Jacqueline Wilson Takeover Blue Peter

We have got an absolutely awesome author in the studio today.

She's sold over 40 million books and became a dame in 2008.

It's one and only...

Radzi, keeping the hot seat warm, baby.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Radz...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Hello! And welcome to Live Blue Peter.

And today, as you can see, we are very excited

because a celebrity author is in charge.

-AUDIENCE:

-Oooh!

And that VIP guest...

-AUDIENCE:

-Oooh!

..has taken the Blue Peter reins all day

so everything you see in the show will be down to her.

-AUDIENCE:

-Oooh!

-They're a good audience.

There's going to be music, baking,

history and she's even hidden Spot Shelley.

That's right, she's going to be hiding.

If you can see her at any point in the show,

-do write in and let us know.

-Linds.

-Yes?

-I want to meet her.

OK, I think we've kept you waiting long enough, so please welcome

gold-badge holder and today's editor in chief,

Dame Jacqueline Wilson.

CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

Hello.

-Hi, Lindsey. Hi, Radzi.

-Jacqueline, the crowd are loving you.

-Welcome to Blue Peter.

-Thank you.

Obviously, you've been on so many times,

but today you are the boss lady.

Oh, it's a wonderful moment.

Just for one day, though, but I'm making the most of it.

And I'm such a big fan of Blue Peter

so it's been fantastic seeing

behind the scenes of the show, discussing the ideas with everybody.

What a fantastic team.

Well, let's talk about that for a second - take a look at this.

You've really got yourself stuck in. Feast your eyes

on what Jacqueline's been up to.

There she is pitching with the Blue Peter team to give ideas.

Making Jacqueline crack up. We've got her sat there,

looking through some of the pictures in the post.

That's the read-through we do very first thing in the morning.

Jacqueline, how have you found it?

I've just enjoyed myself so much.

I'd like to come back again and again.

-You can. You are always welcome here.

-Thank you.

Before we chat to you any more, let's talk about this.

We are very excited. I can't believe I'm saying it,

but you have got another book out.

-So tell us a little bit about it.

-Well, Wave Me Goodbye is set

right at the beginning of the Second World War.

It's about ten-year-old Shirley.

She's told by her mum, "You're going on a little holiday,"

and she puts her on a train with a whole load of other children.

Shirley doesn't know where she's going,

what's going to happen to her.

That's how the book starts, and we just find out.

I feel like we need another, "Oooh!"

-AUDIENCE:

-Oooh!

The Second World War must've been a really scary time.

What was it that inspired you to write that?

Well, I'd heard about all of these hundreds of thousands of children

who were sent away to places of safety in the country,

and I wondered, "How would I have coped?"

It would have been so scary but kind of exciting, too.

So that's what got me writing the book.

I feel like we have so many questions we want to ask today.

If you at home do as well, make sure you type them down,

write them in, head to the BP website right there

and Radz and I will try to get through as many as we can

with Jacqueline later in the show.

Before that, though,

would you like to do the honours and introduce your first item

-of the show?

-I'm so excited about this.

It shows an amazing school that teaches

about an ancient civilisation

in a totally unique way.

-But first of all, we've got to catch up on our history.

-Yay!

Let me take you back in time.

Way back.

4,500 years back, to the Bronze Age,

so called because it was when man first started using metals,

such as bronze, making it

a very important time in human history.

But why am I banging on about it?

Well, recently, archaeologists found

an undiscovered Bronze Age settlement.

Must Farm lay hidden for thousands of years,

and I've come to Cambridge University to meet

Chris from the team, to see some of the many things they found.

Chris, I like the look of this already.

-We have our artefacts here.

-Yeah, we certainly do.

What I'm really hoping we're going to find -

fingers crossed you're going to say it's possible -

3,000-year-old cheetah poo.

Probably not inside one of the balls they were eating at the time,

remember. So this is probably going to be some of their foodstuffs.

That would be bad.

So many objects were discovered that they're still being revealed,

so I'm lending a hand and cleaning soil from this Bronze Age pot.

And nobody has ever seen this before?

So you're going to be the first person

looking inside the contents of this bowl in 3,000 years ago.

Yes!

