Biddy Baxter: The Woman Who Made Blue Peter

by Richard Marson

Biddy Baxter is a television legend, more famous than many of the stars of Blue Peter, the programme she ran for over a quarter of a century. Her extraordinary drive and obsessional dedication transformed the show into the world’s longest-running and most successful children’s programme with its rich mix of action, adventure, appeals, animals, exploration, studio spectaculars and things to cook and make.

At a time when very few women reached the top, Biddy – powerful, stylish and uncompromising – used her power and skill to shape the hearts and minds of generations of British children. Loved by some, loathed by others – what was Biddy really like, and what did it take for her to achieve such success?

Richard Marson tells Biddy’s story against the evolving backdrop of Blue Peter, drawing on over 100 exclusive interviews, Biddy’s private archive, and his own inside knowledge of the programme. The book also contains dozens of previously unpublished photographs.

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2023

Reviews

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most people raised on a steady diet of UK television will know about Blue Peter, but not necessarily its longest serving editor, Biddy Baxter. Richard Marson’s biography dives into her career (and the first 30-odd years of Blue Peter) to give a very rounded account, just as he did for John Nathan-Turner and Verity Lambert in his equally rich, albeit more Doctor Who-adjacent biographies. Once again he is dealing with a force of nature in television history, and one not without their negative aspects. Even though he remains friends with Biddy this does feel like a balanced history.

That said, it is difficult not to find the prevailing opinion of Biddy to err on the forgiving side. Here is someone who, though clearly motivated by a profound passion and care for children’s interests, nonetheless treats her staff with little patience and often impossibly high demands. Her almost career-long refusal to embrace autocue seems emblematic of a personal preference trampling over what might actually work best for the presenters — but the general response from interviewees is that, although she could be brutally firm and opinionated, it always resulted in good work that was appreciated by its audience. If they say so then fair enough, I suppose, but reading this I still wanted to shake a few of them and say it’s not that the world is “more politically correct now,” it’s that the editor could be an absolute maniac and that wasn’t okay.

Of course, for some presenters and colleagues that *is* the prevailing opinion, such as the acrimonious tale of John Noakes, and the perhaps more justified remaining reticence of Yvette Fielding. The ongoing evolution of Blue Peter makes for a gripping read, and some of it is fairly sad, such as the unfortunate difficulties with very green acrobat turned presenter Michael Sundin, who also fell victim to the unforgiving anti-gay atmosphere of the time; the author goes to pains to separate this cloud of tabloid cruelty from the real reasons for his dismissal, but it remains a heart rending sequence of events.

Whatever you think of her, Biddy’s achievement and influence deserve recognition, and Marson does a fine job of highlighting as much of the story as possible. As with his other biographies, even if the specific TV subject isn’t something you love, the glimpse it offers into the world of television is one I would recommend to anyone who’s ever wondered about how it is made.