The Story Behind the Episode
Every author has a few unexpected chapters in their life. Mine includes a teenage appearance on Blue Peter, something I never thought I’d be revisiting decades later.
How It Happened
It began in the summer of 1987, just after we’d finished our O‑level exams. Those of us staying on for A‑levels returned to school for an induction week filled with various activities.
One of those activities centred around a Leeds University competition: build the lightest bridge possible that could support a 1kg bag of sugar. It quickly became a running joke that this was exactly the sort of thing that would end up on Blue Peter, the long‑running children’s TV programme of the day.
The joke turned into reality when I was called out of my A‑level Maths class by friends who said the school had received a call from the producers. They wanted to feature the competition on the show and asked if we’d like to take part.
The episode was broadcast live in January 1988.
On The Day
My friends and I, accompanied by a Physics teacher, travelled from Sheffield to London by train. At Television Centre, we were introduced to the producer and presenters, given a tour of the building, and took part in rehearsals for the live broadcast.
All went smoothly. Every bridge successfully balanced the 1kg bag of sugar throughout the day.
I was tasked with placing the bag of sugar on our bridge during the live show. The best way to describe what happened is simply to show the clip.
I think the late Caron Keating, who presented the segment, was secretly relieved that something broke; it made for a more entertaining feature.
And if you’ve ever watched a cooking segment on TV and wondered what the food actually tastes like, I can confirm that Mark Curry’s pasta dish, which we sampled at the end of the programme, had gone very cold!
While waiting for a taxi afterwards, the late comedian Mel Smith came over, chatted with us, and signed autographs. I remember thinking he must have just come in from the pub.
Looking Back Now
Back then I had thick, dark brown hair. The internet didn’t exist. Social media didn’t exist. Personal computing was dominated by Amstrad. In the UK, there were only four TV channels.
The Lamborghini Countach and Ferrari Testarossa were the supercars of choice. Timothy Dalton had just completed his first James Bond film. Madonna, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi were among the biggest music acts, with compact discs taking over from vinyl and cassette.
Technology was advancing, but nowhere near the pace we see today.
Perhaps the clip explains why I became a software engineer rather than a structural engineer.
The Competition Winners
The overall winners of the Leeds University competition were the girls from Leeds, the only female team in the final. As shown in the Calendar news clip, their bridge supported more than four times the target weight, even if it wasn’t the lightest. This is where we went wrong; we focused entirely on making the lightest possible bridge, but in doing so, compromised its structural integrity. They were pioneers of the day, promoting engineering and science for girls long before STEM outreach became mainstream.
I often wonder what career paths they and the other contestants followed. Today, all of us would be in our 50s, except for the youngest.
Recovering The Clips
The original broadcast was recorded on VHS by my family. Around twelve years ago, I transferred it to DVD.
I have a stack of DVDs I recorded from TV over the years, and while watching one recently, I realised it was the disc containing the Blue Peter episode.
To create the clips for this site, I copied the VOB files from the DVD into Microsoft Clipchamp and exported them as MP4s. The main clip was still over 900MB, so I used a software package called HandBrake to compress it into a format small enough to upload to the website’s media library.
Closing Thoughts
It’s funny how a moment you barely think about at 17 can become a story worth sharing decades later. Revisiting this clip has been a reminder of how much the world has changed, and how some memories stay wonderfully vivid.
J K Mullins
The Book Hook Online
August 4, 2026.
If you enjoy these glimpses into the past, my memoir Memories of an Elvis Fan explores many more moments that shaped my life.
I have been an Elvis fan since my childhood, going back as far as I can remember. Some of these memories pre-date me starting primary school which would have been in September 1975, aged five years.
I am from the United Kingdom, and I came to know Elvis through my mother and aunt. It might be said that being an Elvis fan is something that is inherited. As I attend events today that are connected with Elvis, I observe this phenomenon still applies, just as it did back then when I notice young fans attending with their families.
Over the years I have read many books about Elvis, watched many films, documentaries, attended concerts, bought many records, and visited his birthplace in Tupelo and of course his home in Memphis, Graceland. Such a lot has been written about Elvis, and I had the idea to tell the story of an Elvis fan.
The story is documented with my own personal photographs of my collection of memorabilia, photographs taken at events and on my travels, including the photographs taken in Graceland, where visitors are permitted to take their own photographs, although filming is not permitted. It occurred to me that not everyone may be able to collect or travel as much as I have, so for those Elvis fans in particular, I hope you enjoy “Memories of an Elvis Fan”.
J K Mullins.
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