Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
MAKING MISCHIEF
Past Blue Peter presenters send themselves up royally in a new stage show – but, they tell Richard Barber, it’s not so far from the truth
Former Blue Peter presenters reveal why they’re going to be sending themselves up in a hilarious new stage show
For all the zany but forgettable shows that premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe, every now and then the annual arts festival throws up a complete corker that goes on to conquer the West End. Who can forget 2002’ s brilliantly original Jerry Springer: The Opera, or 2009’ s comedy classic Morecambe? Now Once Seen On Blue Peter, a hilarious send-up of the TV show’s presenters starring icons Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves, is hoping it has what it takes to become this year’s breakout hit.
Blue Peter is, of course, an institution. Famous for its craft ‘makes’ created using sticky- backed plastic – usually accompanied by the presenter announcing, ‘Here’s one we made earlier’ – the world’s longest-running children’s TV programme will celebrate its 60th birthday in October.
Imagine, then, a play set in the hospitality room at a prestigious awards ceremony where a clutch of former Blue Peter presenters are gathered, waiting to see which of them will pick up a lifetime achievement award on behalf of the show. Cue rivalry and bitchiness of a sort they’d never have dreamed of displaying on screen, all set to a sardonic commentary from a 50-yearold studio assistant who was a fan of the show’s biggest competitor in its early years, ITV’s Magpie.
The hour-long play is the brainchild of Tim Vincent, 45, a Blue Peter presenter from 1993 to 1997, who came up with the idea to mark the show’s momentous milestone. ‘Denise Silvey, whose Cahoots Theatre Company produced Alex Salmond’s one-man show at last year’s Edinburgh Festival, is a friend of mine,’ he says. ‘I told her about Blue Peter’s diamond jubilee, and suggested we do a show in which various former presenters play versions of themselves at a fictional awards show. That way we could depict ourselves warts and all, a bit like Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon do on The Trip.’
With Denise on board, Tim enlisted the help of writer Tim Whitnall, who wrote that hit show Morecambe, about comedian Eric, which premiered at Edinburgh and won an Olivier Award. And so Once Seen On Blue Peter was born. Then all Tim Vincent had to do was set about enlisting the help of former presenters – and look who answered the call…
MARK CURRY (1986-1989)
didn’t take much cajoling to get involved. ‘It appealed to me because we’ll be taking the mickey out of ourselves while maintaining the nostalgia and warmth that we all feel for the best children’s programme in the world,’ says Mark, 56. ‘Kids used to come home from school and watch this wonderful half- hour of discovery, with the how- to seg- ments, conservation issues and the presenters’ adventures.
‘I did a segment about windmills once, and I thought it was going to be about how flour was ground. But when I saw all these safety guys, I knew something was up. Then the
producers told me millers used to be strapped to the windmill’s wheel… I suffer from vertigo, but before I knew it I was tied to the mill, going round and round. To make it bearable, I sang The Windmills Of Your Mind as I rotated through the air.’
JANET ELLIS (1983-1987)
believes Blue Peter is what she’ll be remem- bered for. ‘I’ve been an actress, an author and an agony aunt,’ says Janet, 62, ‘but I know my obituary will say, “Former Blue Peter presenter dies”, then mention I’m the mother of pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor. I know my place in the firmament!’ Blue Peter gave her so many memories. ‘I sang with the BBC Symphony Chorus at The Last Night Of The Proms. And I was the first civilian
woman in Europe to freefall from a plane at 20,000 feet. At one practice session I jumped out of a Falcon jet and landed quite heavily. My instructor thought I might have suffered a stress fracture or pulled a muscle.
‘I drove home afterwards and then couldn’t get out of the car. X- rays revealed that I’d broken my pelvis. The producers sent in cameras to film me in hospital and I then had to co-
present Blue Peter on crutches after missing only one programme. The show must go on. Three months later I made the jump for real.’
was an actor before he joined Blue Peter. ‘I’d done 46 episodes of Doctor Who as one of the Doctor’s companions, Steven Taylor,’ says Peter, 79. ‘When work became thin on the ground, I accepted a six-month stint on Blue Peter and stayed for 11 years. It was the best job in television, even though it was badly paid. ‘It was exciting because it was live and inevitably sometimes things went wrong. I remember a troop of Girl Guides sang a song around an electric campfire and it caught light for real. The studio filled up with black smoke and the Guides began choking uncontrollably.’
PETER PURVES (1967-1978) VALERIE SINGLETON (1962-1972)
was a BBC continuity announcer before she joined the show. ‘I bumped into Christopher Trace and he told me the producers were looking for a girl to present a small children’s programme – there was one 15-minute edition in
those days – alongside him. Would I like to have a go?’ says Valerie, 81. ‘It wasn’t until we did the veteran car run from Hyde Park to Brighton in 1963 that I realised the power of the programme. There were so many people asking for autographs. Even now, people come up to me and say they’re a dress designer or a potter because of Blue Peter. It gives young people information and inspires them.’
PETER DUNCAN (1980-1984 AND 1985-1986)
is relishing the idea of an ironic take on Blue Peter. ‘And I’ll be among mates. Mark Curry and I used to have nicknames for each other. He was Mildred, I was Doris.’
Peter, now 64, adds, ‘I’m still proud of our campaign to raise money for water pumps in remote Indonesian villages. Because it was a live show, things did go wrong. I remember introducing a Chinese violin prodigy, but I mucked up and said, “I understand you took up the violin when you were sick,” when I should have said “six”. Everyone laughed except the unfortunate child, who began to cry.
‘I subsequently made three series of travel documentaries with my wife and four children which led to my becoming Chief Scout for five years from 2004. But I like to think that my Blue Peter years played their part, too. You can leave the show, but, in a curious way, it never leaves you.’
Once Seen On Blue Peter, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Assembly Rooms Ballroom, 4 - 26 Augus t , 2.50pm, £ 19.50-£ 22.50, tickets.edfringe.com.