Blue Peter computer graphics competition launch, 12th April 1984

[@DougieLawson]

My mother did that Blue Peter logo on the Spectrum (after the BBC asked Amstrad, where my brother worked). She was rewarded with a Blue Peter badge.

[@JeremyRuston]

Thank you @dunebasher1971 - I have very happy memories of working behind the scenes on that show. I had grown up adoring Blue Peter and it was dream come true territory to be there. I was one of the judges, along with the presenters, Ian McNaughton and Biddy Baxter. I remember it all being great fun. Watching it now I'm blown away by how old fashioned it all seems, rather like the 1940s felt in the 1980s

[@naysmith5272]

I just realised you made the production animations for CBBC. Quite a good gig.

[@JeremyRuston]

@@naysmith5272 thank you! I was very lucky to get the gig, and wonderful to have the chance to make things for millions of viewers. I made a collection of the animations that I could find as of a few months ago, there's a couple more here to add - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYW5kn6VrpVgjbs

[@KaneAndTheHumanRace]

Can you speak a bit about the criteria you typically used? What was the most memorable prize you can recall, and the worst? Was there ever a time where you disagreed with the other judges, and how did you guys resolve the problem?

[@horrgakx]

Brilliant tale. I watched from the 70's, loved it.

[@louiseogden1296]

Almost same time difference between 1985 and 1945 as between next year and 1985. As a 1979 baby, crap I'm getting oooooold.

[@baz8755]

The cost of a microdrive cartridge was more than the value of many of the prizes

[@purefoldnz3070]

so you're saying more than the sponge prize?

[@louiseogden1296]

Probably because it was aimed at schools as well. Home users would never have had them but a school might. Although yeah, asking if you could send it to the BBC would have been a bit selfish in that case as they weren't sending them back...

[@andrewbrunton8664]

My mate got himself a microdrive. It didn't work.

[@Sleepysod]

Imagine sending in a microdrive and winning a sponge

[@krashd]

@@Sleepysod Then handing it to your teacher and saying "Blue Peter stuffed us!"

[@House0fwax]

Janet Ellis, what an utter beauty. :)

[@purefoldnz3070]

unrecognizable now.

[@jimbodimbo981]

I knew what bus I was on as a kid when I saw her

[@danpreston564]

@@purefoldnz3070as in 40 years older? That happens.

[@purefoldnz3070]

@@danpreston564 but her daughter is the spitting image and I didnt know her daughter was Sophie Ellis Bextor!

[@danpreston564]

@@purefoldnz3070 I wouldn’t say spitting image, but the family resemblance is certainly visible. When SEB first got vaguely famous in the late nineties it was the journalist’s law that you couldn’t mention her without mentioning that she was Janet's daughter.

[@DLiberator78]

Janet, Peter and Simon. Fantastic Blue Peter presenters during my time of watching the programme. Thanks for uploading this classic clip.

[@chrisgironde6669]

I watched when Peter Purves, John Noakes & Valery Singleton were presenters and some with Lesley Judd

[@papalazarou6674]

Jannet Ellis posh totty ❤

[@Inaflap]

Imagine her talking to you like she has a couple of plums in her mouth.

[@pompeymonkey3271]

She was one of my first TV crushes!

[@FunkySpunkyJunky]

and Sophie Ellis-Bextor's mum.

[@andrewmills3732]

​@@pompeymonkey3271 mine too 😂😂

[@KebabMusicLtd]

I think the voice was put on because she was on the BBC.

[@dancarter5595]

Legend has it this is how the demo scene was born.

[@SpeccyMan]

That legend is incorrect.

[@Cave_Monster]

@@SpeccyMan There always has to be one commenter with no sense of humour.

[@jetpac7143]

So good to see this again, I entered this competition with a cartoon I did on the Spectrum. Unfortunately missed the bit where it needed to be no longer than 8 seconds, as mine was best part of a minute long 😂! Shame, I reckon I really wanted that Electron.

[@Bungle2010]

So did I. It’s the only one I remember entering. I’ve no idea what my entry was, but it was probably crap, as I was never really that artistic. It would have been on the Spectrum too.

