# Blue Peter Special Assignment

Blue Peter Special Assignment is a factual BBC TV series broadcast in the 1970s and early 1980s, the first spin-off from the long running BBC series Blue Peter. It ran regularly from 1973 until 1981, usually at weekends on BBC1, and was heavily promoted on Blue Peter itself.
The concept for the series was developed after Valerie Singleton had presented a successful documentary 'special' with HRH Princess Anne when she had visited Kenya in 1971. The Special Assignment series was mainly produced by Edward Barnes and presented initially by Valerie Singleton and later by Peter Purves and Lesley Judd both of whom had been presenters on Blue Peter itself.

## Series guide

Series One featured Valerie Singleton looking at six European Capital Cities. These included Rome, Paris, London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam and Brussels. The first programme to be filmed was the one featuring Rome and included a personal address to the children of Britain from Pope Paul VI in The Vatican.
Series Two continued to feature Singleton looking at European Cities and included Dublin, York and Madrid. Later series looked at Islands and included The Isle of Wight, The Isle of Man, Hong Kong, Malta and Venice, even though Venice had also featured in an earlier series as a 'city'. Later the show began to look at famous houses or famous individuals and included biographies of Vivaldi, The Brontë Sisters, The Duke of Wellington, Saint Therese of Lisieux, Marie Antoinette and Rudyard Kipling and both Lesley Judd and Peter Purves began presenting the series in place of Singleton.
The series in 1977 was presented jointly by Peter Purves and Lesley Judd, with the theme of 'twin towns'.
The final series was co-presented alternately by Singleton and Peter Purves, being broadcast in 1981. The series theme was 'Rivers', with Singleton examining the Yukon and Niagara, while Purves reported on the Tamar, the Tweed and the Singapore Rivers.
Spin off books were published covering the first two series.

## Episodes
### Blue Peter Royal Safari (1971)

| Total # | Series # | Title | Director | Writer(s) | Original airdate |
| 1 | 1 | "Blue Peter Royal Safari" | Edward Barnes | Biddy Baxter | 11 April 1971 (1971-04-11) |
| The first solo television film for HRH Princess Anne with Valerie Singleton. Produced by Biddy Baxter & Edward Barnes. ||||||
Repeated Monday, 7 June 1971 at 7:20 pm and Monday, 3 April 1972 at 5:00 pm on BBC1.

### Series 1: European Capitals (1973)

Valerie Singleton reports on six capital cities of Europe. Produced by Edward Barnes.
| Total # | Series # | Title | Director | Writer(s) | Original airdate |
| 1 | 1 | "Rome" | Edward Barnes | Edward Barnes | 7 January 1973 (1973-01-7) |
| Valerie meets Pope Paul VI. ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Amsterdam" | David Brown | Edward Barnes | 14 January 1973 (1973-01-14) |
| Valerie tells the story of Anne Frank. ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "The City of London" | Peter Ridsdale Scott | Edward Barnes | 21 January 1973 (1973-01-21) |
| Valerie meets the Lord Mayor of London. ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Paris" | David Brown | Edward Barnes | 28 January 1973 (1973-01-28) |
| Valerie celebrates Bastille Day. ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Edinburgh" | David Brown | Edward Barnes | 4 February 1973 (1973-02-04) |
| Valerie tells the story of Greyfriars Bobby. ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Vienna" | David Turnbull | Edward Barnes | 11 February 1973 (1973-02-11) |
| Valerie meets the Vienna Boys' Choir. ||||||
The series was repeated on BBC1 in November/December 1973 with the broadcast order changed to: Rome, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Paris, City of London, Vienna.

