Having been omitted from the front cover of Book 15, Simon Groom became only the second Blue Peter presenter (Noakes enjoyed the accolade twice) to have the front cover all to himself, excepting of course his co-star, Goldie the new BP dog. 1979 had been a year of big change for the programme's team of presenters. Whilst the 1960's had been dominated by Christopher Trace, Valerie Singleton, John Noakes and a late appearance by Peter Purves, the 1970's saw a whole decade of Noakes and Purves with Lesley Judd replacing Valerie Singleton between 1972 and 1979.
With only brief appearances in the spotlight for Leila Williams and Anita West in a three year period between 1958 and 1962, Simon Groom became only the 8th presenter in a 20 year period and only the 6th with comparable longevity to Noakes, Purves, et al.
For those of us who had literally grown up watching the programme at 5 to 5 every Monday and Thursday early evening on black & white television sets (partly because we only had the choice of three flickering channels) this had become a very permanent part of our childhoods. Changes to the presenting team, let alone to the pets, was going to be a challenge and as symbolic a change as was watching the miracle of colour tv in your own living room. But a whole new generation of children were on the ascendancy, giving Groom and Goldie the front cover billing was therefore a strong statement, especially given the expectations on this humble farmer's lad from Dethick.
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