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Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Where are Blue Peter presenters now as live show axed
Having started in 1958, Blue Peter has transcended generations but the BBC have announced a shake up to the 66-year-old show. The programme's director confirmed that they will no longer be transmitting the show live and will instead move to pre-recorded broadcasts instead to reflect the change in viewing habits. If you ask anyone I'm sure they can hum the Blue Peter theme tune - maybe some can name some of the animals included in the show over the years, some may be lucky enough to have a coveted badge - but everyone should be able to name 'their' Blue Peter presenter. For me, having watched the show in the early '00s, the presenters I remember most would be Konnie Huq, Matt Baker, Gethin Jones and Helen Skelton, all of whom are still on our screens now. But who are the 43 past presenters and what happened to the Blue Peter presenters we no longer see on our TVs? For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter. READ MORE: Madeleine McCann investigation update as key suspect could 'walk free within weeks' READ MORE: Chris Evans chokes up on air as he announces death of close friend When the show was established in 1958, there were two presenters steering the ship, Christopher Trace and Leila Williams. Both were known for being the original presenters of the show, although Christopher was best known for training the puppy Petra and his enjoyment of travelling, meanwhile Leila was crowned Miss Great Britain 1957. Despite retiring from the media in the 1970s, Christopher briefly returned in the 1990s to the BBC to guest on and later host the nostalgia series Are You Sitting Comfortably? on Radio 2. Leila Williams on the other hand had an extensive acting career before returning to Blue Peter for the show's 40th anniversary in 1998 and the 60th in 2018. The '60s saw the addition of a few more faces to the Blue Peter team including Anita West, Valerie Singleton, John Noakes and Peter Purves. Now some may remember the elephant incident, or at least have heard about it like me. Back in the 1960s, presenter John Noakes, Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves had a special guest in the form of Lulu the elephant, who decided to defecate on the floor of the studio. John Noakes was the longest serving presenter of all, leaving after nearly 13 years. John went on to do many things including writing a book and later he and his wife ran a boat rental business in Spain. In 1999, he returned to TV whilst co-hosting an ITV series entitled Mad About Pets. In 1994, Valerie was awarded an OBE for her service to children's television and continued to work within the media having hosted a show on BBC Radio 4 for ten years. Taking the reigns in the '70s were Lesley Judd, Simon Groom, Christopher Wenner and Tina Heath. Primarily recognised for his stint as a presenter from 1978 to 1986, Simon Groom was a familiar face to all. He later established his own production company specialising in documentaries and in July 2022 he was honoured with an award at Derby University. Lesley Judd went on to present In The Limelight With Lesley on BBC1 and later decided to leave the limelight but returned to celebrate the Blue Peter 60th anniversary in 2018. The 1980s saw the likes of Sarah Greene, Peter Duncan, Janet Ellis, Michael Sundin, Mark Curry, Caron Keating, Yvette Fielding and John Leslie. Sarah Greene was part of the show from 1980 to 1983. At just 22, Greene was the youngest member of the team during her tenure. Upon her departure from the series, she co-hosted Saturday Superstore with DJ Mike Read and later joined forces with Craig Charles, Michael Parkinson, and her late husband Mike Smith for the paranormal special Ghostwatch. Sarah participated in Dancing On Ice in 2008 and has frequently guest presented This Morning in recent years. Mark Curry has remained active in the television industry, appearing in shows like Last Of The Summer Wine and Doctors. He also took to the stage in various roles and presented the final season of Catchphrase in 2002 before it was revived in 2013 with Stephen Mulhern at the helm. At the start of the new decade Diane-Louise Jordan joined the team followed by Anthea Turner, Tim Vincent, Stuart Miles, Katy Hill, Romana D'Annunzio, Richard Bacon, Konnie Huq, Simon Thomas and Matt Baker. After leaving Blue Peter, Anthea Turner became the face of GMTV from 1994 to 1996. She also had the honour of being the first host of The National Lottery draw show and has appeared in various reality series including Celebrity Big Brother, Hell's Kitchen, The Jump, and Dancing On Ice in 2013. When Konnie Huq joined the programme in 1997, little did anyone know that she would go on to become the longest-serving female presenter, clocking in an impressive 11 years. Since leaving the show she's now a mother and wife to TV presenter and satirist Charlie Brooker. She has found success as a screenwriter and author of children's books. The turn of the millennium saw Liz Barker, Zoe Salmon, Gethin Jones, Ayo 'Andy' Akinwolere, Helen Skelton and Joel Defries. Now, we all know Gethin and Helen are now the presenters of Morning Live, but what about the others? Since leaving Blue Peter, Liz Barker has spent several years working as cake decorator for her family's bakery, but she hasn't completely left the wonderful world of the media. She has appeared as a voiceover artist in numerous games and radio plays, as well as launching her own poetry book. Ayo 'Andy' Akinwolere is still a familiar face on our screens, having presented the BBC's current affairs program from 2014 and later started sports presenting first for Channel 4 and later for CBS Sports. Moving on to the 2010s we saw Barney Harwood, Lindsey Russell, Radzi Chinyanganya and Richie Driss step on to the boat. Although famous for his appearances across CBBC's children's shows, Barney Harwood now runs his own film production company, where he now directs films, documentaries and commercial ads for numerous brands and agencies. Now you may not know the name Richie Driss from Blue Peter, although you may know his name from BBC Radio 1 if you're an early bird. Richie joined the team in 2024 as part of the Friday Early Breakfast line-up. Both Mwaksy Mudenda and Adam Beales did a short stint at the beginning of the 2020s. Since leaving the show Mwaksy has gone on to other presenting roles like Becoming Xtraordinary, and she also gave birth to a baby in early 2025. Adam, a content creator with over 4 million subscribers on YouTub,e has gone on to co-host Bro's in Control for the BBC, along with Joe Tasker and his brother Callum B. Since then Joel Mawhinney, Abby Cook and Shini Muthkrishnan have become the present day faces of the long running show. Blue Peter will continue to air on CBBC, BBC Two, and BBC iPlayer.