I'm getting my hands on history, people!

Oh! Whoa!

So this could be some slightly charred textile,

so a little bit of clothing or something that was, you know,

made of fibre, so a little bit of cloth that's maybe been on fire

and fallen into this pot as it burns.

To me and you, it might not look like much,

but to Chris, it's a brand-new Bronze Age discovery.

This is a great way to learn about this fascinating part of history.

But not too far away, there is a school that goes one step further.

Built on a major Bronze Age site, it gives kids the chance to

experience life back then for themselves.

It's not like most schools,

but then their headteacher isn't like most heads.

Cue Mr Fairclough.

ROCK MUSIC

Hi!

How are you doing?

I think you're the coolest headmaster I have ever met.

-Thank you.

-You're also the headmaster of a very special school.

What makes it so special?

Well, we're on the site of the second largest Bronze Age

settlement in Europe, so it feels like an educational gift to

explore the Bronze Age with the children.

-What do the kids learn?

-So we've got all of the elements

which are exciting for children -

spears, bows and arrows, fires, hunting, fishing, everything.

And we can do all of that on this land.

-I'd love to get to see it for myself. Can I?

-Absolutely. Let's go.

Fab.

As the Bronze Age was when our ancestors began to create

things from metal, that's where we're starting.

Madison and Ethan are about to show me how to do a spot of smelting.

Press it down...

Is that OK?

Yeah, and then you get one of these,

and then you just press it down gently.

Smelting is how metal was shaped 3,000 years ago.

After creating a mould in the sand,

the metal is warmed at 250 degrees until liquid...

Mine is the one there.

..then poured into the mould, left to set and cooled in water.

I love this noise.

-SIZZLE

-Yes! Is that them there?

-Yeah.

So there you have it,

a perfect token with a lovely picture of a bird on it.

Well, at least theirs has.

All this smelting has given me quite the appetite.

Luckily, this lot have got it covered.

-What are you cooking?

-Um, we're making Bronze Age flatbreads.

As well as the breads, they're making Bronze Age butter,

all served with blackberry jam.

Yum.

And it's absolutely delicious.

When I was at school, I just read about history,

but these guys get to see it, feel it, even taste it.

So what do they think? Is this the coolest school ever?

-Yes.

-You're discovering history.

Every time you come here, you can do different activities.

It's just really fun to learn and be outside.

It makes me feel like a different person.

Today has been an eye-opener

and a real chance to see this part of ancient history come to life.

-What a day it's been, Mike. Thank you so much.

-Thank you, thank you.

Actually, before you leave, can you give me a hand with something?

-We need to go feed our school pets.

-School pets? Yeah, I love cats.

It's not cats, is actually a heard of water buffalo.

Apparently, water buffalo are the closest relation

to Bronze Age cattle.

All I know is they've got massive horns.

Here, kitty, kitty, kitty...

I think they're full.

What a special school that is

-and what a special man Mr Fairclough is.

-Oh, I just love him.

If only I'd had a head teacher like that when I was at school.

That makes two of us.

Jacqueline, this is the time on the show when we take you

over to the big badge wall. Are you up for going?

-Absolutely, it's my favourite bit.

-Amazing, let's go.

-Yay!

Come over this way, because it is looking absolutely fantastic

this week, covered in all your wonderful posts.

-Isn't it good, Jacqueline?

-It's absolutely marvellous.

And I have to comment on this one, done by Francesca.

I mean, all my favourite characters, how good is that?

And that was actually sent in this morning, so well done, Francesca.

Good effort.

I've got to draw your attention to Nicole from Falkirk,

who sent us in this fab picture.

So, if I point to it here, we have Radzi, we have Lindsey,

and in the middle we have our very smiley Harry Hill.

Nicole, you got yourself a blue badge. Well done, my friend.

Check this out. It's been sent in by Freya, from Wiltshire.

And as you can see,

I'm doing my kick at Wembley Stadium on the green grass,

and you can see the rugby ball going - pow - straight over.

Not hitting the post, not for me. Thank you so much, Freya.

Now, Max from Hull, you've snuck onto the wall this week.

Feast your eyes on the parachute that you sent in.

