The late John Noakes, it has been revealed, made his own coffin in preparation for his death. Exactly when he did this is not known, it’s only known that he made it earlier.
It’s well known that Blue Peter presenters are so handy at making things as to give the A-Team a run for their money, but this is taking it to a new level.
“It’s incredible,” co-presenter Peter Purves told the Rochdale Herald. “John represented everything that was great about Blue Peter, and the fact that he even went to this length of making his own coffin in advance just shows dedication.”
He reportedly made the coffin out of an old wardrobe, which he chopped into panels of the right shape and size, and stuck together with sticky-back plastic. The handles are reportedly made out of toilet roll tubes.
“Not sure about the handles,” another co-presenter, Valerie Singleton, commented on hearing the news, “I don’t think they’re going to last very long. But then, once it’s in the ground, it doesn’t really matter, does it?”
The one thing Noakes was unable to do himself, of course, was to put the date of his death on the brass plaque. But he did manage to complete the rest of the engraving with an old palette knife, “6 MARCH 1934-” and underneath, “MY TURN TO GET DOWN, SHEP.”
The engraver, a Spaniard by the name of Juan Aimederliar, said, “it will be a challenge matching up the style with what is already on the plaque. But if it is a little out, well, I guess that is all in the Blue Peter spirit?”
Peter Purves confirmed this. “Absolutely,” he said. “It’s what John would have wanted.”
