''Blue Peter Special Assignment'' is a factual

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

series broadcast in the 1970s and early 1980s, the first spin-off from the long running BBC series ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Te ...

''. It ran regularly from 1973 until 1981, usually at weekends on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins ...

, and was heavily promoted on ''Blue Peter'' itself. The concept for the series was developed after

Valerie Singleton Valerie Singleton (born 9 April 1937) is an English television and radio presenter best known as a regular presenter of the popular children's series ''Blue Peter'' from 1962 to 1972. She also presented the BBC Radio 4 '' PM'' programme for t ...

had presented a successful documentary 'special' with

HRH Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of ...

when she had visited Kenya in 1971. The Special Assignment series was mainly produced by Edward Barnes and presented initially by

and later by

Peter Purves Peter John Purves (; born 10 February 1939) is an English television presenter and actor. He played Steven Taylor in '' Doctor Who'' under the First Doctor, a role he continued to play in audio dramas for Big Finish Productions. He later becam ...

and

Lesley Judd Lesley Judd (born 20 December 1946) is an English former television presenter and dancer, best known as a long-serving host of the BBC children's programme ''Blue Peter'' (1972–1979). Background Born in London, the daughter of Leslie T. Judd ...

both of whom had been presenters on ''Blue Peter'' itself. Series One featured Valerie Singleton looking at six European Capital Cities. These included Rome, Paris, London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam and Brussels. The first programme to be filmed was the one featuring Rome and included a personal address to the children of Britain from

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

in The Vatican. Series Two continued to feature Singleton looking at European Cities and included Dublin, York and Madrid. Later series looked at Islands and included The Isle of Wight, The Isle of Man, Hong Kong, Malta and Venice, even though Venice had also featured in an earlier series as a 'city'. Later the show began to look at famous houses or famous individuals and included biographies of Vivaldi, The Brontë Sisters, The Duke of Wellington, Saint Therese of Lisieux, Marie Antoinette and Rudyard Kipling and both Lesley Judd and Peter Purves began presenting the series in place of Singleton. The series in 1977 was presented jointly by Peter Purves and Lesley Judd, with the theme of 'twin towns'. The final series was co-presented alternately by Singleton and Peter Purves, being broadcast in 1981. The series theme was 'Rivers', with Singleton examining the Yukon and Niagara, while Purves reported on the Tamar, the Tweed and the Singapore Rivers. Spin off books were published covering the first two series.

Episodes

Blue Peter Royal Safari

Repeated Monday, 7 June 1971 at 7:20pm and Monday, 3 April 1972 at 5:00pm on BBC1.

Series 1: European Capitals

Valerie Singleton reports on six capital cities of Europe. Produced by Edward Barnes. The series was repeated on BBC1 in November/December 1973 with the broadcast order changed to: Rome, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Paris, City of London, Vienna.

Series 2: European Cities

Valerie Singleton reports on five European cities. Produced by Edward Barnes.

Series 3: Islands

Valerie Singleton reports on six islands. Produced by Edward Barnes. A repeat season was broadcast in October 1975 on BBC1, featuring the following episodes: * Hong Kong (3 October 1975) * Brussels (10 October 1975) * York (17 October 1975) * Madrid (24 October 1975) * Amsterdam (31 October 1975)

Series 4: Great Houses

Great names of history whose houses still exist. Produced by Edward Barnes.

Series 5: Twin Towns

Peter Purves and Lesley Judd visit five different sets of twin towns. Produced by Edward Barnes.

Series 6: Biographies

Peter Purves investigates dramatic settings for the lives of six great personalities from Italy, France and England. Produced by Edward Barnes.

Series 7: Rivers

A series of five programmes produced by Edward Barnes.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Peter 1973 British television series debuts 1981 British television series endings 1970s British children's television series 1980s British children's television series BBC children's television shows British television spin-offs English-language television shows