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.

The Blue Peter mini books

In 1969 Blue Peter branched out still further into the publishing market with a series of mini books which focussed on specific topics.

The first four books included:

The Blue Peter Book of Teddy’s Clothes

The Blue Peter Book of Television

The Blue Peter Safari to Morocco

The Blue Peter Book of Pets

The following year a second series of mini books was published which included:

 

The Blue Peter Book of Presents

 

The Blue Peter Book of Guide Dogs

 

The Blue Peter Book of Daniel

 

The Blue Peter Expedition to Ceylon

The mini book series was clearly a strategy to make a few extra bob from those families in the UK who were well-off enough to buy both the annual as well as something a little more specialist. Or perhaps aimed at those young people considering moving from Blue Peter O level to Blue Peter A level. 

For those of us whose parents might have wistfully gazed at the mini books in Woolworth on Christmas Eve 1969 and then decided to stick with the tried and tested generalist format of the annual, we were destined but to dream of one day borrowing them from the local library or pinching them from a posh-pal's bedroom. 

Decades later, these treasured if well worn mini gems from the Blue Peter book shelf are turning up by the sack load on e-bay and I am therefore a tad relieved that I didn't give in to the temptation to nick a copy of The Book of Teddy's Clothes from my middle class mate, as finally I now have my own legitimately acquired copy.

Now all I need is an old sock and a big pair of crimping scissors.
 

Bleep and Booster Annuals

Bleep and Booster was a much loved cartoon series by William Timym (aka Tim) which was featured on Blue Peter from 1963 to 1977. During this period 313 five minute episodes were run.

Booster was a boy from Earth who travelled around space with his alien pal Bleep having adventures on weird and wonderful planets.

Bleep was from the planet Myron and his father was the top commander of a Myron spaceship which flew around the universe doing good deeds for other planets and keeping mischievous alien creatures in check. Invariably Bleep and Booster found themselves in trouble whilst performing innocuous errands for the said commander and thence requiring rescue.

Bleep and Booster used a technique called animatic animation which involved still pictures being slowly panned, with narration from Peter Hawkins. Hawkins was better known as the voice of Captain Pugwash but returned to the science fiction genre as the voice of one of the daleks on Doctor Who.

Bleep and Booster cartoon strips by Tim featured regularly in the Blue Peter annual books and became so popular that they even had their own annuals between 1966 and 1968.

William Tymin was born in Austria and studied at the Vienna Academy of Art but fled Austria in 1938 following Nazi occupation. His cartoon The Boss had been widely published in Czechoslovakia and Scandinavia. Tymim settled in England and continued his career drawing newspaper and magazine comic strips in the 1940s. His best known cartoon strip was about a dog named Caesar published in the Sunday Dispatch. Tymim was also a wildlife sculptor and his works included the bronze bust of Petra the dog which stood in the Blue Peter Garden and a well known statue of Guy the Gorilla which is close to the ape pavilion in London Zoo. William Timym died in 1990, aged 87.

 

Former Blue Peter editor Biddy Baxter honoured by Bafta

Former Blue Peter editor Biddy Baxter will receive Bafta's Special Award at its Children's Awards later this month.

Baxter, who will be honoured for her outstanding contribution to the industry, has been called a "veritable national institution" by Bafta.

She helped devise the famous Blue Peter badge during her 26 years at the helm of the hit children's show.

She also instigated the annual Blue Peter Appeals, which have since raised millions of pounds for charity.

Baxter's long-term friend Sir David Attenborough will present her with the honour at the British Academy Children's Awards ceremony in London on 24 November.

"Biddy's impact on children's media and entertainment is undeniable," said Harvey Elliott, chairman of Bafta's Children's Committee.

"She is a veritable national institution and we are delighted to honour her contribution."

Read more at BBC Online

Blue Peter Book Six

The sixth Blue Peter book was published in 1969 and featured a photograph of the 'fab three' team of presenters, John Noakes, Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves with mutts Petra and Patch and cat Jason all seated in one of the Emergency Doctors Cars which had been purchased for Biafra and Nigeria in that year's wool and cotton appeal.

By 1969 the dream team were getting into their stride, even if the signs were that John was more of the daredevil (or fall guy?) whilst Peter and Valerie were living the more sedate life. 

High flying

There were articles, for instance, about John's free fall parachute jump from 2,800 feet with the Red Devils and another about his day spent with the Royal Ballet School which he described in his own words as "the toughest thing I've ever done on Blue Peter".

Meanwhile, Peter got to make a Tottenham Hotspur rattle, baby sit the Blue Peter baby Daniel and make a layout for the Blue Peter model train layout. Valerie seemed to have been consigned back to 'mainly makes', collections and telling stories from history.

In fairness, the imbalance may be more perceived than a true reflection of the year's programmes and my nitpicking clouds the fact that this book, like its predecessors, was rich in variety. Peter's rattle make was followed by a great article about the F.A.Cup which I recall made me personally very happy as a child as it included the story of how the cup was stolen from a Birmingham shop in 1895 after my team Aston Villa had won it. I wonder how many football teams have had a mention in Blue Peter books over the years?

Ground breaking

Peter's feature showing him caring for the Blue Peter baby was actually very radical for the time, in spite of his alledged protests to Biddy at being made to look after a baby whilst Noakes was off jumping out of aeroplanes, to his great credit Peter's demonstration to the young audience of 1969 that men could provide child care as well as women was probably much more ground breaking.

Book Six saw the intrepid trio flying off to Oslo in Norway to collect London's annual gift of a Christmas tree and, well actually, if its action you want, there was a dramatic sword fight featuring John and Peter dressed as muskateers. Peter's former acting career coming to the fore as he looked every bit the part of D'Artagnon! 

Bleep and Booster remained firm favourites in 1969, as did Bengo the boxer pup and Paddington the bear was getting into trouble once again. Geoffrey Wheeler's amazing cut away diagramme that year was a Fowler BB1 traction engine and Val's history story was about the great Russian Prima Ballerina, Anna Pavlova. Something for every child's interest.

By December 25th 1969 the format was now well and truly tried and tested and for children of the 1960s and early 70s like me, the Blue Peter book was becoming as much a part of Christmas as presents under the tree, my dad cracking open his Brazil nuts and the family settling down for the Morcambe and Wise show with a large tin of Quality Street.