Philheybrookbay post_id=51055 time= user_id=1441 Wrote:Wenner to a 6 or 7 yr old me never seemed to fit in. Add in an inexperienced Simon Groom- then Tina Heath who could have been a great presenter but who fell pregnant so she correctly left and it drifted for a while at the end of 70s.
There is a bit in Richard Marson's book when they talk about the Simon, Chris and Tina era, as they'd lost three hugely experienced presenters in the space of twelve months, and Alex Leger, the long-serving producer, says "We went from a Stradivarius to a banjo". It also says in Biddy's book that this was the first time Blue Peter was ever mentioned in the weekly programme review meeting, with Alasdair Milne saying to Edward Barnes "I hear you've got a few problems with Blue Peter, Edward". As Biddy says, the fact it was even mentioned in the meeting was big news because they rarely mentioned kids' shows as they were always working when they were on, so clearly their kids had told them about it.
But Biddy is generous to Wenner in her book, she says that he wasn't the right fit but it was just as much their fault for putting him in the position in the first place and expecting him to follow John Noakes. And as Richard Marson tweeted yesterday, Wenner himself went on to say he was probably wrong for it. But he certainly went on to do great things, as the obituaries have illustrated - under the name of Max Stahl (his actual first name - Chris was his middle name - and his mother's surname), he went on to become a distinguished journalist and film-maker, specialising in reporting from trouble spots, and his reporting from East Timor in the early nineties has been cited as the first time the wider world saw the atrocities in that country and inspired a huge aid effort, much like Michael Buerk in Ethiopia, and he was an absolute hero there, with even the President paying tribute to him.
As Marson's book says, they decided it wasn't worth persevering with Wenner because he didn't come high enough in the Swap Shop awards. That was always what Biddy said was the justification for parting ways with Wenner and, indeed, with Michael Sundin, the audience just didn't take to them. I wouldn't say she was ruthless, its not like Blue Peter was the only show that hired and fired presenters (I know all the Play School presenters were all engaged for a week with no guarantee of if or when they'd be invited back), and Wenner and Sundin both got a proper send-off. Compare that to other shows where departing presenters just get chucked out of a side door and never referred to ever again.
Wenner always said that although it didn't work out he was proud of being a part of Blue Peter and always returned for the anniversaries, and one of Michael Sundin's final TV appearances was as part of a line-up of former presenters paying tribute to Biddy when she retired, so they were clearly happy enough to do that. I think they appreciated that Biddy was always straight with them and all her decisions were made with the audience in mind, rather than any personal animosity.
I hope we'll get a brief mention of Wenner on the show itself, they did for John Noakes.