Purple Power - it's your Badge! Blue Peter

Do you know what, this is really relaxing.

-It is, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Something's not quite right, though.

It's a bit too quiet.

-BOTH:

-Where's Radzi?!

I am in the Lake District, for the Purple Badge spectacular.

Hello and welcome to Blue Peter.

Today's show, the summer Badge Baton Relay passes on to this little guy.

It is, of course, the Purple Badge.

We're taking a look at some of your favourite moments,

including one of mine, drone racing.

-I want one.

-Something I don't want

is to go down the London sewers again. It was very stinky.

-You're still quite stinky.

-Stop it.

And as for Radzi... In fact, Radzi, what are you up to?

I'm on an adventure in the Lake District,

to see the cast of the brand-new film Swallows And Amazons.

And I've got to get to that island.

Um... Where's the engine?

Good luck with that, Radz.

Today's show is very special because everything in it

has been suggested by you on your Purple Badge forms.

Which Holly from London has done, and she says when it says

"What would you like to see more of on Blue Peter?" Holly's put,

"I'd like to see more of Barney."

-Aww!

-Isn't that nice?

Here you go, Holly. We're making dreams come true.

And - a Purple Badge is on its way to you.

Now, we love hearing what you lot think about Blue Peter,

so much so that we caught up with some of you

whilst you actually watched the show. Have a look at this.

-Barney, stop it.

-I sensed I should.

-You can stop now.

-OK.

It's been an epic year so far on Blue Peter.

That's my favourite one, when she floats the badge.

We've seen daring challenges, world records and even Shelley in space.

-Wow.

-And you've been using your Purple Badge forms

to tell us exactly what you loved.

A perfect reason, then, to watch

some of your favourite Blue Peter moments again,

with some of you in the viewing seat.

Oh, this is so cool.

In June, we had a surprise in store,

which came with some serious light entertainment.

DRAMATIC MUSIC

It's like they have projectors.

-I love the dance.

-That's epic.

Look how synchronised they are, like...

There's Barney. Barney's back!

Yes!

Lindsey had an uplifting moment of her own, when she experienced

weightlessness on a very special space simulating plane.

Very few people get to do this, so I'm incredibly lucky

to have a ticket.

Oh, this looks epic.

-Do they just drop you out?

-Yeah, they just drop you.

When you go over the peak, it floats, look.

Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness.

Oh, wow. Wow!

I'm floating. Oh, my goodness.

What do I do?

She's floating.

That looks sick.

-I'd love to be her.

-That would be amazing.

Whoa!

Oh, my goodness!

Back on solid ground, Radzi was, um, windy.

It's his whoopee cushion world record attempt.

-Go.

-Go, Radzi.

Come on, Radzi.

..11, 12, 13...

He's just gone past the 40,

he is on track to do this.

I think he might do this.

..59, 60, 61...

He's going to do it, he's going to do it.

Three, two, one...

Yeah!

Yeah!

THEY CHEER

He got a world record!

It's a world record!

From world records, to world firsts.

In her epic wave runner challenge,

Lindsey attempted to cross the Irish Sea in a modified inflatable ball.

Here we go...

I wouldn't do that.

I'd get super claustrophobic.

Despite the fact it's dark, conditions are perfect.

And in the dark as well. How does she know where she's going?

If you try and run in it, it's really hard, isn't it,

-cos you just fall over.

-You're just slipping.

I manage to cover two and a half miles in my first hour.

Lind-sey! Lind-sey!

But, everything that goes in has to come out.

So I've done a wee in my wet suit.

Oh, no.

Imagine a fish seeing that from underneath, like, "Ooh!"

I'm running out of time. But I'm determined to get back on course.

At least you're keeping on trying and you keep going.

She must be so tired.

-SUPERVISOR:

-It fundamentally becomes too dangerous to be out there.

I can't believe it's over.

I've been at sea for nine hours,

but I have to accept that I can't make it to Scotland

against the tide.

I'm devastated.

Oh, Lindsey...

I would have gave up after like, an hour.

