Blue Peter tortoise
Paul Mitchell
Blue Peter tortoise (Fred/Freda) appeared on the show for a long period of
time after his/her death. The theory was that they couldn't be bothered
telling us all it died and only had to haul it in and out of its cardboard
box twice a year, so why not just keep doing it. This practice was
finally scuppered when its legs kept falling off.
Classic urban myth stuff, and I can't remember where I read this, but I seem
to remember being impressed by some level of authenticity. Can anyone confirm
that this was definitely an urban myth, rather than fact? Then I can sleep
easy at night.
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C ^ Paul Mitchell Telephone (UK) 0131 650 6784
\ ~/ Dept of Physics & Astronomy Email P.S.Mi...@ed.ac.uk
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Gareth Randall
>Please someone nail this one down for me. I heard a long time ago that the
>Blue Peter tortoise (Fred/Freda) appeared on the show for a long period of
>time after his/her death.
>Classic urban myth stuff, and I can't remember where I read this, but I seem
>to remember being impressed by some level of authenticity. Can anyone confirm
>that this was definitely an urban myth, rather than fact? Then I can sleep
>easy at night.
Yes, it's an urban myth. The size of the shit that would have hit the
fan had anyone even *considered* that kind of scenario could easily
have caused the death of the show (and a large proportion of the
staff). Part of Bue Peter's philosophy is always to tell the audience
when one of the pets dies (apart from the one instance in the
following paragraph...)
I think that someone's confused it with the true story of Petra; the
original puppy had an undetected illness and died after its first
appearance, and a new one had to be located extremely rapidly! The
viewers were never told (it was considered preferable to carry on as
if nothing had happened, rather than upset the audience), and it's
only in fairly recent years that the truth has come to light.
Gareth
Martin Day
<P.S.Mi...@ed.ac.uk> writes
>Please someone nail this one down for me. I heard a long time ago that the
>Blue Peter tortoise (Fred/Freda) appeared on the show for a long period of
>time after his/her death. The theory was that they couldn't be bothered
>telling us all it died and only had to haul it in and out of its cardboard
>box twice a year, so why not just keep doing it. This practice was
>finally scuppered when its legs kept falling off.
>
>Classic urban myth stuff, and I can't remember where I read this, but I seem
>to remember being impressed by some level of authenticity. Can anyone confirm
>that this was definitely an urban myth, rather than fact? Then I can sleep
>easy at night.
I think it might be an urban myth, if only because I've heard a slightly
different version of the story. (I was told that a _Blue Peter_ tortoise
which "died during the Winter hibernation" had in actual fact been
skewered by the nails used to close the lid on the box.)
Martin Day (ma...@bbcnc.org.uk)
...crawling along the Information Superhardshoulder
Martin Day
Martin Day
I rather think this might be an urban myth, if only because I've heard a
slightly different version of the story. I was told that a _Blue Peter_
tortoise which "died during the Winter hibernation" had in actual fact
been skewered by the nails used to close the lid on the box...
Martin Day
honest!), which I've now, er, added to. Technofear. Like, I'm really,
really sorry...
Martin Day (ma...@bbcnc.org.uk)
...crawling along the Information Superhardshoulder
(A horribly apt sig, really...)