John Noakes

John Noakes, born John Wallace Bottomley on 6 March 1934 at the Royal Halifax Infirmary in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, was an English actor and television presenter. He died on 28 May 2017. His parents were Sallie Hinchcliffe and Arthur Wallace Bottomley. When his parents divorced, he was nine years old and went to live with his grandmother. He attended Shelf Council School in Shelf and later Rishworth School near Halifax, where he demonstrated ability in cross-country running and gymnastics.

At sixteen, Noakes enlisted in the Royal Air Force as a mechanic. His mother subsequently married Canadian big band trumpeter Alfred "Alfie" Noakes, and John adopted his stepfather's surname. He went on to work for BOAC as an aircraft engine fitter before pursuing an acting career. To fund his studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, he worked as a cleaner and a hotel liftboy. His earliest stage work included playing a dog and a clown in a summer show with Cyril Fletcher.

Noakes appeared on Broadway in Arnold Wesker's Chips with Everything, spending six months in the production. He originated from Shelf, England, and the Broadway run took place in 1963. He subsequently reprised his role as Whitey Richardson in the BBC television adaptation of the same play that year. Following his return to the United Kingdom, he worked in repertory theatre in Surrey, where he met his future wife, Vicky. His television acting credits during this period included a 1964 episode of the military police drama Redcap, the role of Anselme Popinot in the BBC2 four-part mini-series The Rise and Fall of César Birotteau broadcast in June 1965, and an episode of the crime series Mogul starring Barry Foster and Geoffrey Keen, broadcast on BBC1 in August 1965. Blue Peter producer Biddy Baxter noticed him performing as Willie Mossop in Hobson's Choice at the Phoenix Theatre in Leicester, which led directly to his joining the programme.

Noakes became a presenter on Blue Peter on 30 December 1965, joining Christopher Trace and Valerie Singleton after the show expanded to a twice-weekly format. When Peter Purves replaced Trace in 1967, the trio of Noakes, Singleton, and Purves formed a lineup that continued until 1972. Lesley Judd later joined the team when Singleton began pursuing other television work. Noakes's Yorkshire accent distinguished him at a time when most BBC presenters used Received Pronunciation. He served as the programme's longest-tenured male presenter, remaining for twelve years and six months before departing on 26 June 1978.

His tenure on Blue Peter was marked by a series of physical challenges and stunts. He free-fall parachuted with the RAF's Flying Falcons display team, and following a five-mile free-fall in 1973, he held the record for the longest free-fall parachute jump by a British civilian for a period. He also bobsledded, sustaining an injury when his sled overturned after striking a hole in the ice. His unassisted climb of the 51-metre Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square in 1977 was later voted the greatest moment in children's television programming. He also participated in changing the billboard for the 1971 London premiere of Bedknobs and Broomsticks in Leicester Square.

Alongside his Blue Peter duties, Noakes co-presented the BBC's Christmas edition of Disney Time with his Blue Peter colleagues on 27 December 1971 and returned to host the Easter 1979 edition solo. In August 1972, he hosted four editions of BBC Radio 1's Junior Choice. He and his Border Collie, Shep, co-starred in Go With Noakes, a series in which they traveled around Britain engaging in activities including motor racing, rowing, aerobatics, and painting. The programme ran for six series and a total of 31 episodes between 28 March 1976 and 21 December 1980, with Noakes using a different mode of transport in each series, among them a yacht, a narrow boat, and a classic car.

Shep had been given to Noakes after the sudden death of his previous Blue Peter dog, Patch, in 1971. Viewers named the Border Collie puppy, and Noakes's efforts to manage the energetic dog produced his well-known catchphrase, "Get down, Shep." Although Shep lived with Noakes, the BBC retained legal ownership of the dog. Noakes received a stipend from the Blue Peter budget to cover Shep's costs, and as a condition of keeping the dog after leaving the show, he agreed that Shep could not be used for advertising or commercial purposes. After his departure, Noakes discovered that the BBC had ceased paying the stipend, leading to an angry confrontation with Baxter. The dispute was not resolved, and Noakes ultimately relinquished Shep, who went to live with Edith Menzies. Noakes subsequently appeared in television advertisements for Spillers "Choice Cuts" dog food featuring a dog named Skip, described as indistinguishable in appearance from Shep.

His professional relationship with Baxter deteriorated significantly during his final years on the programme and remained acrimonious long afterward. In a 1999 interview, he was reported to have described her in strongly negative terms. He declined to appear in the Blue Peter twentieth anniversary special in October 1978, though he was eventually persuaded to pre-film a message while on location shooting a Go With Noakes episode. He did not participate in the silver anniversary programme in 1983. Noakes also stated that he had been dissatisfied with the on-screen persona he developed, referring to it as "Idiot Noakes," and described it as a performed role rather than a reflection of his actual personality. He further complained about his salary during his Blue Peter years and about being uninsured for a number of the stunts he performed, claims that Baxter disputed.

In October 1998, Noakes joined Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves for a special programme marking forty years of Blue Peter. In January 2000, he reunited with his former co-presenters for the disinterment of a time capsule buried in 1971, at which he and Purves were awarded gold badges.