[@boydegg]

ZX Spectrum forever. Happy days.

[@dariodzimbeg]

C=64 forever. ZX Spectrum: second place. :D

[@boydegg]

@@dariodzimbeg ugh. I suppose you also had a Grifter, not a Chopper.

[@dariodzimbeg]

@@boydegg I had Red "ROG PONY". :D

[@rambledogs2012]

I was 10 at the time and remember this. The graphics at the time were awesome. How time flies.

[@Bungle2010]

This is the only BP competition I remember entering. I was 11, about to start secondary school.

[@bricktasticanimations4834]

Did you send in an entry?

[@rambledogs2012]

@@bricktasticanimations4834 I didn't as at that time I was rocking a Dragon 32.

[@bricktasticanimations4834]

@@rambledogs2012 I've never heard of a Dragon 32 before. It sounds cool though. You know you could have sent in a story board instead though?

[@bricktasticanimations4834]

@@rambledogs2012 Do you still have your Dragon 32?

[@Quinnikon]

Mind Blowing Tech In Those Day …. Thanks For BringThis Memory Back To Us Oldies 😊

[@TheTux]

I actually remember watching this episode live at the time. I was 13. It's good to see it again after all these years - and in colour.

[@Bungle2010]

I was 11. It’s the only BP competition I remember entering.

[@JamsterJules]

I always wanted a computer with "powerful memory"

[@AtheistOrphan]

I’d recommend the Commodore 64.

[@Inaflap]

@@AtheistOrphan It had an elephantine memory.

[@prowlTV]

Well that was an overly complicated competition to win a sponge.

[@wetleyrocks3092]

My sentiments exactly. I would have flipped channel and watched Hong Kong Phooey

[@womblemessiah]

John Menzies ran a computer programming competition in 1984, trying to solve number sequences and series, the top prize (for each of 3 age groups) was £1000 computing gear for the kids school, plus £30 voucher each. Winners were presented by Donald Michie of Bletchley Park fame. Still got the dictionary i bought with my voucher.

[@ge0music307]

Janet Ellis was my main reason for watching Blue Peter, even at 10 years old I was smitten.

[@rambledogs2012]

Ditto at the same age.

[@KebabMusicLtd]

@@rambledogs2012 I was about 20 and I fancied her like mad. Watching this now I suddenly realise that I must have fancied every woman that appeared on TV in the late 70s and 1980s.

[@rambledogs2012]

@@KebabMusicLtd Ha yes, those hormones running rampant as a teen.

[@krashd]

@@KebabMusicLtd Even Grotbags?

[@caramba10]

Jenny Hanley was my main reason for not watching Blue Peter and switching to Magpie.

[@LeShark75]

These were the bloody days!! Good times.

[@StephenBoyd21]

Good luck everyone. I hope you win.

[@KebabMusicLtd]

Amazing to see these graphics now and realise how limited they were. At the time they were considered to be the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel.

[@angelacooper2661]

I would have been not yet fourteen at the time. My first memory of computers was four years earlier, when I encountered a BBC Micro Computer at junior school in the corner of my classroom. I played games on it. My brother Anthony had a ZX Spectrum during the that period!

[@SpeccyMan]

My first encounter with a computer was a mainframe in a bank during a school trip in 1973 when I was 12.

[@RossMcgowanMaths]

When the only images on your tv were broadcast from BBC ITV etc , to be able to create your own moving image on your tv was mindblowing. It's equivalent now to creating your own 3d hologram that you can talk to and follows you around your house.

[@DannyWalkerinBelfast]

Is it too late to enter? I’d quite like that computer

[@ShamrockParticle]

There might be a couple of them on ebay, hehe

[@Paul-Carson]

wed 25th april is the deadline. doesnt say what year though. Im still working on mine since 1984, its almost done. hope i win.

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

Just get a BBC Micro, that computer is a cut down version (but also is rarer and more expensive today)

[@dlarge6502]

​@@DissociatedWomenIncorporated You can expand the Electron to be almost as capable as a Beeb

[@flagg85]

The bbc microcomputer demo seen is still going strong today.

[@JaymondoGB]

Happy days, and how wonderfully spoken Janet and Simon where. Sadly those days are gone.

