Lesley Judd (born 20 December 1946,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
) is an English dancer and TV presenter, best known as a long-serving host of the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
children's programme
Blue PeterBlue Peter is a long-running BBC television programme for children. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC Channel.It is named after the blue-and-white flag hoisted by a ship in port when it is ready to sail...
. She was educated at the independent
Royal Ballet SchoolThe Royal Ballet School is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of The Royal Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in London...
. Brought in to the show when
Valerie SingletonValerie Singleton OBE is an English television and radio presenter, best known as a presenter of the popular children's series, Blue Peter...
began to diversify her television career in 1971, Judd initially presented with Singleton, but mainly
John NoakesJohn Noakes is a British television presenter and personality, best known for co-presenting the BBC children's magazine programme Blue Peter in the 1960s and 1970s. He remains the show's longest-serving presenter, with a stint that lasted 12 years and 6 months...
and
Peter PurvesPeter Purves is an English television presenter and actor.Purves was born in New Longton, near Preston, Lancashire, England, and was educated at the independent Arnold School in Blackpool, he had originally planned to go into teaching, training at Alsager College of Education, but began to act...
, a partnership that lasted until 1978 and remains the show's longest-running line-up.
Lesley Judd (born 20 December 1946,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
) is an English dancer and TV presenter, best known as a long-serving host of the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
children's programme
Blue PeterBlue Peter is a long-running BBC television programme for children. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC Channel.It is named after the blue-and-white flag hoisted by a ship in port when it is ready to sail...
. She was educated at the independent
Royal Ballet SchoolThe Royal Ballet School is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of The Royal Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in London...
. Brought in to the show when
Valerie SingletonValerie Singleton OBE is an English television and radio presenter, best known as a presenter of the popular children's series, Blue Peter...
began to diversify her television career in 1971, Judd initially presented with Singleton, but mainly
John NoakesJohn Noakes is a British television presenter and personality, best known for co-presenting the BBC children's magazine programme Blue Peter in the 1960s and 1970s. He remains the show's longest-serving presenter, with a stint that lasted 12 years and 6 months...
and
Peter PurvesPeter Purves is an English television presenter and actor.Purves was born in New Longton, near Preston, Lancashire, England, and was educated at the independent Arnold School in Blackpool, he had originally planned to go into teaching, training at Alsager College of Education, but began to act...
, a partnership that lasted until 1978 and remains the show's longest-running line-up. According to the book "Blue Peter" 50th Anniversary Book: The Story of Television's Longest-running Children's Programme", Judd's tenure on Blue Peter was often in doubt and she was retained for much of her seven years on the show on short term 3 month contracts. When her marriage broke down in 1975 and her ex-husband threatened to "tell all" to the tabloid press,
Sally JamesSally James was a presenter on the ITV Saturday morning children's show Tiswas from 1977 until it ended in 1982. Famous for her "almost legendary" interviews with rock stars on that show and the generous proportion of her cleavage that was usually on display.Before this success, she was an...
was lined up to replace Judd on Blue Peter. Eventually, the storm blew over and Judd remained with the show. Before Blue Peter, she had appeared as part of the dance troupe the Young Generation on several TV shows and also had small roles in the first
Monty PythonMonty Python were a British comedy group that created the influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
film,
And Now For Something Completely DifferentAnd Now for Something Completely Different is a film spin-off from the television comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus featuring favourite sketches from the first two seasons. The title was used as a catchphrase in the TV show....
(1971) and the filmed musical
Half A SixpenceHalf a Sixpence is a musical comedy written as a vehicle for British pop star Tommy Steele.It is based on H.G. Wells's novel Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul...