No, it's over.

This is sad.

Lindsey inspired us all to have a go and do our best,

which is a popular theme in your letters -

which we love so much, we did this.

# To anyone who's ever written to Blue Peter... #

I never knew Barney could play the keyboard.

He's all right, actually. He's pretty good.

Barney is actually a good singer.

-RAPPING:

-# We love open every little thing you people send us

# Badge creations, badger paintings, dolls like presenters... #

Is this some kind of poem?

It's a rap.

# So keep on sending us your post, whoa-whoa. #

-It's quite a nice song.

-Yeah, that deserves a round of applause.

-Shh.

-It looked like it was performed in a train station.

And finally - yeah, just a small matter

of me speaking to a certain friend, you know, whilst he was in space.

'Yes, this is Houston Comtec.

'Are you ready for the crew conference?'

No words.

Tim, it's Barney. It's so good to see you. How are you?

Hello, Barney, and hi to Blue Peter.

-How is it up there?

-Barney, life on board is wonderful.

Just going to the windows and looking down on Planet Earth

is absolutely spectacular.

How would they transport him the Blue Peter badge?

-They're not.

-He's wearing one.

Listen, it's been so good to speak to you,

and we'll see you when you land. Thanks a lot.

How has he got a Blue Peter badge all the way up there?

I look forward to seeing you when I get back. Bye, now.

That is so...cool!

So those were some of our fans' favourite moments - but remember,

you can have your say too.

Download your Purple Badge form and earn yours today.

Thank you, Barney. I'm here on an island

in the middle of Derwentwater known as the Queen of the Lakes,

which should please Matthew from Somerset,

who said he'd like us to visit more places around the UK.

So Matthew, I hope you're happy, my friend.

This place is also the location for the brand-new film

Swallows And Amazons, and I'm off to meet the cast.

Here's to Swallow and all who sail in her.

I hereby name this Walker Island,

and claim it for our own.

Walker family, it's an absolute pleasure to meet you all.

Let's just go down the line here.

We have Dane, Orla,

Bobby and Teddie.

Welcome to Blue Peter.

We're back on the actual island where you made the film.

So the story, Swallows And Amazons, a classic tale by Arthur Ransome,

but can you tell us what it's about, Orla?

It's about the Walker family, who go on holiday in the Lake District,

and they want to sail to the island and when they get here

they find the Amazon sisters, who have declared war with them

because they've stolen the island.

"The Amazons." What does this mean?

The Jolly Roger. That's their sign.

THEY SHOUT BATTLE CRY

-Who are you?

-I'm Nancy Blackett, part owner of the Amazon.

Give us back our island.

Dane, there's a lot of sailing in this film

and you're the main sailor.

Can you actually sail in real life?

No, we had somebody at the bottom of the boat, actually.

Oh, did you?

He was just under a blanket. And with all the stuff lying on it,

it must have been really uncomfortable.

You've a fine crew there, Captain.

-Aye-aye, Mother.

-You're all playing brothers and sisters.

I kind of get that vibe that you've got that kind of relationship.

Is that fair to say?

Sometimes we're really friendly and then sometimes we're arguing,

but not usually - we're usually being really friendly.

We're on the island.

This is the place.

There's something down there.

-What's that?

-A houseboat.

GLASS SMASHES

Teddie, what do your friends think of the fact that you

are actually in a film? That's a pretty big deal?

My friend, she was reading it at the time

and she went and got all the books.

She thought that we were all really good in it.

That was the bravest thing I've ever seen.

I massively enjoyed the film. I think it's fantastic.

It's an absolute pleasure to talk to you all.

Now, though, this is the Purple Badge show,

which means it's all about the viewers at home

and we've got a question right here from one of those viewers.

Guillaume from Devon wants to see a lion on the show.

Well, that wouldn't be possible, cos we're on an island here

and there're no way that it could get here...

ROARING

Did you hear...?

Don't panic!

Where's that lion? Where is that lion?

It's not going to get me.