So we started the process of asking you guys to send us in

your very own Blue Peter parachutes.

Max was the very first one to do that.

-Round of applause for Max, everyone.

-Yay! Go, Max.

However, I know you're thinking, "What's that in aid of?"

Well, that's all in aid of my brand-new Blue Peter

Children In Need challenge.

I'm very excited. Take a look at this.

To inspire you to do your thing for Children In Need,

I'm going to push myself to the limit.

1000, 2,000...

I'm hoping to follow in the footsteps of my Blue Peter heroes...

Wow!

..and perform with the RAF's Parachute Display Team.

Join me for the biggest challenge of my life...

..as I attempt to freefall.

Eh!

I'm very excited. I'm going to go around again.

Eh! Yes!

Only one week until you'll see Freefall, the very start,

part one of my Blue Peter challenge. Do not miss it.

So you are thinking to yourself,

"What am I going to do in the next week until I get to watch it?"

Good question, my friends. Download and print out this template here.

This is the parachute we want you to cut out and decorate,

and that is the pledge slip.

We want you to fill in your details and tell us what you're doing

for Children In Need.

And then, send it in

to the usual address that you can see below.

The deadline is the 15th of November, which is a Wednesday.

The day after, Thursday, is the live Children In Need spectacular.

And imagine this, we want thousands of you to do just that -

send in your parachutes,

and I'm going to be using a massive parachute made by you at home.

So send it in, just like a little author that you might have heard of

called Jacqueline Wilson. Thank you very much.

-We've got one. And I will cut that out right now.

-Brilliant. Go for it.

So, Linds, it's from fantastic mix by a legendary author to...

What are you up to?

Well, what we are up to is a bit of baking,

but not quite yet because we are joined by Dr Bryce Evans.

Hello!

Welcome to Blue Peter. Now, you have a very cool job.

-You are a food historian, is that right?

-Yes, indeed.

-Do you get to eat a lot of things?

-Yeah, now and again.

-OK.

Well, obviously, Jacqueline Wilson's book was set in World War II

and food wasn't really readily available then, was it?

Now, if you think about Britain today,

we import most of our food, and the same is true

in the Second World War, only there is a war going on,

so a lot of those supplies are lost at sea, so the Government is

encouraging people to grow their own vegetables

and introduces something called rationing.

-Ah, OK, so what exactly is rationing?

-Rationing is

the Government trying to make sure everyone has fair shares of food.

So they introduce this, and it limits

the type and amount of food that you're able to get.

To supplement that, the Government is also saying,

-"Grow your own food."

-Ah, get involved.

-Get involved.

-Get a green Blue Peter badge, basically.

And that explains some of the amazing posters and books we've got here.

They've been supplied by the

Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections.

So, tell us a little bit about these.

What were these for, exactly?

Well, the Government produces a lot of cookbooks written by

celebrity chefs of the day in terms of people's dietary habits changing.

How can you cook different recipes,

different foods that are available?

And the two big cartoon characters that push this propaganda message...

-They are behind us here.

-They are behind us.

-Potato Pete there.

And I'll just make sure it's clear for camera four.

-We've got Dr Carrot here.

-Yep.

-So who were they?

-Well, Potato Pete, every schoolkid

in the Second World War is going to know Potato Pete.

He's in the cinema, he's in the newspapers.

He is a potato who is always saying, "Mash me, boil me, eat me."

Because the Government wants people to grow their own...

Potatoes come from the earth. That's Potato Pete.

OK, and sugar was one of the first things to actually be rationed.

-Yeah.

-So we've got some treats. Now, I haven't tried these yet, we

were saving it for the live show, so talk me through these treats.

First, we've got economy cake.

What exactly was that?

So this is made without any sugar at all, really.

Dairy products aren't readily available,

so there's no things you'd expect like milk and sug...

-Can I try some?

-Go ahead.

-How does that taste?

-Actually, delicious.

-A lot of raisins?

-A lot of raisins. Cinnamon?

-Yeah, and that's where

-the flavour is coming from.

-That's really good.

-Not too bad.

What have we got here? It doesn't look quite as delicious.

-Radzi, yeah, you can have the economy cake.

-Yeah, hi.

-What have we got here?

-So we have here apple and potato pudding.

Now, you wouldn't think, if you are making a pudding,

apple tart today, you wouldn't think about putting

potatoes in it, but really think about the restriction

of supplies, the stodge is from the potato there.

-Oh, that is it... That smells stodgy.

-Potato Pete is in there.

-How's that?

-You know what, it's not for me.

-OK.

-LAUGHTER

-Not today. You can have that one as well.

-I'll leave that one.

No, he's going to leave it. OK, and what have you got here?

-Carrot cookies!

-So, carrot cookies, very easy to make -

only four ingredients for carrot cookies.

-OK.

-A little bit of sugar in these. How does that taste?

Really good.

-And what flavour are you getting?

-Well, a lot of carrot.

A lot of carrot, OK. Dr Carrot, behind you. Dr Carrot's in there.

A lot of grated carrot in there.

The BP audience love getting involved, so I think we...

Stop being naughty, go back to your station.

My goodness, we should show them

-how to make their very own carrot cookies.

-Yes.

-Shall we do it?

This is a recipe from 1942. It is 75 years old.

-Let's do it.

-Let's do it.

-Radzi, you're being so naughty today.

I'm being very naughty but you want to know how to make carrot cookies

and this is all you need in order to make them.

Feast your eyes on these ingredients. So you've...

-And two smiley guests to help you make it with me.

-What are we doing?

Do you want to kick things off?

We have melted margarine and we've got sugar.

-OK, so plonk that in.

-Yeah.

-There we go.

-And then the sugar,

but what must you remember when pouring in the sugar?

Well, good top tip, isn't it? Is to leave a little bit behind.

So, put most of it in and leave a bit for later. There you go.

Nice, I'll give it a good old mix.

And then while I'm doing that, Bryce,

would you mind pouring in the grated carrots?

-Of course.

-Thank you so much.

Dr Carrot would be proud.

-In it goes.

-There we go, nice one.

I think this is possibly the easiest Blue Peter bake I've ever done.

-It actually is.

-Really straightforward.

-Give it a go at home.

-Radz, should we fold in some flour?

What a fantastic idea, Lindsey.

-Come on, then.

-In it goes.

Is that how you fold flour in?

Now, when I say it's really easy, it's not that easy

to keep flour in the bowl when you're stirring really fast.

You've got a lot on your apron there, Radz.

That's why you wear an apron.

So, once it looks a little bit like that,

-we will take a nice little dollop.

-Ooh!

That's an official Jamie Oliver measurement.

-And I'll put it in the centre.

-I like it when we get hands-on.

And I'm going to press it down into a cookie and then,

-this is where the spare sugar comes in...

-Oh, yes!

-Thanking you.

Give it a sprinkle.

-Give it a quick sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle.

-Ooh, lovely.

And then... Bryce, would you like to do the honours?

-Indeed.

-In it goes.

Normally, this might take a little bit of time.

Set the oven to 180 degrees or about gas mark four in old money.

25 minutes to be precise, but, Bryce...

See, that's a quick snack, isn't it?

Well, here's some we made earlier.

ALL CHEER

If only we had somebody

who hasn't tried one to try a fresh carrot cookie.

Come on in, Dame Wilson. Is it Dame Wilson or Dame Jacqueline?

-Which way round is it?

-Oh, just Jacqueline, please.

-Just Jacqueline. I'll just curtsy.

-OK.

Why don't you grab a nice fresh one there?

-Right.

-Take a little bite.

-Any good?

-It's not bad.

-Not bad! We'll take that from the editor in chief.

-Yeah.

Whilst Jacqueline's chewing that,

remember all the details you need are on the Blue Peter website.

That's right. Well, while we make a cup of tea

and eat pretty much all of these,

-Jacqueline, would you like to do the next link?

-Certainly.

Well, I've been lucky enough to have quite a few of my books

made into television programmes and I always love it

when they have child stars

and I thought it would be really interesting

to find out about the life of one of these child stars.

Matilda - a Roald Dahl classic that tells the tale of its magical hero.

In 2010, it was turned into a musical stage production and for

the last six years, it's been wowing audiences at London's West End.