(1967). Judd made a brief return to dancing in 1976 when she joined
Pan's PeoplePan's People were a British TV dance troupe, who are best associated with the BBC TV music chart show Top of the Pops.In an era before pop videos, they danced to songs whose original artists were not available to perform them live...
on
Top Of The PopsTop of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. It was traditionally shown every Thursday evening on BBC1, before being moved to Fridays in 1996, and then moved to Sundays on BBC...
for a one-off routine (The rehearsals were later shown on
Blue Peter) and often danced on the BBC Christmas show "All Star Record Breakers". During her time on the show she was criticised in the UK press when she divorced her first husband, actor
Derek FowldsDerek Fowlds is an English actor, best known for playing Bernard Woolley in popular British television comedies Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, and as Oscar Blaketon in the long-running ITV police drama Heartbeat....
(former 'straight' man to TV Puppet
Basil BrushBasil Brush is a fox. Best known as a Brit ish television character for children, he is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet , but has also been depicted in animated cartoon shorts and comic strips...
), and married a
Blue Peter cameraman Terry Gabell, whom she also later divorced. It was her second husband's
Multiple sclerosisMultiple sclerosis is an idiopathic disease of suspected autoimmune cause, in which the body's immune response attacks a person's central nervous system , leading to demyelination. Disease onset usually occurs in young adults, and it is more common in females...
that caused her to leave
Blue PeterBlue Peter is a long-running BBC television programme for children. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC Channel.It is named after the blue-and-white flag hoisted by a ship in port when it is ready to sail...
in 1979.
During her time on Blue Peter, Judd also presented the spin-off series
Blue Peter Special AssignmentBlue Peter Special Assignment was 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 1972 until 1981, usually at weekends on BBC1, and was heavily promoted on Blue Peter itself...
. After leaving
Blue Peter, Judd fronted a children's TV 'chat' show
In The Limelight With LesleyVal Meets... The VIPS was a UK TV series broadcast over three seasons from 1973-1974 on BBC1, hosted by Valerie Singleton. There were eighteen editions, broadcast in three series of six episodes. The format for the programme was that Singleton would interview one celebrity guest, who would also...
on BBC1, much along the same lines as the earlier
Val Meets... The VIPSVal Meets... The VIPS was a UK TV series broadcast over three seasons from 1973-1974 on BBC1, hosted by Valerie Singleton. There were eighteen editions, broadcast in three series of six episodes. The format for the programme was that Singleton would interview one celebrity guest, who would also...
. One of her guests was British Prime Minister
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She is the only woman to have held either post....
who was asked to comment on her earlier appearance on
Val Meets... where she said there would not be a woman Prime Minister in her lifetime. Another guest was reigning Miss World
Gina SwainsonGina Ann Casandra Swainson, born 1958 in Bermuda, was the first runner up in the Miss Universe contest of Miss Universe 1979. That same year she was crowned Miss World 1979. She is the only woman to win a major beauty title for Bermuda as of 2007 and is the joint highest placed woman and joint most...
. Judd then appeared with another former partner of
Basil BrushBasil Brush is a fox. Best known as a Brit ish television character for children, he is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet , but has also been depicted in animated cartoon shorts and comic strips...
, Irishman
Billy BoyleBilly Boyle was an actor on British children's television. He was for a time the straight man to Basil Brush, a part he landed after several years playing 'Ronald MacDonald' in a series of UK TV ads for the fast food chain. He later presented a programme for ITV on the history of dance with Lesley...
, in an ITV series for children,
Dance Crazy, tracing the history of dance and was a regular panelist on game shows such as
PunchlinesPunchlines was a comedy game show series that was produced by LWT and aired on the ITV network from 1981 until 1984. The programme was hosted by Lennie Bennett.-Series Guide:* 79 episodes and 1 special* Series 1 13 x 30' 03/01/81 - 28/03/81...
. She later featured as 'The Mole' in the educational game show
The Adventure GameThe Adventure Game was a game show, aimed at children but with an adult following, which was originally broadcast on UK television channels BBC1 and BBC2 between 24 May, 1980 and 18 February, 1986. The story in each show was that the two celebrity contestants and a member of the public had...
