Blue Peter (in-universe)
Blue Peter is a popular BBC children's television program, which debuted on 16th October, 1958.
History
Faction Paradox attacked the Blue Peter garden in 1996. This caused a far more intense psychological reaction than any direct assault on the people's psyche. (EDA: Interference - Book Two)
When in 2006, an alien ship crashed into the Thames, Blue Peter presenter Matt Baker did a feature on how to make an alien ship cake. (DW: Aliens of London)
In 2008, Maria Jackson watched an episode in which the presenters, Gethin Jones and Konnie Huq, promoted the Bane's Bubble Shock! soft drink. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane)
Other information
Ace, who left Earth in 1987, appeared to wear two Blue Peter badges on her jacket; one standard blue badge, one silver. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks) One of them had been awarded for heroic achievement. (NA: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible)
- This was because the actor, Sophie Aldred, had won two Blue Peter badges in her youth and was entitled to wear them on screen, according to the BBC's strict regulations regarding the use of Blue Peter badges. (BBC DVD: The Horns of Nimon)
Behind the scenes
Overview
In real life, Blue Peter has had a longtime association with Doctor Who, being used on many occasions to promote the series and upcoming episodes, monsters, and special events, including the debuts of Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy as they talked about taking up the role of the Doctor. Historically, the series has proven valuable for not only featuring contemporary interviews with actors and behind-the-scenes personnel from the series, but for also providing glimpses into production history.
For many years, the series also had another connection to the franchise in the form of co-host Peter Purves, who appeared on Blue Peter for many years after his tenure playing Steven Taylor during Seasons 2 and 3.
Clips from Missing episodes
A 1973 instalment of Blue Peter marking the 10th anniversary of Doctor Who included numerous excerpts from the William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton eras; due to the BBC's then-ongoing practice of junking old episodes, these clips are in many cases the last surviving remnants of these episodes. These includes such significant moments from the series as the death of Katarina in The Daleks' Master Plan (which was aired on Blue Peter primarily because it featured then-co-host Peter Purves during his tenure as companion), and the regeneration of the First Doctor into the Second from The Tenth Planet.
These clips survived beyond their initial Blue Peter broadcast thanks to long-time showrunner Biddy Baxter's staunch policy of archiving every episode of Blue Peter.
Design a monster competitions
Blue Peter has run a number of contests over the years involving Doctor Who. The design for the Abzorbaloff from 2006's Love & Monsters originated from a Blue Peter "design your own monster" competition. Contrary to rumour, the Krotons did not originate from a 1967 competition; a design-a-monster competition was held, but the winning design did not appear on the show.
TARDIS design competition
In late 2009-early 2010, Blue Peter held a contest inviting viewers to submit designs for a new TARDIS control console which will be featured in an upcoming episode. On 17th February 2010, Matt Smith chose a 12-year-old's design as the winner; it was announced that it would appear in Neil Gaiman's episode in Series 5 will feature this design in some way. However the episode's funding ran out of money and it was pushed back to Series 6 [1] [2] [3]
Other information and trivia
When two Dalek props were stolen, Blue Peter ran an appeal to bring them back. They were returned within 24 hours of the appeal.
Guest appearances
Doctor Who
- Raymond Cusick (possibly didn't personally appear in studio, but was at least referred to by name and picture)
- Patrick Troughton (the first Doctor to judge a Blue Peter competition)
- Jon Pertwee
- Dick Mills (Special Sounds)
- John Nathan-Turner (Producer)
- Peter Davison
- Richard Hurndall (the First Doctor in The Five Doctors)
- Colin Baker
- Bonnie Langford
- Sylvester McCoy
- Christopher Eccleston
- David Tennant
- Elisabeth Sladen
- Anthony Head
- Freema Agyeman
- John Barrowman
- Russell T Davies
- Matt Smith
Non-human characters
- A War Machine
- Daleks
- Cybermen
- K9
- L1 and L3 robots
- Robot Yeti (Mark 2)
- Sil
- Sea Devils
- Kraals
The Sarah Jane Adventures
- Elisabeth Sladen
- Samantha Bond - In character as Mrs Wormwood.
- Yasmin Paige
- Tommy Knight
- Daniel Anthony
- Anjli Mohindra
Episode clips
Doctor Who
- An Unearthly Child
- The Daleks' Master Plan - Clips from currently lost episodes.
- The War Machines
- The Tenth Planet - Regeneration clip from currently lost Episode 4.
- The War Games - Including reused footage from Fury from the Deep.
- The Three Doctors
- The Hand of Fear
- The Ribos Operation
- The Pirate Planet
- Black Orchid
- The Five Doctors
- Journey's End
On DVD
Numerous Blue Peter segments relating to specific episodes and/or events have been included on various DVD releases from BBC Video.
Doctor Who
- The Dalek Invasion of Earth (How to make Dalek cakes)
- The Romans (Feature on Roman life)
- The War Machines
- The Three Doctors (Feature on the "Whomoblie" with Jon Pertwee)
- Robot (Filming on Doctor Who sets)
- Genesis of the Daleks (Stolen Daleks appeal)
- The Invisible Enemy
- The Stones of Blood
- The Horns of Nimon (part 1 of a 2-part retrospective documentary)
- The Leisure Hive
- Castrovalva
- The Five Doctors
- Black Orchid
- The Mark of the Rani
- Doctor Who (1996) (part 2 of a 2-part retrospective documentary)
The Sarah Jane Adventures
- From Series 1 DVD set: Set visit.
Blue Peter presenters in Doctor Who.
Peter Purves prior to his presenting stint on Blue Peter was an actor and was cast as Morton Dill and then companion Steven Taylor opposite William Hartnell's First Doctor in The Chase (1965).
Janet Ellis played Tika in the story The Horns of Nimon (1979).
Christopher Wenner had a walk-on part in The Awakening (1984).
Sarah Greene was unrecognisable as a bubble-wrap clad alien in Attack of the Cybermen (1985).
See also
- Doctor Who Magazine Issue 334, a Blue Peter special issue
