Biddy Baxter - Honorary Degree - University of Leicester

A short clip of Joan (Biddy) Baxter receiving and responding to the presentation of the Honorary Degree (Doctor of Laws) from the University of Leicester. Joan Maureen (Biddy) Baxter MBE, the producer and editor who turned the BBC children's programme 'Blue Peter' into the success it has been for the past five decades, was born in Leicester and educated at what was then the Wyggeston Girls' Grammar School. Following a degree at St Mary's College, Durham, Biddy Baxter began her BBC career in 1955 as a radio trainee studio manager. In 1962 she became producer of 'Blue Peter' and, with Director Edward Barnes, she began the process that was to transform the programme into a national institution. In 1965 she became Programme Editor and was honoured with an MBE in 1981.