Tony Bastable
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Anthony Leslie Bastable (15 October 1944 – 29 May 2007) was an English television presenter, who was one of the original presenters of the children's magazine programme '' Magpie''.


Early life

Bastable was born in Hexham,
Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...
, in 1944. After moving to
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
,
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
, he attended Wembley Manor School from 1952 to 1955 and
University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...
in
Frognal Frognal is a small area of Hampstead, North West London in the London Borough of Camden. Frognal is reinforced as the name of a minor road, which goes uphill from Finchley Road and at its upper end is in the west of Hampstead village. History ...
, London. On leaving school he trained to be a school teacher, teaching British History part-time at Buckingham College School in Harrow, Middlesex, whilst also working as a reporter for local newspapers.


Television career

In the early 1960s, Bastable applied for a job as a television news reporter for Southern Television, but was turned down for being "too young". Instead he was given a job presenting a children's programme. Within 18 months he was working for ATV as a presenter of children's shows, sports magazines and schools' programmes. In 1968 he moved to
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...
and began presenting '' Magpie'', a new children's programme, with
Susan Stranks Susan Stranks (born 2 December 1938) is a British actress and TV presenter. Career Born in London, Stranks was ten years old when she played the role of the younger Emmeline Foster in the romantic adventure film '' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949). S ...
and Pete Brady. ''Magpie'' was effectively a "groovier" version of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's '' Blue Peter''. In 1972, he became ''Magpies producer. During his career, Bastable produced and presented many one-off programmes, including historical documentaries and current affairs programmes, and presented and commentated on many outside and sporting events. He presented two series of ''Problems'' (1976-77), a programme on sexual difficulties, screened late, and with
Claire Rayner Claire Berenice Rayner, OBE (; née Chetwynd; 22 January 1931 – 11 October 2010) was an English journalist, broadcaster, novelist and nurse, best known for her role for many years as an advice columnist. Early life Rayner was born to Jewish ...
in the first series, and Jenny Conway and
Paul Brown Paul Eugene Brown (September 7, 1908 – August 5, 1991) was an American football coach and executive in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Brown was both the co-founder and first coach of the Clevela ...
for the entire run. For Thames he presented the ''Drive-In'' programme with
Shaw Taylor Eric Stanley Taylor (26 October 1924 – 17 March 2015), known professionally as Shaw Taylor, was a British actor and television presenter, best known for presenting the long-running five-minute crime programme ''Police 5''. Early life and c ...
from 1973 to 1978, and also its successor ''Wheels'' from 1980 to 1981. In 1976 he presented ''Miss Thames Television''; he also wrote and presented ''1776'', the ITV programme on the US bicentenary, and he provided the commentaries for the award-winning historical series ''English Garden'', which were delivered by Sir
John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...
. For nine years Bastable presented the consumer protection series ''Money-Go-Round'', and also presented shows such as ''Mind Over Matter'', a programme he devised with
Kit Pedler Christopher Magnus Howard "Kit" Pedler (11 June 1927 – 27 May 1981) was a British medical scientist, parapsychologist and science fiction author. Biography He was the head of the electron microscopy department at the Institute of Ophthalmolo ...
that investigated the paranormal, and the computing series ''Database'' as well as ''4 Computer Buffs''. In addition, he was a panellist on radio shows and he narrated the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
nature programme ''Profiles Of Nature''.


Later life

Bastable later moved into independent production, and he produced training and promotional films for companies such as the
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
, the National Bus Company, the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
, the
Department of Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...
and the
Institute of Advanced Motorists IAM RoadSmart formerly called the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is a charity based in the United Kingdom and serving nine countries, whose objective is to improve car driving and motorcycle riding standards, and so enhance road safety, b ...
. He also authored mini-history books for children on the 15th and 16th-century nautical explorers John Cabot and
Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the Eas ...
.


Personal life

Bastable was a qualified
cricket umpire In cricket, an umpire (from the Old French ''nompere'' meaning not a peer, i.e. not a member of one of the teams, impartial) is a person who has the authority to make decisions about events on the cricket field according to the ''Laws of Cricket ...
and founded the Institute of Cricket Umpires and Scorers. In 1972 he founded The Magpies, a wandering cricket team taking its name from the TV programme. He married three times. His first marriage was in 1969 to June Buchan, from whom he was divorced in 1971. In 1974, he married Jackie Colkett. They had a daughter, but divorced in 1992. He married for the third time, to Anita Westwood, in 2001.


Death

He suffered from emphysema in his final years, and died at the age of 62 from
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
at the
East Surrey Hospital East Surrey Hospital is a National Health Service hospital in the Whitebushes area to the south of Redhill, in Surrey, England. It is managed by the Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust. History The hospital has its origins in the Reigate C ...
, Redhill, in the county of Surrey on 29 May 2007.


Popular culture references

Half Man Half Biscuit refer to Bastable in their song "I Love You Because (You Look Like
Jim Reeves James Travis Reeves (August 20, 1923July 31, 1964) was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well known as a practitioner of the Nashville Sound. Known as "Gentleman ...
)", from the 1985 album '' Back in the DHSS''. He is also referenced in the song "Tony Bastable vs.
John Noakes John Noakes (born John Wallace Bottomley; 6 March 1934 – 28 May 2017) was an English television presenter and former actor. He co-presented the BBC children's magazine programme ''Blue Peter'' in the 1960s and 1970s and was the show's longes ...
" by The Dentists, from the 1985 album '' Some People Are on the Pitch They Think It's All Over It Is Now''.


Publications

*''John Cabot'' (Pub. World Almanac Library, 2003). *''Ferdinand Magellan'' (Pub. World Almanac Library, 2003).


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastable, Tony 1944 births 2007 deaths English biographers English children's writers English television presenters English television producers People educated at University College School People from Hexham Deaths from pneumonia in England 20th-century biographers