It's A Record

Douglas McPherson remembers Roy Castle, and the television show that catalogued remarkable feats.

If John Noakes was the action man of Blue Peter”, then Roy Castle was more like the James Bond of Record Breakers”.

During his 22 years presenting the popular children’s programme from the Seventies till the Nineties, Roy didn’t just showcase the world’s most amazing record-breaking feats, he took part in them often in truly spectacular fashion.

In the end, Roy set an impressive nine world records of his own.

His most dangerous deeds included standing atop the wings of a biplane for three and a half hours as it flew from Gatwick to Paris not bad for a man who suffered from vertigo!

Perhaps Roy’s most Bond-like stunt was being towed along the Thames while dangling from a parachute, dipping under every bridge from Vauxhall Bridge to Tower Bridge along the way.

“Morning, Maggie!” he called to Prime Minister Thatcher as he flew past the Houses of Parliament.

Before Record Breakers”, Roy Castle enjoyed a varied career as a tap dancer, trumpet player, actor and comedian.

In 1965, he hit the big screen with a comedic turn as lan Chesterton in the Peter Cushing film Dr Who And The Daleks’.

But Record Breakers” made him a household name.

The first episode aired 50 years ago on December 15, 1972, and Roy started as he meant to go on by setting a world record as a one-man band.