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Search forTea at Buckingham Palace is Simon's reward for doing 'best job' on TV (with video)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008, 07:30
Brought up on a farm without a television in Dethick, near Matlock, Simon only got to see the small screen when he visited his grandparents.
"I remember seeing John Noakes for about 20 seconds one day," recalled Simon, "but I much preferred watching Take Your Pick with Michael Miles and the Adventures of Robin Hood, with Richard Greene."
The fact that he became an overnight star in 1978 owes much to being in the right place at the right time.
Simon was already interested in the entertainment industry, and spent time as a nightclub DJ, when a film crew used his parents' farm as the setting for the drama, A Traveller In Time.
"I had been working in London and arrived home to find a film crew camped out, people on horseback and actors in Tudor costume," said Simon.
"It was all very exciting and I got to know the director Dorothea Brooking quite well.
"I asked if I could interview her for a demo tape I wanted to send to various radio stations."
She agreed and the interview took place. But before Simon could do anything with it, he got a call from Dorothea to say that she had recommended him to Blue Peter as a replacement for presenter Peter Purves
"She told me later that she was very impressed with me and that a young lad from a hill farm was just what the programme needed," said Simon.
"But the job was not in the bag and things didn't go too well during my first interview, when I had to bounce on a trampoline while interviewing someone.
"I don't think I looked at the right camera once but nevertheless, a second interview followed and I got the job."
Biddy Baxter, who edited the programme for many years, phoned Simon the night before he was due to travel to London to take part in his first programme.
"She told me to detour to Northamptonshire to pick up a seven-week-old golden retriever puppy and take it with me to the studio," recalled Simon.
"That was the beginning of a long partnership between Simon and the dog, named Goldie by Blue Peter viewers.
"She eventually retired to the Dethick farm, together with her puppy Lady – named after Diana, Princess of Wales – where they lived out their lives and are now buried."
The next eight years were hectic for Simon, who found himself staring down the barrel of a sub-machine gun when he arrived in Cambodia to promote a Blue Peter appeal, which raised £4m.
"Clearly, we weren't welcome because it was just after the Pol Pot regime fell," said Simon.
"It was also a difficult assignment when I was sent to Ethiopia to see the affects of a famine, just ahead of Band Aid. I found myself talking to people who I knew wouldn't be alive by the next morning.
Simon was also known for his double entendres, some of which have found their way into television history – like the time, at the end of a feature about on a replacement door knocker at Durham Cathedral, he declared that "together, they make a lovely pair of knockers".
"I like to think I have matured a bit since then," said Simon, "but it was such a tightly-scripted programme that it was very tempting to try to deviate from the script like a naughty schoolboy.
"Mind you, we used to get told off afterwards."
There were times when Simon went on a job at short notice, such as being told to leave immediately for Sicily because Mount Etna had erupted.
Then he was told to have two days of cricket coaching because he would be bowling at Geoff Boycott at the Oval later the same week.
After leaving Blue Peter, Simon found it hard to get another job.
A chance meeting with film director Ken Russell in a Chinese restaurant led to Simon carrying out yet another interview.
This time he got together with a former Blue Peter editor and a producer and decided to put together the piece as a documentary, which received rave reviews when it appeared.
"I went on to make a programme about the Flying Scotsman train called A Steamy Affair, and I have been making films and documentaries ever since," said Simon.
Simon said he was looking forward to visiting Buckingham Palace.
He said: "I have never been there before, although I met the Queen in Liverpool in the 1980s.
"I was absolutely thrilled to get the call to attend this celebration and I am proud to have been part of what is now a national institution."
Ten other former presenters will be at the Palace.
"Being a Blue Peter presenter really is a unique job and the best there is in broadcasting," said Simon.
"I feel privileged to have been a part of the show."
COUNTRY BOY: Simon, top right, at his Dethick farm earlier this year. Right, Simon with colleagues on a Blue Peter special eight years ago.
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