Top 10 Times Blue Peter Presenters Could Have Died

A hundred Girl Guides were brought into the “Blue Peter” studio for this Christmas edition of the show from the early seventies, but for a moment, it was touch-and-go whether any of the Girl Guides would leave, or if they’d go the same way as the toasted marshmallows. Rather than go outside or rig up a fake fire with some wood and orange lights, they lit a real one, and in a matter of minutes, it spiralled out of control. Black smoke filled the room. As it went on, you could see them looking at the fire with concern, realising that they were about to have a big problem. Thankfully, they had fire extinguishers on hand.

We’re going to be seeing John Noakes a lot in this video, as you were probably expecting. He was both the longest-running presenter in the show’s history and responsible for “Blue Peter’s” “daredevil” stunts. After him, many presenters would build reputations for feats of derring-do. In 1974, he offered to help football team Queens Park Rangers’ repair their floodlights after seeing them through the windows of the “Blue Peter” offices. But how exactly DOES one fix an enormous, stadium floodlight? In typical Noakes fashion, he climbed all the way to the top with no safety equipment whatsoever, carrying a fragile lightbulb. We’re sure even a lot of QPR’s biggest supporters wouldn’t do this.

For our money, the second bravest “Blue Peter” presenter of all time is Helen Skelton, who has achieved many things both during and after her time as a presenter on the show. In 2010, she embarked on a mission to kayak the entire length of the Amazon to raise money for Sport Relief, with “Blue Peter” producing multiple shows to follow her entire journey and decorating her kayak in “Blue Peter” livery. Luckily, everything went well, but between deadly wildlife and river currents, the potential for something to go very wrong was there. She’s also, incredibly, the first person to reach the South Pole on a bicycle.

More water, in 1968, the presenters got into a speedboat race with each other down the Thames. Peter Purves and John Noakes did alright, but Valerie Singleton ended up crashing. The boat was destroyed, but luckily, Valerie and her instructor Bob were rescued by Peter, with the race being immediately called off in the wake of the accident. But a high-speed boat crash is something that could have ended far worse. Valerie later explained that the rain had stopped her from being able to see that there was a big piece of wood in the river, and they couldn’t get out of the way in time. Thank god they were all wearing life jackets and helmets.

Skeleton is one of the most frightening and dangerous sports out there, with athletes setting off headfirst on a sled down an ice track. So, it was only natural that “Blue Peter” should send John Noakes over to Switzerland to try the Cresta Run, the birthplace of the sport. As Noakes explains, the sport is so risky that they don’t usually let beginners attempt the Cresta Run, and he’d actually already crashed while trying a similar sport the year before. Nothing went wrong on the day, luckily, but it’s all too easy to imagine something catastrophic could have happened. Even with the best equipment at the time, it was still the seventies.

He was a beloved pet rather than a presenter, but ended up in such a dangerous situation that the show’s producers genuinely believed he HAD died, and put out a heartfelt eulogy for Britain’s children to weep over. In 1988, there was a break in and George the “Blue Peter” tortoise ended up escaping, with producers actually thinking he’d somehow been killed. So, they put together a film and made the announcement to viewers, until, a few days later, he was discovered by a member of the public and her pet dog. George was brought back to the studio and lived out the rest of his days, but very easily could have come to an end during his time at large.

This harrowing Noakes moment was certainly safer than other things he’d done since he actually had some proper equipment, but still terrifying for anybody without a head for heights. He wanted to be the first civilian to do a five-mile freefall, which is something usually only airmen do as part of their RAF training. So, essentially, Noakes joined the RAF for a few weeks to learn how to do it properly. He headed up over Salisbury and made his attempt, succeeding along with a group of rookie airmen. Perhaps a whole generation of British kids was inspired to join the RAF after watching John Noakes narrowly avoid death yet again.

Another showing from Helen Skelton, in 2011 – merely a year after her Amazon achievement – she decided to do another challenge to raise money, this time for Comic Relief. She did a tightrope walk between the famous chimneys of Battersea Power Station, training to do it for months beforehand – all of which was followed by “Blue Peter”. Unlike many other high-up appearances on “Blue Peter”, Helen WAS attached to another wire above her, so she wouldn’t have died if she fell off. But there’s still always the chance that something huge could go wrong, and it’s certainly one of the most frightening things she’s ever done.

In 1980, Peter Duncan took on the mantle of daredevil in chief and was sent to learn how steeplejacks cleaned the clockface of Big Ben. Back then, there was no safety equipment whatsoever, just a swing attached to rope that was suspended from a balcony. The steeplejacks showing Duncan the ropes – literally – insisted it was perfectly safe, and it’s true that he wasn’t injured. But you can’t help but watch in horror, thinking about what would have happened if someone made one wrong move and plummeted to their death. The entire clock tower is over 300 feet tall; there would be no coming back from a fall like that.

Is this the most iconic “Blue Peter” moment of all time? After the legendary Tracy Island build, possibly. It was, of course, another John Noakes classic, where he was asked to do the most frightening thing yet: scale Nelson’s Column to clean it of bird poo. The ladders were all attached with rope, but the workmen weren’t attached to the ladders. Like the steeplejacks, if they fell off, that’d be the end. Noakes joined them, climbing up wobbly, flimsy ladders with absolutely no safety equipment whatsoever. It wasn’t just Noakes, though, of course; the cameramen had to do it all, too. He also had to do it TWICE because of technical difficulties the first time.


Let us know if you’d attempt any of these stunts in the comments.