, and was co-presenter of both the technology game show
The Great Egg RaceThe Great Egg Race was a BBC television series that ran from 1978 to 1986 and featured Professor Heinz Wolff and Lesley Judd. It was later revived on BBC Choice and was presented by Johnny Ball....
, the computer-related
Micro LiveMicro Live was a BBC2 TV series that was produced by David Allen as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project, and followed on from earlier series such as The Computer Programme, Computers In Control, and Making the Most of the Micro...
(1983) and
Pets In Particular (1986). She was also one of the presenters of
Woman's HourWoman's Hour is a magazine programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom.Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by Alan Ivimey the programme was first broadcast on 7 October 1946 on the BBC's Light Programme . It was transferred to its current home in 1973...
on
BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a domestic UK radio station that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967.-Outline:...
from 1982 to 1988, and appeared as a television newsreader in the film
ThreadsThreads is a 1984 BBC television play set in the city of Sheffield in Yorkshire, depicting the effects of a nuclear war and its aftermath on the United Kingdom. Written by Barry Hines and directed by Mick Jackson, Threads was filmed in late 1983 and early 1984...
(1984). Judd was a presenter on the London radio station
LBCLBC Radio operates two London-based radio stations, with news and talk formats. LBC was Britain's first legal commercial Independent Local Radio station, providing a service of news and information to London. It began broadcasting on 8 October 1973, a week ahead of Capital Radio...
during the late 1980s, later co-hosting with
Steve AllenSteve William Allen is a British radio presenter on London station LBC 97.3. He lives in Twickenham, London.-Radio career:Steve has broadcast on LBC radio for 29 years...
, at the same time presenting various programmes on TV for the
Open UniversityThe Open University is the distance learning university founded and funded by the UK Government. It is notable for having an open entry policy, i.e. students' previous academic achievements are not taken into account for entry to most undergraduate courses...
. In 1992, Judd also presented a daytime interview programme on UK
Channel 4Channel 4 is a UK public-service television broadcaster which began working on November 2, 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station owned now and operated by the Channel Four Television...
,
Time To Talk. Each programme consisted of an interview with one celebrity guest. Her Blue Peter colleague Valerie Singleton was one guest. Other interviews featured
David KossoffDavid Kossoff was a British actor. Following the death of his son Paul, a rock musician, he became an anti-drug campaigner...
,
Diana MoranDiana Moran is a British model, fitness expert and journalist.In the 1960s and 1970s, Moran was a successful print and catwalk model. She also appeared as a TV announcer and newsreader for HTV West.-Career:...
, Dr. Mary Hall, Jonathan Porritt and
Don MacleanDon Maclean is an English actor and comedian, who hosted the BBC television series Crackerjack with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze, and Jan Hunt in the 1970s....
.
Now living in France near
ToulouseToulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan...
, she is employed as a conference organiser. Although asked on several occasions to take part in
Blue Peter reunions, Judd has often declined, feeling that her television career was no longer a part of her life. However, she appeared on
Blue Peters 35th birthday programme in 1993 and the 50th birthday commemorations. This entailed an appearance on ITVITV is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK...
's This MorningThis Morning is a British daytime television programme created by Granada Television and broadcast on ITV. It first aired from Granada's Albert Dock Studios in Liverpool on 3 October 1988. It features celebrity guests, entertainment, advice on health and well-being, competitions, cookery and more...
, where she received a 'make over' ahead of joining other former presenters at Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
at a party hosted by The Queen. Judd then joined other former female presenters of the show in a photo shoot for the Mail on Sunday
newspaper, celebrating fifty years of Blue Peter and was interviewed for a documentary about the show on BBC1.
External links
- Lesley Judd BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
Blue PeterBlue Peter is a long-running BBC television programme for children. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC Channel.It is named after the blue-and-white flag hoisted by a ship in port when it is ready to sail...
- The Great Egg Race at UKGameshows.com