Tracy Island
Scott revisited the Christmas when Tracy Island became the toy almost every child wanted.
Demand for the Thunderbirds playset overwhelmed supply, with parents queuing for hours and leaving shops empty-handed.
The shortage became national news and was later treated as a lesson for the toy industry.
Anthea Turner’s Blue Peter solution
Blue Peter presenter Anthea Turner showed viewers how to make a Tracy Island model from household materials.
Thunderbird 3 emerged from a toilet-roll tube, Thunderbird 1 from a yoghurt pot and Thunderbird 2 from a tissue box.
The project also required corrugated paper, sawdust, a paper bowl, a soap-powder packet, PVA glue and what the instructions called an “oblong cheese box”.
More than 100,000 viewers requested the fact sheet, forcing the BBC to withdraw the postal offer.
Anthea later said her original model remained in her loft and had survived because she made it so well.
The toys of the 1990s
Listeners shared memories of creating the model, receiving the official toy or watching their parents attempt the complicated build.
The Tracy Island story became the centrepiece of the programme’s wider celebration of 1990s Christmas toys.
A Very Jilly Christmas
Jilly returned with more advice ahead of Christmas dinner, continuing her unexpected role as the show’s festive cookery expert.
Handover
Scott handed over after noting that the homemade Tracy Island remained one of Blue Peter’s most famous makes.
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