Generations of stars join Jubilee pageant
THEIR faces and voices were part of childhood for generations. In honour of the Queen, Britain’s beloved stars of television and radio will now return to the public eye for a nostalgic performance for the Platinum Jubilee.
Actors and presenters including Newsround’s John Craven and Blue Peter favourites Peter Purves, Peter Duncan and Valerie Singleton, will join the Jubilee pageant to weave their way through London on buses recapturing each decade of the Queen’s reign.
The Sunday Telegraph can disclose a list of public figures who have signed up to appear on the open-topped buses, from the 1950s up to the present day.
The “Time of Our Lives” section of the pageant will star the cast of the musical Mamma Mia!, who will appear on their own float between the 1970s and 1980s.
The pageant will take place on the afternoon of Sunday June 5.
Already confirmed to join the route, ready to sing the National Anthem outside Buckingham Palace for the Queen are Sir David Jason, Lord Coe, Jeremy Irons and Sir Steve Redgrave.
Sir Cliff Richard is to take part in the fourth jubilee of his career, part of the first bus bringing to life the 1950s.
He will be joined by Carry On actress Anita Harris, singer and actress Bonnie Langford, boxer Chris Eubank, opera singer Lesley Garrett and broadcaster Gloria Hunniford.
They will be followed in the 1960s on a bus led by Tony Blackburn, the first DJ to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 as the new voice of a generation in 1967.
Blue Peter’s Purves, Duncan and Singleton will be joined by Anthea Turner, who presented the BBC children’s show in the 1990s but who was born in 1960.
They will be joined by Bill Roache, who has played Ken Barlow on Coronation Street since its first episode in December 1960.
The bus will be filled by those who chose the 1960s as their favourite era to dress up for, including gardener Alan Titchmarsh, singer Katherine Jenkins, actress Caroline Quentin, presenters Holly Willoughby and Kate Garraway, and Matthew Kelly, best known for Stars in Their Eyes.
Representing the 1970s is Debbie McGee, who began working as the glamorous assistant to magician Paul Daniels in 1979 and went on to marry him, as well as broadcaster Chris Tarrant, Dame Esther Rantzen, Johnny Ball, Stephanie Beacham, Noddy Holder and chef Rick Stein.
Torvill and Dean will capture the 1980s, with Gary Lineker, Daley Thompson, Tony Hadley, Simon Callow, Peter Waterman and breakfast television’s Eammon Holmes and Ruth Langsford.
Members of the Royal family are expected to join the occasion, likely viewing the spectacle at the end of the route and then appearing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.