BBC declares finish of 66-year-old Blue Peter custom
Blue Peter is undergoing a major change after over six decades on television, the BBC has announced.
The longest-running children’s show in the world will no longer be transmitted live and will instead move to pre-recorded broadcasts, the programme’s director confirmed.
According to the BBC, future live episodes of the much-loved show will be canceled as modern audiences’ viewing habits change.
Blue Peter began in October 1958. At its height of success, the show aired three times a week on BBC One. The broadcaster confirmed that it will continue to air on CBBC, BBC Two, and BBC iPlayer.
Past Blue Peter presenters include Matt Baker, Zoe Salmon, Richard Bacon, Konnie Hug, and Anthea Turner.
Shini Muthukrishnan, Joel Mawhinney, and Abby Cook comprise the current lineup.
Former host Simon Thomas shared his upset over the Blue Peter shake-up on Instagram on Friday (21 March). “Apparently (I had no idea) today is the last ever LIVE Blue Peter on television,” he wrote.
“The show isn’t finishing, there is apparently going to be a show online; just not live on the TV anymore.”
Thomas added he was “grateful” for his experience working on the show, especially as the programme “took a chance” on him and hired him with minimal experience.
“We probably didn’t realise it at the time, but we were working in the last years of the golden age of children’s TV, a time when children’s programmes filled the afternoons and Saturday mornings on BBC1 and ITV,” he said.
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“An era when audiences were measured in the millions rather than the thousands. I don’t say golden in an arrogant way, but everything has fragmented now and the way children consume entertainment has changed forever…There will never be another era like it again,” he added.
Other former Blue Peter presenters responded to Thomas’ post, revealing they were also in the dark about Blue Peter airing its final live episode. “WWHHHAATTT ?? Mate we had the most incredible time!” replied Matt Baker.
“The best memories and the end of the most magical energy and spirit to be shared across the Country at tea time. I feel very fortunate to have experienced and shared the feeling,” he added.
Meanwhile, former co-host Katy Hill added: “Wow! No idea here either! And I totally agree … live TV was magical as a kid! That social connection & shared experience is missing now x”
Ex-CBBC star Ricky Boleto also commented: “I didn’t know either! Can’t believe it. The live element of any children’s TV show is what makes it so entertaining because anything can happen and usually does!! Perhaps they’ll still film it “as live”.’
Over on X/Twitter, Richard Bacon expressed his “love” for Blue Peter, despite the show causing him “some bother”.
Bacon started his job as a presenter on Blue Peter in 1997, but the following year, a Sunday tabloid exposed him for cocaine use and he was sacked.
Bacon nevertheless reflected that the “live” element of Blue Peter is what made the show “alive”. “The elephant, the studio catching fire. The mistakes, the movement, the energy. At 21, hosting live in TV Centre’s vast studios was wonderful,” he wrote.
“1st day rehearsing, I remember walking from one side of the studio to the other – doing a piece to camera – and seeing the whole crew, five cameras, and another on a crane, track with me.
“I know that doesn’t sound like much – but the first time it happened it was mind blowing. It was just a big, well-made, lovingly made, really well resourced Live kids TV show. That had been live in that building for decades.
“It was a magical experience (for, you know, all of 20 months).”
