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John Noakes, former Blue Peter presenter, dies at 83 after a battle with Alzheimer’s

Beloved television presenter John Noakes has died after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.

The national treasure was the longest-serving host of Blue Peter, and was a household name in the  1960s, 70s and 80s.

He was famous for the phrase "Get down Shep" as he tried to control the show's excitable Border Collie.

His family said in a statement to The Telegraph: "John Noakes, died peacefully on Sunday morning May 28th. He had endured and suffered from Alzheimer's over recent years and whilst he will be greatly missed by his wife,  family and many friends his release from continuing ill health must be counted as a blessing.

"His many escapades with his faithful companion Shep,  during his time with Blue Peter, will live on in many peoples memories and that is how his family would like him remembered."

John Noakes has died - Credit:  Facebook
John Noakes has died Credit: Facebook

Former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis said Noakes set the tone for the show, which it still has today.

"I grew up with him, like a lot of people did. I watched him at home and it felt like he was a member of my own family," she told the Press Association.

"It's a live show, everyone had to know exactly what they were doing, but he had an extraordinary ability to look natural on camera.

"He set the standard," she said.

"He wasn't pretending to be anyone. If he was nervous, he said so. He definitely was his own man. He set the tone for how Blue Peter is today."

She said that, together with Valerie Singleton and Purves, Noakes "grew the programme."

Ellis said: "It's that have-a-go spirit that continues in the programme now.

"Everyone then was speaking in received pronunciation.... He bounced in with that ability to cope with whatever was thrown at him. It was like watching a big brother on screen."

She said: "His enthusiasm and naturalness set the tone for the presenters of the future and he insisted that viewers could cope with that. It's a real loss".

Almost two years ago, worry was sparked after Mr Noakes went missing near his then-home in Majorca.

He had apparently fallen into a storm drain and was dehydrated after being outside with no water for hours.

His wife confirmed at the time he had Alzheimer's and that he had been suffering with it for a number of years.

She added: "You learn to live and cope with things. But this is a little different this time and I am concerned because it is the hottest day of the year so far here. 

REX Shutterstock - Credit: REX Shutterstock
John Noakes on holiday with his wife Credit: REX Shutterstock

"If he is wandering around, he'll get more confused as he gets more dehydrated."

Mr Noakes trained as an aircraft engine fitter for the RAF before deciding to become an actor.

He joined Blue Peter as a presenter in December 1965, fulfilling the role of action man in the series, which he helped present for more than 12 years.

After leaving the show, he went on to make several television appearances and write a children’s book, before sailing around the Mediterranean and finally settling in Majorca.

Blue Peter presenters: what they did next, in pictures
Blue Peter presenters: what they did next, in pictures
Tributes to John Noakes

Social media flooded with tributes to the television presenter.

RIP John Noakes. This is still one of the most terrifying things ever broadcast on British TV. pic.twitter.com/m6xpsQ3ixg

— Dan Jackson (@northumbriana) May 29, 2017

 Why he was the best Blue Peter presenter of all time

Extract from 'Blue Peter: 50th Anniversary. A Personal Account' by Richard Marson (Hamlyn, £14.99)

In 2005 a dinner was held with Edward Barnes and all five Blue Peter editors. During the evening, talk turned inevitably to presenters past and present. The unanimous feeling was that the greatest and most successful presenter of all time was John Noakes. His bravery, his subversive sense of humour and his celebrated relationship with Patch (son of Petra) and Shep, proved an irresistible combination.

It all started in 1965 with the search for a presenter to join Christopher Trace and Valerie Singleton. Biddy Baxter, Leicester-born, often returned home at weekends, where she frequently found items for Blue Peter in the pages of the Leicester Mercury. She spotted a photograph of a young Noakes, appearing locally in the play Hobson's Choice. On 9 December 1965, Doreen Stephens, Head of Family Programmes, asked BBC One to authorise an increase of £50 per show to fund the third presenter. She explained that the programme had found “…a very promising man, John Noakes. He is young, attractive and unaffected, and a complete contrast to Christopher Trace.”

John Noakes - Credit: Adam Butler/PA
John Noakes Credit: Adam Butler/PA

Noakes's introduction was deliberately low key. Biddy had warned her boss: “The introduction of an additional personality will have to be done slowly and with tremendous subtlety if he is not to be resented as an intruder. I feel it would be dangerous to bring him in before Christmas, as it is a psychologically bad time to increase the family circle, but I want to start edging the new face in directly afterwards.”

It was just as well. Noakes had a distinctly rocky start: “This glass eye, the camera, stripped me naked. I actually shook with fear, the voice tremoring as I said the words. The first few months were quite terrifying. I went through murder. I even went to a hypnotist and a faith healer to try to get me out of it.”

 Ltd/REX Shutterstock - Credit:  Ltd/REX Shutterstock
John and Sandra Noakes Credit: Ltd/REX Shutterstock

Noakes was nearly dropped, but in the event, although he was left out of the 1966 summer expedition, he was given another chance. Now he “…started to develop this idiot, who is not really the real John Noakes. I'd got rid of my Yorkshire accent at drama school. I brought it back and used it as part of a character. If I was in a racing car, I was the racing driver. If I was jumping out of an aeroplane, I was one of the Red Devils.” He played his mistakes for laughs, but as well as acting the clown, he defined the role of the action presenter. He seemed utterly fearless and was only ever scared twice - once on a tree swing, the other up a circus sway pole.

There were no safety ropes for his famous ascent of Nelson's Column: “I could've murdered the assistant cameraman. He was new and full of enthusiasm. We started getting lightning and the steeplejack said, 'If we get anymore, I think we should go down.' In the meantime, this assistant cameraman was saying, 'If you could get over that ledge just one more time.' I thought, 'If I get close enough to him, I'll push him off!'"

Another narrow escape was the time Noakes came hurtling off a bobsleigh in St Moritz. His backside and legs were covered in bruises. Biddy, with her instinct for what would appeal to children, asked Noakes to drop his trousers and show the damage: “I'd only got back the day before and said to the wife, 'Have you got some clean knickers?' It was early morning and I put them on in the dark. When I unzipped my trousers live on air, I thought, 'I've got my wife's black lace knickers on!'“

Noakes left Blue Peter in June 1978: “Towards the end I was exhausted. The pressure was terrible. I'd done all these things and I don't think any of them really realised how difficult it was. It was a Peter Pan existence, a bit like an overgrown schoolboy's job.”