Editing Murder Most Horrid (section)

== Format ==
Most episodes parodied the [[Thriller (genre)|thriller]] and [[murder mystery]] genres with one episode lampooning the trials and tribulations of being a children's presenter in general, and ''[[Blue Peter]]'' in particular. In 1998, this episode ("Murder at Tea Time") was repeated to celebrate the 40th anniversary of ''Blue Peter'', as part of a section entitled "Spoof Peter", which also featured (among others) the ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus|Python]]'' skit "How to Do It".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/190117.stm Here's once the BBC made 40 years earlier: Blue Peter Celebration]. Retrieved 11 January 2008</ref>

Each episode was stand-alone, and the episodes were written by different writers or writing teams with several contributing multiple episodes across the four series. Among these writers, the pairing of series-creator Paul Smith with Terry Kyan (who had previously collaborated on ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]'' and ''[[Alas Smith and Jones]]'') is particularly notable. The two would subsequently create and write ''[[Bonjour la Classe]]'', starring [[Nigel Planer]].<ref>[http://epguides.com/BonjourlaClasse/guide.shtml ''"Bonjour la Classe"'' Episode Guide at epguides.com]. Retrieved 11 January 2008</ref>

Other series writers included ''[[Private Eye]]'' editor and ''[[Have I Got News For You]]'' stalwart [[Ian Hislop]], ''[[Press Gang]]'' creator and ''[[Doctor Who]]'' showrunner [[Steven Moffat]], award-winning children's author [[Anthony Horowitz]], [[Nick Newman]] and [[John O'Farrell (author)|John O'Farrell]].

Episodes in series 1 mostly opened with French selecting and reading from a book, usually a quotation actually or allegedly from [[Shakespeare]]; series 2 onward dropped this opening. The series' theme song, which featured at the end of the episode, was sung by [[Ruby Turner]]. The lyrics changed between episodes, the penultimate line always a word rhyming with "horrid", sometimes humorously forced. The murders ranged from the straightforward to the bizarre, with the murder weapon shown on a pedestal during the end credits.