PETER’S BLUE FILM AND OTHER TALES

It would be surprising if such a wholesome programme emerged unscathed from six decades on air without the odd frisson of scandal. Shortly after Peter Duncan joined Blue Peter in 1980, a shot of him in his birthday suit in a 1975 film, The Lifetaker, was unearthed. ‘They called me a soft porn star,’ he says now, ‘and it was nonsense. Yes, there was a little soft-focus nudity, but it wasn’t salacious.’

Then there was the story that Janet Ellis was sacked in 1987 because she got pregnant but wasn’t married to the father. ‘It simply isn’t true,’ she says. ‘The decision to leave was mine. I could just about juggle the demands of my daughter Sophie and co-presenting Blue Peter. But I knew that wouldn’t be possible when Jack arrived.’

Presenter Richard Bacon was fired in 1998 when he admitted taking cocaine. Lorraine Heggessey, head of BBC children’s programmes, said, ‘[He] has not only let himself and his colleagues down but, most important, the millions of children who watch Blue Peter.’ Richard (left) said, ‘I regret what I did but it was in my personal time and I hope it doesn’t reflect on the show.’

In a newspaper interview in 2008, Valerie Singleton revealed she’d had a fling with co-presenter Peter Purves in the 60s. She said, ‘It was one of those impulsive, enjoyable experiences, but more out of friendship than anything else.’