If Joan Maureen Baxter, MBE, aka Biddy Baxter (born 25 May 1933) had a reputation for being dictatorial, controlling and patronising to her presenters and production colleagues, no one can deny the huge influence she had in shaping the format of Britain's longest running children's television programme from the moment she took over in 1965 to her departure in 1988. Biddy was also extremely attentive to her viewers as is demonstrated in this letter of April 1976 in which she personally answers a child's enquiries about polychromy (the ancient Roman art of painting sculptures) and canals.
Not only this but Biddy also praises the young viewer for her camp blanket and encloses the coveted prize of a Blue Peter emblem presumably on a badge. In 2008 Biddy published a book of selected letters to Blue Peter titled Dear Blue Peter... The Best of 50 Years of Letters to Britain's Favourite Children's Programme 1958-2008.
The 2008 Amazon description of the book explains:
'Blue Peter, which celebrates 50 years on television this year, means something to children of every generation from the 1960s onwards - whether it's the theme tune, the pets, the endless sticky-back plastic, or the legendary mishaps. But one little known aspect of the programme is the extraordinary correspondence it generated almost from the day that John Noakes, Valerie Singleton and co, first went on the air. By the late 80s, Blue Peter was receiving an average of 7,000 letters per week. In this wonderfully entertaining book, Biddy Baxter - the programme's editor for 26 years, and the woman who used the Blue Peter badge to encourage children to write in with ideas, pictures and stories - reproduces some of the very best letters received. Original, engrossing, funny - and sometimes remarkably rude - they provide a unique record of life in the second half of the 20th century, of people all over Britain (and further afield) and children of every conceivable background'.
Even today, in the tradition started by Biddy Baxter, Blue Peter staff still personally reply to hundreds of letters from viewers every week. In a 2018 article on the BBC Blog, editor Ewan Vinnicombe said:
"The key to Blue Peter’s lasting success is that the audience are really at the heart of everything we do. We now have record amounts of post which shows how sending and receiving handwritten letters in a digital world is extra special to the children who watch.
So far in 2018 we’ve received over 105,000 pieces of correspondence, compared to 40,000 in 2011. Every letter is read and everyone gets a personalised reply. Children love to see their work on screen and their ideas influencing the content we make."
Still replying to more than 100,000 letters a year! Blue Peter at 60
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