But amid the outcry, it is notable that one group seems unmoved by the quasi-demise of Blue Peter (which will continue to air in pre-recorded form). And that is, of course, children – too busy bingeing on Gravity Falls on Netflix or inhaling Sabrina Carpenter-themed TikToks to care either way.
square BLUE PETER Dead puppies, live ultrasounds and vandalism: The inside story of Blue Peter
Read More
But that would be a fib almost as egregious as the one the BBC spun in 2006 when it claimed a viewer phone-in had decreed its new studio cat should be named Socks (the public had, in fact, opted for “Cookie”). The truth is that, the occasional fire notwithstanding, Blue Peter has always been as dull as the gluey paste used during those endless craft segments where the presenter would whip up a scale-model Tardis using sticky tape and loo roll.
Blue Peter, by contrast, was memorable only when things went wrong. Fortunately, that happened at a reasonably regular clip. There was the instantly legendary 1969 episode where baby elephant Lulu was hauled in from Chessington Zoo and – in a state of understandable confusion and panic – defecated on the studio floor (having already ruined the paint-work by weeing everywhere).
(L-R) Simon Groom, Sarah Greene and Peter Duncan on the set of ‘Blue Peter’ (Photo: Don Smith/Radio Times/Getty Images)Minus the defecating elephants and the raging campfires, however, Blue Peter felt like an extension of the school day. For many viewers, it was the first experience of the dreaded concept of “organised fun”. Perhaps it was a cunning ploy by the BBC to encourage kids to do their homework. Many would have taken their six-times tables over yet another forced singalong hosted by presenters who, though only in their early 20s, had the weary body language of people ready for retirement.
(L to R) Mark Curry, Yvette Fielding and Caron Keating on the set of ‘Blue Peter’ (Photo: Luke Finn)
It is true that there were occasional glitches in the matrix. John Noakes famously sidelined in daredevil stunts, including his notoriously risky scaling of Nelson’s Column. But such hi-jinks merely put into sharp relief the tedium of the rest of Blue Peter. And that was in the 1970s when there was literally nothing else for kids to do besides inhale lead petrol fumes and try not to be impaled on barbed wire while out playing with their pals. Nowadays, Blue Peter is so far off what kids expect from television as to qualify as a debilitated living fossil, like the poorly Triceratops from Jurassic Park.
So, while the series’s demotion to a pre-recorded format will upset that minority of adults with fond memories of Blue Peter from their childhood, that disappointment will be confined to those of a certain age. Don’t expect today’s kids to be miffed about the downgrading of a show they are barely aware of in the first place.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Blue Peter has always been boring – now it’s a living fossil )
Also on site :