Did Blue Peter's John Noakes actually win custody battle over Shep?
Did John Noakes actually win custody battle over Shep? Biography of Blue Peter editor casts new light on presenter’s claims that BBC did not let him keep border collie
- Blue Peter presenter John Noakes claimed he was forced apart from dog Shep
- But book claims he gave up his pet when he went on sailing adventure with wife
Blue Peter presenter John Noakes had always maintained that he was forced apart from his beloved dog Shep by BBC bosses after he left the children’s show.
But a new book has claimed Noakes did actually keep his border collie television partner, before giving it away when he decided to go on a sailing adventure.
The biography of Blue Peter editor Biddy Baxter claims the BBC did not forcibly separate Noakes and Shep when the presenter said he was leaving in 1977.
Noakes was initially told he could take Shep with him, but was then asked to sign a disclaimer that the dog would not appear in adverts or shows by competitors.
This left Noakes so angry that he tore up the paper on his last day at work and threw the pieces on the studio floor, according to Baxter’s biographer Richard Marson.
Blue Peter presenter John Noakes with his beloved dog Shep, pictured in May 1978
(From left) John Noakes, Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves with pets. Singleton holds Jason, the Blue Peter cat; Noakes holds Shep; and Purves holds Petra, another Blue Peter dog, in 1971
(From left) Blue Peter presenters Peter Purves, Lesley Judd, Valerie Singleton and John Noakes with his dog Shep in May 1972
John Noakes sitting back-to-back with the Blue Peter dog Shep in Television Centre
However, Noakes and Shep were then said to have lived happily together for the next few years – and Shep appeared with him in several series of the presenter’s BBC adventure show Go With Noakes.
The claims are made in the new book ‘Biddy Baxter: The Woman Who Made Blue Peter’
Noakes then signed a contract to make a dog food advert, reported the Daily Telegraph. But because Shep could not appear, a lookalike named Skip was hired, who also then lived with Noakes.
The book – ‘Biddy Baxter: The Woman Who Made Blue Peter’ – then states that both dogs were given away when the couple decide to sell their home and go on a huge sailing adventure.
Noakes’s widow, Vicky, told Mr Marson: ‘Dogs find being at sea quite disturbing and get very anxious.’
And Mr Marson said: ‘John and Vicky took the lifechanging decision to sell their home in Britain and embark on an epic sailing adventure. Neither Shep nor Skip would be joining them.’
Shep was rehomed with Blue Peter’s long-standing pet keeper Edith Menezes.
The dog was owned by the BBC, which paid an allowance to cover expenses.
Blue Peter host John Noakes on his yacht with Vicky Noakes in 1994. Noakes died in 2017
Blue Peter host John Noakes at his home in Majorca in 2000, where he moved with his wife
The biography of Blue Peter editor Biddy Baxter, who edited the programme from 1962 to 1988
Biddy Baxter poses with a Bafta Special Award in London in November 2013
Noakes first claimed in 1983 that the BBC had forcibly separated him from Shep, which resulted in Baxter receiving letters accusing her of cruelty.
John Noakes and Shep on the cover of the Blue Peter annual, published in January 1972
The presenter had said: ‘I thought Shep was mine – they told me I could keep him, but they went back on their word.’
Noakes famously loathed Baxter until his death in 2017, with issues over the ownership of Shep being a crucial point.
Noakes and his wife moved from Britain to Majorca after their sailing adventure, but visited Shep shortly before the dog died in 1987. Ms Menezes died in 1994.
Mrs Noakes said of their final visit to see the dog: ‘We had just been to see Shep. By this time, he had stomach problems and was pretty much blind.
‘But, immediately he heard John’s voice, whoosh, down the path he went like a bullet and they were reunited. They were good mates and John loved him.’
Baxter, who edited Blue Peter from 1962 to 1988, is now aged 90. Mr Marson worked on Blue Peter for almost a decade, as producer and later its editor.
Biddy Baxter: The Woman Who Made Blue Peter is out on July 3, priced at £17.99
Source: Read Full Article