1967: FRED the TORTOISE is REALLY A GIRL | Blue Peter | Animal Magic | BBC Archive

"Fred, you are a lady."
The moment Blue Peter viewers are told that Fred the tortoise is really a girl.
After four years on the show, it is revealed that Fred the tortoise is, in fact, female - thanks to a letter sent in by eagle-eyed viewer, 10-year-old Tessa Knighton from Great Horkesley, near Colchester.
Fred's story becomes international news and on the following week's episode of Blue Peter, Fred is renamed Freda.
Clips taken from Blue Peter, originally broadcast 1 June, 1967 and 12 June, 1967.
Please note, some parts of this video contain poor quality footage.
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[@vanishingpoint2658]

Lead based paint! Shows how old the film is.😊 I wonder if sweet Freda is still alive ?🐢

[@kavorkaa]

The turtles are probably the only ones still alive of all on the clip

[@ajs41]

Peter Purves is still around but I'm not sure if he's one of the people in the clip or not.

[@M500VYN]

Valerie is very much alive

[@fidelcatsro6948]

Tessa Knighton the little girl should also be around today🐱👍🏿

[@andydixon2980]

So glad to hear they managed to establish Fred's sex correctly. Has kept me awake for many nights....

[@jasonayres]

Poor Fred..pardon, Freda.
Glad to hear that the observant 10 year old pointed out their mistake.
And yet, no adult staff member at the BBC did some basic research..
Ah, let's keep it light. 🙂

[@fidelcatsro6948]

Tessa Knighton, the little eagle eyed girl should be 66yrs old today🐱👍🏿

[@robinvanags912]

I never knew this 'back story', to Freda we saw on the show in the seventies!.

[@Tim.Weaver]

I remember watching this as a 9-year old!
Looking back, I was surprised the BBC allowed Val to say the word "belly" on a kids' show. In those days it was still considered a bit risqué.

[@danorthsidemang3834]

Balderdash. What are you even talking about?

[@fidelcatsro6948]

happy 65th burdae🐱👍🏿

[@eduardo0796]

I really doubt a 10 year old in 2023 would notice that about tortoises. Either that Tessa kid was above average in terms of intelligence or maybe the average kid was intelligent back then. Either way, I wonder what Tessa is up today. She must be a 66 year old today. Maybe a pensionist?
Edit: just looked her up and she's quite the scholar...