Blue Peter — 1983-1984

Sept 1983

Gentle Giants! There's no doubt who stole the show during this year's Summer Expedition - the elephants. They're Sri Lanka's most useful piece of farm equipment, with great advantages over the tractor. For instance, you don't need import licences, or any spares. An elephant has no use for petrol or oil, he's very unlikely to break down, and he can get to places where no wheeled vehicle can penetrate. But his greatest advantage is his intelligence. Simon, Peter and Janet discovered bathing Goldie is a pushover, compared with scrubbing their four-ton tuskers. They used coconut husks for loofahs and a soaking wet time was had by all-there's no doubt elephants have a huge sense of humour! Don't miss today's first report, and catch up with the latest news about the four-legged members of. the Blue Peter team - Goldie, Jack, and George the tortoise.

Sept 1983

Hidden Treasure ' King Solomon in all his glory' was probably wearing a robe studded in jewels that came from Sri Lanka. The quarter-of-a-million pounds' worth of jewels Janet wears might have been mined within a stone's throw of the gems that were taken to the Court of King Solomon - and the methods of mining have hardly changed at all in the last 2,000 years. Peter delves deep down a black, smelly hole in Ratnapura and ends up with a treasure-trove of sapphires!

Sept 1983

Expedition Sri Lanka with Simon Groom , Peter Duncan and Janet Ellis Coconuts Galore! Simon braves a tightrope walk across the tree tops and tracks down a Toddy Tapper - the death-defying of the palm trees.

Sept 1983

Expedition Sri Lanka: Shipwrecked Sailor! More than 300 years before "Blue Peter"'s expedition Robert Knox, a young English sailor, was shipwrecked on the island and taken prisoner by King Raja Singha. Peter and Janet go back in time and discover more about this remarkable man held captive for 19 years before his skilfully plotted escape.

Sept 1983

Meet the bird with a six-foot wing span that can soar to an incredible 200 feet before swooping on its prey at 45 miles-an-hour: Heidithe white bellied sea eagle.

Sept 1983

Tea for Two Janet toils In the plantations at Nuwara Eliya and discovers there's far more to producing a good cuppa than meets the eye. it takes five kilos of leaves to fill one basket and skilled pluckers produce three baskets a day-or 2,000 cups of tea.

Oct 1983

Expedition Sri Lanka - Up the Pole! SIMON and PETER join the stilt fishers of Weligama who perch for hours under the burning sun without moving or speaking, to catch the timid Korrumba fish.

Oct 1983

Peter scales one of London's best known landmarks and helps to demolish Fulham Power Station.

Oct 1983

To celebrate Blue Peter's Silver Jubilee year, Janet begins her training with the RAF's Falcons in an attempt to win back Blare Peter 's entry in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest-delayed drop made by a civilian.

Oct 1983

More than half the population of Sri Lanka follow the teachings of the Lord Buddha, which began nearly 600 years before Christ was born. The monks start their training when they are very young, as Peter discovered when he met The Rev Wimela - aged 10. Like most children Wimela has lessons and homework - but not many 10-year-olds have their heads shaved every three months -Buddha teaches that long hair leads to vanity!

Oct 1983

Blue Peter Goes Silver! Simon, Peter and Janet launch Blue Peter 's 25th birthday week with a giant lift off! Find out how you can win one of the special Silver Jubilee badges - only 1,860 exist-one for every edition of the programme, and discover who has won this year's Award for Outstanding Endeavour - presented by the man who introduced the very first Blue Peter - Christopher Trace.

Oct 1983

Prickles Galore ! Baby hedgehogs reared by Blue Peter viewers make their first public appearance and inspire chef Duncan to create a cake in their honour.

Oct 1983

The remarkable story of Judy, the only dog ever to become an official prisoner of war. Captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore, Judy survived the gruelling conditions of a forced labour camp and on her return to Britain she was awarded the Dicken Medal. The citation read ' for magnificent courage and endurance in Japanese prison camps, thus helping to maintain morale among her fellow prisoners, and for saving many lives by her intelligence and watchfulness'.

Oct 1983

Jumping Janet! Janet sees how parachutes like the one she'll use for her free-fall drop with the Falcons are carefully packed. Then comes a jump of 1,000 feet - not from a plane but a balloon.

Oct 1983

They said it could not be done! For 72 miles through 12 tunnels and over 17 viaducts, the railway line from Settle to Carlisle climbs over some of the most spectacular countryside in Britain. This famous track was one of the last important lines to be laid - it was opened to traffic in 1876. Simon and Goldie follow the tracks of the pioneers who created one of the engineering master-pieces of the Victorian age.

