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Biddy Baxter | |
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| Born | Joan Maureen Baxter (1933-05-25)25 May 1933 (age 91)[1] Leicester, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Wyggeston Girls' Grammar School |
| Alma mater | St Mary's College, Durham |
| Occupation | Television producer |
| Known for | EditingBlue Peter for 23 years |
| Spouse | |
Joan Maureen "Biddy" Baxter,MBE (born 25 May 1933) is a British television producer, best known for editing the long-running BBC TV children's magazine showBlue Peter from 1962 to 1988. As editor of the programme, Baxter devised much of the format that is still used today.
Baxter was born on 25 May 1933 at Regent Hospital,Leicester,Leicestershire, to Bryan Reginald Baxter and Dorothy Vera,née Briers.[2] Her father was a teacher, who later became the director of a sportswear company, and her mother was a pianist.[3]: 21 She was educated atWyggeston Girls' Grammar School, Leicester andSt Mary's, a women's college atDurham University, where she studied between 1952 and 1955.[4]
At a meeting with the careers officer at her university, Baxter noticed information about working for the BBC. "It wasn't that I was being snotty about secretarial work or teaching, I just didn't want to do either of them," she said in 2013 of the options offered to her on this occasion. "This particular teaching officer seemed to me – though maybe I was being unduly sensitive – to have this blind spot about women. All the men were going off to do these amazing things. I really should be grateful to him".[5]
After graduating with asocial sciences degree, Baxter joined the BBC as a studio manager in 1955, becoming a producer of schools' English programmes in 1958,[6] and ofListen with Mother in 1961. After moving to a temporary post in 1962 within BBC Television owing to a staff shortage, she gained a permanent post as producer ofBlue Peter from November 1962,[6] and remained directly responsible for the programme for just over a quarter of a century.
First broadcast on 16 October 1958,[7]Blue Peter had originally been devised byJohn Hunter Blair, but it was Baxter and her deputyEdward Barnes, later head of BBC children's television, who developed the format into a successful programme, initially on a budget of only £180 per edition.[8] When they were first introduced, Barnes was told: "You'll have to look after Biddy – she doesn't know very much", to his considerable irritation.[9]
Baxter devised and introduced theBlue Peter badge in 1963[5] to encourage children to send in programme ideas, pictures, letters and stories and also she introduced the now famous annual appeals.[3]: 22 She was awarded a gold badge herself when she retired as editor from the programme.[10] Having been disappointed as a child to receive the same reply twice to different letters that she had written toEnid Blyton, she also introduced a card index system so thatBlue Peter viewers could receive more personal responses.[3]: 21–22 Baxter became programme editor in April 1965 following a reorganisation,[6] while Barnes andRosemary Gill became producers when the programme began to be broadcast twice a week in 1964.[11]
Baxter was a divisive figure for some ex-presenters.Valerie Singleton has said Baxter treated the presenters like children.[12] However,Peter Purves has also said: "the programme succeeded – and I've said this many times – because of her, not in spite of her. She absolutely ruled it; I didn't always agree with her views, but she was right."[13]Yvette Fielding claimed that Baxter bullied her repeatedly until she decided to resign in 1988 after her first year of presenting, although she was convinced to stay and Baxter retired later that year.[14]
Her final programme in the role of editor aired on 27 June 1988.[6] Her husband,John Hosier, who had been a BBC Schools music producer and was a music educator, had accepted a job offer inHong Kong.[12] After returning from Hong Kong in 1993, Baxter continued to work for the BBC, as a consultant to directors-generalMichael Checkland andJohn Birt.[5] Hosier died in 2000.[15]
In the1981 New Year Honours, Baxter was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), in recognition of her work as editor ofBlue Peter;[16] she received her MBE fromThe Queen atBuckingham Palace, on 10 February 1981.[17] She is also a fellow of theRoyal Television Society,[18] and has received honorary D. Litts from theUniversity of Newcastle in 1988 and theUniversity of Durham in 2012.[19][20]
In September 2008, Baxter expressed dissatisfaction with the wayBlue Peter was being run and said that she believed that the BBC was trying to close the programme down.[21]
In November 2013, Baxter was announced as the recipient of the Special Award at theBAFTA Children's Awards in 2013.[10] Baxter was praised byAnna Home, former head of BBC Children's Television, on receiving the award. Home toldJane Martinson ofThe Guardian in 2013: "Somehow she was overlooked. If anyone deserves to be recognised she does …Blue Peter is a legend and she isBlue Peter".[5]
In June 2014, Baxter was the guest onBBC Radio 4'sDesert Island Discs. Her choices were "Deo Gracias" fromA Ceremony of Carols byBenjamin Britten, the final chorus from theSt Matthew Passion byJohann Sebastian Bach, "Milord" byÉdith Piaf, "Beat Out Dat Rhythm on a Drum" from the musicalCarmen Jones, the "Andante quasi lento e cantabile" from theCarol Symphony byVictor Hely-Hutchinson, the Allegro from theString Quintet in C Major byFranz Schubert, the Allegro from theConcierto de Aranjuez byJoaquín Rodrigo and the "Papageno Duet" fromThe Magic Flute byWolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Her book choice wasThe Traveller's Tree byPatrick Leigh Fermor.[22]
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