Biddy Baxter obituary

Pioneering producer who shaped Blue Peter into one of Britain’s most popular and enduring children’s television programmesBiddy Baxter, who has died aged 92 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and breast cancer, carved out a place in television history by shaping the hugely successful format of the world’s longest-running children’s magazine show, Blue Peter – while in charge of it for a quarter of a century. She took over as producer in 1962 – four years after its inception – to overhaul a factual programme then described by BBC management as being like “a rundown property with potential for improvement”.Its audience of primary school-age children originally saw Christopher Trace, an actor, and Leila Williams, a former Miss Great Britain, presenting the 15-minute weekly show, which began with film of a three-masted schooner lowering its Blue Peter flag, signalling the start of a voyage, accompanied by the 1930s hornpipe theme tune, Barnacle Bill. Continue reading...

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