A poignant tribute has been paid to a forgotten Blue Peter star, who died at the age of 28 after a brave health battle. The presenter wowed both on screen and on stage
The Blue Peter star suffered a tragic illness(Image: Peter Brooker/REX/Shutterstock)
Tributes have been paid to a talented Blue Peter presenter who was sacked before his tragic death.
At just 12-years-old, Michael Sundin had already become a trampolining champion, a talent that would prove instrumental in securing his position as a Blue Peter presenter in 1984.
Prior to joining the beloved children’s show, Michael had performed in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s acclaimed musical Cats before going on to portray Tik-Tok in Disney’s Return To Oz.
He caught the attention of Blue Peter producers while being interviewed by the programme’s then-presenter Janet Ellis, resulting in his appointment alongside her and Simon Groom.
Taking over from the show’s celebrated presenter Peter Duncan, Michael swiftly gained recognition for his adventurous exploits on Blue Peter, covering film sets and even paying a visit to Elton John’s residence.
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However, despite his natural screen presence, Michael’s stint on Blue Peter proved brief; he departed the programme after less than a year, allegedly when his contract wasn’t renewed. He then heartbreakingly passed away from an Aids-related illness aged just 28, in 1989.
Michael, fondly recalled by those close to him as a “blond, outgoing, gregarious ball of fun”, was cruelly outed by the media as gay during his short tenure on Blue Peter.
While then-Editor Biddy Baxter attributed his departure to lack of viewer appeal, his exit became mired in scandal as numerous sources suggested it stemmed from his sexuality, OK! reports.
During a 2007 television interview, Baxter dismissed these allegations, stating: “It was his leaving the programme because children didn’t like him – nothing to do with his sexual proclivities”.
After leaving Blue Peter, Michael went on to pursue acting, featuring in the 1987 film Lionheart. He performed in touring stage shows including Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and Starlight Express, and made an appearance in Rick Astley’s 1988 music video for She Wants To Dance With Me. Tragically, that same year Michael became unwell. He passed away at Newcastle General Hospital aged just 28, with initial reports suggesting his death was caused by liver cancer.
This week, The Elstree Project paid a poignant tribute to Michael’s talents as they looked back on his role as Tik-Tok. They wrote: “Michael Sundin was the performer inside Tik-Tok in Return to Oz (1985). His contribution was not animatronic control or puppetry, but full-body suit performance: movement, balance, timing and physical character, carried out under extreme physical and technical constraints.
“Tik-Tok was a hybrid creation. His head, eyes and facial details were operated externally by puppeteer Tim Rose using mechanical and radio-controlled systems, while the voice was added later in post-production. But the character’s weight, rhythm and locomotion came entirely from Sundin. He was responsible for making a rigid, four-foot copper robot feel grounded, deliberate and alive.
“The physical challenge was extraordinary. Sundin was folded double inside a small Kevlar suit, arms crossed, head tucked between his legs, walking backwards throughout filming. To navigate the set, he relied on a small internal monitor relaying an external camera feed — upside-down and reversed. This demanded constant recalibration, spatial intelligence and muscular control.”
Meanwhile, the programme’s oral history director, Walter Murch, said: “When Michael Sundin died in 1989 from an AIDS-related illness, aged just 28, there was only a small on-air acknowledgement of his passing on Blue Peter with no retrospective of his work in the way other presenters have been respected. In an era marked by stigma and silence, much of his contribution was quietly erased, and he was notably absent from anniversary clips and montages until the 60th anniversary.
“Sundin’s work on Return to Oz deserves to be understood clearly. He was not an animatronics operator or a puppeteer, but a suit performer whose body performed in a complex system of mechanical, electronic and human collaboration. Without his performance, Tik-Tok would not move as he does on screen. As we celebrate the technical innovations that took shape at Elstree, it’s worth remembering how many depended on performers willing to endure extraordinary conditions to make new forms of cinema possible.”
Following Michael’s passing, Blue Peter presenter Yvette Fielding paid tribute, joined by colleagues John Leslie and Caron Keating. She said: “We had one piece of very sad news during the summer. As many people may have heard, Michael Sundin – who presented Blue Peter five years ago – tragically died at the very young age of 28. Michael had been ill for a little while but the news of his death came as a great shock to all of us.”
