment I will leave the debate about Blue Peter's relevance and influence to greater intellects than myself, suffice it to say that as a 9 year old back in 1970, Blue Peter offered a wide breadth of academic learning which might not have been as contemporary as it's competition, but was of a consistent quality not found elsewhere.