3 days ago
Millions of children watched Blue Peter. Biddy Baxter brought us together as a country
When television first became all-powerful, people complained that it dissolved social bonds, but you could argue the opposite was true.
In the heyday of terrestrial television, from the 1950s to early 1980s, so many people watched the same things. There were only two channels until 1964, only three until 1982. This created a community of amusement, gossip and shared knowledge.
Today's news of the death of Biddy Baxter brought this home to me. She must have been the only example of a television editor, as opposed to presenter, who was a household word. Children watching never knew what she looked like, but her memorably alliterative name always appeared last on the credits at the end of Blue Peter. We all, in our millions, watched Blue Peter.
I can attest to Biddy Baxter's fame by the fact that my wife, being born Baxter (though no relation), was often jokingly called Biddy at university in the 1970s. I occasionally call her 'Biddy B' as a tease even now.
Unlike all but a tiny percentage of children, I met Biddy Baxter. This was because we had a litter of nine husky puppies – the second, I believe, ever born in Britain. Their mother was called BP, which stood for Big Puppy, not Blue Peter. They made the H in the Blue Peter Dogs' Alphabet – and the whole lot appeared on the programme.
The Moore family brought them up from the country to Broadcasting House. Miss Baxter as, of course, we called her, greeted us. She had high, clicking heels and a brisk manner. I must admit I found her slightly alarming.
While we sat drawing in a make-up room (there was no live 'feed' in those days), the puppies tumbled around in the studio with Christopher Trace and a slightly uneasy Valerie Singleton. Rather shockingly, they referred to them throughout as 'Antarctic' creatures: they are Arctic ones.
