"on the TV pop music show ""Juke Box Jury"" as well as ""Emergency - Ward 10"" but she is best known for the children's TV series ""Magpie"", which she co-presented from 1968 to 1974. Following ""Magpie"", Stranks devised and presented a programme for pre-school children, named ""Paperplay"", which ran until 1981. In recent years Stranks has become a children's radio campaigner, helping to create Fun Radio, a station aimed at children aged under 10 years old. Stranks was married to actor and media personality Robin Ray (son of Ted Ray) from 1960 until his death in 1998. They had one"
"suffered while trying for a fourth child. Away from writing and broadcasting Ellis is a Board Member of the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, a Patron of Maggie's Centres, a patron of Humanists UK, and a Council and Honorary Member of the National Youth Theatre. Ellis was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to charity and theatre. Janet Ellis Janet Michell Ellis, (born 16 September 1955) is an English television presenter, actress and writer, who is best known for presenting the BBC children's television programmes ""Blue Peter"" and ""Jigsaw"" between 1979"
"Blue Peter Blue Peter is a British children's television programme that was first broadcast in 1958. The programme, which has had continuous seasons since it was first aired, is now the longest-running children's TV show in the world. It is currently shown live on the CBBC television channel. The show's content, which follows a magazine/entertainment format, features viewer and presenter challenges, competitions, celebrity interviews, popular culture and sections on making arts and crafts items from household items. The longevity of ""Blue Peter"" has established itself as a significant part of British culture. It was broadcast mainly from BBC Television Centre"
"Janet Ellis Janet Michell Ellis, (born 16 September 1955) is an English television presenter, actress and writer, who is best known for presenting the BBC children's television programmes ""Blue Peter"" and ""Jigsaw"" between 1979 and 1987. In 2016, she published her first novel, ""The Butcher's Hook"". She is the mother of the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, the drummer (and former child actor) Jackson Ellis-Leach and the art historian Martha Ellis-Leach. Ellis was born in Chatham, Kent. Her father was a soldier, who was stationed during her childhood at various places in Britain and Germany. Accordingly, she attended seven schools in the"
"One sitcom ""2point4 Children"" in the Series 2 episode ""I'm Going Slightly Mad"". Huq's presenting debut was in a GMTV Saturday morning children's quiz show entitled """"Eat Your Words"""" between 1994 and 1996. She was assisted by Mark Speight before Simon Parkin took over. In 1997, several months before joining ""Blue Peter"", Huq presented Channel Five's early morning children's programme ""Milkshake!"", while also working as an editorial assistant for the now defunct ""Total Sport"" magazine. Huq is best known for presenting the BBC children's television programme ""Blue Peter"", which she joined on 1 December 1997. One of her most memorable"
"be published. She was the subject of ""This Is Your Life"" in 2001 when she was surprised by Michael Aspel. Earlier, in 1974, she had been the featured castaway on ""Desert Island Discs"". Valerie Singleton Valerie Singleton, OBE (born 9 April 1937) is an English television and radio presenter best known as a presenter of the popular children's series ""Blue Peter"" from 1962-1972. She also presented the BBC Radio 4 ""PM"" programme for ten years as well as a series of radio and television programmes on financial and business issues. She is the daughter of an ex-RAF wing commander from"
"BBC children's programme Blue Peter as a replacement for John Noakes. Richard Marson's book celebrating the show's fiftieth anniversary records this fact and film of the audition was shown at a BAFTA celebration in October 2008. Burdis played the part of cowardly inmate Eckersley in the controversial movie ""Scum"" in 1979. He had played the same role two years earlier in a BBC television version of the story, although this was not transmitted for many years due to its graphic nature, hence the cinematic re-make. Burdis appeared in the ""Minder"" episodes ""Not a Bad Lad, Dad"" and ""Hypnotising Rita"", and"
"of the Barker family that owns a well-known chain of bakeries in and around Cambridge. Liz Barker Elizabeth Jane Barker (born 16 May 1975) is an English television presenter. Born in Cambridge, Barker grew up in the village of Oakington, near Cambridge and attended Impington Village College before undertaking a philosophy degree at the University of Southampton. After this was completed, she became a runner for independent production company Lion TV, a researcher, and eventually the sports presenter for BBC Choice programme ""Backstage"". On 23 June 2000, Barker joined the children's television programme ""Blue Peter"". During her six years on"