### Series 2: European Cities (1974)

Valerie Singleton reports on five European cities. Produced by Edward Barnes.
| Total # | Series # | Title | Director | Writer(s) | Original airdate |
| 7 | 1 | "Venice" | Edward Barnes | Edward Barnes | 31 March 1974 (1974-03-31) |
| Valerie tells the story of Venice. ||||||
| 8 | 2 | "Brussels" | David Brown | Edward Barnes | 7 April 1974 (1974-04-07) |
| Valerie finds out why Napoleon lost the Battle of Waterloo. ||||||
| 9 | 3 | "Dublin" | Harry Cowdy | Edward Barnes | 14 April 1974 (1974-04-14) |
| Valerie tells the story of the Easter Rising. ||||||
| 10 | 4 | "Madrid" | Peter Smith | Edward Barnes | 21 April 1974 (1974-04-21) |
| Valerie discovers what flamenco is about. ||||||
| 11 | 5 | "York" | David Brown | Edward Barnes | 28 April 1974 (1974-04-28) |
| Valerie looks at Easter Eggs and Stained Glass. ||||||

### Series 3: Islands (1975)

Valerie Singleton reports on six islands. Produced by Edward Barnes.
| Total # | Series # | Title | Director | Writer(s) | Original airdate |
| 12 | 1 | "Hong Kong" | Edward Barnes | Edward Barnes | 9 March 1975 (1975-03-09) |
| Valerie visits the water people. ||||||
| 13 | 2 | "The Isle of Skye" | Daniel Wolf | Edward Barnes | 16 March 1975 (1975-03-16) |
| Valerie follows the trail of Flora MacDonald & Bonnie Prince Charlie. ||||||
| 14 | 3 | "Malta GC" | Harry Cowdy | Edward Barnes | 23 March 1975 (1975-03-23) |
| Valerie celebrates the village festival of St Nicholas of Siġġiewi. ||||||
| 15 | 4 | "The Isle of Wight" | Sarah Hellings | Edward Barnes | 30 March 1975 (1975-03-30) |
| Valerie tells the story of Osborne House. ||||||
| 16 | 5 | "The Isle of Man" | David Brown | Edward Barnes | 6 April 1975 (1975-04-06) |
| Valerie tries her hand at the TT races. ||||||
| 17 | 6 | "Venice" | Edward Barnes | Edward Barnes | 13 April 1975 (1975-04-13) |
| In a revised repeat, Valerie tells the story of Venice. ||||||
A repeat season was broadcast in October 1975 on BBC1, featuring the following episodes:
* Hong Kong (3 October 1975)
* Brussels (10 October 1975)
* York (17 October 1975)
* Madrid (24 October 1975)
* Amsterdam (31 October 1975)

### Series 4: Great Houses (1976)

Great names of history whose houses still exist. Produced by Edward Barnes.
| Total # | Series # | Title | Director | Writer(s) | Original airdate |
| 18 | 1 | "The Prince Regent at Brighton" | Sarah Hellings | Dorothy Smith | 23 May 1976 (1976-05-23) |
| Valerie Singleton provides a link with the past. ||||||
| 19 | 2 | "Disraeli at Hughenden" | Daniel Wolf | Dorothy Smith | 30 May 1976 (1976-05-30) |
| Valerie Singleton visits an English great house with Alan Badel as the voice of Disraeli. ||||||
| 20 | 3 | "Pavlova at Ivy House" | Edward Barnes | Dorothy Smith | 6 June 1976 (1976-06-06) |
| Lesley Judd visits the home of the legendary ballerina. ||||||
| 21 | 4 | "Darwin at Down House" | Daniel Wolf | Dorothy Smith | 13 June 1976 (1976-06-13) |
| Valerie Singleton with Michael Hordern as the voice of Charles Darwin. ||||||
| 22 | 5 | "Keats at Wentworth Place" | Harry Cowdy | Dorothy Smith | 20 June 1976 (1976-06-20) |
| Valerie Singleton with Ronald Pickup as the voice of John Keats. ||||||
| 23 | 6 | "Raleigh at Sherborne Castle" | Sarah Hellings | Dorothy Smith | 27 June 1976 (1976-06-27) |
| Valerie Singleton with Richard Pasco as the voice of Sir Walter Raleigh and the voices of John Nettleton and Jonathan Scott. ||||||

