Young superfan wins unique money-can’t-buy behind the scenes Doctor Who experience and ultra-rare Doctor Who 60th Blue Peter competition badge.
The competition, which launched on Blue Peter in April, asked viewers aged between 5 and 15 to design a poster to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who and say why they would like to go behind the scenes to see how the series is made.
Doctor Who superfan Verity, age 8, from Cardiff, was revealed as the winner in Friday’s episode of Blue Peter (available on BBC iPlayer) and will go on an exclusive VIP tour of the top-secret Doctor Who set with Blue Peter presenters Joel Mahwinney and Abby Cook.
Thousands entered and the competition finalists were judged by Executive Producer Joel Collins and by Showrunner Russell T Davies who thanked “everyone who submitted an entry because they were brilliant!”
Top runners up include Tyler, age 10, from Manchester who designed a poster featuring the number 60 and the Doctors, and Anna, age 13, from Derby, who created a three dimensional poster featuring David Tennant.
In the Blue Peter studio, on Friday 24 November the top three received a framed copy of their design and a rare, collectable Doctor Who 60th Blue Peter competition winner’s badge. The top 500 runners up also received a special limited edition Doctor Who 60th Birthday badge.
Verity, wanted to visit the Doctor Who set because she ‘loves everything about Doctor Who’. She drew an intricate detailed TARDIS. Verity has been watching Doctor Who since she was little and is a huge fan. She explained:
“When I found out I’d won the competition I was absolutely speechless. It was definitely the happiest moment of my life. I’m excited about everything but the thing I’m really excited about is being part of Doctor Who’s 60th birthday on Blue Peter.”
Joel Collins, Executive Producer of Doctor Who, commented that Verity’s design would make a brilliant t-shirt and Showrunner, Russell T Davies, added:
“The intricate TARDIS is so clever, I love it. All the lines of dialogue, it’s quite amazing, the circles around the edge are Gallifreyan. There’s just so much detail.” He added that he couldn’t wait to meet Verity and for her to see the TARDIS and meet the team.
Take a look at the top 30 entries from The Blue Peter Doctor Who Competition.
The winner’s experience will be shown in a special ‘Blue Peter Doctor Who Takeover’ on CBBC and iPlayer on the 15th of December 2023. Verity has ‘access all areas’ exploring the TARDIS, trying on costumes, meeting production design teams and talking to cast members Ncuti and Millie and Showrunner Russell T Davies.
New episodes of Blue Peter are on CBBC and iPlayer every Friday at 5pm. Blue Peter is the longest running kids TV show in the world and is produced by BBC Studios Kids & Family Productions.
Hey Verity, thank you for your comment, very interesting!
Hello, it’s me Verity! I don’t have to explain which Verity, it’s in the article. Do you know that Russell actually cried when he found out that the winner was a girl named Verity from Cardiff? He was so happy and said it was like fate!