"who was later editor of ""Woman's Hour"", also performed on ""Children's Hour"". Judith presented many programmes from Manchester, including ""Children's Television Club"" which later metamorphosed into ""Blue Peter"" based in London. She spent some time at secretarial college in Manchester in the early 1950s. In the 1960s, she presented two major BBC radio programmes: ""Family Favourites"" and ""Woman's Hour"". Judith also appeared as the original Susan in ""The Clitheroe Kid"", and was a foil for Ken Dodd in his radio show. Chalmers presented ballroom dancing competition programme ""Come Dancing"" for the BBC from 1961 to 1965. During the 1970s, Chalmers"
"Helen Skelton Helen Elizabeth Skelton (born 19 July 1983) is an English television presenter and actress, best known for co-presenting the BBC children's programme ""Blue Peter"" from 2008 until 2013 and since 2014 a presenter on ""Countryfile"". She co-presented two series of the BBC One programme ""Holiday Hit Squad"" alongside Angela Rippon and Joe Crowley. She is the current presenter of all swimming coverage on the BBC including the European Swimming Championships, World Aquatics Championships and the Olympics. She also currently presents daytime series ""The Instant Gardener"". Skelton was born on 19 July 1983, in Carlisle, Cumbria, England, and brought"
"Years after Fielding left the show, her trip on a rollercoaster with fellow presenter Mark Curry was voted the ""Favourite Blue Peter moment of all time"" by viewers. After five years of ""Blue Peter"", Fielding co-hosted ""What's Up Doc?"", a Saturday morning children's show on ITV. The series ran for three years and established Fielding with slightly older audiences. From 1995 Fielding made a successful transition from children's to television for an older audience. After leaving ""What's Up Doc?"" Fielding presented "" The Heaven and Earth Show"", ""The General"" and ""City Hospital"" for the BBC. She was a regular host"
"Liz Barker Elizabeth Jane Barker (born 16 May 1975) is an English television presenter. Born in Cambridge, Barker grew up in the village of Oakington, near Cambridge and attended Impington Village College before undertaking a philosophy degree at the University of Southampton. After this was completed, she became a runner for independent production company Lion TV, a researcher, and eventually the sports presenter for BBC Choice programme ""Backstage"". On 23 June 2000, Barker joined the children's television programme ""Blue Peter"". During her six years on the programme, Liz reported from Vietnam, Morocco, Brazil, Austria, Greece, India and the US. Her"
"Peter"" won the BAFTA for Best Children's Programme (Factual): Lewis Bronze. In 2008 ""Blue Peter"" was nominated for the BAFTA Children's Kids Vote Award. Asteroid 16197 Bluepeter is named in its honour. The asteroid was discovered on 7 January 2000, the day that the ""Blue Peter"" time capsules from 1971 and 1984 were unearthed. Blue Peter Blue Peter is a British children's television programme that was first broadcast in 1958. The programme, which has had continuous seasons since it was first aired, is now the longest-running children's TV show in the world. It is currently shown live on the CBBC"
"on ITV. 87% of the population saw the Crazy Frog adverts an average of 26 times, 15% of the adverts appeared twice during the same advertising break and 66% were in consecutive ad breaks. An estimated 10% of the population saw the advert more than 60 times. This led to many members of the population finding the crazy frog, as its original name suggests, immensely irritating. Blue Peter (the world's longest-running children's television programme) rigged a phone-in competition supporting the UNICEF ""Shoe Biz Appeal"" on 27 November 2006. The person who appeared to be calling in the competition was actually"
"child, Rupert. Susan Stranks Susan Stranks (born 2 December 1938) is a British actress, television presenter and producer. Born in London, Stranks was ten years old when she played the role of the younger Emmeline Foster in the romantic adventure film ""The Blue Lagoon"" (1949). The following year she played Janet Smith, the young sister of Ann Todd, in the David Lean film ""Madeleine"". Stranks played a young student in the crime drama ""Sapphire"", and had a small part as a schoolgirl in the train scenes of ""The 39 Steps"" (both 1959) starring Kenneth More. She then appeared as a"
"much-repeated items from this era include the Girl Guides' campfire that got out of hand on the 1970 Christmas edition, John Noakes's report on the cleaning of Nelson's Column, and Simon Groom referring to a previous item on the production of a facsimile door knocker for Durham Cathedral which was displayed alongside the original, with the words 'what a beautiful pair of knockers'. ""Blue Peter"" was first aired on 16 October 1958. It had been commissioned to producer John Hunter Blair by Owen Reed, the head of children's programmes at the BBC, as there were no programmes for children aged"
