BLUE PETER BOOK COVER OMNIBUS...

Copyright BBC TV

BLUE PETER first appeared in black and white on our television screens on October 16th, 1958, but it wasn't until September of 1964 that the very first Blue Peter Book/Annual was published by LUTTERWORTH PRESS in association with the BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION.  It presumably sold well, for the next edition in 1965 was published by the BBC itself, and continued to be so for many years until WORLD INTERNATIONAL Ltd., then PEDIGREE, took over.

In 2011, it was announced that there would be no more Blue Peter books, as yearly sales had declined from around 100,000 - when they were at their peak - to around only 13,000.  (In fact, there'd been none in 1987, '91 and '94-'98.)  There was also a Blue Peter Yearbook - actually a magazine - in 1993, but it may have been a 'one-off' as I never saw any further issues in subsequent years.

The best-known presenters were CHRISTOPHER TRACE, VALERIE SINGLETON, JOHN NOAKES, PETER PURVES and LESLEY JUDD, and few presenters since then have been as memorable or as highly esteemed by viewers as the 'famous five' were in the '60s and '70s.  Several years back now, I was sitting in my garden shed listening to the radio, when LAST WORD paid tribute to a famous cyclist who'd passed away.  John Noakes had once interviewed him on Blue Peter, and to hear a clip of the younger Noakes' familiar voice emanating from my radio took me right back to the '70s when he had yet been a regular presenter on the show.

Christopher Trace had been the main man from the programme's inception in 1958, of course, and it was sad when he left on July 24th, 1967, leaving Val and John to present the programme alone until Peter Purves joined in November.  Curiously, the Fourth Blue Peter Book makes absolutely no reference to Christopher Trace's involvement in the show that year, perhaps because (as legend has it) the production staff found him difficult to deal with and, secure in the knowledge that Noakes had proven a hit with the viewers, accepted Chris's oft-threatened resignation when he again offered it during some spat or other.  No photos, no mention, which seems unnecessarily spiteful considering that Chris had spent nine years with the show, being the longest-serving presenter at that time.  (Incidentally, Chris had been CHARLTON HESTON's stand-in/body-double in BEN-HUR.)

The Seventh Blue Peter Book is also a bit unusual, in that it's the only one I have in my collection which has a 'wraparound' photo on the cover, all the other ones using the same photo on the back as on the front, though there may well be other exceptions to this practice of which I remain unaware.  (Yup, there was, which I discovered when I acquired Book seventeen from 1980, which also has a similar style of cover - as do at least the next three.) 

This gallery includes all 15 books that featured Chris, Val, John, Peter and Lesley on the covers (though not all at the one time, obviously).  Without the original 'famous five' presenters, Blue Peter was never quite the same - at least to those of a certain age.  These pics will hopefully stir a few happy memories in the hearts and minds of those who grew up in the '60s and '70s, and to whom the programme was a regular part of their lives.  I have to confess I never bought any of them at the time of publication, not really getting into the BPBs until around the early '90s, I think (but can no longer recall with anything approaching accuracy).  Why?  Pure nostalgia.  They were a means by which I could revisit my past, having been a semi-regular viewer over the years - particularly when BLEEP And BOOSTER were a feature of the show.

Talking of Bleep and Booster, in 2008 there was a lavish Blue Peter 50th Anniversary book which explored practically every aspect of the programme's history, but apart from a one-line mention of Bleep and Booster, it was as if they'd never existed. The author of the book (and former editor-in-chief of the programme), RICHARD MARSON, later explained to me in an email that he was pressed for space and couldn't include everything, but for kids in the '60s, B & B were probably the main draw of the show.  At least they appeared in the first 14 books and had three annuals of their own back in the '60s.

I have a few other Blue Peter Books, but the ones featured in these two posts represent the programme in its heyday when it was broadcast from BBC TELEVISION CENTRE (which should never have been sold off), and where the spirits of many a Blue Peter pet no doubt still romp around the spot of the famous (and original) BP garden.

"Get down, Shep!"

Speaking of whom, Border Collie dog SHEP was probably BLUE PETER's most famous pet in a long and varied line.  Not only was he and his 'master', JOHN NOAKES, regarded as one of the nation's finest double acts (of a sort), they also inspired a record single by the group The BARRON KNIGHTS based on Noakes' continual admonitions of "Get down, Shep!"

John Noakes departed Blue Peter in 1978 after almost 12 and a half years, and Shep was 'retired' from the show at the same time.  Their association continued for another two years in the programme GO WITH NOAKES (which had started in 1976) and, according to some histories, John and Shep lived together happily ever after until Shep passed away in 1987.

Except that's not what happened.  Shep belonged to the BBC, not John Noakes, though the Corporation was prepared to make a gift of the dog to John on the undertaking that he didn't use the pet for commercial purposes such as advertising.  (The Collie who appeared with John in adverts for dog food in 1978 was a 'ringer' called SKIP.)  Also, the allowance which the BBC paid to John for looking after the dog would be discontinued.

John Noakes apparently later claimed that Editor BIDDY BAXTER wouldn't allow him to keep the dog; Biddy Baxter, on the other hand, claimed that once John found he couldn't financially profit from exploiting his canine chum in the lucrative world of advertising (though some accounts say he accepted this condition) and would no longer receive his regular allowance for the dog's upkeep, he promptly relinquished Shep back to the BBC. 

The dog was cared for by EDITH MENEZES, the official Blue Peter pet keeper, who also 'looked after' PETRA (one of Shep's predecessors) and a variety of other animals from the BP menagerie.  I've been unable to determine with whom Shep resided between 1978 and '80, but he stayed with Edith for the rest of his life from 1980 to '87.  (John revealed the dog's death while appearing on TV two or three days later and shed a few tears.)

So, sadly, despite the legend, John and Shep didn't walk off into the sunset together like ANDREW GLENN & BLACK BOB.  Shep stayed in Britain with Edith, while John and his wife moved to Malta in 1984, where they resided until John passed away in 2017.

So not quite the happy ending BP viewers would've wished for, or that some sources would have us believe.  Sad, eh?

Anyway, enjoy the covers - a gateway to an earlier time.

Interestingly, the above cover came in for a bit of attention, as related in BIDDY BAXTER's book, DEAR BLUE PETER.  Letter follows: