Leader comment: Noakes lit up lives of a generation

Every child of the 1970s, and many of the 1960s, will have had a vivid flashback to several decades ago when they heard the news yesterday of the death of John Noakes.

John Noakes with his beloved Shep, his television pet from the children's show 'Blue Peter'. Picture: Keystone/Getty Images

The former Blue Peter presenter figured heavily in the lives of those who had a television set back then, taking on daring – possibly reckless – challenges in the name of adventure, always pushing the boundaries of children’s programming.

With only three channels available, television was a far greater shared experience than it is today, and Noakes’s escapades gave him widespread exposure as he became something of a national treasure; an inspiration as well as an entertainer.

It also helped that he was capable of emotion as well, which wasn’t in abundance in the Reithian days of the 1960s. He cried when he told viewers of the death of pet dog Patch, and broke down again when he lost his beloved Shep years later.

After TV, Noakes lived out of the spotlight for many years, but although he was out of our minds, he was never forgotten. His passing brings sadness, but for a generation, it also evokes a wealth of warm memories about the way we were.