"Valerie Singleton Valerie Singleton, OBE (born 9 April 1937) is an English television and radio presenter best known as a presenter of the popular children's series ""Blue Peter"" from 1962-1972. She also presented the BBC Radio 4 ""PM"" programme for ten years as well as a series of radio and television programmes on financial and business issues. She is the daughter of an ex-RAF wing commander from Hitchin, Hertfordshire, named Dennis Singleton, later an advertising manager. She was educated at Frensham Heights School in Surrey and at the independent Arts Educational School, Tring Park in Hertfordshire. Singleton wanted to be"
"appeared in December 2017 in a tribute programme to fellow Blue Peter presenter, John Noakes, who had died earlier that year. On 16 October 2018, she appeared on BBC Breakfast and later that day on Blue Peter to celebrate their sixtieth anniversary. Lesley Judd Lesley Judd (born 20 December 1946) is an English dancer and television presenter, best known as a long-serving host of the BBC children's programme ""Blue Peter"". Born in London, Judd was educated at the independent Arts Educational School, Tring Park in Hertfordshire. One of Judd's earliest appearances was as a child actor, playing a schoolgirl in"
"John Noakes John Noakes (born John W. Bottomley; 6 March 1934 – 28 May 2017) was an English television presenter and personality, best known for co-presenting the BBC children's magazine programme ""Blue Peter"" in the 1960s and 1970s. He was the show's longest-serving presenter, with a tenure that lasted 12 years and 6 months. Noakes was born John Bottomley, in Shelf near Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, to Sallie Hinchcliffe (née Hampson) and Arthur W. Bottomley. He was educated at Rishworth School where he excelled in cross country running and gymnastics. His parents divorced when he was nine and he"
"""The Magic Flute"" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Her book choice was ""The Traveller's Tree"" by Patrick Leigh Fermor. Biddy Baxter Joan Maureen ""Biddy"" Baxter, MBE (born 25 May 1933) is best known as the former editor of the long-running BBC TV children’s magazine show ""Blue Peter"", a position she held from 1965 to 1988. As editor of the programme, Baxter devised much of the format that is still used today. She was born Joan Maureen Baxter in Leicester to a teacher father who became the director of a sportswear company and a mother who was a pianist. She was educated"
"a social sciences degree, Baxter joined the BBC as a studio manager in 1955, becoming a producer of schools' English programmes in 1958, and of ""Listen with Mother"" in 1961. After moving to a temporary post in 1962 within BBC Television owing to a staff shortage, she gained a permanent post as producer of ""Blue Peter"" from November 1962, and remained directly responsible for the programme for just over a quarter of a century. First broadcast on 16 October 1958, ""Blue Peter"" had originally been devised by John Hunter Blair, but it was Baxter and her deputy Edward Barnes, later"
"Diane-Louise Jordan Diane Johnson (born 28 June 1960), better known by her stage name Diane Louise Jordan, is a British television presenter. She was the first black presenter of the children's television programme ""Blue Peter"", being involved in the programme from 25 January 1990 until 26 February 1996, making her its fourth longest-serving female presenter (after Konnie Huq, Valerie Singleton and Lesley Judd). Born in 1960, Jordan grew up in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. She studied theatre arts at Rose Bruford College, and worked as a stage actress after graduating. She appeared on children's series ""Corners"" when she was spotted by ""Blue"
"Susan Stranks Susan Stranks (born 2 December 1938) is a British actress, television presenter and producer. Born in London, Stranks was ten years old when she played the role of the younger Emmeline Foster in the romantic adventure film ""The Blue Lagoon"" (1949). The following year she played Janet Smith, the young sister of Ann Todd, in the David Lean film ""Madeleine"". Stranks played a young student in the crime drama ""Sapphire"", and had a small part as a schoolgirl in the train scenes of ""The 39 Steps"" (both 1959) starring Kenneth More. She then appeared as a regular panelist"
"competitive children’s marketplace. It is an idea denied by the producers of ""Blue Peter""."" In January 2006, novelist Kate Figes further criticised Salmon in an article in ""The Guardian"", writing that Salmon ""rarely seems comfortable around children and talks to them in slow, patronising tones. She comes over as insincere and fatuous and my daughters don't like her any more than I do."" Figes claimed that Salmon was ""encouraged by the programme editors to present herself as a sexual bimbo"", and that the show was being ""sexed up or dumbed down"". Richard Marson, ""Blue Peter""’s editor, characterised the article as"
"to re-invent the show to be more like the BBC's motoring programme ""Top Gear"". Deverell hopes that by adding ""danger and excitement"", ""Blue Peter"" will achieve the same ""playground buzz"" among children as ""Top Gear"". In January 2011, Barney Harwood was introduced to the programme as replacement for Defries, who had departed in late 2010 after two years. Unusually, Harwood was no stranger to ""Blue Peter"" viewers, having appeared as a presenter on CBBC for many years, on shows including ""Prank Patrol"" and ""Bear Behaving Badly"". On 29 March 2011, ""Blue Peter"" became the first programme in the UK to"