Anyway, loads of you said you wanted to have

even more cool stuff on Blue Peter. Well, you're going to love this.

Check out what Barney did.

This...is drone racing.

Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles

that are often used to capture amazing footage like this.

Gentle, dreamy shots - lovely.

But when it comes to racing them, it's all about speed.

So, in a race,

drones must complete four laps of this specially designed course.

They have to fly at about two metres above the ground

and they go very, very quickly. Simply, the fastest drone wins.

The man in charge of the Drone Racing League in the UK is Nigel.

Drones have become very popular

over the last year, 18 months and people want to race them.

You can't just fly these in your back garden...

It's about being sensible with them,

and we always encourage people to come to model clubs like this one.

There you can learn to fly them properly,

and just get out there and have a go.

But before I have a go, I need to learn how to fly these things.

And the way it is done is so awesome.

It's called first-person view, or FPV.

Racers wear wraparound goggles that receive a video link from the drone,

basically a drone's eye view.

And this...is what it looks like.

Unbelievable.

And to show me how it all works,

Luke is one of the UK's best drone racers.

So I'm going to watch you flying as you fly.

If you are going to do what I know you can to do,

-I'm going to need to sit down for this.

-All right.

-Grandad's ready(!)

So, I've tuned into Luke's feed and he is fast.

Oh, my goodness, that is insane.

It's like watching a really cool computer game.

Oh, mate. Mate, whoa, whoa.

Now, it's my turn to give it a go.

What could possibly go wrong?

Nice, push forward gently.

So as long as you keep moving forward, it's a lot easier.

OK.

Now you should be able to see us.

This is weird.

It actually makes you feel a bit dizzy.

This is really tough.

It does actually take a lot of practice to crack this technique.

I'm struggling to keep the drone under control,

let alone go around the course... Whoops.

-I think I'm probably going to be better if I fly without FPV.

-Yep.

I do feel a bit seasick, it's weird.

So, my challenge.

How many laps can Luke complete in the time it takes me to do one?

The course is made up of four gates, and has two tight bends.

Up for the challenge, some of Britain's best young racers.

Adam, Luke,

Lewis,

and me, minus the goggles.

Bring it on.

OK, here we go, bringing drone racing to the masses,

in three, two, one... Go.

Luke and Adam fly off the start, and leave me behind.

But there's a problem for Lewis.

Wipeout.

I'm just going for a fly over that side for now...

Even without the goggles, it's not going to plan.

Oh, the sun's come out.

Luke is absolutely flying.

I'm struggling to go under the first gate, and he's already done a lap.

Go on, Luke.

I'm with you, buddy.

Oh, look - a tractor.

Oh, I can see my house.

Back to the real race, and Luke is clocking up the laps.

So is Adam.

But then - this happens.

Adam is out. Let's see that again.

Oh, unlucky!

That just leaves me and Luke left in it.

All right, show off. Luke's even doing flips now.

Barney, have you done a lap yet?

I'm just on the way round now.

This is it. The final bend.

Luke is so fast, going under every single gate...

And here comes Barney, finally landing.

He finally completes his lap!

It took me 20 minutes,

Luke did 12 laps in the time it took me to do one.

But that's why we've got a champion on our hands.

So there you have it, drone racing - it was fast, it was cool,

Luke did 12 laps, I did one.

That doesn't matter. It's all about the practice.

In fact, do you mind,

can I just borrow your winning drone there, Luke?

Thank you. I'm going to have one more go.

Well, two more goes.

I might have three erm...

four more goes on at,

I might just spend... I might just have a couple of...

I'll be back tomorrow.

Now, no Blue Peter show would be complete

without a Purple Badge badge wall.

Barney, why are you dressed like that?

Oh, because Sophie got in touch.

She's from Cheshire, she wanted to see us dress up more.

And what are you dressed up as there?

I'm kind of half duck, half bee.

Sophie, what have you done?

But thank you - you've got a Purple Badge.

Let's have a look at this week's big badge wall.

