Tony Bastable

Infobox Celebrity
name = Tony Bastable

---

caption =
birth_date = 15 October 1944
birth_place = Hexham, Northumberland, England
death_date = 29 May 2007
death_place = Redhill, Surrey, England
occupation = Television presenter and producer

Anthony Leslie Bastable (15 October 1944 – 29 May 2007) was an English television presenter who was best known for being one of original presenters of the children's programme "Magpie".

Early life

Anthony Leslie Bastable was born in Hexham, Northumberland in 1944.cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2007/06/02/db0203.xml|title=Tony Bastable - Obituary|first=|last=|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=2 June 2007] After moving to Wembley, Middlesex, he attended Wembley Manor School from 1952 to 1955 and University College School in Frognal, London before briefly working for local newspapers. Whilst working as a freelance reporter he also taught British history, part time, at Buckingham College, Harrow.

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 and begun presenting "Magpie", a new children's programme, with Susan Stranks and Pete Brady. "Magpie" was seen as a "groovier" version of the BBC's "Blue Peter" In 1972, he moved to become "Magpie"'s producer. During his career, Bastable produced and presented many one-off programmes, including historical documentaries and current affairs programmes, and presented and commented on many outside and sporting events. For nine years Bastable presented the consumer protection series "Money-Go-Round", and also presented shows such as "Drive-in", "Mind Over Matter", a programme he devised with Kit Pedler that investigated the paranormal and "Database". In addition, he was often a panellist on radio shows.

Later life

Bastable later moved into independent production, and he produced training and promotional films for companies such as the Ford Motor Company, the National Bus Company, the Royal Navy, the Department of Transport and the Institute of Advanced Motorists. Bastable was also the co-author of two children's books and wrote biographies of John Cabot and Ferdinand Magellan, both of which were published in 2003. Tony Bastable was a qualified cricket umpire and founded the Institute of Cricket Umpires and Scorers.

Bastable married three times. Firstly in 1969 to June Buchan, who he divorced from in 1971. In 1974 he married Jackie Colkett. They had a daughter and divorced in 1992. He married his third and final wife, Anita Westwood, in 2001. Bastable suffered from emphysema and died in the East Surrey Hospital, Redhill, Surrey in 2007 from
pneumonia.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6709139.stm|title=First Magpie host Bastable dies|first=|last=|publisher=BBC|date=31 May 2007]

References

External links

*imdb name|id=1304134|name=Tony Bastable