HERE'S ONE I MADE 32 YEARS EARLIER

As she helps celebrate the 60th anniversary of Thunderbirds, Anthea Turner on her iconic Tracy Island make, why Blue Peter is still the blueprint for children’s television... and the terrifying accident that gave her a starring role in a BBC safety video

- By Gemma Jones

IT WAS Blue Peter’s most successful “make” of all time. The clever craft that saved the day for millions of parents after the number one toy on every child’s Christmas present list sold out.

When television presenter Anthea Turner debuted the Blue Peter Tracy Island model on January 7, 1993, seven million viewers tuned in to watch — a figure that astounded even the show’s bosses. But it followed a 1992 rerun of Thunderbirds that culminated in shop shelves being emptied of the puppets’ HQ toy.

There was only one thing able to dry the many tiny tears. Step forward Anthea, who, in a live 13-minute segment, taught the nation’s children how to make their own Tracy Island from old toilet rolls, cardboard and yoghurt pots. An instant hit, its instructions were requested more than 100,000 times — creating a cultural phenomenon in the process.

More than 30 years on, Anthea is teaming up with toymakers Corgi to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Thunderbirds by showing how her original Blue Peter make - gifted to her by colleagues at her leaving party — has stood the test of time.

It might sound somewhat unbelievable but Anthea, 65, who was awarded a prestigious gold Blue Peter badge two weeks ago, says that it has only taken a few touch-ups to keep her build looking pristine.

“She has always been in reasonably good nick because I have looked after her,” Anthea tells the Daily Express over Zoom. “I gave her a bit of a face-lift. I went to a local art shop because I realised that my palm trees looked like they had been in a hurricane! I tidied them up, and painted it a bit. Not too much though, because this is the original. And, over the years, she has probably become more important.”