"using pop songs ('Soundbox') by the likes of Georgie Fame, Alan Price, Harpers Bizarre, Randy Newman (""Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear""). The show was named after its original 'presenter', a flashing/talking pinball machine called 'Mr Zokko!' with a gaping skull shaped head (designed by Mike Ellis, the father of ""Blue Peter"" presenter Janet Ellis, and grandfather of singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor) which introduced the clips and then scored them in its slow and sad robotic voice e.g. ""Zok-ko, Score 7"". The programme is now regarded as ""the first televised children's comic"". Apart from a compilation of highlights, only one"
"the charity, SightSavers, which was the ""Blue Peter"" appeal for 1986. He travelled all over the Soviet Union for the 1987 summer expedition and was known for his history features on the show, his cooking disasters and his performing. Due to Curry's successful children's history programme ""Treasure Houses"", created by Dorothy Smith and the head of children's programmes, Edward Barnes, he was invited to replace Simon Groom without auditioning for the show. Curry's co-hosts during his time with the programme were Janet Ellis, Peter Duncan, Caron Keating, Yvette Fielding and John Leslie. Curry was very emotional in 2004 after the"
"the votes, the staff overruled the vote and called the kitten ""Socks"", citing problems with the voting system and a large surge in the former name. As a result of negative media coverage, the original cat, Socks, was joined by another kitten named Cookie, as had been chosen in the online vote. The BBC broadcast an apology on 25 September 2007 at the start of the new series. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, ""Blue Peter"" was placed 6th. In 1992 ""Blue"
"into other areas and decided to go back to the musical theatre idea of Pookiesnackenburger. In 1991 the ITV Children's show presented by Andrea Arnold, called ""A Beetle Called Derek"" appeared and included a number of percussive video shorts by Yes/No People. It was from these parts that ""Stomp"" was developed as a full-length theatre show. Stomp had a large and varying line-up centred on Cresswell and McNicholas, appearing first at the Edinburgh Fringe, Royal Court Theatre, and for several years on international tour. In 1994 they recorded the theme tune for the children's television programme, ""Blue Peter"", which was"
"general during the Christmas shopping season. The children's programme ""Blue Peter"" responded to the stock shortage by demonstrating how to build a home-made version; the BBC was then, in turn, overwhelmed by viewers' requests for copies of an instruction sheet for making the model. The BBC's re-launch of ""Thunderbirds"" in the early 2000s prompted a resurgence of consumer and press interest in Tracy Island and a second ""Blue Peter"" island-building demonstration. Vivid Imaginations' playset was ranked among the British Association of Toy Retailers' Top 10 toy products; it went on to become the best-selling toy of 2000, with demand estimated"
"the 2011 GB Skeleton Bobsleigh Trials and even appearing on screen in the front row of the audience for the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament. He is also a Catholic and holds a strong belief in the Holy Trinity and Jesus Christ's resurrection. Radzi Chinyanganya Radzi Chinyanganya (born 12 September 1986) is a British presenter of the BBC children's TV programme ""Blue Peter"", beginning in 2013, and a co-presenter for the ITV gameshow ""Cannonball"" since 2017. Previously he presented ""Wild"" on CBBC and was also the host of ""Match of the Day Kickabout"" from 2013 until 2014, when Ben Shires"
"Taylor in the audio drama ""Mother Russia"" and has portrayed him in several additional audio dramas in the years since. After leaving ""Doctor Who"", Purves became a regular presenter on the children's magazine programme ""Blue Peter"" from 1967 to 1978. He co-presented ""Blue Peter"" first with John Noakes and Valerie Singleton and then with Noakes and Lesley Judd, during the programme's so called 'golden age'. After Noakes, Purves is the second longest serving male Blue Peter presenter. He maintained his connection to ""Doctor Who"" throughout his time on ""Blue Peter"", often hosting special features on the programme and interviewing the"
"is the chairman of the Muslim Council of Britain – the largest Muslim organisation in Britain. Murad Qureshi, a Labour politician, is a member of the Greater London Assembly. Others have contributed in the British media and business worlds. Konnie Huq is the longest-serving female presenter in Blue Peter, a BBC television programme for children. Other notable national TV presenters have included Lisa Aziz of Sky News, Nina Hossain (ITV and BBC London), Tasmin Lucia Khan (BBC News) and Shawkat Hashmi is Community Editor at BBC Sheffield, (BBC News). In drama, Shefali Chowdhury and Afshan Azad both starred in the"