Blue Peter icon Biddy Baxter left astonishing quantity to her mates and charities after her loss of life aged 92

Blue Peter icon Biddy Baxter left an astonishing amount of money to her friends and charities in her will after her death, aged 92.

Mrs Baxter turned the children’s show into a television staple during her time as editor, but sadly died last August following a battle with breast cancer and Alzheimer’s.

The kids TV star had a fortune worth £3,874,219 when she died, newly released documents show, which became £3,549,910 after deductions.

This was divided equally 100 ways and distributed by her executors 

The biggest share, 25 per cent (£887,477.50), was sent to The Worshipful Company of Musicians charity, which administers a trust in her and her husband’s name.

She also left 16 per cent (£567,985.60) each to Durham Cathedral, Durham University and St Mary’s College of Durham.

Another 14 per cent (£496,987.40) was left to All Saints Church, Margaret Street, London, and five per cent went to Leicester University.

One share each (£35,499.10) went to goddaughters Elizabeth Thomas and Josephine Dixon.

Blue Peter icon Biddy Baxter has died in August last year but left huge amounts of money to her friends and charities (pictured in 1997) 

Biddy was born in Leicester in 1933, the only child of a deaf mother and a father who was the director of a textile company (pictured in 1968) 

The rest (£390,490.10) was divided equally among other friends and associates.

Mrs Baxtern married her long-term partner John Hosier, the music producer and educator, shortly before he died in March 2000.

They had no children.

She was born in Leicester in May 1933. She learnt her resourceful skills in mending and making do while growing up during World War Two, which later became a part of the Blue Peter ethos.

‘My friends and I held bring-and-buy sales for the Spitfire fund and put on plays and concerts for the British Red Cross and Aid to France,’ she said.

She went to Durham University at St Mary’s College in 1952 after being taught at her local grammar school. At the time only 6 per cent of undergraduates were women. 

The experience shaped the rest of her life. ‘For three memorable years, Durham was my life.’

Before launching herself into her BBC career, Mrs Baxter had wanted to be a prison officer or social worker, but by chance noticed the broadcaster was hiring.

She took over production of then failing Blue Peter in 1962 and revamped the show to the institution we still know today (pictured in 1997) 

Mrs Baxter died following a battle with breast cancer and Alzheimer’s (pictured in 2023)

She joined the BBC in 1955 as a radio trainee studio manager, creating sound effects.

By 1958 she was promoted and producing Schools Junior English programmes and Listen with Mother.

It was a brief illness that meant she got into children’s TV. While she was ill she covered kids shows for a while but then soon applied for a permanent job.

One radio colleague branded her a traitor for defecting to television.

In 1962, she was asked to take over as producer of Blue Peter, which was then struggling and believed to have a short life expectancy.

The cheap budget for the show and its position as something for children who had outgrown its sister show Watch with Mother meant it had survived before Mrs Baxter’s deft leadership came in.

The programmes, which lasted 15 minutes, were presented by Christopher Trace and a former Miss Great Britain, Leila Williams.

During her tenure, which lasted from 1965 to 1988, she introduced generations of children to the pleasures of sticky-backed plastic, on-screen pets, presenters’ adventures and charity appeals – a recipe that stood the test of time.