Which Yorkshireman is the longest serving male 'Blue Peter' presenter with over 12 years?
Peter Purves Taylor in the audio drama "Mother Russia" and has portrayed him in several additional audio dramas in the years since. After leaving "Doctor Who", Purves became a regular presenter on the children's magazine programme "Blue Peter" from 1967 to 1978. He co-presented "Blue Peter" first with John Noakes and Valerie Singleton and then with Noakes and Lesley Judd, during the programme's so called 'golden age'. After Noakes, Purves is the second longest serving male Blue Peter presenter. He maintained his connection to "Doctor Who" throughout his time on "Blue Peter", often hosting special features on the programme and interviewing the
Blue Peter BBC One programme was moved from 5 pm to 4.35 pm to accommodate "The Weakest Link", and as a result, "Blue Peter"s ratings initially dropped to as low as 100,000 viewers in the age 6–12 bracket, before steadily improving. As with the previous decade, numerous presenters joined and left the programme. This included the exits of Thomas, Baker and Barker and the additions of Zöe Salmon, Gethin Jones and Andy Akinwolere. Early 2008 saw the departure of Huq, who had become the longest serving female presenter with over ten years on the show. Later that year, Salmon and Jones both