Farewell Biddy Baxter Behind-the-scenes star who created must-see TV for children

As a child growing up in Leicestershire in the 1940s, Biddy Baxter was a devoted reader of the works of Enid Blyton.

- Mark Lawson

She sent the creator of Noddy and the Famous Five a fan letter and was so delighted to receive an answer that she replied with follow-up questions. To her dismay, the second response was identical to the first.

This sense of being let down by an esteemed adult proved formative. When Baxter, who has died aged 92, was in charge of Blue Peter - the long-running children's show she essentially created - she introduced an alphabetical card index to ensure that viewers who wrote in got personalised replies.

That innovation reflected the gentle side of her professional persona. Some presenters on the show complained of a darker side - domineering, dictatorial. But, if true, that editorial insistence reflected the extraordinary extent to which she was Blue Peter and Blue Peter was her.

It has been rare in the history of broadcasting for one person to mould and own a programme for so long. For 26 years at Blue Peter (23 as editor), she was the keeper of the flame, and anyone seen as threatening its glow - staff, senior management, TV critics - was at risk of being burned.

Baxter's forcefulness may also have reflected the tactics required of a rare powerful woman at the BBC in her time. The corporation was initially less male than many vintage British institutions - Lord Reith, the first director general, appointed three female heads of department in the 1920s - but the balance had shifted by the time Baxter joined in 1955. (As late as 1985, an internal report found that the male-female balance in senior positions was 159 to six.)