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16 October 2008. HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY, BLUE PETER! What an achievment for the greatest children's programme ever - 50 years on air, celebrated yesterday with a reception at Buckingham Palace and with a BBC1 special this afternoon at 5.15pm. It's been a traumatic last year or so for the BP crew - with budget cuts and the unjustified dismissal of Richard Marson, perhaps the second best Editor the show ever had after Biddy Baxter herself. But on this special occasion let's just wish BP all the best and hope that Andy, Helen, Joel and the backroom staff can steady the ship as it sails into uncharted waters. Maybe see you at BAFTA for the 50th party on 24 October!
Sorry the site has not been updated in five years (!) but it was only ever a hobby and a bit of fun and other more pressing paying work meant there was never time (among those projects I even got a research credit on Blue Peter in 2007 - a dream come true). Hopefully the longstanding guide to Books 1-29 will still be useful to those attempting to build a collection. Suffice it to say that since the very first skeleton version of this site in November 2000 collecting has changed forever with the explosion of popularity in auction site eBay UK. I was using eBay as far back as 1998 or so when it was primarily an American-based site but its widespread ubiquity today means one need not scour the charity shops, markets and boot sales for Blue Peter collectables - indeed you can probably amass a near complete collection inside a week for less than £100! Ah, it was more fun the old way though ...
HELLO! Ever been down to Homebase and asked for the cream and olive triangular shelving units as once seen in the studio of the BBC's flagship (tee-hee) children's show Blue Peter and been disappointed to find they've none in? Then this is the site for you.
Partly
a collector's guide, partly fond reminscence of
the extended families that make up the Blue Peter teams of the last 50
years, at The Triangular Shelf we aim to remember those lost decades through
the medium of The Blue Peter Books! Christmas at any time in the 60s, 70s or 80s: you crave Action Man or Sindy, Star Wars or My Little Pony. What's this flat, hard package here? Tearing off the paper you discover it's not a journal of the thrilling adventures of Captain Scarlet or Doctor Who or Judge Dredd, nor is it make up 'n' boys info in the shape of a Jackie or My Guy Annual. Instead, a sensible parent or relative has got you an eminently worthy Blue Peter Book for Christmas. Oh well. Dare we say it, the Blue Peter Book (never 'Annual'), was not the most thrilling of presents at the time. After all, it was never as much fun as watching the show for real on TV and all it did was chronicle the team's exploits of that year.
Years later of course we now realise that for this precise reason the Books are a wealth of info on the past adventures of the good ship Blue Peter. The odd (deleted) Best Of video or BBC2 Theme Night apart, today this is the best way to delve into the archives of Blue Peter. And we shall...
The Triangular Shelf revisit the classic BP items by flicking through the pages of the first 29 Blue Peter Books. In doing so we'll also provide a guide for all those scouring car boot sales and charity shops and in the internet era, eBay and the like.
For each Book we provide a guide to the notable features, be it Simon Groom mauled by lions or John Noakes showing us his bobsleigh injuries. We'll also give details on each Book, showing those classic cover shots and indicating its rarity as far as is possible. If you wish to whack your Mike Oldfield theme single on the stereo you can read on...
This is a nostalgic trip of course but let's not forget that Blue Peter has now been through a genuine modern day golden age in the earlier part of this decade, overseen by dedicated Editor Richard Marson and featuring many superb presenters. Indeed the classic line-up of Matt Baker, Simon Thomas, Konnie Huq and (the gorgeous!) Liz Barker is among the very, very best the programme ever saw - and that includes yer PeteJohnVals and yer SazSiPetes! That magical era was brought to an abrupt end in 2007 with the dismissal of Richard Marson.
Nonetheless, the Books themselves go from strength to strength. When the BBC ceased publishing the books in 2004, a new deal was struck with annuals producer Pedigree, resulting in a general upturn in quality. The Books from 2005 now say Annual on the front (the shame!) but still proudly proclaim themseves as 'Books' on the spines! Book 38 - the 2009 Annual - is out now. The shelf isn't over yet ...