I'm going to point out this lovely lady, Ashveer,

who's ten from Uxbridge, and she says if she was on Blue Peter,

she would show us how to make a little cushion, how to sew it,

-in one minute.

-Wow.

-Very precise.

-That's got to be a world record.

-A little mini make.

-Come on and do it. We like the sound of that.

-Thank you very much.

John liked it when you tried to tie your shoelaces

-when you were upside down.

-Oh, yeah.

-That was amazing.

-On the anti-G plane.

-Yeah.

-John, I loved that moment too.

Siobhan, who's nine from Cheshire,

said she especially likes all the videos on the Blue Peter website,

but liked when I interviewed a squirrel. A real-life squirrel.

That did happen, by the way -

if you haven't seen it, go on to the BP website.

Barney wants to see more arts and crafts on the show.

Barney, coming to a screen near you. Best name in the world by the way.

If you can see your face on this big Purple Badge wall,

you've got a Purple Badge. Congratulations, on the way to you.

Now, though, it's time to reveal the fan of the month.

Radzi, over to you.

Thank you, Barney. Nice outfit, by the way.

Now, however, it is the time that you've all been waiting for -

it is the time to reveal the Blue Peter fan of the month.

And in August, that fan is...

on their very own flag, Purple Piano Toucan,

because you've welcomed newbies

onto the Blue Peter Fan Club and even shown people

just how a fan club works.

And talking about the fan club,

please do get involved in Beat The Boredom.

Loads of silly games, loads of online clips,

everything you need for a fantastic summer holiday.

Now I've got a question for you all.

Have you ever wondered how a Blue Peter badge -

just like that one there -

goes from the Blue Peter office to your letterbox?

Well, you're about to find out.

Last year, Blue Peter sent out over 70,000 badge letters to you guys

all over the UK.

Almost all of them were delivered by the good old British post.

It's a massive operation.

So we thought you might like to know how our letters

get from the Blue Peter HQ to you at home.

So we've picked one piece of post to show you exactly that -

a delivery to one of the most northern parts of the UK.

The Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.

And the story begins 400 miles south, here in Salford.

And it all starts with these guys,

the Blue Peter badge team.

They sort through the thousands of items of post you all send to us,

and importantly decide which deserve a badge.

In the case of our letter it's this review of a show,

from Isle of Lewis resident

nine-year-old Caitlin.

Kylie, you think Caitlin's review's worthy of something.

Yes, I do. A Purple Badge.

Amazing! In it goes.

And we're off.

I'm going to be carrying Caitlin's letter myself,

and following the journey it would normally take.

From the Blue Peter office,

it's processed and prepared for collection by our post team.

Thank you, sir. And this is where the Royal Mail come in.

2016 marks 500 years

since the first ever organised postal system in Britain,

which began as a very slow service on horseback

for Tudor king Henry VIII.

Today, there are lots of other companies that can deliver letters

and parcels, but Royal Mail look after those you put in the postbox.

And so postman Lee picks up our letter - and me.

First class post aims to be delivered

by the next day, so it's a race against time

to get Caitlin's letter moving.

First stop, the Manchester Mail Centre,

managed by Janet.

Janet, this place is absolutely massive.

What goes on here?

So, we sort about one and a half million letters a day.

One and a half million?

Yes, and we sort them on these machines,

which sort the letters into all the different destinations.

Letters are put through a kind of giant washing machine,

which sorts them all out by size.

They then pass through a postcode scanner, which divides them up into

different areas of the country, ready to be sent out.

Our letter's travelling to Scotland

so you'd think it would be going north, right? Wrong.

Because instead of driving all the way to Scotland,

this lorry is actually heading two hours south.

To here at East Midlands Airport -

because our letter is about to take to the sky.

Royal Mail has used all sorts of transport to move their post.

Boats, trains - and they first introduced airmail way back in 1911.

Pete from East Midlands Airport can explain why.

Well, it's all about speed - as an example, we fly to Edinburgh,

the flight from East Midlands Airport

to Edinburgh Airport takes an hour.