I'm getting a glimpse of what makes this production so successful.

Let's get inside and see what brings this magical family show to life.

See? Access all areas.

The reason this show has been going for so long and is

so successful isn't just down to the lights,

the costume and the incredible set which you can see behind me,

but it's also down to the young actors who play Matilda.

Hi, my name's Kitty, and I play Matilda.

Hi, my name's Emma, and I play Matilda.

Hi, my name's Lily-Mae, and I play Matilda.

Hi, my name's Savannah, and I play Matilda.

OK, I'm confused.

You wait all day for a Matilda and then four come along at once.

So, girls, I am so excited to meet you today but I've got to say,

I'm a little confused. What's going on? How does this work?

So, basically, we take turns playing the role of Matilda

and performing and we have the same amount of shows every week.

And actually I'm performing tonight.

-Are you?

-Yeah.

-Well, mega good luck. That's going to be amazing.

Speaking of performing tonight,

what does it feel like when you go out onto the stage?

What's that feeling right before you go out?

It's an incredible feeling.

It's so exciting, you get such a rush up on stage.

Yeah, you do get nervous sometimes, but you're all right with it now.

And what do you do before the show?

Is there anything you do to kind of get into character?

Well, we warm up and then we go up into our dressing rooms

and, like, get into costume and do our hair and get our mics done

and then we get backstage and ready to start the show.

So, guys, when you get into the theatre,

-what's normally the first thing you do?

-Vocal warm-ups.

-Oh, OK. So, can I join in with that today?

-Yes.

OK, don't laugh at me.

-Right, over to you.

-Here we go.

# I like to scoff, scoff, scoff yummy Thai takeaway

# I like to scoff, scoff, scoff yummy Thai takeaway

# I like to scoff, scoff, scoff yummy Thai takeaway

# I like to scoff, scoff, scoff, scoff, scoff it all day long. #

Lovely job.

I want to do this every morning.

This is amazing, I feel ready.

Why is it really important to do these warm-ups?

Because when we go on stage, we need our vocal cords

and our voices to be warm and strong because it's like an athlete -

they need to be warm and strong to run,

so we have to be warm and strong to perform.

Once those all-important vocal cords are warm,

the girls' next stop is costume

as they begin to transform into Matilda for the show.

Here, we have all of our quick-change outfits

that we wear throughout the show.

So, is there anything that I'm allowed to try on or have a look at?

How about you try on one of our costumes like Mr Wormwood's jacket?

That's the very colourful one at the front?

-Yeah.

-Can I actually put that on?

-Yeah.

-This is amazing. OK.

Now, get out of here! You little stink worm.

OK, shall we say his line on three? Ready? One, two, three...

-ALL:

-TELLY!

What a great insight into what it takes

to be a young West End theatre superstar.

Well, listen, I think you're all amazing.

To anyone watching Blue Peter who thinks, "I want to do that,"

have you got any top tips or advice for them?

Yeah, I think just be yourself.

Like, it is quite hard work

and you go through a lot of audition processes and stuff.

And what about the singing?

Do you have to do a lot of practice with the singing and the acting?

Have you been doing that for years?

Yeah, we've been doing it for quite a while.

OK, so get out there, get practising and believe in yourself.

-Yeah.

-Guys, thank you for talking to me today.

Best four Matildas I've ever met. There we go.

Boom! Thank you, guys. What a day it's been.

To actually see how it all works behind this incredible show

and do you know what? The best part is, I think I may have found a way

to bring a bit of Matilda magic to the Blue Peter studio.

Well, there we had four Matildas, but I've found a fifth.

Please welcome Abbie to Blue Peter. APPLAUSE

Abbie, it's very cool to have you here.

-Is that your first ever BP badge?

-Yes.

-Amazing!

-And how long have you been Matilda?

-A year and a bit.

And what's the best bit? What's been your highlight?

Well, you get to meet really nice friends,

like, friends for life and then everyone there's

kind of supporting you and it's just really nice.

I bet it's just the best job in the world, isn't it?

And to those Matildas that we saw there who are just starting out,

what would be your advice to them?

With the easy bits, you just go with it,

but then if you get things that are challenging,

you've just kind of got to go for it and not really worry about it.