[@michael_houghton]

were.

[@anotheruser2527]

Thankfully 🙂

[@rustystuff]

100% agreed 👌

[@warrenrandall6936]

What was the point of offering only BBC software as prizes for entry winners who programmed their ZX Spectrums?

[@cappaculla]

Were you watching a different clip? Go back watch it again... But stay awake this time..

[@Inaflap]

@@cappaculla To be fair, Duncan dared to say, if you have got a computer you will be offered some software for a BBC microcomputer. Why not software for your computer of choice? Go watch it again @3:00 and stay awake this time. 😛

[@a1white]

I know, I wondered that 😅

[@JamesUK-je4ew]

Thanks for sharing; great stuff. Regards

[@michael_houghton]

Tight sods could have given away some BBC micros. They probably got them for free.

[@armondtanz]

80s prizes.... A sponge. Show Host : You can't get these anywhere else. Me 40 yrs later : Thank God these weren't mass produced

[@a1white]

Spectrum in your home and BBC at your school!

[@garyz2043]

Nice to see Goldie.

[@UniqueSundials]

Bring back nice well spoken presenters. Children need a positive role model

[@tz6414]

That was my exact thought. So refreshing to hear.

[@purefoldnz3070]

one of the prizes was a sponge? bahahahahahahahahahahahah

[@Andrew_Fernie]

rousing stuff !

[@Inaflap]

I'd rather have a Crackerjack pencil.

[@majorpentatonic2310]

What a great prize 😀

[@theaylesburycyclist8756]

Stunning!!❤

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

Can’t believe Blue Peter cheaped out and went for the Electron as the first place prize instead of a full BBC Micro 😂

[@louiseogden1296]

Acorn were probably trying to shift older stock. Like, it's the equivalent of a giveaway of a CD32 ten years later or a PS Vita in 2015. Sometimes you've got to really sell those prizes while smiling through your pretty white teeth and cut glass RP accent after all those intrusive Rs were trained out of your pronunciation of 'drawing'.

[@deavo74]

Still equivalent to £800 taking into account inflation just for the Electron alone. BBC Micro would have been £1600. I did really enjoy my Electron… Ahhhh memories.

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

@@deavo74 oh wow, I didn’t realise the price difference was quite that large. I loved the BBC I got at the age of 8 but by that point the computer was already 10 years old, a hand-me-down from a cousin. Taught myself programming as a little girl with that thing, and I feel lucky to have had an older computer that made programming so much more accessible than most new computers in 1991 would have. And despite also owning a Sega Mega Drive, I still somehow had the patience to spend minutes loading various BBC games from cassette 😄

[@archibaldbuttle7]

@@louiseogden1296 in early 1984, the Electron was the newer stock - it had only been released a few months earlier

[@devolvedspud6101]

@@archibaldbuttle7 The Electron was STILL the cheap, pared down version of the BBC model B. Not sure when the BBC Master came out but it was supposed to be better again. The Z80 microchip, developed for the "space race", was the ONLY guaranteed chip available. The 6502 (BBC) wasn't!

[@ajs41]

Thanks for uploading.

[@bren70ssss94]

I remember the pets were always snuffing it , probably ate those sponges 😬

[@Bungle2010]

This is the one and only Blue Peter competition I remember entering. Tbh I didn’t even remember it was a BP competition, I just remembered entering it. Now I wish I’d entered the York Minster one too, as they would have so cool now if I’d won.

[@Paul-Carson]

That robot watch is crap beyond words.

[@dougaltolan3017]

Yeah, and the dehydrated sponge isn't.

[@bazza5699]

haha it wasn't at the time, transformers were all the rage

[@louiseogden1296]

Reminded me of the various transformer style toys that were around at the time. We had girly versions, but even so I do actually think I'd have loved that robot as the 5 year old I was at the time -- although I'd have probably broken it fairly soon after I got it.

[@Inaflap]

I'd much rather have the calculator.

[@jporritt]

It’s certainly not the equivalent of 6 pieces of software.