If we were to run it in a vehicle,

it's going to be sort of six and a half to seven hours.

Our letter would be loaded on board a plane

and taken to the sorting centre

for the north of Scotland, in Inverness.

Once it's been checked,

it is straight back to the airport

where it's loaded onto another plane -

to land at our final destination.

14 hours ago,

our letter would be in the hands of the Blue Peter badge team.

And now, incredibly,

it's on an island off the coast of Scotland, 400 miles away.

The best part, is Caitlin has no idea we're here.

As she's already at school, I'm going to hand-deliver her letter.

Stand by for the surprise of a lifetime.

(This is Caitlin's class. Here we go.)

Hi, miss, sorry to disturb you.

Does anybody here know where Caitlin is?

Hello, Caitlin. My name is Radzi...

-Hi.

-..from Blue Peter.

Caitlin, you sent off for your Purple Badge recently, didn't you?

So we've come all the way from Manchester

to present you with your very own Purple Badge.

There's your letter.

And inside might just be your own Purple Badge.

Round of applause, please.

Can you tell us what show you decided to review?

It was the one when they were doing the lip sync battle,

and I thought that was my favourite moment

because it was really funny.

-ADELE:

-# Hello from the outside... #

I wanted to watch more of that, cos I really enjoyed watching

when you had the wigs on and singing. I found that really funny.

Caitlin, thank you very much for applying,

and you are an awesome Blue Peter fan. High five!

If you're lucky enough to have earned yourselves one of these,

a Blue Peter badge,

then spare a thought for the journey it's been on

to get to you. Because that journey is pretty incredible.

Is there anywhere this badge cannot go?

And actually that wasn't the only thing we got up to in Scotland.

If you jump online, you will see a clip

of me attempt to find the Loch Ness Monster.

I hope it's not in here.

Barney!

So if you want to get yourself a Purple Badge,

all you have to do is download the Purple Badge form,

fill it in and send it to us.

Just like Kitty did from Cornwall - she wanted to learn how to juggle.

-Watch this.

-Uh-oh. Here we go.

-So...

-Whoa, there we go, it's in the veg patch now.

We'll get back to you on that one.

Someone else who filled out a Purple Badge form

was James from Guildford - and here it is.

He said favourite moment on the show

was "when Lindsey went down a stinky sewer,

"but she kept moaning because there was poo in there."

James, you're right, that really did happen - and just for you

as a special treat, here it is once again.

Bleurgh!

London, home to over eight million people and growing...

..producing millions of tonnes of waste

that relies on a network of sewers built 150 years ago.

And they're struggling to keep up with all that poo.

Something had to be done, so...

new super sewers like this one

are here to help take the extra waste away.

This is the newly built Lee Tunnel,

and I'm one of the last people to come down here

before it starts being used.

At 80 metres below the surface, it's almost as deep as Big Ben is tall.

BIG BEN CHIMES

And it will be able to handle more than 16 million tonnes

of sewage every year. That's a whole lot of poo.

This is the deepest tunnel ever built in London,

and it stretches four miles that way.

Go for it, Ian.

Woo!

What's great is that it doesn't smell...

yet. It WILL smell.

At the end of the tunnel is the pumping station,

where the waste will get transported back to the surface to be treated.

It's also the place where you'll find Phil,

who helped construct the new sewer.

So Phil, why is this new super sewage system so important?

Why does it need to be here?

Well, in the 1850s when the Victorians built the sewage system,

there was only about two million people in London.

Now we're over eight million,

we need somewhere for that additional sewage to go.

Without the super sewer,

that additional sewage would flow into the Thames.

And I guess that's what this pipe here does.

Yeah, this pipe takes it from the tunnel,

all the way up to the top,

to be treated in the sewage treatment works.

So is there anything that I can do to help on this massive project?

Well, we've got a few more of these bolts to tighten up,

-so if we go over there...

-Great.

-..and get to it.

-Let's do it.

The bolts I'm about to tighten seal the massive pipes

that transport the waste back to the surface.

-So I'm going to put the spanner on the bottom here.

