Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Alzheimer’s took our John but think of him with Shep and their escapades together. That’s how we would like him remembered
BLUE PETER PRESENTER JOHN NOAKES 1934-2017
JOHN Noakes was the scruffy daredevil with the Yorkshire accent who inspired countless children and changed television for ever. His death at 83 has left us mourning the loss of another national treasure. The presenter’s passing was tinged with extra sadness because of the suffering he and his family endured through his Alzheimer’s in later years. Family friend Wendy Downes said yesterday: “Whilst he will be greatly missed by his wife, family and many friends, his release from continuing ill health must be counted as a blessing. “His many escapades with his faithful companion Shep, during his time with Blue Peter, will live on in many people’s memories and that is how his family would like him remembered.” Noakes was unforgettable as the Blue Peter action man between 1965 and 1978 and for his “Get down, Shep!” catchphrase as he struggled to control his over-excitable Border collie. His adventures – climbing Nelson’s Column without a safety harness, skidding down the Cresta bobsleigh run, skydiving from five miles up – still make for heart-stopping television decades on. He climbed the 170ft London monument in 1977, via a rickety ladder. A sound problem meant he had to do the terrifying feat twice. As he scrambled onto Admiral Nelson’s head, he summed it up: “By gum! His hat’s a bit dirty.” In 1973, he set a civilian world record by freefalling five miles during a parachute jump with the RAF. And he lowered his trousers to show his bruises after skidding down the Cresta Run for 100 yards on his backside at 80mph – revealing he was wearing his wife Vicky’s black lace knickers. The presenter produced another classic TV moment when Lulu the elephant ran amok in the Blue Peter studio in 1969, including stepping on Noakes. “Ow, get off my foot,” he shouted. Noakes’s try-anything attitude, paired with one of the first regional accents on the BBC, made him a favourite with fans. But it was his close friendship with Shep that captivated viewers. Shep arrived in 1971, during the show’s heyday with presenters Peter Purves and Valerie Singleton and their pets, mongrel Petra and Siamese cat Jason. The Border collie was so popular that Get Down, Shep became a hit song by The Barron Knights when John left the programme in 1978. Shep later appeared in episodes of Go With Noakes. In 1987, he returned to the BBC to break some “very bad news” on TV programme Fax, presented by Bill Oddie, where he fought back tears as he informed the nation that Shep had died. In 2008, John broke down during on The Weakest Link talking about Shep’s final days with his Aunt Evie. Behind the scenes, Noakes was unhappy with his treatment on Blue
Peter. He called editor Joan “Biddy” Baxter an “awful woman” in 1999. He added: “The pressure was terrible. One year I did nine weeks with only oneand-a-half days off. “I collapsed on the floor and couldn’t go on. That’s the nearest I came to a breakdown.” Baxter recruited Noakes, of Shelf, West Yorks, after spotting a local paper theatre review of his appearance in Hobson’s Choice. He had taken up acting after leaving the RAF, where he was a mechanic. Born John Bottomley in 1934, he was brought up by his gran after the “painful” split of mum Sallie and dad Arthur when he was nine. He later took the name of his stepfather, Canadian trumpet player Alfie Noakes. After leaving school without qualifications, he spent a short time in the RAF before enrolling at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, funding himself by working in a hotel. He spent six years in theatre before his Blue Peter break. The trio of Noakes, Purves, now 78, and Singleton, now 80, was the show’s most iconic lineup, with eight million tuning in at its peak. “It was a bit like an overgrown schoolboy’s job,” Noakes said. “I was Peter Pan, really. I sometimes think I still am.” He appeared in a millennium special in 2000 to dig up a time capsule the trio buried in 1971, and met the Queen in 2008 when the show’s veteran stars celebrated its 50th anniversary. After leaving the series, John penned a children’s book, The Flight Of The Magic Clog, and appeared on reality shows. In 1982, he set off to sail round the world with wife Vicky, who he married in 1965, but they were shipwrecked. They settled in Majorca two years later. In June 2015, Noakes went missing on the island, when wife Vicky confirmed he had been suffering from Alzheimer’s for “some years”. He was found in a storm drain after a 10-hour search. Valerie Singleton said last night: “John was incredibly special. A rare talent who never conformed, John was his own man. Even now people ask me about him, which goes to show how much people still care all these years later.”
It was an overgrown schoolboy’s job. I was Peter Pan, really... JOHN NOAKES ON HIS BLUE PETER ADVENTURES