[@TheStevenWhiting]

I was 8. Don't remember seeing this and I liked the idea of computers but not as much as I do now. I remember a kid in our middle school was the only expert who knew how to use the class BBC. The teacher would always ask him to help her set it up. I remember seeing it used but don't ever remember getting to use it.

[@ncot_tech]

"If you're a viewer of ... other childrens programmes". It's like she was having trouble acknowledging other childrens' programmes existed 😄

[@woodbut1]

Wow, I remember this from back then...Any chance of seeing the winning entry or 1,2,3 place winning entries at all.

[@D03Y]

I was born too late for a Blue Peter sponge 😔

[@voodoomotion5855]

Be great to know the winner and see their animation 😂

[@gordonm2821]

I remember this well at the time. Six years later I joined the BBC TV Centre Engineering team. I mailed the head of Children’s BBC presentation asking if I could do an air graphic ident. No idea why I did, I was not a graphics wizz but could program. Luckily he told me to pi$$ off

[@PaulRoneClarke]

Just about to start my O levels. Exam leave started a couple of days after this. I watched it thinking I wouldn’t have time to enter.

[@rustystuff]

Happy days 😊

[@krashd]

2:08 Despite starting my computing journey on the Spectrum I today learned they had wee cartridge things as storage. I only ever knew of tapes, and then later on 3½" disks.

[@Bungle2010]

They were something that came from the QL I believe.

[@chriswathen9612]

@@Bungle2010 The infamous 'Microdrive'. It's an endless loop tape system which advances very quickly to provide a pseudo-random access storage device on a far smaller budget than a disk drive (although blank cartridges for it were more expensive than blank disks - it's quite an ask for someone to sacrifice a cartridge to enter this competition). They were developed for the Spectrum first. They were supposed to be available at launch (hence the keyboard having all the commands to operate them) but were a bit delayed and ROM support came from the ZX Interface 1 add on. The QL did use microdrives too but it came later. Although the same technology, the data format is different and so QL and Spectrum Microdrive cartridges are not interchangeable. Contrary to what is often reported, a new cartridge in a good working order drive was perfectly reliable, but over time the tape in the cartridges would stretch leading to them wearing out quickly and the whole technology certainly doesn't age well with reliably working examples today pretty rare.

[@BuggleskellyStation]

Look Around You got it pretty spot on didn't they?

[@jporritt]

Now I need resolution as to what the winner was!

[@krashd]

My money's on human but Blue Peter could have been broadcast on other worlds.

[@Simon-xc5oy]

I seem to remember it was a fire breathing Dragon. It turns to the camera / front of screen and snorts flames which then die away with the message word still burning like - Goodbye or Next etc....I could be wrong though but I think that was the winner that ended up being added to the various ones and used for a while...

[@dunebasher1971]

@@Simon-xc5oy Nope, the dragon came a fair bit later. The winner is linked in the video description.

[@Simon-xc5oy]

@@dunebasher1971 Ahh I see. I just remembered the Dragon and was sure that was it...then it came to me! It was the winner of the competition for making a garden at the Liverpool Flower Show! That was a dragon theme with a slide built into its mouth. I knew there was a Dragon somewhere! I got it mixed up. My parents actually wanted to go to see that flower park etc after watching it with us on Blue Peter. So one summer holiday while we were in the area coming back from Alton Towers we went in to see it. The whole place was a total and utter let down. Most of the flowers dead, or not well cared for. Large patches of just soil with nothing in it, and things roped off, no entry etc. They made the place look incredible in all the adverts and flyers, but when you actually got there, you could not go on, or walk through any of the places they showed in them. It was a complete and utter rip off.

[@3DJapan]

Pretty funny to watch as a professional computer Animator in 2024.

[@wildthing72]

How many kids gave up because they thought BBC was biased against the Spectrum. The killer "if you have got a computer you will get software for the BBC Micro".

[@Simon-xc5oy]

The Electron as the top prize...total pants. There were only 2 systems worth having then for the choice of software. A Spectrum or a C64. The rest were poor, also rans with limited software and that killed them off in a very short time frame. Without the BBC backing it and it being in schools the BBC Micro would have gone the same way. Bottom line was the games are what sold the machines. No decent games to play? No machines sold. So that was that...the BBC micro was garbage even back in the day, vastly over priced etc ....

