Blue Peter pets: Dogs, horses, and, of course, tortoises
- Published
Petra, who appeared on Blue Peter from 1962 to 1977, was their first television pet. The idea was that children who could not have a pet of their own could follow her life and enjoy watching what she got up to. Christopher Trace, the show's first presenter, took care of her. This picture shows presenter Peter Purves and Petra in the Blue Peter studio at Television Centre. Today, you can visit a statue of Petra in the Blue Peter Garden in Salford in the north-west of England.
It wasn't long before Petra had a companion. In 1963, Blue Peter's first tortoise called Fred joined the team. However, he wasn't Fred for long. One viewer noticed that the tortoise was in fact FEMALE, so Fred was renamed Freda.
One year after 'Fred' became part of the Blue Peter crew, the first Blue Peter cat - Jason - came along, followed by Patch (on the left), who was actually Petra's puppy! Jason was so well behaved while the cameras were recording the programme that a lot of people didn't believe he was a real cat!
By 1967, the gang was getting pretty big! In this picture, we see presenters Peter Purves, Valerie Singleton and John Noakes with their animal friends Petra, Patch, Jason and Barney the parrot. Barney was Blue Peter's second parrot after the show's first feathered friend called Joey.
It wasn't long before another dog came along, in 1971. Shep lived with presenter John Noakes and went on to become one of the programme's most famous pooches. John even had a catchphrase dedicated to him - "Get down Shep!" - for when his canine companion was getting too excitable!
It's not every day that you see a pony in a TV studio, but that was completely usual for the Blue Peter team. Rags arrived in 1976 to become the first official Blue Peter pony. Following an appeal, she was given to the Riding for the Disabled, but the show kept track of what she got up to for many years.
While John Noakes had Shep, presenter Simon Groom (pictured here) found a loving companion in Goldie, who joined Blue Peter in 1978 as a puppy. Blue Peter watchers actually chose her name (as has been the case with some other Blue Peter animals) and she ended up being the first in a long line of Golden Retrievers to appear on the show. Goldie became known for her gentle character.
George the tortoise, who was added to the gang in 1982, is the programme longest-serving pet. He gave everyone a fright in 1988 when his cage door was left open and he escaped. George crawled for three miles before he was found by a Jack Russell terrier. As you can see, he got quite the welcome home!
George isn't the only Blue Peter animal to cause a stir, though. This is Willow the cat, who joined the programme in 1986. Unfortunately, she was really noisy and is one of the few Blue Peter animals to have been sacked. Oh dear!
Blue Peter is well known for its arts and crafts activities. In this photo, presenter Konnie Huq is pictured with a model that she made of this Blue Peter dog, Mabel, who was the second longest serving dog after Petra. She was on the show for 14 years and was recognisable by her unique blue and brown eyes. Mabel was the programme's first rescue dog - just like Henry, the latest arrival.
One Blue Peter pet who became quite the TV sensation was this border collie Meg, who belonged to presenter Matt Baker. When Matt left the programme in 2006, Meg went with him and went on to appear in other TV shows including Crufts, Countryfile and she even had a part on Radio 4 show the Archers! What a star!
Guide dogs have also been a really important part of the Blue Peter animals tradition. Over the years, viewers have followed their training before the dogs are handed over to their owners to act as service dogs. The latest guide dog on the programme has been Iggy, pictured here with current presenter Lindsey Russell. Iggy and Callum, her owner, regularly appear on the programme to chat about what they've been getting up to.
And finally, here with have Henry - Blue Peter's latest addition to the team! Like Mabel, Henry the beagle-basset hound is a rescue dog. Lindsey says: "Henry is such a friendly dog and I can't wait to have him in the studio every week. He's already met the crew, had a good sniff around and seems to love it."
- Published4 April 2019
- Published16 October 2018
