Biddy Baxter has been described as a ‘dedicated, passionate and pioneering children’s producer’ having worked on the iconic BBC show Blue Peter for 26 years.
The media professional, now 90, is said to have ‘wielded extraordinary power and control’ when other women in her profession had less of a sway in their roles.
While now retired, Biddy hit the headlines after former Blue Peter host Yvette Fielding said she was left ‘a shaking, jibbering wreck’ after being ‘berated’ by the boss.
Here MailOnline takes a look at who Biddy Baxter is and her career in the media.
Who is Biddy Baxter?
Pro: Biddy Baxter has been described as a ‘dedicated, passionate and pioneering children’s producer’ having worked on the iconic BBC show Blue Peter for 26 years (Biddy pictured in 2013)
For 26 years, from 1962 until her retirement in 1988, Biddy Baxter edited Blue Peter, the twice-weekly magazine show which has been ‘enjoyed, imitated, talked about, mocked, criticised, revered’, in the words of Richard Marson who wrote the book Biddy Baxter: The Woman Who Made Blue Peter.
Blue Peter, the world’s longest-running children’s television programme, remains a mix of animal and pet items, competitions, charity appeals, global exploration, cookery demonstrations, gymnastic displays and history lessons.
Biddy was the big boss, and ‘her perspective and emphasis prevailed. She wielded extraordinary power and control’, which was unique at a time when women in public life were seldom influential.
Her attitude was, ‘I didn’t see why girls shouldn’t do everything’, and Biddy’s approach to life has always been splendidly brisk and matter-of-fact: ‘Get on and do what you can do, don’t dwell on what you can’t.’
Colleagues found her like a headmistress, ‘scarier than the Daleks’, ‘the witch in Snow White’, or ‘Miss Marple on acid’.
Biddy had an instinct for finding good, clear ideas which worked for the pre-pubescent audience.
She had no hesitation, for example, in turning down an appearance by Paul McCartney.
Where is Biddy Baxter from?
Career: For 26 years, from 1962 until her retirement in 1988, Biddy Baxter edited Blue Peter, the twice-weekly magazine show for the BBC (pictured in 1968)
Biddy was born in Leicester in 1933, the only child of a deaf mother and a father who was the director of a textile company.
She went to grammar school, performed in amateur dramatics with Joe Orton, and graduated from Durham University with a Third.
Intending to be a probation officer or psychiatric social worker, in 1955 Biddy instead joined the BBC as a trainee studio manager, creating sound-effects, such as coconut shells for horses’ hooves.
Children’s television programmes weren’t highly regarded in those days, but Biddy quickly climbed the ranks, making puppet films, learning about storyboards, and it was her idea to set up the Correspondence Unit, replying to the children who wrote in, and distributing the Blue Peter badges.
Who was Biddy Baxter married to?
Her own private life remains a mystery — she only married her life-long partner John Hosier, principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Dance, in 2000, when he was on his death-bed.
Biddy was long-estranged from her father. She had no children of her own — though actually she had millions of children. I am grateful to have been one.
What happened between Yvette Fielding and Biddy Baxter?
‘Nightmare’: Yvette Fielding has claimed she was bullied on Blue Peter, speaking out about her time working under Biddy
Looking back: Yvette (right) is pictured with Mark Curry (left) and Caron Keating (centre) for the BBC’s Blue Peter in 1988
Yvette Fielding was desperate to impress Biddy, who edited the show for 25 years.
‘The problem was that I was trying to please my boss so much, but my boss seemed to be – I don’t know why – just incredibly cruel,’ Yvette said on the Celebrity Catch-Up: Life After That Thing I Did podcast.
‘I thought that I’d be doing OK and then I was told that I was useless. Absolutely useless, again and again and again and again.’
‘I wanted her to be so proud of me, yet it was like being beaten by a parent. Every time I did what I thought was right, she’d come back and say something awful, or berate me in front of other people. It was absolutely soul destroying.’
Yvette added: ‘You’ve got to be confident in front of eight million people twice a week, but my confidence was at an all-time low. I was a shaking, gibbering wreck.’
The Most Haunted presenter said her experience with Biddy shaped her career and she has ‘no bitterness’ towards her.
She said: ‘The amount of awful people in the television industry … I always thank Biddy because I think, if it wasn’t for her, there’s no way I would’ve stood up, told them where to go and got on with it.
‘She did that. She gave me the balls to do that. And I thank her for that. There’s no bitterness there whatsoever.
‘But when people say to me, “Oh wasn’t it wonderful? Didn’t you have a fabulous time?” I think, no, not the first year. It was horrific. It was like a nightmare.’
The BBC were contacted for comment.
Yvette left after five years in 1992 and went on to present the ITV Saturday show What’s Up Doc? followed by Disney Adventures in 1995.
She now presents the Most Haunted series with her husband Karl Beattie.