[@flagg85]

I wonder what the winning entry is?

[@naysmith5272]

Indeed

[@naysmith5272]

in the description says "a cat upsetting a paint pot..." but maybe only used once. I don't know if it exists anywhere to be seen again.

[@billybollockhead5628]

Animation of janet getting her norks out?

[@ctrlaltdelboy]

It was me, I won. No I joke but I did enter and got the blue Peter sponge and badge

[@flagg85]

@@ctrlaltdelboy Congratulations, was your entry?

[@martinfenton1275]

Was Biddy locked up this week? Her idea of the cutting edge of technology was to polish medals with brown sauce.

[@paulgray757]

I remember the old bbc computers at school lol

[@miked1869]

I remember going to the Liverpool Garden Festival, but oddly I've no recollection of this "superb" Blue Peter dragon.

[@blackporscheroadster-yw8hb]

Janet Ellis was so pretty when young. You can see where Sophie gets her looks from.

[@RM-pn5tq]

Good look reading that Microdrive cartridge 🤣

[@alzeNL]

clean and refurb, they will work ! (owner of classic spectrum, interface1+several microdrives)

[@saintuk70]

@@alzeNL yeah - I had microdrives too

[@RM-pn5tq]

@@alzeNL Back in 1985 i bought a IF1 and Microdrive from Dixon's new and was nothing but trouble. I own a ql today and still not reliable.

[@Spodikus]

Do you have the video of the winners of this competition. A school friend of mine won the top prize. He went to work in a French software company afterwards (as I remember his brother actually wrote the code) . A long time ago

[@somethingfilms24]

Brother coded it eh, that's fraud is that ... BBC will have their lawyers trying to get that Electron back 😂

[@Spodikus]

@@somethingfilms24 🤣🤣

[@pastorbri]

Simon groom, what a hunk

[@andyhall7032]

microvitec cub monitor sick !!!

[@matthewlawrenson3628]

2:06 That TDK AD46 is a bit excessive for computer data of the time. TDK Ds, Memorex dBs or even the cheapo tapes would have been ok for that. It was about this time when my primary school got a BBC Model B. Said computer, disk drive and printer were on a trolley that was pushed around the school as and when each class needed it. I was one of the kids doing the pushing.

[@dlarge6502]

They likely got that tape from BBC stores. They would have wanted the best tapes for all sorts of uses

[@evertonshorts9376]

A brown steel frame, with beige formica shelves? Our school had one too.

[@Inaflap]

The AD was excellent for bass response. You are right - it's wasted as a computer tape.

[@TheSudsy]

boots C5 - yellow specifically for a single program.....screeeeeech bleeerp..........screeeeeech squeallysqueal=squeal

[@matthewlawrenson3628]

@@evertonshorts9376 Yep. I still remember the day in late 1985 when we got ANOTHER BBC B which required two more 10 year olds as unpaid labour. Went back there about 12 years later. Several PCs in each classroom by then.

[@gb5858]

A blue Peter sponge….😂

[@PigDogBay]

Powerful memory! 😂 32k and 1/4 the speed of the BBC, still I love the Electron

[@michaelgwynne3594]

I remember entering with an animation of 2 guys on a circus see saw on my Spectrum. I couldnt remember the prizes at all but I remember the winner on the spectrum had a lot of colourful sprites which put my stick men to shame 😀

[@Bungle2010]

I too entered. I don't even remember what I did tbh (I'm sure it was crap). This is the only BP I remember entering.

[@mrmiller74]

Thanks. Just send my entry in. Lets see what happens 👍.

[@gobalik]

a computer competition in 1984?! Old school. I didnt even lay eyes on a computer until around 1986.

[@Warlock_UK]

Yeah, it started opening up in 1982 once the ZX Spectrum hit the market.

[@Bungle2010]

We had one at home (my brother’s), a Spectrum. And we had a BBC Micro at my primary school.

[@tithund]

Is the follow-up to this on youtube? I'm kind of hyped to see what the contestants sent in.

[@TheRetroEngine]

Where's the clip of the competition winners. that's be neat.

