The Blue Peter pets are animals that regularly appear on the long-running BBC children's television series Blue Peter. For 27 years, when not on TV, these pets were often looked after by Blue Peters long-standing pet keeper Edith Menezes, who died in 1994. The exceptions were the dogs Petra, Shep and Goldie, who lived with Peter Purves, John Noakes and Simon Groom, respectively, for which the three presenters were paid a stipend for their upkeep.
The first pet was a dog named Petra in 1962, and since then there have been several dogs, cats, tortoises, parrots, and horses. The current animals on the show are Shelley the tortoise and Henry the beagle. Rags, a pony, named by viewers, was purchased with the proceeds of a Christmas appeal in the late 1970s as a Riding for the Disabled horse. The Blue Peter parrot—Joey, and one successor, Barney—featured in the 1960s, but when Barney, a blue-fronted amazon, died, he was not replaced.
In a 1986 documentary shown on BBC2 as part of the Did You See...? series, former presenter Peter Purves recalled that Biddy Baxter, the show's editor, had called him in floods of tears on the day that the first parrot Joey died. He went on to muse in the same interview that had he himself died, Baxter would have been far less upset. The original ideas behind featuring the programme's pets were to teach viewers who had animals of their own how to look after them, and for the creatures to act as surrogate pets for those that did not own any. For example, dog training items, tortoise hibernation, and cat care are often featured on the programme; however, the keeping of rabbits and mice was deemed not suitable as they do not live long. In addition, dogs that lived with the presenters often accompanied them on filming assignments.
Dogs
Petra
Petra was a female mongrel that appeared on Blue Peter between 1962 and 1977. Petra was the first Blue Peter pet, and remains one of the best known. Up to May 2011, Petra is the longest-serving Blue Peter pet.
She was weighed on one of the episodes and found to weigh about . She had several puppies, including Patch, who also became a Blue Peter pet, and who predeceased her. Petra lost her teeth at an early age, but this was not necessarily a bad thing; Blue Peter presenter Peter Purves once said that she was often bad-tempered and would "gum you to death" if she had the chance.
When Purves started working on the Blue Peter show and became Petra's handler on the set, Petra had already been on the show for about five years. Petra was an irritable nervous dog on the set, so Biddy Baxter had the idea that Purves should be Petra's permanent keeper, and so he looked after her at his home too. He became fond of Petra and was sad when she died, having been her owner for more than nine years.
There is a bust of Petra in the Blue Peter garden. It originally stood in front of BBC Television Centre but was moved to the garden in 1984 due to redevelopment works and now stands in the current garden at MediaCityUK.
It was later revealed that the original (unnamed) puppy had died of distemper a few days after her first appearance on Blue Peter, broadcast just before Christmas 1962. Instead of informing viewers, and feeling there was no need to upset children needlessly, the programme's director and producer Edward Barnes and Biddy Baxter bought a similar-looking replacement puppy, which was subsequently named Petra by the viewers.
Patch
Patch (9 September 1965 – May 1971) was looked after by presenter John Noakes after Noakes joined the programme in December 1965. Patch had a distinctive marking around one of his eyes, giving him his name. Patch died in May 1971.
Shep
Shep (1971 – 17 January 1987), a border collie, is widely considered to be the most famous Blue Peter pet; he was bought by the BBC to replace Patch, one of Petra's puppies, born in 1965. He became the main Blue Peter dog when Petra died in 1977. Shep was bred by Audrey Wickham (née Hart), breeder of a number of notable pedigree border collies in the Sadghyl line. He is remembered by viewers as being inseparable from Blue Peter presenter John Noakes. Shep was excitable, and Noakes would often have to restrain him. Noakes's common refrain, "Get down, Shep!", became a catchphrase, and The Barron Knights released a song with that title. Shep left Blue Peter when Noakes departed in June 1978.