Nov 1983

Blue Peter's silver tabby, Jack, will be in good company today, meeting champions who'll be competing in the chinchilla, silver tabby and Smoke Cat Society's 75th Anniversary Show. They include Premier Marisha Simpatico, or Tico for short, Grand Champion Andarphils, otherwise known as Cleo, and Saleila Prima Donna known to her owners as Prima. Discover what makes the champions purr - and what goes on behind the scenes to produce a real live Top Cat!

Nov 1983

See How They Run! Six of the fastest feet in Britain flash past today when Himalayan runners Richard and Adrian Crane join Steve Cram in the studio.

Nov 1983

Evil Edna 's dream comes true as her career as a pop star begins, with a little help from Kenneth Williams.

Nov 1983

Today SIMON, PETER and JANET make their most important announcement of the year - so have a pencil and paper handy for details of the 1983 Appeal and find out what it is Blue Peter is collecting and how you can help.

Nov 1983

Nov 1983

Happy Birthday "Doctor Who"! "Blue Peter" salutes television's most popular sci-fi series with a monstrous flashback to the days of the Cybermen, the Terileptils, the Sea Devils, and - most dreaded of all - the Daleks! Discover which of the five Doctors will be arriving in the "Blue Peter" studio, not transported by the Tardis, but in the special "Doctor Who" Sunshine minibus that will be presented to the children of the Gurney School.

Nov 1983

Weather Beaters SOS! The world's weather has gone bonkers! Tens of millions of people in 40 countries are suffering because of droughts or floods. If you join the Blue Peter Weather Beaters 25,000 families will have the chance to pick up the threads of normal life. All you need is an adult to agree to help and write off for a Great Blue Peter Bring and Buy Sale kit from [address removed].

Nov 1983

Christmas is Coming!: Don't be down-hearted if you cant afford the decorations in the shops. You can make Janet's Christmas stars - they'll transform your tree and you can use them for table decorations, too!

Dec 1983

Cry Just a Little Bit Hankies at the ready as Shaky joins the team! If you're a fan - and who isn't? - there's a whole lot of Shakin' goin' on and a big surprise in store for Britain's chart-topping rocker.

Dec 1983

Viewers who are short of pocket money to buy their grans and grandads a Christmas present should tune in. Janet will come the rescue with an idea that can be made at home for next to nothing

Dec 1983

Fun and games in the studio with Simon and Janet introducing more items of interest. Janet takes to the skies in her bid to break the British civilian freefall record. She makes her first jump from an aircraft - a Hercules, along with the crack freefall parachute team the R.A.F. Falcons

Dec 1983

Dec 1983

Dec 1983

Lift-off for Simon: Today's the great day for 14-year-old Simon Holtom, the winner of Blue Peter's Intelpost Greetings Card Competition. His glorious view of balloons over the London skyline has been turned into a greetings card and will be seen in public for the first time.

Dec 1983

On the last Blue Peter before Christmas catch up with the latest news of our Weather Beaters appeal, in aid of 25,000 families in five countries suffering from the effects of drought or floods. Join in with carols around the Christmas tree with children from All Farthings School and Warlingham County Secondary School and the band of the Chalk Farm Branch of the Salvation Army.

Dec 1983

1983 was the year Blue Peter took off! Remember when Simon went spinning upside-down in a jet at 40,000 feet, Peter flew through the air on a flying trapeze, and Janet risked life and limb on her first parachute jump? The year's special guests included Pele, Bonnie Langford, Elton John, the Prime Minister through the voice of 16-year-old Linda Kemery and Torvill and Dean.

Jan 1984

Weather Beater Stop Press! The Blue Peter bring and buy sales are producing fantastic results and if the £750,000 mark lights up on the Totaliser today, the original appeal target will have been trebled.

Jan 1984

Jan 1984

Merseyside: Twenty-five nations will be building gardens for Britain's first International Garden Festival that opens on Merseyside in May, and your design could be included! Have a pencil and paper handy for the details and check with the plan of the Blue Peter site on Back Page before you send in your entry. There are prizes galore, and the best design of all will win the holiday of a lifetime in Singapore.

Jan 1984

Winged Waitress! Janet discovers there's more to being an air stewardess than meets the eye, as she fights a fire in the galley and escapes down an inflatable chute-part of the routine training by airline crews all over the world.

Jan 1984

Ski Monday! Peter reports from the French Alps where 232 12 to 18-year-olds have been competing in the 1984 British Junior Ski Championships. Who will be the Ingemar Stenmark ot the future?

