Edward Barnes (television executive)
Edward Barnes (born 8 October 1928) is British television producer and a former BBC television executive.
Career
Children's television
Edward Barnes was a co-creator of Blue Peter in and the programme's assistant director in 1958. Later he was a producer of the series. It was Barnes, with colleague Biddy Baxter, who in late 1962 toured London pet shops after the show's mongrel puppy died and a clandestine substitute (soon known as Petra) was needed so as not to needlessly upset young viewers.[1]
Barnes was the originator of Newsround in April 1972, originally known as John Craven's Newsround, the longstanding children's television news programme. He was deputy head of children's television at the BBC at the time.[2] Newsround was created to explain horrifying stories to children that would not be comprehended equally well on the main news. It was met with resistance when he formulated it, and was a controversial idea for some of his colleagues.[2] Newsround in 1986 would be the first to bring a horrifying story first on the British television - the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on 28 January 1986.
Barnes was married to the writer Dorothy Smith, who was a contributor to Blue Peter, from 1950 to 1992, when she died. The couple had three children.[3]
References
- ^ Marson, Richard (4 October 2008). "Blue Peter: celebrating 50 years". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ a b Stuart, Keith (29 November 2011). "Newsround: the TV institution that almost never happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ Baxter, Biddy (8 August 1992). "Obituary: Dorothy Smith". The Independent. Retrieved 7 October 2015.