[@AtheistOrphan]

Simon ‘My parents own half of Derbyshire’ Groom.

[@MattF340]

Was this the inspiration for the homemade computer CBBC program intros?

[@AtheistOrphan]

3:23 That clock radio thingy looks rather natty. Anyone know the make/model?

[@Dextrovix-42]

At that time Acorn were desperate to shift their surplus Electrons that missed the 1983 Christmas period, but it does seem odd that someone with the more expensive BBC would want to win the lower powered Electron. Mind you, I always felt it was superior to a Spectrum, but not sadly for commercial software where the cheaper Spectrum was the most popular and adopted computer in the UK.

[@ajl241]

The first animated robot is so angry looking!

[@vilislacis3337]

This could’ve been a Dire Straits song: “I want my, I want my robot watch!” :)

[@Synthematix]

Its murder on the dance floor...

[@RichyJVideos]

1 - i had a zx speccy 128K the james bond special pack - years later a PS5 :D

[@MarK-x9y]

What cartoon won?

[@TryptychUK]

Can I use Midjourney?

[@armondtanz]

Get the flux outta here!

[@Millennial_Manc]

Wouldn’t it be great to be a time traveler and post them an iPad with modern stuff on there

[@gotmygoodelf]

wasnt it won by someone on a speccy? seem to remember it was a guy on a plank painting with a cat or something, vaguely remember it.

[@dunebasher1971]

It's linked in the video description.

[@gotmygoodelf]

@@dunebasher1971 thanks i didnt look there :)

[@Mr.1.i]

I was quite good with vdu display on the acorn,i should have been aware of this

[@simonstclare]

I started watching this thinking the main prizes would go to the school of the competition winner

[@Bungle2010]

Why would they go to the school when it's us kids that did the work and our schools were not involved?

[@simonstclare]

@@Bungle2010 For some reason there used to be competitions like that. There would have been some things for the competition winner to keep for themselves as well

[@Bungle2010]

@@simonstclare I vaguely remember competitions like that from somewhere, but tbh the only BP competitions that I specifically remember are this one (because I entered it) and the York Minster one.

[@TheOptimod]

Biddy Baxter was always viewed as an incumbent pariah for this kind of show.

[@speedbird737]

I might enter now - I’d rather win the second prize the Walkman lol

[@stinkywinky2010]

I bet that Blue Peter sponge is worth good money on ebay now.

[@andrewscott1253]

Any one got a link to the results show

[@mbenn8168]

Words cannot begin to say just how lovely I thought Janet Ellis was...Teenage hormones

[@turkeyphant]

What won?

[@AndrewWilsonStooshie]

"You can use all the colours" - 🙂

[@paulgray757]

Is blue peter still on tv

[@saintuk70]

I wonder whoever won the Electron still has theirs as I've still got mine from that time, along with my Speccy..... and then in the latter days .... my Amigas

[@AnthonyCook78]

I had a Speccy and an Amiga 500 which I loved but I always wanted to upgrade to an A1200. Which Amiga(s) did you have?

[@saintuk70]

@@AnthonyCook78 500 and 1200

[@krashd]

Still have my "grey case" Speccy 128K +2, plus an A600 and A1200, the Speccy and the A1200 work perfectly (test them every couple of years), but the A600 has some wonky ports so if you so much as fart the screen output goes from colour to monochrome.

[@johnmc3862]

Micro-drive cassette eh. 👌

[@Amydarksoul-y7f]

During this time I hated anyone who grew up on a council estate and still do.

[@SpaceStockFootage]

What did you win? A sponge.

[@stevvieb]

So if you sent in an expensive microdrive you could win a program for a BBC, so bbc of them.

[@krashd]

Or a wee shitty sponge.

[@createdezign1840]

I don't remember Janet sounding so "plummy"?

[@williamhughes934]

Janet Ellis 💖💖💖💖💖💖

[@tango22ah]

Congratulations here’s your prize………a sponge.

[@cosmicwartoad2587]

Naturally trhe picked the Blue peter themed one

[@dunebasher1971]

It wasn't Blue Peter-themed: tvark.org/childrens-bbc-9

[@videooblivion]

**submits Toy Story**