Maggie and Jim
Blue Peter's success with Freda the tortoise prompted the production team to introduce Maggie and Jim to the show. They joined the show on a regular basis in 1979, after making their first appearance in 1974.
Maggie and Jim were hatched on 27th August 1974 under the watchful eye of Bob Woolley, a college lecturer from Leicester. Like Freda, they were Southern European tortoises, but unlike Freda, they were not as hardy, and did not survive the cold snap of January 1982.
George
After Maggie and Jim's death the production team considered not having a Blue Peter tortoise. There were now strict Government regulations controlling their import after a campaign was waged by tortoise lovers protesting at the practices of unscrupulous importers.
However, many viewers still owned the heroes in a half-shell and they needed to be shown how to care for them. So the Blue Peter pet keeper, Edith Menezes, donated Pork Pie, aged eight. Blue Peter viewers renamed him George.
In 1988 George caused a scare when Edith had a break-in at her home. Edith returned to find George gone and feared the worst. The production team were equally pessimistic and broadcast a special tribute film about him. But luckily George was found by a neighbour walking her dog.
George is still with the programme, and in 2001 it was discovered that he was in fact eighty years old.