-Yeah...

Luckily for me, there's a special machine that does all the hard work.

And if you push that machine in,

-push that button at the top...

-OK.

..hear it click in there...

Oh, it's tight enough.

-It's happy, isn't it?

-No leaks here.

-No leaks here.

London - thanks to me, you're safe from leaky poo now.

TOILET FLUSHES

Bolts tightened, and the Lee Tunnel is almost ready to be opened.

Do you know what? I'm just really glad

I got sent down a nice, clean sewer

and I didn't have to go in a stinky Victorian one.

-A-hem...

-Wait, the film's not over yet, is it?

-Uh... No.

-I'm going to have to go in a smelly sewer, aren't I?

-Yeah.

TOILET FLUSHES

Yep, that's certainly stinky.

And when I say stinky, I mean it.

It absolutely hums down here.

Urgh!

This sewer runs beneath one of London's busiest areas,

and it was designed 150 years ago by this man, Joseph Bazalgette -

nice 'tache, Baz - to take away the city's waste.

Before the sewer network was built,

raw sewage went straight into the streets and rivers,

spreading disease and making the city smell.

In 1858, it got so bad the era became known

as the Great Stink of London. Pooey!

But nowadays, along with the increased population,

there's another problem causing a strain on the sewers.

Because lurking in the shadows... are fatbergs.

DRAMATIC MUSIC

SHE SCREAMS

Mixed in with all this poo,

the fatbergs are huge lumps of congealed grease and oil,

combined with food and rubbish

that can be hundreds of metres long. Yuck.

And today, I'm taking the fatbergs on.

Gary, it's good to meet you, though I would prefer not to meet you

down a sewer. What are we going to be doing today?

Today we're going to be clearing a bit of fat off the walls.

I've bought you a little present as well,

-so you can give me a hand doing it.

-Brilliant - a pooey shovel(!)

OK, so where do we start here?

So you just go down like that, tug it...

I think I can manage that.

There's just one small problem...

Sorry, the smell is so bad.

This is horrible!

Do you know the best thing to do?

-Yeah?

-Think of somewhere hot and nice.

It goes out your mind.

-I don't know about that.

-It will, trust me.

Let the shovelling begin.

SHE GROANS

There you go, Linds, look at that.

What this is, is the fat, the same as on the walls, on top of the flow.

Oh, that is so deep.

So Gary, what SHOULD be down here?

Only three things should be down in this sewer, and that's pee,

paper and poo.

-The three Ps.

-The three Ps.

-That's it, nothing else.

-Nothing.

-Anything else you put down your loo or your sink ends up here.

Fatbergs also come at a price,

because they cost water companies millions of pounds to get rid of.

That...

is what a fatberg looks like, and it absolutely stinks.

-Can I put it down?

-Just put it down.

Do you know what?

That was so smelly down there, but having seen what's down there

I now understand exactly why new super sewers

like Lee Tunnel are needed.

Can I get out now?

Thankfully, the new sewer will be sending millions of tonnes of waste

to this treatment works to be filtered.

After the sewage is treated

it ends up here, where it re-enters the River Thames as clean water.

I can smell something really pooey.

And I think it's me.

Don't, I don't smell any more,

I have had a bath. Now, coming up next week,

we are going to switch from the Purple Badge to the silver

in our Badge Baton Relay.

-Cannot wait.

-Also, I take part in a race...

-Mm-hm.

-..in a bath.

-That's true.

-I can't wait for that.

As well, if you head to the Blue Peter website right now,

you can learn how to make this, your very own Badge Baton.

It's very exciting. All the details you need to make that are there,

and lots of ideas to keep you busy throughout the summer.

We're off. Say goodbye, Radzi.

Goodbye, Radzi.

D'you see what I did there?

Anyway, Millie from Suffolk said she'd like to see more breakdancing

on the show. So I got thinking, I had this idea...

-Oh, no. He's going to do it.

-Radz, you can't finish the show like that.

Cue the music!

BLUE PETER THEME PLAYS