h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Blue Peter Garden - A747416
Author: Jimster - U292

Written as a companion to the existing overview of the children's TV series Blue Peter, this is a basic history of one of the show's features - the Blue Peter Garden.

Jims

Great entry (I seem to be saying that alot at the moment)

Just one point, isn't the current Blue Peter garden overlooked by the BBC canteen? To be honest I don't know if it should be mentioned but I think it's an amusing thought that the presenters are doing there pieces to camera overlooked by half the BBC.

oh and in recent years haven't they been looking at environmentally friendly gardening, organised by the new gardener (I don't know if it is still the woman from Kew Gardens, but it was in my day).

Researcher PSG

Don't know if Clare Cooke (nee Clare Bradley) is the one you're thinking of. I was going to mention her, but as I couldn't find out who replaced her i thought I'd leave her out. It is, after all, Percy's story (sob).

Jims

I enjoyed reading this..used to watch Blue Peter when i was young & with my son when he was younger..i made him a Tracy Island before Blue Peter did..&..mine was better....
As someone who is still wearing her 'L' plates around here....may i suggest..poured oil into the pond, killing the fish..rather than poured oil into water....

I chose the word "water" to avoid the repetition of the word "pond" from the previous line, and originally I wrote "killing the fish in the process" but then I seem to remember that not all of the fish died. I've just mailed a Blue Peter expert that I know for clarification, but I will come back to this.

Thanks for the comments, hope your Tracy Island lasted longer than mine

Jims

Nice entry Jims!

Nothing to say about it (for once) except

The post of Petra stood initially on a different location to the front of Televsion Centre but was moved to the garden to make way for a carpark or something and the garden at taht time was established and therefore the ideal location.

BTW I remember the shock of the announcement on the Monday after the vandalism it was the first time it really struck me.

I've amended the section regarding Petra, moving it into the "Old Friends" bit towards the end. I'd originally stated that Petra's statue moved into the garden when they redesigned it, but I've since learned that this didn't happen until much later - in fact it happened at the same time that they had to move the time capsule from the front of BBC TVC, which was why they put the SECOND capsule in there too.

So, thanks for the comments as they made me do a bit more research.

All this information on an area so small. Lord help me when I begin my entry on the inhabitants of Weatherfield...

Jims

50 years of research on that one. You have your work cut out there.

Just to say that this is done now.

Right, just finish my Corrie entry and then it's... either Malcolm X or... nope, it's Malcolm X.

i'd also like to see a mention of what they are doing with the garden now adays. whe i used to watch it ti was always raining and the dog was trying the eat the fish. but the other day it was on on the tv in argos when i walked past and they seemed to be having a lovely time sprawled on deckchairs in the sun. not a lot of gardening going on there. do thy still try and teach kids abut plants or is it just an extra studio space now?

oh, and i liked it btw.

I think that's probably covered in the mention of the fact that the garden was designed both as an instructional project and as somewhere different for them to present the show from. As time goes on, it's a bit difficult to chart something like this, so I've tried to make it as all-encompassing as it can be without going into year-by-year specifics.

But hopefully the link to the official Blue Peter site will provide updates of what the team are doing at the moment. I think currently, that's found in the experts section...

Thanks again for all the comments,

Jims

In London this morning, we've had little patches of rain followed by little patches of sunshine. Hopefully this means the plants in the Blue Peter garden have been well-fed.

Sadly, I didn't bring a coat to work this morning... grrr...

Jimster

Little patches of rain. We had a downpour twice