The show uses a studio for the main format of the presenting; there is also a garden, often referred to as the Blue Peter Garden, which is used during the summer months or for outdoor activities.
History of the Garden[]
The presenters also maintain the famous Blue Peter Garden. The original garden, adjacent to Television Centre, was designed by Percy Thrower in 1974. Its features include an Italian sunken garden with a pond, which contains goldfish, a vegetable patch, greenhouse and viewing platform. George the Tortoise was interred in the garden following his death in 2004, and there is also a bust of the dog Petra, sculptures of Mabel and the Blue Peter ship, and a plaque in honour of Percy Thrower. The 2000 Blue Peter time capsule was buried in the Garden and later relocated to the current location, where it is due to be opened in 2029.[63] The garden is also available to other programmes for outside broadcasts, and is often used for the links between children's programmes during the summer months and for BBC Breakfast's weather forecasts.
When the programme's production base moved to Salford MediaCityUK in September 2011, sections of the garden, including the sculptures and the sunken pond, were carefully relocated to the piazza of the new studio facility. It was officially (re)opened on Thursday 23 February 2012 by HRH The Princess Royal.[64]
Vandalism[]
On the Monday 21 November 1983 edition, Janet Ellis reported that over the weekend the garden had been vandalised, the report contained an on-air appeal for viewers to come forward with information—which now often appears on clip shows, the garden had been vandalised previously in 1978. A rumour circulated in the early 1990s that the vandalism had been carried out by a gang including the footballers Dennis Wise and Les Ferdinand when they were teenagers.[65] Both men have denied direct involvement in the actual vandalism, although Ferdinand did later appear to confess to "helping a few people over the wall."[66] Later still, however, Ferdinand claimed that his admission of involvement had merely been a joke, and that he had not been involved at all.[67]