BBC children’s TV presenter from 1960s and 70s who became famous for his ‘Get down, Shep!’ catchphrase has died aged 83

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Blue Peter’s longest-serving presenter, John Noakes, fondly remembered by a generation of children’s television viewers for encounters with special guests including an incontinent baby elephant, has died at his home in Spain aged 83, after suffering for many years from Alzheimer’s disease.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Noakes at the National TV Awards at the Albert Hall in London in 2008. Photograph: David Fisher/Rex/Shutterstock

A statement from his family confirmed he had died peacefully in Mallorca on Sunday morning.

“He had endured and suffered from Alzheimer’s over recent years and whilst he will be greatly missed by his wife, family and many friends, his release from continuing ill health must be counted as a blessing,” the statement said.

“His many escapades with his faithful companion Shep during his time with Blue Peter will live on in many people’s memories. That is how his family would like him remembered.”

Noakes left Blue Peter almost 40 years ago for other TV work, but his years on the children’s programme, essential teatime viewing for a generation, were never forgotten.

Tony Hall, the BBC director general, said: “John Noakes was one of the BBC’s most loved children’s presenters. He was a warm and engaging presenter who appealed to all ages and provided children’s TV with some of its most memorable moments. He will be missed by his many friends and family.”

“Great guy, sadly missed,” said his fellow presenter Peter Purves, who with Noakes and Valerie Singleton made the most famous Blue Peter lineup. “I think he would like to be remembered fondly, as I think most people will remember him, as an excellent television programme presenter, presenting it in an extraordinary way.

“He wasn’t the lead presenter of things that were particularly serious, he did the jokier and the more lively elements in the programme. He’ll also be remembered for Go With Noakes, and his love of his animals.”

Purves told the BBC: “We had so much fun together over the years. There were hundreds and hundreds of happy memories. I’ll never forget him.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Noakes (right) with fellow Blue Peter presenters Peter Purves and Valerie Singleton. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

Tributes poured in on Twitter, with many recalling not only Noakes’ catchphrase, “Get down, Shep!”, and how moved they had been in 1987 when the presenter tearfully announced on television that the dog had died, but also his action-man stunts including scaling Nelson’s Column by ladder in 1977 without a safety harness.

The journalist and BBC presenter Samira Ahmed wrote:

Samira Ahmed (@SamiraAhmedUK) Dear kids, a reminder of why the 70s was utterly terrifying in so many ways. RIP the thoroughly lovely John Noakes https://t.co/mJrkMRvY01

Noakes recalled his Blue Peter years between 1965 and 1978 as “a Peter Pan existence, a bit like an overgrown schoolboy’s job”.

When he got the Blue Peter job, Noakes, who had originally trained as an RAF engine fitter, resumed the native Yorkshire accent that drama school had painstakingly taught him to mask.

Richard Marson, a TV producer and former Blue Peter editor-in-chief, called him a total original on television: “Disdainful of TV artifice, his ramshackle style and accent gave the lie to BP being just for the middle class.”



Many who followed Noakes on the programme paid warm tribute. Janet Ellis, a presenter in the 1980s, tweeted:

janetellis (@missjanetellis) The best,bravest,funniest BP presenter. If we didn't walk in John Noakes' shadow it's because he shone the light for https://t.co/b1RPSa7zST

Konnie Huq, who appeared on the programme in the 1990s and 2000s, called him “a legend”, adding “best Blue Peter presenter ever”.

Sarah Greene, who presented the show for three years from 1980, wrote:

Sarah Greene (@RealSarahGreene) Deepest condolences to the family of John Noakes.He made us feel we could all get out there & whizz down the Cresta Run, he broke the bounds

The poet and broadcaster Ian McMillan tweeted: “Sad to note the passing of John Noakes; he spoke to so many dreams at teatime, expanding the box in the corner of the room.”

The actor Paul Carmichael wrote: “John Noakes was special to everyone of a certain age in this country. A wonderful man who made childhood even better.”

The comedian Omid Djalili said: “John Noakes meant so much to so many of us. Such a sad day.”

John Noakes was your beloved, daredevil uncle – we mourn the loss | Lucy Mangan Read more

Noakes, born the son of a Yorkshire mill worker, left school to train as an RAF mechanic, but then in his 20s changed course and trained as an actor at the Guildhall School in London. He was a boyish-looking 31 when he was spotted in regional rep by Blue Peter’s formidable producer Biddy Baxter, and he joined the show in late 1965.

At a time when there were only three television channels, and Blue Peter was regularly attracting 8 million viewers, he rapidly became a star – and inseparable from Shep when the unruly border collie arrived on the show. His futile command, “Get down Shep!” as the dog scrambled across furniture became so famous that it became the title of a song released by the comedy group The Barron Knights.

The daredevil stunts for which he was renowned began when a fellow presenter admitted to having no head for heights, and Noakes volunteered to scale a tall crane for an outside broadcast. He went on to tackle Nelson’s Column twice – a straight ladder climb without safety harness, which would now give any health and safety officer a heart attack – as well as sky diving from five miles up in an RAF Hercules, driving racing cars, and attempting the Cresta bobsleigh run on which he acquired some spectacular bruises which he showed off on the programme.

Shep left the programme with him in 1978, and the stunts including flying with the Red Arrows aerobatics team continued on the children’s documentary series Go With Noakes.

Noakes loved sailing, and in the 1980s largely retired from TV, moving to Mallorca with his wife, Vicky, to start a boat rental company.