Tony Bastable; 'Magpie' presenter and producer
Hyfler/Rosner
'Magpie' presenter and producer
The Independent
04 June 2007
Anthony Hayward
As one of the original three presenters of Magpie, the ITV
children's magazine show launched in 1968 to rival the BBC's
Blue Peter, Tony Bastable displayed a talent for imparting
information that he had learned as a schoolteacher and
newspaper reporter.
This reality slightly deviates from the myth that Magpie was
the commercial channel's anarchic response to the BBC's
established and revered programme, although two elements
might have given that impression: the choice of the former
pirate radio DJ Pete Brady as one of Bastable's fellow hosts
(along with the actress Susan Stranks) and the inclusion of
the five-minute serial "Captain Fantastic", which had
previously featured in Do Not Adjust Your Set, a children's
show with off-the-wall sketches performed by some of the
Monty Python team-in-waiting.
But Magpie - first screened by the new ITV London-weekday
franchise holder Thames Television on its first day on air -
could certainly claim to be hipper than Blue Peter, focusing
more on popular culture. The programme's mascot was a magpie
called Murgatroyd and the catchy theme song, performed by
the chart-topping Spencer Davis Group, became familiar to a
generation of younger viewers:
One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
And four for a boy,
Magpie . . .
Within the breezy format, many of the show's items were
solidly educational, including Bastable's own "A Date with
Tony", an in-depth look at past ages, and "The ABC of
Science", presented by ITN's science correspondent, Peter
Fairley. Magpie began as a weekly programme but switched to
the Blue Peter-style, twice-weekly format after a year,
although never transmitted on the same days.
Bastable stopped presenting Magpie in 1972 and became one of
its producers, before establishing himself as a stalwart
host of many Thames Television shows. Later, he transferred
his communication skills to programmes and training films
made by his own independent production companies.
Born in Hexham, Northumberland, in 1944, Bastable was
educated at University College School in Hampstead, north
London, and worked as a local newspaper journalist and
teacher before applying for a job as a news reporter at
Southern Television, the regional ITV company based in
Southampton. He was considered too young but, instead,
became a presenter of the children's magazine show Three Go
Round (1964-65). After 18 months, Bastable moved to ATV in
the Midlands, where he hosted various children's, sports and
schools programmes, including Action, Junior Sportsweek,
Sportsweek and Towards Mathematics, and he did the same for
the BBC's educational output with Science Session, before
joining Magpie.
His relaxed, easy-going manner was then used to great effect
when, in 1973, he was teamed with Joan Shenton to host one
of the weekday episodes (1973-75) of Good Afternoon!, an ITV
daytime programme made by Thames Television and aimed mainly
at women and launched the previous year after restrictions
on broadcasting hours were lifted. (Mavis Nicholson, Mary
Parkinson and Elaine Grand were among the presenters on
other days.) The pair's consumer-orientated spin-off, Good
Afternoon! Money-Go-Round (1974-77), became a fully fledged
programme in its own right as Money-Go-Round (1977-82),
tackling customer complaints and providing tips on good
buys.
Bastable also hosted two series of Problems (1976-77), a
late-night Thames show focusing on sexual issues. Although
Anna Raeburn was his co- presenter in an untransmitted 1976
pilot, he was joined by Jenny Conway and Paul Brown for the
series, as well as Claire Rayner for the first run.
Through this busy period, Bastable - the proud owner of a
flame-coloured Morgan +8 - also teamed up with Shaw Taylor
for Drive-In (1973-78), another late-night Thames programme,
with motoring tips and road tests. Later, he was seen with
Chris Goffey and Pam Rhodes for the show's successor, Wheels
(1980-81). He also found time to front the children's
magazine Zig Zag (1975-76) for Tyne Tees and Look Around
(1978), ITV Schools' social-history series, and presented
Miss Thames Television in 1976.
In The John Smith Show (1980), he was back with Joan
Shenton, listening to a vet, bus conductor, car worker,
company director and their families talking about life at
the start of a new decade. Then, with Dr Kit Pedler,
Bastable hosted television's first series on the paranormal,
Mind Over Matter (1981), and he was both editor and, with
Jane Ashton and Mike Thorne, presenter of Database
(1982-85), an early programme about computer technology that
was also notable for covering subjects such as how it could
be used by the disabled. He and Thorne followed it with 4
Computer Buffs (1985), which Thames made for Channel 4.
After some involvement in training films, Bastable set up
Burfield Bastable Projects with Patrick Burfield. Together,
they made documentaries such as Human Factors in Bus Design
(1981) for Leyland Vehicles, The Great Central Busway (1984)
for the National Bus Company and The End of the Beginning
(1986), about the driving test, for the Department of
Transport. Later, he formed TBTV (Tony Bastable Television)
and enjoyed a long relationship with the Ford Motor Company.
He also directed staff training videos and wrote the
children's books A Diary of Yesterdays (with Susan Neal,
1975) and A Dictionary of Dinosaurs (with Mary I. French,
1977), as well as the biographies John Cabot (2003) and
Ferdinand Magellan (2003) in the "Great Explorers" series.
A cricket enthusiast, Bastable was a keen wicket-keeper and
umpire who had recently founded the Institute of Cricket
Umpires & Scorers. He also formed the Magpies Cricket Club
while working on the programme for which many will best
remember him.
Anthony Leslie Bastable, television presenter, producer,
director and writer: born Hexham, Northumberland 15 October
1944; married 1969 June Buchan (marriage dissolved 1971),
1974 Jackie Colkett (marriage dissolved 1992; one daughter),
2001 Anita Westwood; died Redhill, Surrey 29 May 2007.
Brad Ferguson
<rel...@rcn.com> wrote:
> As one of the original three presenters of Magpie, the ITV
> children's magazine show launched in 1968 to rival the BBC's
> Blue Peter
Say what?
aka Bob
<thir...@frXOXed.net> magnanimously proffered:
It was the sequal to Blue Balls ...
--
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brian Watson
"Brad Ferguson" <thir...@frXOXed.net> wrote in message
news:040620070158125415%thir...@frXOXed.net...
Blue Peter was named for the blue and white flag that ship's fly/flew to
indicate they were setting sail and leaving port, so the name was supposed
to convey an outgoing image.
There were several THIS side of the pond who immediately realised the title
might have another interpretation.
;-)
--
Brian
"Fight like the Devil, die like a gentleman."
Jed
I'll see your Blue Peter and raise a Free Willy.
Chuck D Jobb
"Jed" <zyzygy@plenipôtentiary.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:df08631l8rqdu1vmh...@4ax.com...
I'll see your Willy and offer you a Jolly Roger......
aka Bob
<angry...@bigfoot.com> magnanimously proffered:
You've really got him over a barrel on that one ...
Brian Watson
"Jed" <zyzygy@plenipôtentiary.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:df08631l8rqdu1vmh...@4ax.com...
And they made a sequel!?
Brian Watson
"Chuck D Jobb" <angry...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:4664...@212.67.96.135...
Ahem. Union Jack.
Fnar, fnar....