Media centre

Monday 21 Jan 2008

PLEASE LOOK AFTER THIS BEAR

Region & Route:

National

It was a whole half century ago that Paddington Bear, in his trademark duffle coat arrived from Darkest Peru and was found at Paddington Station in London. Fifty years of marmalade sandwiches later, he still remains one of Britain’s favourite bears! To celebrate this very special 50th birthday, BBC Radio 4 and Network Rail are placing 50 Paddington bears in prominent places in train stations around the UK wearing the label ‘Please Look After this Bear’. The bears will be in place and ready to be found by a prospective owner from 9.30am on Tuesday 22nd January. In exchange for taking the Paddington bears home, the finders will be asked to call BBC Radio 4 and leave a special birthday message about the well loved bear. On Saturday 1st March in a special one off programme on BBC Radio 4, children’s author Michael Morpurgo will talk to the finders, hearing how and where they found the bears, their favourite Paddington memories and what Paddington means to them. Interwoven with these stories, we’ll hear from Paddington’s creator Michael Bond about how he came to write A Bear Called Paddington in 1958 and why he thinks the character has stood the test of time. We’ll also hear archive from the unlikely recipient of the first Paddington Bear soft toy – Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson - whose mother, Shirley, made one for him at Christmas and then went on to run the only factory in the world licensed to produce them.