### Series 5: Twin Towns (1977)

Peter Purves and Lesley Judd visit five different sets of twin towns. Produced by Edward Barnes.
| Total # | Series # | Title | Director | Writer(s) | Original airdate |
| 24 | 1 | "Richmond & Fontainebleau" | Daniel Wolf | Edward Barnes | 19 June 1977 (1977-06-19) |
| Lesley Judd in Fontainebleau and Peter Purves in Richmond, Surrey. ||||||
| 25 | 2 | "Coventry & Warsaw" | Sarah Hellings | Edward Barnes | 26 June 1977 (1977-06-26) |
| Lesley Judd in Coventry and Peter Purves in Warsaw. ||||||
| 26 | 3 | "Cambridge & Heidelberg" | Edward Barnes | Edward Barnes | 3 July 1977 (1977-07-03) |
| Lesley Judd in Cambridge and Peter Purves in Heidelberg. ||||||
| 27 | 4 | "Bristol & Bordeaux" | Sarah Hellings | Edward Barnes | 10 July 1977 (1977-07-10) |
| Lesley Judd in Bordeaux and Peter Purves in Bristol. ||||||
| 28 | 5 | "Portsmouth & Haifa" | Daniel Wolf | Edward Barnes | 17 July 1977 (1977-07-17) |
| Lesley Judd in Haifa and Peter Purves in Portsmouth. ||||||

### Series 6: Biographies (1979)

Peter Purves investigates dramatic settings for the lives of six great personalities from Italy, France and England. Produced by Edward Barnes.
| Total # | Series # | Title | Director | Writer(s) | Original airdate |
| 29 | 1 | "Marie Antoinette at Versailles" | Hugh David | Dorothy Smith | 7 January 1979 (1979-01-07) |
| Peter Purves with the voices of Mary Wimbush, Geoffrey Matthews and John Gabriel. ||||||
| 30 | 2 | "Rudyard Kipling at Bateman's" | Sarah Hellings | Dorothy Smith | 14 January 1979 (1979-01-14) |
| Peter Purves with the voices of Nicolette McKenzie and John Nettleton. ||||||
| 31 | 3 | "Saint Therese of Lisieux" | Sarah Hellings | Dorothy Smith | 21 January 1979 (1979-01-21) |
| Peter Purves looks at the life of ‘The Little Flower’. ||||||
| 32 | 4 | "The Duke of Wellington at Stratford Saye" | Hugh David | Dorothy Smith | 28 January 1979 (1979-01-28) |
| Peter Purves looks at the Duke of Wellington’s home life. ||||||
| 33 | 5 | "The Brontes at Haworth" | Dorothea Brooking | Dorothy Smith | 4 February 1979 (1979-02-04) |
| Peter Purves follows the footsteps of the Bronte family. ||||||
| 34 | 6 | "Antonio Vivaldi in Venice" | Sarah Hellings | Dorothy Smith | 11 February 1979 (1979-02-11) |
| Peter Purves meets the girls of the Venice Conservatorio Orchestra with the voices Sean Barrett, John Nettleton, John Rowe and Geoffrey Matthews as Vivaldi. ||||||

### Series 7: Rivers (1981)

A series of five programmes produced by Edward Barnes.
| Total # | Series # | Title | Director | Writer(s) | Original airdate |
| 35 | 1 | "The Niagara River" | David Turnbull | Dorothy Smith | 10 May 1981 (1981-05-10) |
| Valerie Singleton discovers the comic and the tragic stories of one of the world's greatest natural wonders - the Niagara Falls. ||||||
| 36 | 2 | "The River Tweed" | Sarah Hellings | Dorothy Smith | 17 May 1981 (1981-05-17) |
| Peter Purves travels the length of the Tweed on the border of Scotland and England. ||||||
| 37 | 3 | "The Yukon River" | David Hargreaves | Dorothy Smith | 24 May 1981 (1981-05-24) |
| Valerie Singleton travels 500 miles down the Yukon. ||||||
| 38 | 4 | "The Singapore River" | Sarah Hellings | Dorothy Smith | 31 May 1981 (1981-05-31) |
| Peter Purves explores the Singapore River. ||||||
| 39 | 5 | "The River Tamar" | Alex Leger | Dorothy Smith | 7 June 1981 (1981-06-07) |
| Peter Purves visits a river that has a special place in the lives of people in Devon and Cornwall. Executive Producer: David Hargreaves. ||||||