Michael Sundin: New tribute paid to former Blue Peter presenter who died aged 28 - what was his cause of death, why was he sacked?
A new tribute has been paid to a Blue Peter presenter who was sacked from the show before his untimely death at the age of 28.
Michael Sundin was a Blue Peter presenter in 1984. His time on the beloved children’s TV show didn’t last long, as after less than a year on-screen his contract wasn’t renewed. He died five years later, aged 28, from an AIDS-related illness.
Following his departure from Blue Peter, Michael went on to pursue an acting career, appearing in the 1987 film Lionheart. He performed in touring stage productions including Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and Starlight Express, and featured in Rick Astley's 1988 music video for She Wants To Dance With Me.
Prior to landing the coveted Blue Peter hosting job , Michael had a role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's renowned musical Cats and also later portrayed Tik-Tok in Disney's Return To Oz.
He was seen by Blue Peter producers during an interview with the show's then-presenter Janet Ellis, and they offered him a presenting job. Michael went on to present the show alongside Janet and Simon Groom.
Former trampolining champion Micheal became known for performing daring stunts on Blue Peter, and he also reportedly visited film sets and even the homes of celebrities like Elton John.
He was outed as gay during his time on the show, and many speculated that his dismissal was a result of his sexuality. Then-Editor Biddy Baxter attributed his departure to a lack of viewer appeal, however, and denied these allegations. During a 2007 television interview, she said: "It was his leaving the programme because children didn't like him – nothing to do with his sexual proclivities."
Michael fell ill in 1988. He died in 1989 at Newcastle General Hospital aged just 28. At the time, reports indicated that his death was caused by liver cancer.
After Michael's death, Blue Peter presenter Yvette Fielding paid her respects, joined by fellow presenters John Leslie and Caron Keating. She stated: "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."
Now, more than thirty years on, The Elstree Project has paid new tribute to Michael by reflecting 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, Walter Murch, the programme's oral history director, 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."