The Guardian
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Farewell pooping elephants! Goodbye Shep on the spoons! It's the sad end of an era for Blue Peter
Life has changed beyond all recognition over the last 67 years. The way we live, the way we communicate, the things we eat; if you were to grab someone from 1958 and bring them forward in time to 2025, the sheer scale of change would blow their minds. Except, perhaps, for one thing. Everything else might be unrecognisable, but Blue Peter has always been broadcast live. Until now. It has been reported that the last live episode of Blue Peter has aired, ending a tradition that has endured for nearly seven decades. It isn't the end of Blue Peter, which will continue, albeit in a prerecorded format, but it is the end of an era. The show may be an institution, but even the longest-running children's programme in the world isn't immune to change. The BBC has cited changing viewing habits as the reason for the switch, but that feels like code for something sadder. Blue Peter used to be watched by millions of children, all excited and eager to learn. But there are so many other choices today – not just on streaming platforms, but the monolith that is YouTube – and the staid, earnest, eat-your-vegetables approach taken by Blue Peter no longer holds the same appeal. In other words, it isn't financially sustainable to put on a weekly live show for a declining audience that is more likely to watch it on iPlayer anyway. The BBC says that viewers are unlikely to notice much difference, because the show has been mixing live and prerecorded segments for decades, but plenty of people have pointed out that the show might lose some of the magic you only get with live TV. What they mean, I suspect, is that elephants won't poop all over the floor any more. This, to some, is the quintessential Blue Peter moment; the episode in 1969 when a baby elephant called Lulu started acting up in the studio. After dragging John Noakes and Peter Purves around the floor, Lulu narrowly missed Valerie Singleton's shoes with a stream of urine, crapped everywhere, then caused her keeper to slip on it and fall over. There have been other live catastrophes. In 1971, someone had the smart idea of having a campfire singalong, despite the show being filmed indoors. Dozens of Guides and Brownies looked increasingly worried as the flames grew higher and the studio filled with thick black smoke before someone rushed in with a fire extinguisher. A year later, Roy Castle's attempt to play the spoons was frustrated and derailed by Shep the dog leaping up at him and trying to join in on the drums. Also, let's not forget the show's 1966 attempt at a Dalek cake, the result resembling a sort of floppy sponge dildo. All these moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain. Except they won't. One pile of elephant poo every 67 years hardly justifies keeping Blue Peter live and, besides, most of its indelible moments were prerecorded anyway. When John Noakes climbed Nelson's Column in 1977 – without a harness, on some rickety tied-together ladders, on a windy day while wearing flares – it had been recorded. It's also worth pointing out that prerecorded segments don't have to be sanitised. In a filmed piece in 2008, presenter Andy Akinwolere was tasked with putting the star on top of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree. He dropped the star, which fell 70ft to the ground. Blue Peter still kept it in the final broadcast. That is extremely heartening. Blue Peter may not be live any more, but it is entirely in keeping with the spirit of the show to leave all the accidents in anyway. If a presenter is recording an episode and there's a power cut or a fire, or a zookeeper starts skidding around in piles of animal excrement, Blue Peter is smart enough to keep all that stuff in. After all, nothing gets more eyeballs than a cock-up gone viral. This might be the end of an era, but Blue Peter is going nowhere just yet.
BBC News
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Beta Band reform for new tour after 21 years away
Indie rock group The Beta Band are to reunite for their first tour in 21 four-piece formed in Fife in 1996 and released a string of acclaimed EPs and albums before breaking up in 2004. The reunion tour begins on 25 September at Glasgow's Barrowlands, before dates in Leeds, Bristol, Nottingham, London and Manchester. This will be followed by a run of American group said they would play their 1998 album The Three E.P.'s - which collected their early recordings - as well as "other classics" on the tour. They released two further albums Hot Shots II in 2001 and Heroes to Zeros in 2004. The band said: "The Beta Band, as everyone knows, is an institution, like Bedlam, or the RSPCA, and as such has its own indelible stain on the bedsheet of Western culture. "It was the great John Noakes who said 'you have to shake it out at least once every couple of decades, if you want to know what the moths did.' "So with both those facts in mind, we realise the time has come to show the wall the Luminol, kill the lights and hit the UV."The line-up for the tour will be Steve Mason on guitar and vocals, Richard Greentree on bass, John Maclean on samples and keyboards and Robin Jones on music featured in Hollywood film High Fidelity, where their track Dry the Rain was spotlighted by the main character, played by John the band split following an Edinburgh gig in December 2004, Mason released music as a solo artist while Maclean and Jones formed another band, the also moved into film, directing Slow West in 2015 and this year's Tornado, which opened the Glasgow Film Festival last week.