Jan 1984

Jan 1984

Jan 1984

ClockThis! Time has stood still for a century for Gaulby Church's one-handed clock. Simon joins Bob Ovens the expert who aims to get it ticking back to life.

Jan 1984

Feb 1984

The 17th-century kitchens at Richmond's Ham House have been newly restored. Not only the furniture, but every single utensil from the spits for roasting larks to the graters, colanders and pickle pots are the genuine articles used in the 1670s and 80s. Janet turns kitchenmaid and discovers how hard life was without today's labour-saving equipment.

Feb 1984

Garden of Delight! Today's the day the winners of the Blue Peter Festival Garden Competition will be announced. Discover whether your design has won you a 'holiday of a lifetime' in Singapore.

Feb 1984

Be My Valentine! Send your true love a home-made heart on 14 February. Janet shows how to make a double-purpose card.

Feb 1984

'Sit' and 'Stay'! Two top dogs from Crufts, the Obedience Champion bitch and dog, put on a special studio display of their award-winning skills.

Feb 1984

Feb 1984

Feb 1984

Feb 1984

Mar 1984

Happy Birthday Sospan! The oldest goat in the British army is 11 years old today. It's Sospan's tenth year with the Royal Regiment of Wales - a regimental record. Fourteen drummers from the 3rd and 4th Battalions and Goat-Major Barry John also join the team for the traditional leek eating ceremony. Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant!

Mar 1984

Mar 1984

Mar 1984

A birthday tribute as Janet joins the RNLI's newest crew for their toughest training assignment.

Mar 1984

Mar 1984

The Great Escape This Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of one of the greatest mass escapes of all time. Seventy-six allied POWs broke out of Stalag Luft III, using the 350-foot tunnel they'd constructed under the very noses of their guards. Sadly, all but three were caught and 50 men were murdered. But Ley Kenyon, who helped to mastermind the plot, survived and tells the true story of 'The Great Escape'..

Mar 1984

Mar 1984

Mar 1984

Apr 1984

Apr 1984

Apr 1984

Petra, the programme's very first dog, survived the upheaval and today you can see her in her new place of honour in the Blue Peter garden.

Apr 1984

Boxes X 2 4 2000 A giant tree transplant completes the move of Blue Peter's souvenirs for the year 2000.

Apr 1984

Apr 1984

Apr 1984

Apr 1984

Resistance Secret agents' equipment, hidden message compartments and two dolls made in the notorious Revensbruck concentration camp by Second World War heroine Odette Hallowes , are just a few of the items in a major exhibition that opens shortly at the Imperial War Museum. Janet tells the story of the Resistance-the bravery of thousands of ordinary men and women during the Nazi occupation of Europe.

May 1984

Dragon Builder! Wednesday was a red-letter day for 14-year-old Theo Gayer-Anderson. Not only has his competition sketch for a red dragon been transformed into a flame-breathing, 35-foot monster but he was presented to the Queen when Her Majesty visited the Blue Peter garden after opening the festival. Theo joins the team to tell of his VIP day out!

May 1984

May 1984

May 1984

Yabby Dabby Doo!: Meet America's Don Messick - the man with elastic vocal chords, and discover how he creates the voices of Muttley, Klunk and Zilly, Godzooky, Boo Boo, Ranger Smith, Scooby and Scrappy and many many more.

May 1984

May 1984

Lee Boo , the Stranger in Rotherhithe The extraordinary story of the 19-year-old prince who left his Pacific Ocean island in 1784 to go to school in London. For five months he was a familiar figure in Rotherhithe until he died of smallpox.

May 1984

Jun 1984

Jun 1984

Jun 1984

Your Life in Their Hands! The men and women of the 110 Lifeguard Clubs will be patrolling Britain's beaches this summer and preventing holidays turning into tragedies. Last year alone more than 2,000 people were saved from drowning in resorts as far afield as Barn-staple and East Kilbride. The teams are manned by volunteers and the youngest cadets are 13 years old. Simon joins the boys and girls from Poole and Bournemouth who will be competing in the National Lifeguard Championships later this year, and gets thrown in at the deep end with the torpedo buoy relay race.

Jun 1984

Jun 1984

'Come On, You 'Orrible Pair!' There was no sympathy for Simon and Peter when they faced the most gruelling of all their assignments - training with the Devonport Field Gunners for this summer's Royal Navy Field Gun Race. Watch our heroes bite the dust, and discover which country the team will be exploring for the 1984 Summer Expedition!