Blue Peter pets
The Blue Peter pets are animals that regularly appear on the long-running BBC children's television series Blue Peter. For 27 years, when not on TV, these pets were often looked after by Blue Peters long-standing pet keeper Edith Menezes, who died in 1994. The exceptions were the dogs Petra, [|Shep] and Goldie, who lived with Peter Purves, John Noakes and Simon Groom, respectively, for which the three presenters were paid a stipend for their upkeep.
The first pet was a dog named Petra in 1962, and since then there have been several dogs, cats, tortoises, parrots, and horses. The current animals on the show are [|Shelley] the tortoise and Henry the beagle. Rags, a pony, named by viewers, was purchased with the proceeds of a Christmas appeal in the late 1970s as a Riding for the Disabled horse. The Blue Peter parrot—Joey, and one successor, Barney—featured in the 1960s, but when Barney, a blue-fronted amazon, died, he was not replaced.
In a 1986 documentary shown on BBC2 as part of the Did You See...? series, former presenter Peter Purves recalled that Biddy Baxter, the show's editor, had called him in floods of tears on the day that the first parrot Joey died. He went on to muse in the same interview that had he himself died, Baxter would have been far less upset. The original ideas behind featuring the programme's pets were to teach viewers who had animals of their own how to look after them, and for the creatures to act as surrogate pets for those that did not own any. For example, dog training items, tortoise hibernation, and cat care are often featured on the programme. In addition, dogs that lived with the presenters often accompanied them on filming assignments.
Dogs
Petra
Petra was a female mongrel that appeared on Blue Peter between 1962 and 1977. Petra was the first Blue Peter pet, and remains one of the best known. Up to May 2011, Petra is the longest-serving Blue Peter pet.She was weighed on one of the episodes and found to weigh about. She had several puppies, including [|Patch], who also became a Blue Peter pet, and who predeceased her. Petra lost her teeth at an early age, but this was not necessarily a bad thing; Blue Peter presenter Peter Purves once said that she was often bad-tempered and would "gum you to death" if she had the chance.
On 16 November 1967, when Purves started working on Blue Peter, because Petra took to him, he became Petra's handler on set. Petra had already been on the show for about five years. Petra was an irritable nervous dog on set, so Biddy Baxter had the idea that Purves should be Petra's permanent keeper; he looked after her at home, too. He became fond of Petra and was sad when she died, having been her owner for more than nine years.
There is a bust of Petra in the Blue Peter garden, which was put up on 23 March 1978, during Purves's last show. It originally stood in front of BBC Television Centre but was moved to the garden in 1984 due to redevelopment works and now stands in the current garden at MediaCityUK.
It was later revealed that the original puppy had died of distemper a few days after her first appearance on Blue Peter, broadcast just before Christmas 1962. Instead of informing viewers, and feeling there was no need to upset children needlessly, the programme's director and producer Edward Barnes and Biddy Baxter bought a similar-looking replacement puppy, which was subsequently named Petra by the viewers.
Patch
Patch was looked after by presenter John Noakes after Noakes joined the programme in December 1965. Patch had a distinctive marking around one of his eyes, giving him his name.Patch was often was known for being excitable and for ripping Tony Hicks's trousers. Patch died in May 1971.
Shep
Shep, a border collie, is widely considered to be the most famous Blue Peter pet; he was bought by the BBC to replace Patch, one of Petra's puppies, born in 1965. He became the main Blue Peter dog when Petra died in 1977. Shep was bred by Audrey Wickham, breeder of a number of notable pedigree border collies in the Sadghyl line. He is remembered by viewers as being inseparable from Blue Peter presenter John Noakes. Shep was excitable, and Noakes would often have to restrain him. Noakes's common refrain, "Get down, Shep!", became a catchphrase, and The Barron Knights released a song with that title. Shep left Blue Peter when Noakes departed in June 1978.Shep also appeared with Noakes in six series of Go With Noakes, from 1976 to 1980. Noakes left Blue Peter on 26 June 1978 and the BBC offered to let him keep Shep, as the dog had lived with him since his TV debut. Despite Shep living with Noakes, the dog was always legally owned by the BBC and in rules that also applied to himself whilst under contract to the BBC, he could not use Shep for advertising or commercial purposes. Noakes was paid a stipend to cover all Shep's costs from the Blue Peter budget and as part of the agreement to keep Shep after leaving the show, Noakes agreed to the no-advertising condition to remain.
Shortly after Noakes left the show he was furious to discover that what he called his "dog money" ceased to be paid and he confronted Biddy Baxter in a phone call. Baxter was adamant that since Shep had left Blue Peter, the programme should no longer be responsible for any of Shep's costs, although she did sympathise with some of his argument and felt that the BBC should pay Noakes for Shep to appear in Go With Noakes or for 'personal appearances' the dog made. Regardless, she later wrote that Noakes was too angry to discuss the matter and the two rarely spoke again. Soon after this angry confrontation, Noakes relinquished Shep, who went to live with Edith Menezes. Noakes subsequently appeared in a series of television advertisements for Spillers "Choice Cuts" dog food, using a dog that was indistinguishable from Shep but named Skip. The subterfuge led to a deeper rift between Noakes and Baxter. Shep died on 17 January 1987.