Gordon the Gopher was a puppet created to appear alongside Philip Schofield during the time he introduced Children's BBC from the BBC Continuity area, later to be known as the Broom Cupboard (due to the fact that the space was so small).
In actual fact, the studio, which was where the BBC ONE continuity announcers sat to do their links between the programmes, was not originally known as the Broom Cupboard – that name was given to the stand by studio known as BBC sub control, which was used for a short period of time while the main studio was being refitted. The name came about due to the fact it was even smaller, and it was in fact Phil's successor Andy Crane who used the name for the main studio.
Gordon appeared one afternoon and was instantly popular. He was operated by Paul Smith, then a producer at Children's BBC. When Philip and Gordon left the afternoons to go on and host Saturday morning show Going Live, Paul Smith continued to be Gordon's operator, although this fact wasn't generally publicised due to Paul Smith's other life as a BBC Executive.
One nearly disastrous moment for Gordon/Paul came during a cookery item, when Phillip nearly set Gordon on fire, but disaster was averted in the end!
When Going Live finished, Gordon starred in his own TV show and then moved to various different homes, including the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford.
Going Live co-host Sarah Greene said that the guests of the show would end up addressing Gordon as a person such was the strength of the character, and he attracted numerous fan letters each week.
Phillip Schofield has tried desperately to disassociate himself from Gordon, and in a recent edition of Room 101, Gordon was the first thing that he chose. The audience however voted to overrule that, and so he lives on – somewhere.
In actual fact, the studio, which was where the BBC ONE continuity announcers sat to do their links between the programmes, was not originally known as the Broom Cupboard – that name was given to the stand by studio known as BBC sub control, which was used for a short period of time while the main studio was being refitted. The name came about due to the fact it was even smaller, and it was in fact Phil's successor Andy Crane who used the name for the main studio.
Gordon appeared one afternoon and was instantly popular. He was operated by Paul Smith, then a producer at Children's BBC. When Philip and Gordon left the afternoons to go on and host Saturday morning show Going Live, Paul Smith continued to be Gordon's operator, although this fact wasn't generally publicised due to Paul Smith's other life as a BBC Executive.
One nearly disastrous moment for Gordon/Paul came during a cookery item, when Phillip nearly set Gordon on fire, but disaster was averted in the end!
When Going Live finished, Gordon starred in his own TV show and then moved to various different homes, including the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford.
Going Live co-host Sarah Greene said that the guests of the show would end up addressing Gordon as a person such was the strength of the character, and he attracted numerous fan letters each week.
Phillip Schofield has tried desperately to disassociate himself from Gordon, and in a recent edition of Room 101, Gordon was the first thing that he chose. The audience however voted to overrule that, and so he lives on – somewhere.
