First time for everything
When John Leslie joined he soon found himself taking over the action man role left vacant when Peter Duncan left the show. His first report involved taking part in the new sport of bridge-swinging. Diane's first report was slightly more sedate - taking her Morris Minor on a trip to Brighton.

Lucky Badge
You could say Anthea's presenting stint on Blue Peter was fated. At seven years old she won a Blue Peter badge, and she took it along to her audition for good luck. "I'm sure the badge was lucky," Anthea said at the time "I won it when I was about seven for sending some models of animals made of sea shells. I got a badge, letter and a picture of Petra the dog which I still have. I've even got my old Blue Peter annuals."

And the winner is...
In 1992 Blue Peter won the BAFTA for the Best Children's Programme - Factual. The last time the show won a BAFTA was in 1969 when it won a Specialist Programmes Craft Award.

Appeals and targets
1992 - The I-Care Appeal - Bring and Buy sales for eye units to cure River Blindness disease in Africa.
1993 - Pieces of Eight Appeal - Booty to replace all six Blue Peter lifeboats

UP2 Anthea
Many people remember the moment when Anthea Turner caught fire while reporting from the Royal Tournament. In fact the memory cheats - this actually happened while Anthea was working on the Saturday morning show UP2U. The footage now appears on an internal BBC health and safety training film.

Blue Peter Expeditions
1992 - Hungary and New Zealand
1993 - Argentina

F.A.B
With re-runs finding a whole new audience, the nation was gripped by Thunderbirds fever. Such was the fuss that a model toy version of Tracy Island sold out within days of being released. With the prospect of lots of children left disappointed at Christmas, Blue Peter came to the rescue and launched probably the show's most famous make. Over a number of weeks, Anthea Turner was shown using papier mache and a yoghurt pot to create a masterpiece. Over 100,000 children asked for instructions to make Tracey Island - you can get them here. There was also a spin-off video, Blue Peter Makes a Tracy Island. Anthea was so proud of her model that she still has it.

Happy Birthday Blue Peter
On 17th October1993, Blue Peter celebrated its thirty-fifth anniversary with a special edition featuring a number of former presenters. Joining John Anthea and Diane were Leila Williams, Valerie Singleton, John Noakes, Peter Purves, Lesley Judd, Simon Groom, Peter Duncan, Sarah Greene, Janet Ellis, Mark Curry and Caron Keating. Viewers were shown a number of Blue Peter clips and asked which one they'd like to see in full. They chose Simon Groom visiting the lions on Tippi Hedren's ranch.

Here's One I Made Earlier
On 16th October 1993 (the day of the actual anniversary) BBC2 screened a documentary called Here's One I Made Earlier. Narrated by comedienne Helen Lederer, it revealed what had happened to some of the people that had appeared on Blue Peter over the years. Also that evening a special short film was broadcast showing John Noakes climbing up a skyscraper to examine an enormous billboard featuring a picture of him and Shep, taken over twenty years before.

Anthea's best friend
When she joined the show Anthea inherited Bonnie from Yvette Fielding. Unlike Mark Curry, who had refused to be partnered with the pooch, Anthea saw it as honour and she recalls her then partner Peter Powell being a bit jealous when Bonnie climbed onto their bed. Such was Anthea's fondness for Bonnie that she now has two of her descendents as pets - Buddie and Digger.