Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Why Janet still loves Blue Peter

Post Thumbnail

Janet Ellis is best known for presenting Blue Peter from 1983 to 1987, and for being the mum of singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

Janet discusses her new series, children’s show Furry Friends, why she still loves Blue Peter, and her dreams of appearing in a musical and writing a novel

FURRY FRIENDS IS A GREAT TITLE – WHAT’S THE SHOW ABOUT?

Lovely, isn’t it? It’s an introduction for children to real-life pet-owning because I think a lot of children nag for a pet but don’t really know what it entails. This shows what it’s really like – it’s a day in the life of the pet and the owner, including all the responsibility and all the fun.

WHAT KIND OF ANIMALS CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE?

You have to take the title with a pinch of salt because the series does include a stick insect, a tortoise and a chicken, but also a guide dog, a gerbil, rabbits, a cat and a really lovely donkey. It’s a really good mix.

IT LOOKS AS IF WORKING ON THE SERIES HAS BEEN A LOT OF FUN

It has, but I’m mostly just doing the voiceover, so my take on it is more of an overview than getting down and dirty and mucking out. But I’ve done plenty of that in my time with three children and lots of pets, so I do have plenty to offer in terms of experience.

ARE YOU AN ANIMAL LOVER?

Yes. We used to have two cats and a dog, but the cats were 17 when they died, which is pretty good going. So we’ve got a 10-year-old dog, and over the course of my childrens’ lives we’ve had a rabbit, a guinea pig, hamsters and gerbils.

ARE YOU A DISNEY FAN?

The first film I ever saw, at the age of five, was Pollyanna. I wrote a letter to Walt Disney asking him if I could be in his next film and gave it to my mother. She never sent it, but gave it back to me about 30 years ago, so I’ve wanted to work for Disney for all that time, and finally it’s happened!

YOU STARTED OUT AS AN ACTRESS, SO HOW DID YOU END UP PRESENTING?

I went to drama school and I started work in theatre straight away, which is really lucky. In fact, I did some children’s TV because I was in something called Jackanory Playhouse and a show called Jigsaw for the BBC. My then agent said there was a job coming up on Blue Peter. Initially I thought, ‘Oh no – I’m acting’. But there was something about presenting that was close to theatre back then because we didn’t have autocue, we had to learn a script.

SOMETIMES YOU HEAR HORROR STORIES ABOUT WORKING ON BLUE PETER, ABOUT HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS…

I think I was really lucky because I became very good friends with the other presenters. I was closest of all to Caron Keating. I still see Mark Curry, Simon Groom and Peter Duncan regularly. I had the programme to thank for that, and even 10million years later we’re still friends – the programme links us.

SOME PEOPLE DON’T LIKE TO LOOK BACK AT THINGS, BUT YOU DON’T SOUND LIKE YOU MIND AT ALL

I don’t mind. I feel very spoiled. It came at the right time, Sophie was four when I started. And we just had a really good time, not at the expense of the viewers, but because of them. So I’m always more than happy to be a spokesperson for it. It has such a special place in people’s hearts. I watched it as a kid, and I have the same feelings for the people who were my presenters as I think people in their 30s have about me!

AFTER FINISHING BLUE PETER, DID YOU THINK YOU’D JUST PICK UP YOUR ACTING CAREER?

I’ve done bits and pieces over the years, but I’ve never had any sort of career plan. I’ve always kept acting going, with cartoon work and radio work, that sort of thing. A couple of years ago I did a play at the Edinburgh Festival. So whatever comes along, I consider it. I’ve been very lucky really.

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D STILL LIKE TO ACHIEVE?

I’ve always had a hankering to do a musical. I love musicals. When the orchestra starts, even if they’re just tuning up, I get excited. I did panto years ago with Anita Dobson, so I do have experience of working with a band, but nothing since. But something about that, it’s just terribly exciting, at least from an audience point of view. Nothing beats it!

OBVIOUSLY YOU WERE IN THE AUDIENCE A LOT DURING STRICTLY – WOULD YOU FANCY GIVING THAT A GO?

It would be so embarrassing – I’d probably be out in week two. Everybody would be looking at me and saying, ‘But your daughter was quite good…’ It’s an enormously appealing show, and I can see why people want to do it. But I’m happy to stay in the audience – that was lovely and nobody in the family regrets getting involved with it. It’s just delicious.

WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU GOT IN THE PIPELINE?

I’m still doing The Wright Stuff on Channel 5. I’m also about to start a writing course because I want to finish this blooming novel, basically. The rest of my family will be very grateful if I can finish it too!

CAN YOU SAY WHAT THE NOVEL IS ABOUT?

I don’t want to say too much, but basically it’s set in the 1760s and includes sex and death.

WELL, WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED?

Exactly!