I think that's very good advice for life, isn't it? That's fantastic.

Well, thank you for being here today.

You're going to be singing a song for us from the show, aren't you?

-Yeah.

-What are you singing?

-Naughty.

-I love it. It's my favourite.

So, off you go, get ready, and I'll introduce it, all right?

Thank you, Abbie. So, unfortunately for Matilda,

her parents are not very nice so she has to be a little bit naughty.

Please give it up for Abbie from Matilda.

APPLAUSE

# Jack and Jill

# Went up the hill

# To fetch a pail of water

# So they say

# The subsequent fall was inevitable

# They never stood a chance

# They were written that way

# Innocent victims of their story

# But Romeo and Juliet

# 'Twas written in the stars before they even met

# That love and fate and a touch of stupidity

# Would rob them of their hope of living happily

# The endings are often a little bit gory

# I wonder why they didn't just change their story

# We're told we have to do what we're told, but surely

# Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty

# Just because you find that life's not fair

# It doesn't mean that you just have to grin and bear it

# If you always take it on the chin and wear it

# Nothing will change

# Even if you're little you can do a lot

# You mustn't let a little thing like "little" stop you

# If you sit around and let them get on top

# You might as well be saying

# You think that it's OK

# And that's not right

# And if it's not right

# You have to put it right... #

"Platinum blonde hair dye, extra strong.

"Keep out of reach of children."

Hmm...

"Oil of Violets hair tonic for men."

Yep.

# In a slip of a bolt

# There's a tiny revolt

# The seed of a war in the creak of a floorboard

# The storm can begin

# With the flap of a wing

# The tiniest mite packs the mightiest sting

# Every day

# Starts with the tick of a clock

# All escapes start with the click of a lock

# If you're starting your story

# And want to get out

# You don't have to cry

# You don't have to shout

# Cos if you're little you can do a lot

# You mustn't let a little thing like "little" stop you

# If you sit around and let them get on top

# You won't change a thing

# Just because you find that life's not fair

# It doesn't mean that you just have to grin and bear it

# If you always take it on the chin and wear it

# You might as well be saying

# You think that it's OK

# And that's not right

# And if it's not right

# You have to put it right

# But nobody else is going to put it right for me

# Nobody but me is going to change my story

# Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty. #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Amazing!

Now it's time for the quickfire questions that you sent in at home.

OK, PeasPanda1 says,

which one of your characters do you most relate to?

Erm... Hetty Feather, I suppose.

Wildcat says, cakes or biscuits?

-Cakes.

-I'm going cakes as well.

SportyDoggieDJ - is that you? -

how do you come up with your amazing book ideas?

-I just hope for the best, whatever comes into my head.

-Wow.

FluffyPinkGiraffe, sweet or sour?

Sour.

UnicornGirl3009,

do you have any routines to help you write your books?

I don't have routines, I just sit down and get started.

GlitterPugCake, what was the story you most related to?

Erm...

Various bits of me relate to all sorts of different stories...

KLAXON

Oh! We want to chat to you all day.

If you do too, then make sure you head to the fan club live page

straight after the show.

It's right there because there's a live write along.

This sounds incredible, Jacqueline.

What's it all about, what's the story?

It's going to be about Tracy Beaker,

but I'm going to need a lot of ideas from everyone.

-OK, so get online, people.

-I don't have an idea, I've got a question.

-OK.

-Where was Shelley this week?

-Where was she hiding?

-Aha!

Shelley was hiding in the carrot bowl and well done LottieBXO.

-You spotted her.

-Yes!

-Well done!

Also got to say a massive thank you to this legend here,

-Jacqueline Wilson.

-Amazing, thank you so much.

Now, make sure you're watching next week's show.

We've got part one - I've mentioned it before,

I'm going to mention it again - it's the start of my brand-new

Blue Peter Children In Need challenge.

I'm going to attempt to jump out of a plane, watch it!

Cannot wait for that.

And if you want to see how Blue Planet II is made,

it's the most incredible show starting soon,

-make sure you're watching.

-And if you are celebrating,

everyone at Blue Peter would like to tell you a very happy Diwali.

See you next time, bye-bye.