Broadcasters pay tribute as Blue Peter presenter’s adventure comes to an end
● Noakes dies aged 83 after suffering from Alzheimer’s
He was the amiable daredevil who ensured teatime became a gateway to a world of adventure.
Figures from the world of broadcasting have paid tribute to John Noakes, the former Blue Peter presenter who captivated a generation of children with his straight talking and derring do.
Noakes, who has died aged 83 after suffering for many years from Alzheimer’s disease, was the longest-serving host of the celebrated BBC series, helping to transform children’s television with his affable presenting style and insatiable appetite for perilous stunts.
From careering down the torrents of the River Nevis on an airbed to spilling out of a bobsleigh as it hurtled down the Cresta Run, he cemented a reputation as an actionman during his 12 years on the show.
But he became best known for the tender relationship he cultivated with Shep, a black and white border collie blessed with the same boundless enthusiasm as her master.
Together, the pair formed one of television’s most memorable double acts, and inspired Noakes’s catchphrase “Get down, Shep”.
The BBC director-general Tony Hall yesterday hailed the Yorkshireman as “one of the BBC’S most loved children’s presenters”.
Mr Hall said: “He was a warm and engaging presenter who appealed to all ages and provided children’s television with some of its most memorable moments.”
Noakes’s propensity for thrillseeking, coupled with a television culture which eschewed health and safety or insurance, ensured many of those moments endure in the Youtube age.
Wearing a Parka, flares and trainers – but no harness – he climbed Nelson’s column, showing a head for heights he would put to good use when taking part in a record-breaking freefall parachute jump.
Despite as trained relationdescribing ship with the show’s executives, Noakes looked back fondly on his time on the programme in later years. “It was a bit like an overgrown schoolboy’ s job ,” he told one interviewer .“I was Peter Pan really.i sometimes thinki still am .”
In keeping with Blue Peter’s educational ethos, his segments also offered young viewers a window on the world around them.
As Britain neared the end of the steam passenger train era, he boarded the Flying Scotsman on its commemorative journey from London Victoria to Brighton, helping to shovel coal into its cavernous boiler.
After leaving Blue Peter in 1978, Noakes enjoyed continued success with his travelogue, Go With Noakes, which included time in Scotland where he tossed the caber at Pitlochry Highland Games, toured the Highlands in an Austin Seven, and navigated the Corryvreckan whirlpool.
Former hosts of Blue Peter joined in the tributes yesterday, with Peter Purves, his copresenter for several years, him as “unique”. “He had qualities that no-one else had and he will be remembered very fondly by a lot of people and none more so than me,” he said.
Janet Ellis, the former presenter turned actress, said Noakes was “the best, bravest, funniest Blue Peter presenter,” adding: “If we didn’t walk in John Noakes’ shadow it’s because he shone the light for us.”
“He was a warm and engaging presenter who appealed to all ages and provided children’s television with some of its most memorable moments”
TONY HALL
Every child of the 1970s, and many of the 1960s, will have had a vivid flashback to several decades ago when they heard the news yesterday of the death of John Noakes.
The former Blue Peter presenter figured heavily in the lives of those who had a television set back then, taking on daring – possibly reckless – challenges in the name of adventure, always pushing the boundaries of children’s programming.
With only three channels available, television was a far greater shared experience than it is today, and Noakes’s escapades gave him widespread exposure as he became something of a national treasure; an inspiration as well as an entertainer.
It also helped that he was capable of emotion as well, which wasn’t in abundance in the Reithian days of the 1960s. He cried when he told viewers of the death of pet dog Patch, and broke down again when he lost his beloved Shep years later.
After TV, Noakes lived out of the spotlight for many years, but although he was out of our minds, he was never forgotten. His passing brings sadness, but for a generation, it also evokes a wealth of warm memories about the way we were.