Back to the Drawing Board
In 1967, Blue Peter held a ‘design a monster’ competition, judged by incumbent Doctor Patrick Troughton. Three of the many thousand entries were eventually realised by the BBC Visual Effects Department, later going on display at the Schoolboys and Girls exhibition in Olympia. When confronted with her own ‘Steel Octopus’ invention, four-year old Karen Dagg burst into tears – not, she clarified, out of fright, but out of disappointment that it was too small and cute.