I grew up with Val, John & Pete (& subsequently Go With Noakes) but I never really liked Peter Purves - apparently he was put there to be a straight man to John Noakes. I also liked Lesley Judd, Simon Groom and Janet Ellis, but grew out of it by the time that Mark Curry came along.
My main problem with it nowadays is that it used to be that you had to do something special to win a Blue Peter Badge, like save someone from a burning building or be a carer for your disabled Mother, but now you can win one for just sending a painting in and it sort of trivialises it for me now.