Crispin Evans writes: Multi-Coloured Swap Shop was created by Rosemary Gill (obituary, 19 March) to be as different as possible from Blue Peter, while serving the same audience. I had the great pleasure and privilege of working with Rose for many years on Swap Shop and can vouch that this always remained her objective.
She had a quirky way of seeing things which inspired her programme-making and meant she knew that true variety of content would appeal to viewers. While on Blue Peter, it was Rose who coined the phrase "and now for something completely different", later adopted by Monty Python. She understood that children – and adults, too, come to that – loved the unpredictable and the unexpected.
Using that as a basic philosophy meant that Swap Shop could contain, within the same hour, an interview with a prima ballerina, a riotous Tom and Jerry cartoon and a new Blondie video, as well as a multitude of other disconnected and contrasting items. In the show's first year, Rose brought together a small production team from widely differing backgrounds, including a Woman's Hour producer, a documentary film editor and a former pirate radio DJ. This disparate group helped her produce an astonishing first series that was recognised by Bafta and culminated in Princess Anne presenting Rose with the 1976 Harlequin award for best children's programme.
Rose's success with Swap Shop meant that BBC bosses regarded her as a television producer with a finger on the national pulse. They wanted to hear her ideas, and she had plenty, not least of which was Lucky Numbers, a peak-time vehicle for Noel Edmonds. Another was for a radical new motoring show to replace Top Gear, which at that time was a very conventional and under-watched programme. Her version was much more akin to the Top Gear of today, full of invention and jokes. But when it was pitched in 1978, it was way ahead of its time and never made the screen.
Rose understood talent. She took on Keith Chegwin, encouraged him and backed his every move. Maggie Philbin was discovered on her watch. It was Rose's idea that Delia Smith should not just be featured in a recorded insert to Swap Shop but should join in live on Saturday mornings. She encouraged John Craven to step outside his Newsround box and get involved in the fun and excitement. Neither he, nor Delia, ever looked back.