Top 10 Blue Peter Moments That Caused Outrage

You may have heard the myth that Janet Ellis was forced out of presenting “Blue Peter” in the late 1980s after the tabloids found out that she’d gotten divorced and was pregnant by another man. This is widely believed but only half true. It IS true that she’d left her first husband, Robin Bextor, and was pregnant with her second husband’s child before they got married in 1988. And it’s also true that the newspapers made a huge fuss about this when it was revealed. But it’s NOT true that she was pushed out of “Blue Peter”. She did leave during the scandal, but has always said that the show itself was supportive. That didn’t stop the whole thing from causing outrage, however.

From 1962 onwards, “Blue Peter” became known for its pets, most notably the dogs. The first “Blue Peter” dog was called Petra – or, was it? Actually, the REAL first “Blue Peter” dog was a puppy introduced before the viewers had a chance to name it, dying of canine distemper mere days after its first appearance. Rather than fess up, it was all hands on deck to find a near-identical replacement. They did successfully find a similar enough dog and it was this second one that became Petra, who worked on the show for fifteen years. This was kept secret for decades, with nobody outside the show being any the wiser.

In 2017, the newspapers were ablaze with the news that an episode of “Blue Peter” had attracted zero viewers. This story was, predictably, broken by the Daily Mail as a stick to beat the BBC with, claiming that the broadcaster’s time was over when even an institution like “Blue Peter” couldn’t attract an audience. This wasn’t entirely true, though, as the episode in question was a signed repeat shown at half past two on a Tuesday, when most of the kids you’d expect to watch “Blue Peter” would’ve been at school. CBBC’s controller hit back at the critics, telling them to watch the episode for themselves if they didn’t think “Blue Peter” should exist anymore.

Throughout the bawdy seventies, Peter Duncan was most well-known as an actor, appearing in various films including 1975’s “The Lifetaker”. This serious film follows a man seeking revenge on his cheating wife, with Duncan playing the role of the wife’s new partner. He appeared nude in it, which was all well and good until 1980. He got a presenting gig on “Blue Peter” and the tabloids ran the story that “The Lifetaker” was a “soft porn film” and that Duncan himself was an adult film star. That’s not true at all; the film may be explicit, but it’s a thriller not designed to titillate. He remained on the show for years after this non-troversy.

Decades later and a similar scandal to the one that plagued Peter Duncan emerged, this one about incoming presenter Zoe Salmon. Salmon joined the show in 2004 but had a colourful career beforehand. Not only did she earn a law degree and qualify as a solicitor, but she was also a beauty queen, winning Miss Northern Ireland. She did a wide array of modelling work, too, and the BBC was accused of hiring her only to, quote, “sex up” the show. She was widely attacked, even called a “sexual bimbo” by one writer when she was years into her stint. Salmon remained a popular presenter, but has since left the limelight.

On November the 21st, 1983, children across Britain awoke to some devastating news: the beloved “Blue Peter” garden had been vandalised. Broken urns and damaged plaques were the least of the problems, as somebody had also thrown oil into the pond and killed the goldfish within. It was a solemn day, and there was an appeal to the public to find the culprits. To this day, we don’t actually know for sure who did it – though a popular rumour pins the blame on footballers Les Ferdinand and Dennis Wise. Ferdinand was asked outright and made a joke, but later regretted the joke and denied their involvement. He also claimed that the real culprit WAS caught, it just wasn’t publicised.

“Blue Peter” has had many cats and dogs over the years, but they don’t have the longest lifespans. Tortoises, on the other hand, are a safer bet. You don’t have to traumatise subsequent generations of children with the news that a “Blue Peter” dog has died when you’ve got tortoises instead – or, do you? Children ended up saying an early goodbye to the show’s longest-serving tortoise, George, in 1988, when he escaped. Assuming he was dead, the BBC put together a heartfelt obituary, only for him to be discovered. He remained on the show until 2004, dying at the grand old age of 83 and getting a second obituary.

His tenure on “Blue Peter” was brief but memorable, largely because of the way he unwillingly left the programme in 1998. The tabloids got hold of the story that Bacon had been seen doing lines, something the BBC couldn’t tolerate for its most wholesome television show. He was sacked mid-contract, though his career has since recovered, along with his problems with addiction. Amends were eventually made when he was given another “Blue Peter” badge in 2018, for the show’s 60th anniversary; he’d had to return his badge upon being sacked originally. He remains a popular broadcaster and has always denied the more lurid part of the tabloid report that he’d been doing lines off the backs of the tortoises.

In 2007, “Blue Peter” was just one show of many caught up in the premium-rate phone-in scandal, when it was found out that a studio guest had been roped in to pretend to be a competition winner. It was the first time the BBC was slapped with a fine from Ofcom, to the tune of £50,000, because of the unfair competition. There was another, even more bizarre incident where the public vote about what to name a new pet cat went ignored, with producers believing the online poll was being manipulated. Cookie won the poll, but Socks was chosen. They later had to get another cat and name that one Cookie to appease the public.

In 2025, it was announced that “Blue Peter” as we know it is coming to an end. The BBC decided that it wasn’t going to broadcast “Blue Peter” live anymore, and that the shows would be pre-recorded, leading to lamentations from the public and many former presenters. After they already moved CBBC online only, meaning children in households who can’t afford an internet connection – which is still thousands – can’t watch, they then did this. While many view “Blue Peter” as an archaic show that’s never managed to adapt to the modern world, you’d struggle to find a Brit who grew up before the internet who doesn’t have a favourite presenter or fond memories. Let us know in the comments what “Blue Peter” videos you want us to do next!